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Stripping tank today just a few more Q's

Frenchi

Member
Joined
15 Jan 2014
Messages
671
Location
West Yorkshire
Hi ppl
I'm stripping half my tank down today and hopefully going to make it look more 3D rather than 2D, I have quite a lot of fish in here so was wondering is it best to remove as many as I can first, some of them are impossible to catch due to the jungle type setup.. Will it harm them being in there while I'm uprooting plants moving rocks that haven't moved in around 3 years or more ect ...
Also some of the plants will have huge roots do I trim the roots when I re-locate them or just roll them up and bury them as best as I can.

Sorry for the Q's I just want a successful strip down and I know some of you guys have done this many times
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this is the tank btw the orandas are in a tank of there own now I convinced the wife :)


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Just to add my intention is to buy another piece of large bog wood similar to the one on the left and put it on the right hand side remove rock and plants from the centre, angle them both to the rear so they sort of meet in the middle, it should create a clear space give a sense of depth ?? Does this sound about right ? I'm a pain I know but I'm not very creative


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Congratulations!! ( on outing the orange bubble heads).:D
 
Hi Frenchi,
Once you start disturbing the substrate the ammonia levels will be through the roof especially if you have drained the tank down first as I suspect you will.
I think it best to bag the fish up first. Having said that I have done similar work and left the fish in and got away with it.

If you are wanting to create a spacious 3d look I reckon you need to go for mostly smaller or finer plants or at least just have one sword to one side and no other broad leaved plants. You could still use some of the narrower leaved stem plants towards the back. Then also the fishes need to be smaller to give the illusion of space and size.

That's just my view but there are lots of people on here with more scaping experience than me who hopefully will offer some suggestions.

Good luck.:thumbup: and pic's please once completed!:D

Harry.
 
Hi Frenchi,
Once you start disturbing the substrate the ammonia levels will be through the roof especially if you have drained the tank down first as I suspect you will.
I think it best to bag the fish up first. Having said that I have done similar work and left the fish in and got away with it.

If you are wanting to create a spacious 3d look I reckon you need to go for mostly smaller or finer plants or at least just have one sword to one side and no other broad leaved plants. You could still use some of the narrower leaved stem plants towards the back. Then also the fishes need to be smaller to give the illusion of space and size.

That's just my view but there are lots of people on here with more scaping experience than me who hopefully will offer some suggestions.

Good luck.:thumbup: and pic's please once completed!:D

Harry.
Thank Harry ... I will bag what I can there is an overload of different fish in there some I don't see for months and months ... It is a shame to destroy such good plants but it has over grown to be honest. I want to just run the tank without much or no co2 and have mainly ferns and easy plants. I suppose a bare look so I can see the fish a bit more .., I will put up pics when I finish


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I always trim the roots wher replanting. I would first fill alarge bin with tank water, use a (run in preferably) cannister filter on it and you can keep the fish in there for a few days. Remove plants and drop water level, catch fish and transfer to bin. Siphon tank empty and fill partly with tapwater. Clean your plants.(keep them in a bucket or so). Fill the tank and drain it again. Fill partially and plant it. Fill and after a few hours add fish. That's how i would do it.
 
I always trim the roots wher replanting. I would first fill alarge bin with tank water, use a (run in preferably) cannister filter on it and you can keep the fish in there for a few days. Remove plants and drop water level, catch fish and transfer to bin. Siphon tank empty and fill partly with tapwater. Clean your plants.(keep them in a bucket or so). Fill the tank and drain it again. Fill partially and plant it. Fill and after a few hours add fish. That's how i would do it.
That sounds like a good idea .. I have got a polystyrene fish transport tub it's around 40 to 50 litre I think would that do it? Or 2 maybe


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Yeah the way I did it was dump tank water into a large plastic storage box, run the filter and heater in there though you're fish will probably be okay for a couple of days without the filter. I pulled up the hardscape and then caught the fish. Last I pulled up the plants, risen them before throwing them in the box as well.

You're fish will be fine, they went threw a lot more stress at the farms, transporting and petshop.
 
Well it's finely done .. I'm not 100% happy but I'm happy, there is room for improvement but I was hoping for you ppl to help me out with that.. Pics to follow once it clears up a bit more


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Well it's finely done .. I'm not 100% happy but I'm happy, there is room for improvement but I was hoping for you ppl to help me out with that.. Pics to follow once it clears up a bit more


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Looking forward to seeing the pics:thumbup:

Harry
 
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I still need to remove the backing and the water still needs to clear up a bit


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I still think there is too much plants sorry for the quality of pics too ... There is lots of reflection


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It's still slightly murky .. I will need to clean both filters out tomorrow I'm sure they will be well caked up now :(


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I really like the dense areas, actually - but you can trim both the sword-plants and the Cryptocorynes, if you want them less dense (and you will need to trim them later anyway). Just carefully break off oldest leaves - they're very convenient allso the outer ones in the rosette *ss*. Both types of plant will tolerate very hard trimming - down to one or two leaves pr. rosette, actually - but less will do. Don't be scared of trimming - it's good for the plants !!
Mick.
 
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