125G Angel Paradise - New Additions!

[monkE]

Hey guys, I will be purchasing a 125G tank this weekend and i'm really excited about the extra space from my 4 footer 77 gallon. Figured I'd start a journal right from the planing phase.

Tonight I started drawing up an idea for the scape. The idea is based off of a few tank's I've seen that created valleys between planted sections and I want to utilize the eco-complete in my current tank as well as use a lot of white sand. The hard part will be separating the two. My first idea is to use polished stones, but I don't think they will do the trick. The next idea would be to get acrylic deviders made up and installing them onto the glass before adding anything. I'm undecided right now what to do. Has anyone successfully separated sand from substrate before without putting in solid dividers?

My plan for the tank will be:
my current 5 angels plus probably 3 or 5 more.
I have 6 clown loaches... probably add 4 more
All my plecos except the sailfin - 3 BN's, 3 clowns, 1 royal, 1 tiger panaque.
6 Bolivian Rams - add 10 more?
Large group of cardinals, rasboras, or cherry barbs
10 Otto's
2 Coolie Loaches

Floura:
Vals, dwarf sag, pogostemon, hygrophilia, big sword, - then probably some java moss on driftwood - maybe java fern as well


Here's a pic of my drawing so far - ok i only drew the crappy top view, got my girlfriend to draw the elevation



What are my chances of actually keeping the sand and eco-complete separate?
Any suggestions or comments would be appreciated.

[CRS Fan]

You can actually make a flexible divider using strips of thin acrylic and siliconining it to the tank bottom to keep them seperate. I've got some Pogostemon erectus available if you're interested . It's a slower growing stem plant.

Best regards,

Stuart

[stonedaquarium]

hey mike ... good luck on the rescape i have seen and tried this technique... where you fill one portion with eco complete have a cardboard separate the sand... once you fill the portion with sand... you can pull the cardboard out and it wont mix itself.

hope that helps

[monkE]

You can actually make a flexible divider using strips of thin acrylic and siliconining it to the tank bottom to keep them seperate. I've got some Pogostemon erectus available if you're interested . It's a slower growing stem plant.

Best regards,

Stuart

thanks Stuart, ya i saw your post... i actually just happened to get a few of them from my buddy neoh right before you posted that.

The acrylic strip is what i'm thinking too... only sure fire way i think of separating them, also it will help the dwarf sag stay where i want it instead of shooting into the sand.

[monkE]

hey mike ... good luck on the rescape i have seen and tried this technique... where you fill one portion with eco complete have a cardboard separate the sand... once you fill the portion with sand... you can pull the cardboard out and it wont mix itself.

hope that helps

That's pretty slick... i'm just worried about once the water goes in and after a few water changes if it still stays separate. Plus I want to make sure the carpet doesn't spread into the sand and follows the line i'm trying to make.

[stonedaquarium]

i havent seen mine really mix in yet... for the carpet... you would have to trim em... hehehe...... thats the tricky part with carpet plants lol

[neoh]

That's pretty slick... i'm just worried about once the water goes in and after a few water changes if it still stays separate. Plus I want to make sure the carpet doesn't spread into the sand and follows the line i'm trying to make.

Have an inert sand to stop the spread and keep up with trimming. I'm going to have a similar setup as well, and I'll try to give you a hand on Sunday if I am available.

A piece of plexi-glass to divide is not a bad idea to prevent it from spreading out.

[Pamela]

Great sketches, you're so organized!

They sell these Buy Sand Banks from DrsFosterSmith at Drs.Foster & Smith. I've never used them so I don't know how well they work, but they look kind of neat. You could do some sort of DIY project that resembles them.

[2wheelsx2]

Great scape, but I'm sorry to say that with plecos in there, there's no way to keep the substrate separate long term. But it'll be really neat in the first while.

[Luke78]

Mike,

Congrats on getting a bigger setup,iam sure the extra space will come in handy stock and plant wise.Great sketch of the final look,did the same myself and listed what i needed inventory wise and price as well.Dont know if you have a budget in mind or expenses dont matter,but list those down on a side sheet as the final numbers get up there.So pretty much everything from the 77G will be introduced here? As for seperating the two substrates, my thoughts are to go with just one.Mentioned already by Gary, your plecos and loaches will have their own decorating ideas themselvesThis coming from my own experiences as i house a variety of them and they do what they want.Stuck fighting a losing battle with the overall look.Theres the option of taking them outta of the picture and doing this,but thats your call.This two-tone substrate idea could be difficult some maintaince time as well,something to think about too. Try adding more wood pieces or stone/rock work to it, or go heavily planted x2 like your 77G.Go through some of the journals here,do a bit more research,and then fine tune it to your liking.Look forward to the updates,and keep us posted!