fish tank design?

Chris asked:

I bought a 40 gallon tank but I really need help designing my tank. Can anyone help me design the tank. What kind of plant or rock should i use. Is there any place where you can buy lives plants, cave, rocks for a good price around $1-$15.

Reply :

You should be able to find things locally at a fish or pet store. You might find more variety by shopping online, but you may have to pay even more for the shipping.

You don't mention if this is a fresh or saltwater tank, so that makes a difference in what you should or shouldn't use. Generally, for freshwater, you can use any rock that's inert (won't react with the water) like slate, some sandstones, quartz, obsidian, agate, and others you see for sale in pet stores. Using rocks you find isn't always a good idea, because these may have minerals or metals that dissolve and will affect your water quality. For saltwater, you would do best to find rocks with a carbonate base, like reef rock, travertine, or lace rock.

What plants you can use will depend on your lighting. Some freshwater plants (Java fern, Java moss, Anubias) are good for beginners, because they don't require a lot of light. In saltwater, you'll need more than the standard bulbs that come with an aquarium to keep most plants alive. A compact fluorescent or T-5 lighting system would be the minimum to use. Most plants in saltwater are algaes, and caulerpa, chaetomorpha, and gracillaria are some of the ones to keep here.

Here's a website where you can find a lot of items sold for both fresh and saltwater tanks: http://www.thatpetplace.com/ Propecia Online If your pet/fish store doesn't carry something you like, most will be happy to order it for you (that way you can save the cost of shipping!).

Here's a website you can look through for ideas: http://www.ratemyfishtank.com/

And if you're handy and like do-it-yourself projects, see this link: http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/di…

Some common plants and the tank conditions needed: http://faq.thekrib.com/plant-list.html

And this might give you some ideas as well: http://www.peteducation.com/index.cfm?cl…