5g Hex Aquascaping Ideas?

[goodeye--sniper]

Hi all, once school gets out in two weeks I plan on working on a Marineland 5g hex tank as a little summer project. I'm planning on putting only RCS in it.

I'm not sure what I want to put in it or how to decorate it. My current idea is to put some kind of stumpy/gnarled driftwood in the center and attaching different plants to it, but I don't know if that will actually look good.
Then I'm not sure what kind if plants would be good.

I'm thinking of java moss but I'm not sure how I would use it in the tank. I hear I could use it in the foreground or I could try to attach it to the wood or some rocks? Maybe wisteria for the background? I think a carpet would be a good idea, but I don't think I'd have the lighting for it.


I tried to find some pictures to work off of but I can't find anything.

Any suggestions for a visually appealing hex design? I'm planning on low light with CO2 and ferts. And what kind of substrate should I use? Currently I'm thinking of black sand but I'm open to other ideas.

[goodeye--sniper]

I've also read that hexagon tanks are difficult to scape well. should I look into a more standard tank size? A 6.6 bookshelf or maybe a small cube tank?

[Anapplesnail]

Originally Posted by goodeye--sniper

I've also read that hexagon tanks are difficult to scape well. should I look into a more standard tank size? A 6.6 bookshelf or maybe a small cube tank?

I ran the Marineland Hex 5 in college with a dozen tetras, some apple snails, and whatever plants I could find at the LFS. Recently I resurrected the same thing with locally-sourced wild Hydrilla. Long before I knew about TPTforums, though. I used painted red gravel for a substrate! I'm surprised anything grew.

The challenge will be getting light to the bottom of the tank. The plants reaaaaaach up and branch out. I use a 23W CFL bulb in mine, and get algae on two hex panels (All of them if I let it go). As far as scaping goes:

You'll want height, and I think open in the center works well. 'Climbing' stems on the edges should give your fish places to hide.

[Kathyy]

Your idea of a central bit of wood with plants attached is probably the way to go if the tank has any height to it.

I had a 2.5 gallon hex many years ago that was very satisfying. A twisted branch with java fern and moss tied to it and a betta lurking amongst the fern fronds. Anubias nana 'Petit' would be terrific and wouldn't out grow this tank like Java fern. With dark Anubias and fine textured moss it would be nice to have a background plant but wisteria is far too large in scale. Two stems could easily span this tank! Look for a stem that is only an inch or so in diameter. Supposed to be easy and is a nice feathery texture is Limnophila sessiliflora but look through the plant finder here and here for more ideas. http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/f...finder/all.php Also look through Your Tanks here for how others have scaped small tanks like yours.