Wine bottle nano tank

[Imaginary1226]

I pulled this awesome looking wine bottle out of the trash at work....so last night I decided to turn it into a nano tank.
The substrate I used was green and blue gravel, because the bottle has a green tint. The plants are java fern, java moss, rotala, and a piece of marimo moss ball. I also got some sticks from my back yard and put some black river rocks in it. I did not put any fish or inverts.....I would feel bad doing that. Any suggestions to make it better? I just used what I had lying around.

[Da Plant Man]

Loose the clown puke gravel? Just a suggestion....

Maybe, loose the java fern and get some dwarf hairgrass? Looks cool

[tuffgong]

Definitely get rid of the clown puke. The dark rocks you have in there would look great by themselves. Get rid of the fern and tie the moss to the rocks so it's neat, leave the rotala, and throw a snail in there for good measure. Nice nano, free tanks are great!

[Imaginary1226]

What substrate would you suggest then, and what color? I don't have sand but I have a bunch of different color gravel, including black and neutral.
Dwarf hairgrass, I have some, but it isn't doing well in my other tank. I put java fern because of it's low light requirement, would dwarf hairgrass do well in there? I wasn't planning on using ferts....
How can I make the rotala stay down with just the large rocks? I can't really use my fingers haha. Ok I will ditch the fern and post new pictures when I redo it. I will probably use superglue for the moss...I don't see thread holding on such smooth stones.

[OverStocked]

Take the lid off. Everything will die if it can't exchange gas.

[Imaginary1226]

I know, I only had that on for pictures because the wood is not water logged yet.

[Imaginary1226]

Better?

[gringostar9]

Yep. Its awesome.

[zelilaa]

Get some some sand, and clear up the bottom. Theres way too much down there and it looks cluttered.
I'd get rid of everything execpt the sticks and tall leafy plant in the back, and try a carpet. And yah, a nerite nail for good measure.

[Tenzo]

That looks a lot nicer (:
Chuck in some random pest snails and you'll be good to go.

[Imaginary1226]

Originally Posted by zelilaa

Get some some sand, and clear up the bottom. Theres way too much down there and it looks cluttered.
I'd get rid of everything execpt the sticks and tall leafy plant in the back, and try a carpet. And yah, a nerite nail for good measure.

I haven't ever used sand, I may eventually try it. I still like my dark rocks though. I am not capable of growing a carpet of anything right now. I wanted to keep it low maintenance since I don't have any real tools to do anything complicated. I just used some stiff airline size tubing to move things where I wanted. If I want to do more than that I will have to tear down and resemble again.
I did add a ramshorn snail. Thanks for your help everyone!

[tuffgong]

Looks good!

[TLE041]

It looks too cluttered with the rocks there. I think having only sand and a few twigs would drastically improve the look.

I don't think DHG will do well. It needs med-high light (and CO2 IME).

[Imaginary1226]

I will switch to sand whenever I can buy some. We will call it the nano tank of many substrates. That is what I was thinking about DHG. Should I get rid of the moss ball and java moss too?

[theDeanorama]

Originally Posted by Imaginary1226

I will switch to sand whenever I can buy some. We will call it the nano tank of many substrates. That is what I was thinking about DHG. Should I get rid of the moss ball and java moss too?

One or the other, but not both IMO. Its looking good but a little crowded on the bottom as mentioned. If one of the mosses goes it will help with that I think.