Imaginative Ideas for Your Aquarium by Rajendra Kumar

Imaginative Ideas for Your Aquarium

by Rajendra Kumar G. G., of Bangalore, India
Aquarticles

Use your imagination!

Most aquariums that I have seen are dull and unimaginative. They are sometimes plain glass tanks with a few fish, or slightly better ones with some sand and a few plants - absolutely no imagination, no creativity. Some of my tanks have wall-to-wall plants! Not very interesting to me, but others fancy the forest.

I didn't feel like uprooting old tanks and destroying a stable aquatic environment, but I was absolutely bored with plain landscaped planted tanks. I had to try something else, so I decided to experiment a little further. What choice of materials did I have? - rocks, drift or bog wood, pebbles and gravel.

Some years ago during a visit to Mangalore (on the west coast of the State of Karnataka in South India) I was fascinated by old walls and buildings of naked non-plastered laterite bricks. Further north I saw coastal areas of Goa with weather-worn laterite boulders that had a heavenly look. This was what I wanted - a dark and natural looking background. I was thinking of thinly sliced laterite bricks for the backgrounds of my small tanks. Most of these bricks are too soft to be thinly sliced however, but I figured that I could make gravel from them easily. Laterite rocks and bricks vary in hardness, some are very soft and are unsuitable for aquarium use, so I chose the harder weathered bricks. Laterite bricks are quite large (6"x9"x12") compared to regular bricks. I didn't need many, so I picked a few bricks and had them smashed with a mallet. The bits and powder were sieved and washed to produce decently attractive gravel.

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DIY washed laterite gravel

After dragging my feet on this for months, one day I decided to paste them to the back glass as an alternative to sliced bricks.

I positioned a 2 cubic ft. tank (2'x1'x1') on a table with its open side facing me. I emptied a whole tube of (aquarium suitable) Silicone sealant onto the glass side at the bottom (normally the back). Using a 6"x4" straight-edged piece of plastic as a squeegee, I spread the silicone evenly all over the glass from edge to edge. In hindsight I advise keeping the top one inch clear, to avoid interference with the placement of filters etc. Wash the gravel thoroughly or pieces might drop off the glass later. One 300ml tube of Silicone sealant was more than enough for two square feet of glass. I scooped up the larger gravel and sprinkled it on the silicone until the whole side was covered with a double layer. With the palm of my hand I pressed the gravel down into the silicone until it was firmly anchored. Remember that if the silicone is too thick then it shows between the gravel bits. After drying overnight I set the tank upright and all the excess gravel came off the back glass. The back glass was now a pleasing sight, dark red and mysteriously natural. The remaining smaller bits of laterite gravel I used in the tank as a substrate for the plants.

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Christmas moss on the gravel Final view

This tank was planted with some bright green plants of the Hygrophila species, dark green Anubias nana tied on to driftwood, a few cryptocorynes, and Bolbitis on a laterite rock. Xmas moss (from Loh Kwek Leong AKA KL in Singapore) was attached to the laterite gravel on the back pane. After a few months the moss adhering to the laterite gravel covered part of the back glass, and the Hygrophila thrived in the laterite gravel and emerged out of the water. I have noticed that the plants uprooted from this tank had thick white and bushy roots. The laterite gravel and the backing had all the desired effects of adding laterite powder to the substrate.

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Pebbles being glued Finished back pane.

What was next? I started a new tank with larger gravel bits on the back glass. Here I used large dark red pebbles and attached them individually to the back glass. I hope that I can get some Bolbitis to spread. I dream of a dark olive green look with a light green foreground of small Echinodorus!

Now my imagination is running wild - how about driftwood slices pasted to the back and sides of the tank? How about gluing whole lengths of waterlogged roots and branches between sides and the back of the tank? How about gluing bits of driftwood to make artistic interiors? Can you make your tank look like it's a 2 cubic foot slice of real life from the mangroves?

Use your imagination!

See also: Fun With Silicone, by Nischint Sohal