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#4 - River shore

Woow! Jordi thats a very nice job you did there.. Couldn't describe it in better words than Alexander did.. It indeed radiates a kind of coolness with the white sand and green (slate i think it is) stones. I'm very honered being so well represented in this beautifull scape. Thank you! Now i only want to say to my babies, you can't be in a better home, lets grow now and make Jordi happy!!
 
Thank you guys for the kind comments. Honestly my aim was producing something like a submerged piece of a shallow sandy stream. I don't like the layouts that try to copy terrestrial landscapes but I guess my plants will have to grow a bit more before the layout looks "more aquatic". Anyway, it is my first aquascape (or at least the first time I have devoted some time to design my tank) and I really appreciate your comments!

I did not mention it in my last post but during these 10 days I have made 50% WC every three days. I think I will keep like this until the third-fourth week and then I will do a weekly 50% WC. I added K (DIY potassium sulfate) and micros (FlowGrow Mikro Basic) from day 7. Now I'm adding some squirts every other day of a DIY NPK solution (very similar to Tropica Specialized nutrient content) to see if plants benefit from it. The plants used are not especially demanding in terms of nutrients, but this time the amount of enriched substrate I have used is quite low, so my guess is that I won't be able to rely on the nutrients leached to the water column.

Jordi
 
Hi all

Some phone pictures after a trimming session this morning...

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The plants are doing very well. Montecarlo growth was a bit stunted at the beginning but now it's growing new and fresh leaves. I have trimmed the Rotala "bonzai" in the background and I have spread it to the right side and I have also planted some stems in the left corner (which was definitely shouting for plants...). TBH I am not very happy with the position of this plant in the layout. I think it doesn't add anything special to the background and the beautiful shape of this plant is lost in the distance. I will probably bring Rotala "bonzai" to the middle ground and I will use a reddish stem plant trimmed very low in the right background corner, just to be able to see it above the wood. I will probably use Rotala rotundifolia indica (=red, colorata... or whatever its name is. I mean the R. rotundifolia variety that has deep red leaves) but I'm sure you guys will have more interesting suggestions.... another plants in my head is Micranthemum micranthemoides, but I am not sure if it will look too much green.

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The white stuff in the wood is hot glue, now visible due to a hardscape rearrangement. I will have to cover it with moss

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Very happy with the different species of mosses, all of them growing very well, even Fontinalis antipyrectica which took a long time to get adapted.

Jordi

P.S. I will borrow for next time a DSLR camera for better pictures... do you think I need more light in my pictures? These ones have been just cropped, no modifications.

P.S. now pictures modified with the Flickr automatic picture enhancer
 
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Great wood and green plants complement it. I'd be very careful with introducing red plants there, ammania "bonzai" will develop bright color on tips over time, esp. after trimming.

The only thing that bother me - your hardscape is kinda flat, and probably better suited to shallow tank. I wonder if you grow plants tall enough it will overtake the hardscape.
 
Alexander Belchenko said:
The only thing that bother me - your hardscape is kinda flat, and probably better suited to shallow tank. I wonder if you grow plants tall enough it will overtake the hardscape.
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Absolutely true... this is what I need stem plants that can resist very heavy trimming to keep them low enough.
Additionally the wood structure on the right is empty (another mistake) and there's only soil for planting where the Rotala bonzai is. No room for massive stem growth

Jordi
 
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Lovely tank and woow! That moss realy did grow fast.. Looks great. Good job Jordi..:)

I kinda agree with Alexander.. The tank looks rather high and makes the scape a bit flatish looking. I guess this will equal out a bit when the background plants get a higher over time. In my opinion when i see all the wood it screams for more (smaller) epiphytes.. like more Bucephalandra's. B. Motleyana Mini Catherine for example would look stunning on the stones under the curved piece of wood stretching to the midlle on the wood. Or different types of anubias. And than a rather larger one on top of that wood in the right in that V shape.. A. Gracilis would be my choice i think. It would create more hight at the same time and it's grow form and leave shape would not directly hide the background. But thats just me, when i see wood i only think of covering it with epiphytes.:rolleyes:

blahblahblahblah i havent worked on my own journal yet, realy got to sort that out soon.. :( What i find interesting and funny coincidence is, i used the same materials, :) i think i have the same stone as you have and also made the wood dominant. And tried to batlle out the flatness. :)

Anyway you made a very beautifull scape.. :) Im not experienced enough to judge so soon.. So never mind me bablling..:cigar:
It will take a few months to grow to its full proportion. and probably look rather different than it does now.
 
Thanks Marcel

Do you mean Ammania gracilis, isn't it? Not available here :(
Do you think it is better than Rotala indica?

Jordi
 
:) No i meant the Anubias Gracilis.. Whit the arrow shaped leaf and long stems. But that is easy to say from looking at a flat picture and say it would fit your scape.
But from where i'm sitting looking at a pic i would say it would bring in a high focal point in the midground.. Dunno. But a plant like that wouldn't take to much of the background view away because it spreads more out to the surface maybe even stick a few leaves out. And the rotala indica would do nice behind it when its tips start to color.. Rather than a lower plant with more dense broad round leaves hiding everything behind it.

Thats just me :) i would pack this tank with anubias ore more buce and maybe add some crypts and ferns.

But its your scape and not mine.. It definitely looks 10 times better than mine, no doubt about that..

You'll figger something nice out, i'm sure.. :)

P.s yup that one from Alexanders link.. :)
 
Hi again

Tonight I have found a way to improve the volume of the layout: attaching H. pinnatifida to the wood in the middle and upper parts. The stems will increase the height 10 cm more but keeping the wood form. The background will not swallow the hardscape if I finally decide to plant stems
The problem is now attaching pinnatifida to wood without making a mess. Any experience? Cotton line, glue?

Jordi
 
You could use some temporary way of holding Hyg. pinn. to the wood ( rubber band or whatever).
The new growth (="runners"=side-shoots)will be horizontal and will grow very soon if you trim off dominant (=up-right growing) stems. These horizontal shoots will very readily attach to the wood, holding the whole plant in place.........and you can remove temporary holding.
Removing dominant shoots, is the way to force Hyg. pinn. to keep growing the horizontal side-shoots. It will allways try to create new, dominant, up-right shoots, though, so the removing of those is continuously......
 
Perfect choice the HP. One of my favotites and didn't use it in my scape, just wasn't sure.. And didn't know what Mick knows, else i would have definitely used it. Thanks mick!.. :) But i got here waiting for the next one, thanks to you Jordi, they grow nice btw... Can't wait to see how this turns out in your scape..
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Jordi :) What's the name again of that moss in the last picture?. That's realy a nice atractive one..
Looking foreward to see pictures of the H. pinnatifida to the wood.. :cool:
 
zozo said:
Jordi :) What's the name again of that moss in the last picture?. That's realy a nice atractive one..
Looking foreward to see pictures of the H. pinnatifida to the wood.. :cool:
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If I'm not wrong it is the Peacock moss kindly sent to me by @MirandaB
Awesome moss: beautiful 'leaf' shape and easy growing under different circumstances

Jordi
 
Jordi, yes its in my tank as well thanks to you.. :) it's realy growing fast, lovely moss. Forgot it's name somehow :rolleyes: i had phoenix in my mind, but thats fissidens so that couldn't be it. Alzheimer light i guess!? :hungover:

Thanks!! :thumbup:
 
Hi again!

Another update, this layout is now 55 days old...

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I won't change the background for the moment, although I have added some little bunches of M. micranthemoides here and there, hoping that for the next shot they will create a bit more of volume in the background. I think the fresh green of micranthemoides will fit well in the layout, but I will have to trim it very hard.

Cheers,
Jordi
 
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