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50 gal naturegumi

James Burcham

Member
Joined
5 Jun 2019
Messages
100
Location
Fargo, nd USA
Well the tank is hardscaped! We are just waiting on the plants to arrive.

Please have a look a tell me what you think.
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Some nice rock and wood there :)
Can i suggest taking one of the smaller stones from the back and smashing it up to use instead of the pebbles so they all match.
I would also consider trying to push back the top bit of the wood so it is against the back, this will mean the wood is less vertical in the scape, more like it has settled there of its own accord if you like.
 
Can i suggest taking one of the smaller stones from the back and smashing it up to use instead of the pebbles so they all match

Yeah the pebbles are coming out. I wasn't sure how it was going to look. I don't like them either. :dead:

I would also consider trying to push back the top bit of the wood so it is against the back, this will mean the wood is less vertical in the scape, more like it has settled there of its own accord if you like.

I know there is something a little unnatural about the vertical piece on the right. It did slide forward a bit when I filled the tank so when I drain it to plant I am going to push it back. But it I'm going to keep it vertical. I have a vision of a pillar of epiphytes in mind.;)

Thanks for the feedback @Matt @ ScapeEasy
 
In nature, the color of the rock often matches the sediment because the sediment is derived from the parent rock. The exceptions are white beach sand, which is transported by river and ocean far away. So a light color or white substrate that matches your rock will look more natural. White substrate also reflects light better to benefit lower level plants, and is favored by Amano. But if you are going to cover it with carpet plants in green, it makes no difference.
 
I would consider moving the large DW as far to the right as possible and increase the height of the substrate to the right/back behind/under the DW . I think it would not only look better the DW is reducing the light in that area under the DW significantly.
 
I would consider moving the large DW as far to the right as possible and increase the height of the substrate to the right/back behind/under the DW .

My plan is to plant Bacopa Caroliniana in the back right corner. My understanding is it should grow under low light. Do you think that would work? I thought leaving a decent amount of space there would give me an area for a nice dense stem plant area.
 
The main trick with keeping a nice healthy dense stem plants IME is getting enough flow/water movement in the area, good flow in the area provides a good supply of CO2 which in turn reduces elongation between the leaf stems and prevents the lower leaves melting and dying back also. Having the substrate higher at the back gives depth also and helps reduce dead zones.
I am a big fan of my 'pot techniquie ' where I basically grow a plant in a pot in an other tank and when it looks good a drop it in my main tank behind hardscape and presso instant change, also makes trimming/replanting easy as you just lift the pot out.
Also with some stems I just got a ceramic ring round the bottom with bit of foam to hold the ring on and the ring holds the plant down behind a bit of hardscape again, again trimming easy as a lift the whole plant (which will have rooted into the substrate by then) trim bottom off refit the ceramic ring, presso done;)
 
I also like the potted plant approach. Majority of my plants are epiphytes attached to rock. A few stems and rosettes are potted in hydroponic cages and hide behind rock. The rocked epiphytes and potted plants are mobile so I can easily take them out to prune or replant, and move around to optimize the scape to my liking. A few rock are used to elevate plants in the back to provide height, I have no substrate plants at all so I only need a thin substrate without displacing valuable water volume. .
 

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James

Sorry for the late reply i was hoping to post this yesterday.
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My first comments are I would have prefered you to start offwith a Mock Tank you could have saved yourself a lot of work.
The DW is an excellent piece and must be shown to its best.

Keith:wave::wave:
 
James
I would prefer the Substrate to be higher another 10cm in the back RH corner at the moment everything is looking rather flat. Make sure across the front is an equal height for a better eye flow.

Keep the DW as close as possible to the back RH corner making sure you have enough room to clean the glass.

Your rocks have plenty of character and if not careful they will dominate your Aquascape I would have prefered a brown colour.

I have marked with a red X I suggest they all be removed plus all the pebbles etc.

I have marked one with a red arrow It might look better if was moved and layed flat in front of rocks already there.

The red ? remove it completely at the moment. This will allow a better water movement under around the DW for your plants.

Once that is done you will be able to see all those rocks at the back witch might look better if a taller green plant.

Keith:wave::wave:
 
The DW is an excellent piece and must be shown to its best.

Thank you I like it as well.

I would prefer the Substrate to be higher another 10cm in the back RH corner at the moment everything is looking rather flat. Make sure across the front is an equal height for a better eye flow.

I will be adding substrate throughout the mid and background at the time of planting and will level of the front as well.

Otherwise the slight grade or "rather flat" area is going to be planted with different carpet species varieing in size. I'm trying to rely more on plant hight and structure to create the triangle shape. I just wanted to keep as much water volume as possible while achieving a good shape.

Your rocks have plenty of character and if not careful they will dominate your Aquascape I would have prefered a brown colour.

I'd ask you to keep in mind the tank will be heavily planted and a lot of what you see of the rocks will be behind the ground plants and epiphytes.

This is my first aquascape so I know mistakes will be made.

Thank for your feedback.
 
James
If it's going to be heavily planted and the rocks will be hidden. If not removed this will restrict the water movement which is most important in a heavily planted tank also, another important feature the rocks are taking up water space.
This is my first aquascape so I know mistakes will be made.
We all have been there and, done that what I am doing is helping you to have better Aquascape and maybe stop any concerns along the way.

Keith:wave::wave:
 
We all have been there and, done that what I am doing is helping you to have better Aquascape and maybe stop any concerns along the way.
@Keith GH :stop: your advice is not falling on deaf ears! I joined this group to learn and understand the art of Aquascaping. Please don't take my resistance as a disregard of your feedback. I have a vision for this scape and would like to stay as true to it as possible.

I have removed some of the smaller rocks that will be covered up by the foreground plants and leveled off the substrate in the front of the scape as you so kindly took the time to suggest. I'm hoping flow is not going to be too much of an issue. My pump is around 9.5 times turnover per hour and the out flow is a dual jet system that has a strong concentrated stream. Also I am installing an inline Atomic diffuser.

I also raised the light on the right hand side to widen the focus which has increased the mol count around the lg DW.

I would not have asked for everyone's thoughts if I didn't want to hear them so keep em coming.

More pics to come this week. Plants should arrive in two days :D
 
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