60cm "quemador lenta"...tank finished.

[Mark Evans]

Re: 60cm "quemador lenta" overcoming diatoms

Cheer ben

The last high res shot, i promise

So, on the wood, trim this hard yes?

What about the stuff on the ground. I guess i want undulations to create depth and texture, so i could treat this like a HC lawn maybe?

all advice on moss is most welcome

 

[B7fec]

Re: 60cm "quemador lenta" overcoming diatoms

Mark.....That shot is brilliant! just enlarged it on my mac screen and booooooom!! It comes to life, pure genius!

 

[Mark Evans]

Re: 60cm "quemador lenta" overcoming diatoms

Mark.....That shot is brilliant! just enlarged it on my mac screen and booooooom!! It comes to life, pure genius!

and i owe about 80% of it to you

I think sometimes, a higher res shot can show off a tank better than a smaller one. Still, at 4 weeks old, there's some way to go, and this was taken with just 1 light.

As the layout goes, i'm surprised how it looks. The plans for the 4 footer are looking really promising ...cant wait.

I can also spot flaws in the layout, but I'll address those soon...c heferi back left, needs to go.or moved to the middle.

 

[Antoni]

Re: 60cm "quemador lenta" overcoming diatoms

lol I couldnt resist, will put this on the desktop

Great shot, I cant even imagine what it would be with 2 or three flashes... and f11. Have you got gels, I think its worth trying for color effects on the surface?!

The moss looks great! The helferi would looke better in the middle IMO!

 

[Piece-of-fish]

Re: 60cm "quemador lenta" overcoming diatoms

Mamma mia!!!
Just clicked on the image.........................

 

[Tony Swinney]

Re: 60cm "quemador lenta" overcoming diatoms

Beautiful pic Mark. Whilst I know you consider this a test tank, I'm sure many of us would be more than happy to have it in our lounges. I think the fact that plants aren't positioned where you might expect them to be in an aquascape gives it a refreshingly natural look - that could be tricky to emulate in your 120cm !

Perhaps the secret is to limit yourself to 30mins positioning and planting time, so as not to over think it !

Tony

 

[George Farmer]

Re: 60cm "quemador lenta" overcoming diatoms

Looking very nice now, indeed. The high-res does the 'scape and your expensive gear more justice too...

I agree the C. helferi isn't adding much to the scape now. The layout is becoming dominated by the more rustic and complex textures of the moss, Lilaeopsis and crypts. The helferi with it super-bright green and smooth needle-like texture is too much of a contrast IMO. Moving it to the centre will help - it won't be so obvious hidden behind the wood mass.

Have you considered something like Juncus repens as a background?

As for fish - I like the x-ray tetras. Most small tetras would look good in here. There's a lot going on so you're not really limited like you are with say a minimal iwagumi. Maybe some Embers to add a dash of colour.

 

[Mark Evans]

Re: 60cm "quemador lenta" overcoming diatoms

lol I couldnt resist, will put this on the desktop

No probs mate

Mamma mia!!!
Just clicked on the image.........................

It's a bit different to last week Ed

that could be tricky to emulate in your 120cm !

Perhaps the secret is to limit yourself to 30mins positioning and planting time, so as not to over think it !

With the 120, I'd aim for more nooks and crannies, not so much a straight line along the front. Limited plant choice to. With the planting, and even in this tank, I've intentionally tried not to think about it too much. Too much knowledge can be a dangerous thing, and can turn creativeness into something 'stale'

Of course, placing mid,fore and background plants is a no brainer. It's the 'left to right' positioning i wanted to be random with.

It's not worked fully, but it gives me insight for future tanks.

I agree the C. helferi isn't adding much to the scape now. The layout is becoming dominated by the more rustic and complex textures of the moss, Lilaeopsis and crypts. The helferi with it super-bright green and smooth needle-like texture is too much of a contrast IMO. Moving it to the centre will help - it won't be so obvious hidden behind the wood mass.

What i'm going to do George, is remove the left side C Heferi. The right bunch can stay temporarily, until the recently trimmed stems grow back. If they work together, the right side C Helferi can stay.

The palaustrus red, fits with the tank, with larger than average leaves and dark, pinky colour tones.

Thanks guys for the input

 

[Piece-of-fish]

Re: 60cm "quemador lenta" overcoming diatoms

I like both p.helferi bunches at this point. Adds originality. Mb in the future it wont be that good but now i think it looks great.

 

[Dan Crawford]

Re: 60cm "quemador lenta" overcoming diatoms

Good lord, that's some serious growth since last week mate, nice work!

 

[John Starkey]

Re: 60cm "quemador lenta" overcoming diatoms

Coming along nicely Mark,cant help thinking some sort of red leafed plant would help in there somewhere,

regards,
john.

 

[Mark Evans]

Re: 60cm "quemador lenta" overcoming diatoms

Coming along nicely Mark,cant help thinking some sort of red leafed plant would help in there somewhere,

cheers John. There's a small amount of ludwigia palaustrus red in the back mate, it's recovering from a trim

Good lord, that's some serious growth since last week mate, nice work!

Cheers Dan. Such a massive change in a week. In all honesty, when juri said he was coming with Edis, and Dan was coming over, i was really embarrassed by the way the tank looked. Of course it's only young, but still...

I like both p.helferi bunches at this point. Adds originality. Mb in the future it wont be that good but now i think it looks great.

I've just taken some more shots today, thinking much more about the lighting etc...and actually, the C helferi kinda looks OK both sides. I guess there's no right or wrong.

 

[George Farmer]

Re: 60cm "quemador lenta" overcoming diatoms

Hey Mark,

How about some of this?

http://www.tropica.com/plants/plantdesc ... x?pid=037C

A bit different. Awesome texture.

 

[Mark Evans]

Re: 60cm "quemador lenta" overcoming diatoms

Thats a stunner George. i've seen it before, but never tried it. could look awesome.

I'm may drop aquajardin a line.

thanks George

 

[Mark Evans]

Re: 60cm "quemador lenta" overcoming diatoms

A bit different. Awesome texture.

What I'll do, is wait for the recovery of the ludwigia, to see how that looks.

You can see here, the new growth....the real small heads/crowns

I'll see how it looks when it fills this gap to the right. If it doesn't sit right I'll try that stem George.

 

[John Starkey]

Re: 60cm "quemador lenta" overcoming diatoms

Hey Mark,

How about some of this?

http://www.tropica.com/plants/plantdesc ... x?pid=037C

A bit different. Awesome texture.

I tried that plant when i had my 150cm,didn,t do that well but that was probably due to me being new to the planted scene,i am sure mark would do it justice,

regards,
john.

 

[Angus]

Re: 60cm "quemador lenta" overcoming diatoms

Amazing pictures mark, love the high res one!, more pics of the inhabitants would be nice though.

Regards, Gus.

 

[Ian Holdich]

Re: 60cm "quemador lenta" overcoming diatoms

The moss is looking really goo in this scape Mark. It really suits it. Great photography as always.

BTW its not that much of a slow burner!

 

[Mark Evans]

Re: 60cm "quemador lenta" overcoming diatoms

BTW its not that much of a slow burner!

It is slightly quicker than i thought it would be

The new japan hydracotle species is racing along now.

more pics of the inhabitants would be nice though.

I'll try for you mate.

 

[B7fec]

Re: 60cm "quemador lenta" overcoming diatoms

In this photo you can see the moss on the branched starting to reach up toward the light......in my tank to get the effect you liked, I simply kept trimming the these longer pieces of moss away, it enabled all the moss to grow healthily and gave it this awesome effect. It's really easy, especially for a scaper of your calibure