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Critique my hardscape Advice on what to do next

Furgan

Member
Joined
10 Jul 2017
Messages
115
Location
Scotland
Any advice would be appreciated.
IMG_6409.JPG

What I have
180L cube 53/53/56cm
Carpet is Eleocharis Acicularis dry start method, just planted 30th Nov
Substrate ADA amazonia with power sand under
Led Interpret triple led
Co2

What I'm planning next
Wood I'm planning to have lots of subwassertang on

What I'm need help with
bottom parts of wood could have bucaphalandra around or trident fern
(red plants) Ludwigia palustris or ludwigia repens rubin in back right hand corner?
also been thinking of Bacopa carolinians towards the back middle

I was trying to add some rock work to the back right behind the wood, I had lots of granite but couldn't seem to make it work, i also tried with the rocks to make a mountain behind the wood but again couldn't get it right, I can still add something here if anyone has any suggestions I have enough spare soil to build this up. or I could just plant with the above plants.

Extra Questions
Do you think its worth running a air stone when co2 is off?

What ill stock
looking to stock with yellow KK shrimp
 

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Furgan
I was trying to add some rock work to the back right behind the wood, I had lots of granite but couldn't seem to make it work, i also tried with the rocks to make a mountain behind the wood but again couldn't get it right, I can still add something here if anyone has any suggestions I have enough spare soil to build this up. or I could just plant with the above plants.

Its too late now, it would have been far better if you started of with a Mock Tank and getting your substrate levels (using sand) and all your hardscape perfect first.

All I can say now is use this tank as a big learning curve.

Keith:wave::wave:
 
I Really miss some rocks under the root, it looks too artificial and prepared, but also say, when the carpeting was done it looks too much different :pompus:

Two or three little rocks and you have the perfect one:snaphappy:
 
Hi Furgan

I would add some nice rocks around the driftwood base creating a bank in the right back corner that would enhance perspective. Red stems growing there at the back, Anubias or ferns in the wood and some transition plants scattered randomly in your carpet (and becoming denser around the driftwood) would also help to achieve something more natural.
You can use an air stone when CO2 is off, just remember that you won't be really diffusing o2 as you do with CO2. It is more related to the fact that water surface is disturbed by bubbling... I've done this when traveling for long and when I could not raise the pipes, but of course raising Lilly pipes every night is much more effective (more disturbance) for degassing

Jordi
 
Furgan


Its too late now, it would have been far better if you started of with a Mock Tank and getting your substrate levels (using sand) and all your hardscape perfect first.

All I can say now is use this tank as a big learning curve.

Keith:wave::wave:
I did and posted on here but no one responded.

The DSM will take 4-6 weeks to settle in so there is still time to play around with the wood and rocks. I still have the mock tank, but struggling to find a set up with rocks that I liked.

The base substrate is where i want it and I can fill in more at the back where there is gaps as I have more soil left (just for this)
 
Hi Furgan

I would add some nice rocks around the driftwood base creating a bank in the right back corner that would enhance perspective. Red stems growing there at the back, Anubias or ferns in the wood and some transition plants scattered randomly in your carpet (and becoming denser around the driftwood) would also help to achieve something more natural.
You can use an air stone when CO2 is off, just remember that you won't be really diffusing o2 as you do with CO2. It is more related to the fact that water surface is disturbed by bubbling... I've done this when traveling for long and when I could not raise the pipes, but of course raising Lilly pipes every night is much more effective (more disturbance) for degassing

Jordi
Thanks Jordi, I might lug my wooden test tank and the spider wood over to my local fish shop and see if I can play with some of their rocks to see if I can get something nice.
 
Furgan
I just checked the date you posted it and, I was not on the computer very long that day at all.

I don't think those rocks will work with your DW as they are not what you would call interesting rocks with character.

Personally I believe the Mock Tank is a must for all beginners. I would have advised you to use some sand as a Substrate and get that perfect first preferably sloping from the back LH corner to see how it looks.

Another alternative is this method.
36795960035_cdf30ae9f0_b.jpg

Tim's DW is built up using rocks to get the height.

Keith:wave::wave:
 
Last edited:
Ok I found a hardscape layout I’m liking
 

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Furgan

That is a massive improvement. It does not look like you have many places you place your plants.

I just checked the date you posted it and, I was not on the computer very long that day at all

I was not on my computer for a few days then.

Keith:wave::wave:
 
I’m a relative beginner too, but thought I’d share some ideas that helped me with my first tank when striving for a more natural look.

The rocks I think complement the wood nicely in colouring terms. I personally like the subtle and natural combination of colours, not too much contrast but enough for things to catch the eye and lead it around the tank.

The left ‘face’ of the rock pile is a bit too vertical for my liking: it looks more like a man-made stone wall than a natural scree-look that you might see in nature. On a river bed, the rocks would either be smooth, rounded and water-worn rocks through the action of the water, or they would be rocks that have fallen into the water in say a mountain setting or close to a bank of some sort. Rock would not fall into such a square arrangement, and hence it doesn’t have that natural look. I’d suggest sightly fewer rocks, and also putting some of the rocks intertwined with the wood, as one of the posts above shows. Perhaps have a few smaller rocks (ie smash up one or two of your rocks) randomly placed to the left and in the middle ground? The rocks are all quite similar size, which again looks more ‘designed’ than natural.

I found that once my tank has water in it, the magnification effect of the water exaggerates any gradients in the substrate. So even a slight gradient (eg sloping back left to front right) gives a very pleasing 3D effect that emphasises/helps the depth perception. You could achieve this by adding some more soil back left, and sloping it gently. You’ll need to think how to blend the raised soil and rocks so that they look natural.

To my way of thinking, the best way to get a natural look is to have some inspiration from nature, and to understand how the natural processes from geology and geography shape a landscape or river bed. Having a specific place, or a mood/emotion that you have felt whilst in nature, really helps to shape the vision. So for example, with my tank my inspiration was a mountain river bed in China where my White Cloud Mountain Minnows come from. I set out to create something that resembled a bit of the river close to the river bank, perhaps on a corner where the river turns. Having a specific location in mind helps a lot: you can think about the forces of nature acting on such a location, and look at photos of river beds or other nature scapes for ideas. You can then also imagine the setting for your 3D slice of the scene you are creating, and this helps imagine why things might look ‘this way’ or ‘that way’ as a result of the wider scene that you are invoking with your piece.

The other way to think about this is of course the principles of aquascaping that Amano developed, themselves derived from Zen gardening/landscaping ideas as well as his understanding of photography/videography. There are plenty of blog posts on aquascaping principles, placement of rocks etc. A simple principle in Zen gardens is that nothing should be symmetrical for example, as this shouts man-made rather than natural. Also planting tends to be done in odd numbers in Zen gardens, not even numbers. What I like about Zen design is that it is a perfected form of nature: so it looks natural by following aesthetic principles borrowed from nature, but it’s also more perfect than real nature. For example, no plant grows 100% perfect leaves: some go yellow, some dry up, etc. But a well maintained Zen garden is perfect. This only works and looks natural because of the aesthetic principles followed: you get the feeling of nature, whilst enjoying the perfection.

I agree with others that a mock tank helps a lot, especially to get the placement right of the rocks, wood and substrate. In mine, I wanted to build levels of substrate and so experimentation taught me I had to use rocks to hold the substrate in place at different levels and this informed the final layout of the rocks.

Good luck, look forward to seeing how this progresses.
 
Update,

Here is the new plants added to the corner, and milkshake/yougart moss applied. Now the wait.
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Great improvement! Some stem plants in the back to hide the corners might be something to consider.. or some type of "layering" effect with different plants.
 
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