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Critique my hardscape any thoughts?

akwarium

Member
Joined
20 Feb 2010
Messages
219
Location
Haskerhorne, Netherlands
IMG_1092.JPG

I'm not happy with some of the wood, so any suggestions from you guys?
 
Looking good.

What I would do (not saying mine is the only way)

- experiment with adding 1 or 2 further uprights. Think about the rule of thirds not one in the middle of the tank (or plant on the upright at the third focal point),

- remove sand from behind the stones and replace with soil. Plant in that and leave front of stones open cosmetic sand, a fine layer.

I think it’ll look really smart :)
 
I agree option 2. The wood looks more natural around the rock.

The wood looks like really nice old roots. My eye is drawn to the central branch. Looks like a point where two branches grew together. It has what bonsai people call, negative taper. Not necessarily bad but certainly is a high focal point.

The negative taper may disappear if moss grows out like so:

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I wonder if you could find another piece to represent the bit that would have joined:

adb38e5c4603eb6cdb72c083d7d31460.jpg


Sorry for drawing on your scape! Looking forward to seeing it planted. T


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
akwarium

You have the makings of a good simple but interesting planted aquascape.
Here are a few points for you to think about before you go any further

My first step would be strip it all down and replace all the sand with a quality plant substrate other than look far better you will have a very good base to grow all your plants. A little slope to the front might help as well as it's very flat at the moment, making sure its the same depth across the front for a better natural eye flow.

The green lines I would leave enough space to grow low plants between the rocks, Using the same foreground plants where possible.

Other than the twiggy pieces of DW you have no height, tall plants at the rear of the tank would work wonders.

Red X remove those two white stones reason, they look completely out of place plus and are a major distraction.

Akw%203.19%20_edited-1.jpg


Keith:wave::wave:
 
I think that adding a few more branches will be nice, and my suggestion remove a little bit from the send in the front, it will be much better.
Keep it up and good luck
 
@Kezzab & @Marc Jackson thnx, I'll go for option 2.

@Siege Underneath the sand there is a layer of peat, bentonite and cycled glafoam for the plants to grow in. I personally don't fancy the look of AquaSoil, although behind the rocks it might become completely overgrown...
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@TBRO I pressed the central peace of wood a bit deeper into the substrate, it is still a bit high as focal point but I will try to make the point where most of the wood comes together the main focal point by placing the lily there. Thnx for the drawings! I love the aged look of this DW not sure if I want to cover it with moss...

@Keith GH You're right, the white rocks really stick out to much. Will collect some other pebbles. I have some nice tall P. perfoliatus for in the background.

@The Scaper’s Scene some more branches might look good, but I only have those six, bought them a decade ago in Singapore....
 
akwarium



My first step would be strip it all down and replace all the sand with a quality plant substrate other than look far better you will have a very good base to grow all your plants. A little slope to the front might help as well as it's very flat at the moment, making sure its the same depth across the front for a better natural eye flow.

Keith:wave::wave:

Got to agree with Keith, that type of sand what looks like kids silica sand will turn anaerobic very quickly. Perhaps swap it for a large grain size.
 
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