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This guide has some of the information you are looking for :) Pruning - A general guide to plant maintenance | UK Aquatic Plant Society

Or, something I've done in the past is use a garden potting/gravel tray like this: Stewart Gravel Tray Black at wilko.com Great for playing with rock placement like so:

Have a read up on things like Golden ratios. It's all about getting a good balance between shapes and not causing too much "tension" (when shapes conflict with each other and just look odd). Generally, if you can look at it and it doesn't feel awkward then you're on the right track :)

I forget where abouts you are Faizal. No one in your local area into the same thing? If not, try and get locals interested :) Grass roots and all that.

Definitely echo what Ian says. Imitate until you feel comfortable enough to try your own style. Also, why not arrange a UKAPS mini meet? It's great fun having a bunch of UKAPS types over and sharing a few beers while playing with sticks and stones :D I seem to remember spending hours...

Looks good John. Any details about your setup? Lighting/CO2/Ferts/Substrates etc?

Love these Mark :)

Congrats James! Cracking setup :)

Unfortunately it's most likely natural decay. I have some really nice bits of redmoor that are going the same way. I'm trying to leave them alone so they don't make a mess!

It was one of my favourites in the contest, well done! :)

It's worth mentioning that Octopus' tanks are quite complex. He's posted a number of jorunals for some of them over on Planted Tank and Aquascaping world. Some of them are deceptively small! Decide what sort of style you like - rocks, wood, jungle etc etc and then try to find some...

That's an impressive amount of snow!

I think with the size of the rocks and wood compared to the depth of the tank, I'd do as NRY suggests. You could make quite a nice mound with that hardscape, with plants such as ferns etc poking out. Maybe off centre to the left or right, and plant behind it with stems, and something shorter...

Great work guys! Is it just me that finds it weird to see Huey from the Fun Lovin' Criminals doing a pet show? :lol:

Great start Albert :) When the plants fill in around the wood it will look a lot more natural. I'd be tempted to group the rocks on the left closer together, they look a little un natural at the moment. That being said, things will come together when the plants fill in. What are you planting?

Re: Dry start: my 11gal nano (Title was: Hardscaping my 2nd Looking great as always Johnny :) How are the shrimp doing? Do they breed much?

Only issue with buying online is that you aren't able to pic out individual pieces, and match them up. You don't get to fondle it first! :lol: Of course, if you're good at describing what you want it's less of an issue :)

It's good sometimes, as you can sit and look at it from the sofa, and then play about with the hardscape a bit more :lol: Just don't over egg the pudding! :) Knowing when to stop fiddling with a scape is something I'm trying to get to grips with.

I think it looks fine! The side shot looks way better than the front shot for some reason. I think the front shot you don't get a sense depth? Might be the depth of the substrate at the front but not sure :) Either way, it's looking great :)

That's a great start mate :) I think I'm with James on the left rock. It looks a little too triangular. Obviously, as you say, it'll depend on how you plant it :)

£9.99 each piece :| Still, that's not as much as buying it from shops I guess.

It's difficult to tell from the photo, but I suspect that you will struggle with the depth to fit both H. Polysperma and Rotala Sp. at the back. Especially around the rocks on the left. H. Polysperma has quite long leaves also, so may look out of scale. How about something like Bacopa...

Great stuff! Got a real jungle going on there, looks ace :)

You will need to soak for a few days in a bucket of water/your aquarium. Some wood is dense and heavy enough to sink straight away, but not always :)

Welcome to the forums Stormy. Great looking site you've got there! Best of luck :)

Lava rock can be bought at most supermarkets... Just check out the barbeque coals section ;) You should research if it's treated with any chemicals (standard disclaimer!) but I wouldn't of thought so...

Welcome Emma! I can't really see from the photos what the rock is. It sort of looks quite rough, like lava rock, but I can't be sure. Going by the title "Rives volcaniques" it could be volcanic rock of some sort (lava rock). Bigger image here: http://www.aquagora.fr/CAPA2009/PHOTOS/ ...

Re: Help with Hardscape placement. Hi Jon. It's great to play about with hardscape! I haven't had the chance to muck about with sticks and stones for a while :lol: I quite like scape 3 and 4, but my preference would be 3. A tip for the orange striped stones would be trying to align the...

Congrats George and everyone else who entered! Just waiting for it to load up at the moment :)

I love how the stones have just got a slight tinge of algae. It really helps bring it to life :) What's the tune you've used on the video George?

Those last few shots are great Ad. I'd be a little concerned the rocks ar the front might get lost in any foreground plant, if you're going down that route, but it looks fantastic :)

Re: A different Iwagumi! I really like that George! It seems weird to say that, when there's no plants, but it works well :) I can imagine the rocks looking more aged with the odd bit of algae on them when the scape has aged a bit more :mrgreen:

Hi Ewan. The site looks fantastic! I like the concept of users being able to rate their favourite scapes, but the fact that the user can have a page dedicated, with a coherent URL is something I've not really seen on other aquascaping sites. Congrats on a great website :clap: :thumbup:

I went with 2, though I suspect it'd get overgrown pretty quick. I reckon a nice compact lawn of HC and nothing more :)

Great stuff Tom :) I'm adding my name to the list, as I think I need just a few small branches :angel: List for next batch: SuperColey1 (post) Piemonster (post) MasterMoriarty Garuf (post) xweeqtx (post) Rawr (post) hunter001 StuWorrall lincsflier aaronnorth afroturf (post) SteveUK (collect...

I'm not sure Paul. Maybe in the short term but I wouldn't like to say for definite!

You could drill a hole in the base of each piece (that would be hidden) and tie wrap it to a piece of slate. The slate will lie under the substate hidden and hold the redmoor down.

I guess it's less dense compared to redmoor. Redmoor is usually dry inside if I snap a chunk off a large piece. Seems to only absorb water to a few millimeters.

Don't use ivy! I know Andy Mac used some once, not knowing it was Ivy, and had a lot of fish deaths :(

I like it mate :) I'd be tempted to fiddle with the left side a little. Those two rocks with the "crack" between them is good, but might benefit from a little more playing about :) Always good to see your inspiration next to what you've come up with :)

It might be in the uploading of the image mate. Jpeg files by their very nature are compressed, and therefor have lost some image detail. If you further reduce the quality then you'll lose even more detail. It's all about getting the best quality, yet a file size that's not too large for...

Looking great Jonny! Fingers crossed!

Great shots guys :) I don't think I've got any, but I'll have a dig about... Ah, the good ol' flikr account - Taken in the middle of Wales last year:

Check out the Inspiration thread for some links to various sites. Some have Amano scapes :) If you can get hold of his Nature Aquarium World books, they're fantastic :) viewtopic.php?f=21&t=5741

Some great pieces left!

It might be possible to emulate it... leaf litter and all :)

Or, just wait till you've bagged your lot of wood, and then sort it out from there! ;)

It might be worth saving your shipping/collection requirements untill you've got your manzi reserved :) That way it'll be easier to collate shipping info, instead of hunting through this thread :) What I'll do though is edit the list of people and add a note to those who have already chosen...

Re: Hardscaping: my second try Not sure, there are lots! Probably something like weeping moss, christmas moss, peacock moss, java moss etc etc... All have a different way of growing, but all respond well to being trimmed. They thicken up and look marvelous :) You *have* to trim them...

Re: Hardscaping: my second try Looks great John! I'd agree with Mark about the P. helferi. You can always spread them as they grow and you trim them :)

Re: Hardscaping: my second try Here's an example of what I mean. This is one of George's scapes called "Blyxa Hills": It's got a great triangle composition running right to left. You could try to create something similar (with different plants, and with the wood too) :)

Re: Hardscaping: my second try I'd stick with the same types of rocks. It's hard to get two different types of rock to look right together, unless in a massive tank and you can do some fancy transition between the two. Any chance of a full frontal of the tank? It's better to get an idea for...

Re: Hardscaping: my second try Wenditii might get a little big, but I'm not too sure to be honest. Your area for R Wallichii might be a bit small too, but you'll know for definate when you plant it up :) I'd be tempted to cram a bit of java fern into the crack between those two rocks on the...

Much appreciated Tony! You're really doing the society a service by organising this :)

Re: Hardscaping: my second try Yeah, I'd agree with Sam :) I'd also just blend your rocks into your substrate a little, so they look a little less placed, and more like they've been there for thousands of years :) Just push them into the substrate a little, and make sure it covers any edges...

Collected from Dan's please :)

Re: Advice my hardscape please You could bank up your substrate behind the stones, giving you a bit more of a sense of depth, and might look interesting :)

Ooh. I might have a stab this year. I may actually have one or two tanks ready?! :mrgreen:

Schweet! Removed you from the list mate :)

Awesome :D I assume shipping is approx 6 weeks by surface?

You could use activated carbon in your filter which should help remove the tanins from the water :)

I think it might be more a case of will it sink. I've used sumatra wood I've bought from an local fish shop which I've rinsed with boiling water and used straight away. Still got it in a tank now and never had any ill effects. Boiling it should kill of anything too nasty and maybe get rid of...

I have a couple of medium pieces. Initially they did leech a little tanin, but not a massive amount. They pretty much sank from the off :)

Hey Miller, welcome to the forum! :) I like the second, though that rock on the right isn't really doing it for me personally. It's a bit too square :) Got any slimmer pieces you could try intead? Great start! Edit - I meant to say I liked the second photo :)

I seem to remember having this conversation on another forum a few years back, but specifically about horns. I seem to remember that horns can be a problem, but not sure about skulls. I assume there might be some sort of reaction with CO2 being added to the tank? (like when adding certain...

Sounds interesting mate :) Can't wait for the re-scape journal!

Good to see you again mate! Hope all is well :) That's a really nice lump of windelov mate! Sounds like a good plan, though I'm not sure about vallis all along the back. Maybe at the back left, and grade everything down to the right, giving a nice triangle composition?

Thomas McMillan: (not sure how many) branchy bits, 20-40cm. Tonser: lots of bits up to around 70cm (happy to help with shipping if needed). Steve Smith: tiny to medium 5 - 50cm :)

How about getting hold of a large batch of manzanite to sell to raise funds for the society at the Festival of Fishkeeping?

Perhaps to keep costs down, if no ones in a big rush shipping via surface mail (takes about 4 - 6 weeks I believe) might be a good way to cut the postage costs.

I'd be interested too :) What are we suggesting here, shove loads into a big box and combine shipping or lots of smaller boxes?

Quick question Dave... I notice the glassware you're using looks like the ones regularly seen on eBay. I've been looking for 2 sets for my 2x ex1200 setup and had discounted these as I didn't like the look of the outlet. How do you find them? Do you get a good flow pattern from them? Do you...

I wonder what a sort of bursting open style wood scape would look like. What I mean is, if you positioned some nice redmoor style wood so that it was bursting forwards and out, from the rear/corner of the tank. You could have a few central/off centre plants and maybe long vallis/cyprus...

Hey guys. Remembered to upload a better hi-res photo :) The rock on the right has been moved a tiny amount to the right and opened the gap between it and the middle rock by maybe 1cm at most. Just means I can plant into that bit a little easier... I've started an official journal now :)...

Thanks for all the input guys :) It's weird to think I wasn't aiming for a 'gumi scape originally. I think I'm starting to get an grip on a planting scheme. I've changed my TGM plant order to include 4 pots of HC. Not sure it's going to be enough, but I have a little more floating in my...

Hmn, I must admit, I do agree with you on the plants. I'm in a bit of a sticky situation though. I might need to grovel to TGM and change my plant order :oops: So how does this sound? HC carpet Downoi around the rocks Some selective hair grass placement mid-back ground I'd really like to...

Snapped a crappy shot on the phone:

I think I've cracked it now. I'm pretty happy with how it looks. Added a second bag of AS, it must be about 6" deep in the back right corner! I might mine some out some day and pad it with some sand, cheap skate that I am :p Anyhow, I've tweaked the left rock in a smidge, and raised it...

Planting is gonna be - Rotala sp. Green (by the tonne!) Rotala "Nanjenshen" Blyxa Japonica P. Helferi E. Acicularis Also, a couple of focus plants, if TGM get them in stock :)

Thanks Matt :) I'm trying to get a little continuity with the white streaks in the rocks, specially on the left and mid-front rocks. It's a shame the two at the back didn't have any of the white veins in them too, but I don't think it's too noticeable :)

Thanks Tony :) Believe it or not, that's grease proof paper on the back. It's a bit tatty now so I was gonna remove it. Good idea on the window frosting :) I've thought about tracing paper in the past, to get away from the orangey look, but then I can't help it with the nasty orange wall in...

Thanks Mark :) Nice to get positive comments from someone who's mastering the rock layouts! Here's a side angle: It'll all be a bit better merged with the substrate when I get the AS spread about tonight. Then a weekend of planting!

Thanks for the suggestions guys :) I think I've settled on a layout. After a few hours draining and playing about with sand and stones, this is what I came up with: I then tweaked it a little, moving the little stone in the foreground and adding to the left rock and the one next to it...

Thanks for all the rock appreciation ;) Most were hand picked at TGM, with a smaller tank in mind, and the others were bought from AE blindly (Rich did a great job of picking out rocks that I tried to describe via my online order). Theres no barrier in there, just started with the rocks in...

Thanks mate :) I will hopefully have these available at the weekend, depending on circumstances: Again, no huge feature stone, but some more to choose from :) I'll hopefully have my AS tomorrow giving me a weekend of playing :) heres a bit of a side angle if it helps:

Well, this is where I'd got too, but should give you an idea for the stone I'm playing about with... Like I say, not enough depth... (Oh, the water isn't murky, it's the backing that hides the cables in the background ;))

Playing about with this at the moment, and tried one layout, which isn't working for me. I'm currently waiting on a bag of AS from TGM (should be with me tomorrow) as I didn't have enough. I'm scaping with Seiryu stone, but I have a limited amount. Sadly, no big chunks. Might be aquiring...

Stunning rock work Dave! Love it! What sand is that?

Soaking them for some weeks does work. With redmoor the soaking takes longer as it's such a dense wood. I have some smaller pieces which stay put after being soaked for some time :)

Have a search on ebay for "red moor". I just found the seller Last-trading-post selling some reasonable sized bits for a reasonable price :)

If you're quick, this has a 1hr 40 mins left: ebay listing 140281420165 Not a bad price for the size of it...

My LFS sells it, but it's not that cheap either. They sell it by weight, but I think it's comparable to AE/TGM to be honest. Obviously theres no shipping involved though...

You may also need to smash them up a little.

2 weeks now isn't it Graeme?

If you could get me some granite cubes that are about 2cm cubed I'd be your best friend for a while :lol: I've had something in mind for about 6 months, but can't really find what I'm looking for...

Can't wait to see pics Graeme :) How's the Iwagumi tank comming along since it was torn down last month?

Can't make it mate? Bummer :(

Here's a nice inspirational montage of photos from someone's visit to the ADA gallery: http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=9jNTMAf8KTI Loving the classical version of "Nothing else matters" by metallica! 7mins 36 long!

You might be able to get your new LFS to try and get it from them?

Maybe Thomas was refering to how popular they are. Iwagumi's are very popular and I guess you see a lot of them (or attempts). Personally I love them :) If they are done right of course. Hope my comments earlier didn't put you off Garuf :) What you have planned will look ace if you do go...