• You are viewing the forum as a Guest, please login (you can use your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Microsoft account to login) or register using this link: Log in or Sign Up

300l build layout

colmans

Member
Joined
8 Oct 2019
Messages
65
Location
nottingham
Hey folks,

I'm looking to build out my first scape (just waiting on the tank! ). I've laid out the hardscape as per below so welcome any comments/feedback. One thing I'm not too sure about is the end of the big root that stands out in the foreground. It's the only way I could position this at the moment to get everything else in place.

Any thoughts or suggestions! I can't get a decent perspective with the background paper but the wood main intersection is a 1/3rd from the right and the 3rd branch to the left is actually angled a lot more towards the front. Cheers Johnny
upload_2019-10-30_8-58-42.png
 
Johnny

So far it looks very promising as its extremely difficult to see the full effect unless its in a tank with substrate.

At the moment my only concern is the two rocks under the long DW section front LH end. I would leave them out reason being they are a distraction at the moment.

Keith:wave::greenfinger:
 
Thanks Keith,

That last rock in particular does look to be out on a limb! I just dropped ot there so there wasn't too much of an arch but that should be taken up by some carpets anyway. I'll try the mock up again when the tank finally arrives .

Cheers

Johnny
 
So the tank is here :). I'm currently torn between full soil and running a sanded area 2/3rds the way across to the right. Any thoughts appreciated! How do people keep a clean demarcation between the sand and soil when there's no rocks or wood to do this?
 
Last edited:
So the tank is here :). I'm currently torn between full soil and running a sanded area 2/3rds the way across to the right. Any thoughts appreciated! How do people keep a clean demarcation between the sand and soil when there's no rocks or wood to do this?
Its tricky. Some folk cut up bits of plastic, like milk bottles, to create a barrier that is just below the surface.
K
 
@colmans this looks great, let alone for a first scape :clap:

I would probably try and place a few stones on the wood before flooding though as it will want to float and you dont want to undo your hard work even if glued, nothing worse than undoing all of your hard work

What ideas do you have for planting?
 
Thanks Kalum :). I've spent a LOT of hours researching and looking at other ideas which has really helped. Also waiting 5 weeks for the tank to be made helped give me more time without rushing in to the layout. In terms of planting the plan was to keep it relatively simple as I do want to keep some of the structure of the wood visible. So my thoughts were mini hair grass in the front right and back left. Smaller Anubias interspersed around the edge of the shore line. Mid ground crypts, moss for the branches, trident fern back right on the edge of the wood and maybe some stems back right, some red Buce mixed in the midground as well. I'm keen to leave an open space between the 2 main right hand branches to create a bit of a focal point there as well. Hopefully no super difficult plants to start with on this first attempt!! It also feels as if it would look good with a lot of moss covering as well though :). What would others do? :)

Cheers

Johnny
 
Plans sound great @colmans and that research has obviously paid off as that's a solid plan of attack

If you want to keep as clean a line as possible between the sand and soil then it might be an idea to either heavily plant along the line of it (say hairgrass) or to use something like gravel for say 5cm of the join and the top 1cm or so with soil beneath (you can still plant through it) to stop it washing over, as your sand is sloping down gravity will make the higher soil want to make it's way onto the sand and can be a pain when you spend half your maintenance getting rid of the tiny black soil balls from it...

Definitely go for a fair amount of background stems as it'll help with algae from the start since everything else is slow growers, would be worth waiting for a month or 2 before adding buce as it can be a sensitive soul in a new and unsettled tank, anubias however is pretty much indestructible in comparison
 
Thanks Kalum, the plan was to not plant too heavily directly along the line as I didn't want it to look harsh and like a garden path!. I like the idea of the the gravel and then also some very light gravel on the edge of the sand as well to create the transition. I'm still waiting for some CO2 and a spare weekend to get the plants and water in! I'm enjoying just the setting up though at the moment which is cool. I was actually looking at the Pridibio relief gravel as that looked relatively muted and big enough to create a transition on the sand.

Cheers

Johnny
 
Ok, so I've got a couple of filters to add in. Where would people put the inflows/outflows? I was thinking back right and front left but then though that most of the plants are going to be along the back so maybe better to put them back right and back left but then the front may be too dead from circulation! Any thoughts at all?
 
First plants finally put into the tank this week :). I feel I need to swap a couple around to get the leaf sizing balance a bit more. Hopefully getting the CO2 hooked up tomorrow :). It's been a lot of planning but it's damn good fun! Any thoughts on what you might add from a plant perspective? I've got a couple of smaller area in between the rocks along from the fissidens that still need to be filled.

Cheers

Johnny

upload_2019-12-14_17-47-23.png
 
Yep! I've got a bunch of stems in at the back right and behind middle vertical wood. But yep, maybe I should add a bunch more as you say. For the floating plants what would you recommend? I've got a couple of Biomaster 600s so there's quite a bit of flow kicking around the surface.

Cheers

Johnny
 
Yep! I've got a bunch of stems in at the back right and behind middle vertical wood. But yep, maybe I should add a bunch more as you say. For the floating plants what would you recommend? I've got a couple of Biomaster 600s so there's quite a bit of flow kicking around the surface.

Cheers

Johnny
I like salvinia auriculata as the roots doesn't get too long. I will float around with the surface current, which can be a bit annoying but you can always remove them when your tank is more mature and has more active growth and higher plant biomass.
 
Back
Top