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330l rescape (sandy outcropping)

J

Jporter

Seedling
Joined
23 Mar 2011
Messages
13
Hi all,

Spent a few hours rescaping my hi-tech, heavily planted and high maintenance 330l to something less intensive and more manageable.
Due a lack of facilities to re-home the livestock whilst rescaping, the change was carried out in a 1/4 full tank which, as it involved a 90% substrate change, resulted in murky black water!

Hardscape and plants were arranged in near black conditions and the result below was achieved through imagination and guesswork. I don't think its too bad if I'm honest and quite pleased with the results!
Pictures were taken on my phone so probably not the best quality, apologies in advance!


Full tank shot:
tTnvRLZ.jpg

Closeup:
pkmfRAS.jpg

Some of the inhabitants:
2r9FdGU.jpg

Side profile:
A4fJd08.jpg

Baby ancistrus (my pair bred a few months ago)
6L5BVpo.jpg

Thank's for looking!
 
You're certainly a fan of A. crispus aren't you? 🙂 And quite rightly so; they compliment the hardscape perfectly. A beautiful scape, especially considering the circumstances it was constructed under.
 
Henry said:
You're certainly a fan of A. crispus aren't you? 🙂 And quite rightly so; they compliment the hardscape perfectly. A beautiful scape, especially considering the circumstances it was constructed under.
Click to expand...

Ha! Yes, I think sometimes it pays to have a single species as a central focus point for a scape. There's also a few sagitaria subulata around the base which should hopefully fill it out a bit in the next few weeks.

I may move some of the rocks around a little in next few days, wouldn't mind another large piece of branching wood to add to the pile either - but its darned expensive for what it is!
 
Have you considered replacing the S. subulata with a small Cryptocoryne species? My thinking is that the former will not fill out convincingly enough to create a transition between back/foreground. It also has a tendency to get quite tall after a while.
 
Henry said:
Have you considered replacing the S. subulata with a small Cryptocoryne species? My thinking is that the former will not fill out convincingly enough to create a transition between back/foreground. It also has a tendency to get quite tall after a while.
Click to expand...
I actually did but wasn't 100% certain which crypt to go for as there is such a huge variety to choose from. I kept s. subulata a few years ago in a low tech set up and it did indeed end up getting quite large, I'm hoping with the co2, ferts & light it should encourage it to stay relatively small. If you had to suggest a crypt what would you go for?

dw1305 said:
Hi all,

Very nice, I like A. crispus as well. This is a good time of year for "pick your own" wood, underneath Oaks in cornfield is a good start.

cheers Darrel
Click to expand...
That's a good idea actually, may take a trip down to the local forest at the weekend for a nosey. I'm assuming that sap-heavy trees such as conifers and the likes are a no-no?

Thanks for the replies 🙂
 
Hi all,
Jporter said:
sap-heavy trees such as conifers and the likes are a no-no?
Click to expand...
They aren't any good, unless they are long dead, and don't smell resinous. I've got some very old Douglas Fir roots that are good. Wind thrown conifer roots are OK as long as the tree has been dead for a while.

Oak is recommended, partially because it is very rot resistant. I suggested cornfields, as the ploughing doesn't do the tree any good, and you get a lot of stag-headed Oaks with dead branches still in the crowns, once the corn is cut, any branches that have fallen become accessible, until the field is re-ploughed. This is the sort of thing your looking for.
StagHeadedOak.jpg

In woods you need to wait for the first good gale, and then see what you can find. What you really want is the heart wood from larger branches or roots.

cheers Darrel
 
I have several large oaks in my garden but have found that wood does not fall from them until it is quite rotten. After strong winds there have been twigs blown down but nothing larger that is not already rotten. You need a pretty hefty storm to break off healthy branches. I've used seasoned oak that has been pruned from healthy trees. I found it surprisingly hard to find suitable oak for use in my own tank. Maybe you'll have more luck.
 
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