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Critique my aquascape Critique please. What is working and what isn't?

winzdk

Member
Joined
14 Dec 2020
Messages
39
Location
Denmark
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Beautiful scape - thanks for sharing. I like it how it is actually with the carpet flowing up the ramp. It would be cool to put a little shrine at the top though as suggested (@JTMoney). The rummy-nosed tetras are a favourite of mine as well. It does look to me like you are missing an Alternanthera plant at the back left where there looks to be a gap behind the rock. How do you keep it so clean looking with no algae anwhere in sight?
 
Or put something like a shrine @ the end of the path leading up
What do you mean by shrine ?

Good shout, maybe add some more rocks, give it a focal point and some height?
Could you maybe be more specific? I don't have a lot of experience, thanks.

It does look to me like you are missing an Alternanthera plant at the back left where there looks to be a gap behind the rock.
Thank you.
I see what you mean, but there is not a lot of space there, and I didn't want too much red, I think I have reach that limit already for my taste :)
How do you keep it so clean looking with no algae anwhere in sight?
Keeping an eye on the balance. And CO2. Enough fertilizer. And adjustments :) I did have some BBA (and the usual new tank algae) and spent hours and hours on forums and articles to narrow down the cause and treatment. Not a lot of that was much help, I did find the cure though and just recently got rid of it. Now here is to it staying away :)
 
I'll add my vote for the carpet flowing up the hillside - real diorama feel to this scape which looks fabulous. I know they're probably designed as kit-screens, but I would have gone for more compact bushes on the LHS - especially the Alternanthera just left of centre - feels slightly out of scale with the rest of the picture as it is.

Cheers,
Simon
 
I'll add my vote for the carpet flowing up the hillside - real diorama feel to this scape which looks fabulous. I know they're probably designed as kit-screens, but I would have gone for more compact bushes on the LHS - especially the Alternanthera just left of centre - feels slightly out of scale with the rest of the picture as it is.
Ah thanks for putting a word on it, the diorama feel was exactly what I was going for without knowing it. I knew I was going for a kind of semirealistic miniature landscape, but diorama is an excellent description.
And you are totally right about the Alternanthera, it just looked so small and in scale when I planted it from the in vitro cup, lol :)
I spent quite some time researching plants that stay small. Any suggestions are more than welcome.
 
What's the story you're trying to convey with the design?

For me the whole design lacks real cohesion, with the lovely ornamental-style stems in the background contrasting excessively with the more diorama-style hardscape and carpeting plants. In my eye, it's almost a scape of two distinct halves.

Personally I'd go all on the diorama style here if it were my layout. I'd lose all the stems and build up more rocks in the background, with more of the same carpeting plants, to make it into a rolling landscape style layout.

All this said, it is a lovely looking scape and you can clearly grow plants!

Good luck with it :)
 
What's the story you're trying to convey with the design?

For me the whole design lacks real cohesion, with the lovely ornamental-style stems in the background contrasting excessively with the more diorama-style hardscape and carpeting plants. In my eye, it's almost a scape of two distinct halves.

Good luck with it :)
Excellent feedback, I appreciate it George thanks. My vision (if you can call it that) was the dramatic miniature landscape'ish diorama look with an emphasis on dramatic, and I agree the stems and the Reineckii throws the scale and illusion off in that regard. The two distinct halves is a good description and in some peoples eyes it might look like a mess. I feel it makes it even more dramatic, even it was not on purpose, but I will definitely try to improve that aspect on my next scape. I had a difficult time finding a varity of plants that stay small and fit well together. That being said, I learned a lot about planning, layout and growth patterns of the plants on this my second aquascape attempt.
 
I'm a beginner myself, so probably not the best to criticize, but the general feeling I have with this scape is the lack of a real transition between the carpeting plants and the stem plants. The plants are going from low to high straight away. I think I'm missing some mid layer plants to ease that transition, to make it feel more natural.
 
Strewth, that oozes quality plant growing.
I also love it as it is, but, if I were lucky enough to put anything at the top of the hill, maybe I'd put a bonsai tree, with Xmas moss attached.
 
I'm a beginner myself, so probably not the best to criticize, but the general feeling I have with this scape is the lack of a real transition between the carpeting plants and the stem plants. The plants are going from low to high straight away. I think I'm missing some mid layer plants to ease that transition, to make it feel more natural.
Thank you very much

Strewth, that oozes quality plant growing.
I also love it as it is, but, if I were lucky enough to put anything at the top of the hill, maybe I'd put a bonsai tree, with Xmas moss attached.

That's a great idea imo, but I'll need to practice that in another tank I think.
I'm playing with the idea of a stonehenge kind og formation, instead of the stemplants. But it will need to be just right.
 
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