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Looks fantastic and I wouldn't dare suggest a single plant to such a talented scaper! Lovely to see water worn, rounded rocks - much more natural and something I must make a metal note to use in the future. Really like the smaller scale roots knitting the whole composition together. Inspirational and something to aim at for beginners like me.
 
Aponogeton crispus red, Ceratopteris thalictroides, some nice Fissidens and Bolbitis on the wood and rocks, sorted. :)

Nice hardscape BTW.
 
Looks fantastic and I wouldn't dare suggest a single plant to such a talented scaper! Lovely to see water worn, rounded rocks - much more natural and something I must make a metal note to use in the future. Really like the smaller scale roots knitting the whole composition together. Inspirational and something to aim at for beginners like me.
Thats very nice of you, i do really like the rocks as you say they are a little different from the norm.
I welcome your suggestions for plants though, some of the best plant ideas come from newer people as they havent got set in the way to think about plants and planting :)

Very nice, and interesting too. Looking forward to seeing what you do with planting :)
cheers Lee, plant choices arent ground breaking but if i manage to grow them how i envisage they should work well... at least to my eye.

Hi Great start :rolleyes: Looking forward to seeing this one come together ;) As to plants Moss, Anubias , HC Cuba, Hair grass ?? :D
thanks... nice idea and would work. This time im going more manicured than nature aquarium, although they are my favourite type of scapes i fancy trying something different so definitely no bolbitus for me this time.

Aponogeton crispus red, Ceratopteris thalictroides, some nice Fissidens and Bolbitis on the wood and rocks, sorted. :)
Nice hardscape BTW.

Do love a crispus red and is in my mind for another scape soon, hadnt considered thalicoides, i always seem ignore what i think of as bread and butter plants... hmm add a new scape idea for the list (NA120 bread and butter ;) )

I'll repeat my words mate. This is going to be a stunner. I love it mate and it's so natural. Hope you don't lose site of the stones once flora has grown in.
Brilliant and we'll worthy of a Facebook appearance so early on ;)
Was a real consideration when laying out and plant choices as too many amazing hard scapes get lost after 3 months... i did lift a few of the rocks when i finished to ensure they stay very focal once mature.
Facebook fame here i come haha :p[DOUBLEPOST=1403715980][/DOUBLEPOST]Just for fun, ill offer up all left over plants to the person with the closest suggestion to my plant list.... i always over order so should be several/lots of pots. Get your thinking hats on! :thumbup:
 
Amazing harscape... I would keep it minimalistic, like a river shore, just a few spots of well selected and small plants
 
Amazing harscape... I would keep it minimalistic, like a river shore, just a few spots of well selected and small plants
Thanks, fingers crossed it stays there, i will genuinely cry if it starts to level out when i fill it. I know what your thinking though, i did consider it but i need plants :) Compromise is that a lot of the lower levels will be plant free.
 
For some reason when I saw this (great btw;)) I thought of this http://miriadna.com/preview/avatar-trees . Some sort of dense leafy plant with upward facing leaves leaving the wood visible below and roots hanging down. Anubis nana came to mind but I'm not sure if that fits with your lighting or creates too much shade?
 
Great idea behind hardscape. So, your wood is that wraith? (I suppose it's a kind of ghost). Like a watchman or guardian of lake :) I like that, that big idea, in big tank.
 
Lovely fresh scape mate :thumbup:
Whatever your plant list is I'm looking forward to seeing it complete.
I see grasses, riccia, hc as a mixed carpet, something tight (ish) which won't envelop the rocks. Unsure about planting, if any, on the branches, but maybe something a bit out of the box like floating, trailing clusters of hydrocotle t. here and there?....nice light green so not too heavy a palette to unbalance things? Hydrocotle would look nice in there, has a softness in keeping with the cobbles. Then maybe a feature plant reaching for the surface, a lily or nymphoides taiwan, rounder leaf shape to compliment the cobbles again?
Thats likely too safe a plant list for you though mate, you do seem to like some more unusual species, but really looking forward to following progress whatever goes in :)
Cheerio,
Ady.
 
For some reason when I saw this (great btw;)) I thought of this http://miriadna.com/preview/avatar-trees . Some sort of dense leafy plant with upward facing leaves leaving the wood visible below and roots hanging down. Anubis nana came to mind but I'm not sure if that fits with your lighting or creates too much shade?
haha not this time, but again the hanging root look is another i want to try... need more tanks... and time :)

Great idea behind hardscape. So, your wood is that wraith? (I suppose it's a kind of ghost). Like a watchman or guardian of lake :) I like that, that big idea, in big tank.
Thanks alexander, not really sure where the names come from... normally get an idea, think what i want to do with it then a name just sort of fits.... im not as creative as some people with names.

Epic Iain, I've said it before you make me miss mr Evans journals just that little bit less :) hardscape is stunning mate, I would love to see it planted with crypts, just crypts nothing but crypts, this is a winner, hope you can update the journal often.
hey tim, cheers for the comments ;) love the look of crypts but they hate me... think im a bit slap dash with things and fiddle with the lights etc then they melt on me.
Hope to update weekly at least to begin with, really enjoying the video and video editting aspect of the hobby so want to explore that some more.

Beautiful hardscape, Ian. :D
Can't wait to see the rest.
Me either Alex, being patient to plant isnt going to be easy. Thankyou for your comment. :thumbup:

Lovely fresh scape mate :thumbup:
Whatever your plant list is I'm looking forward to seeing it complete.
I see grasses, riccia, hc as a mixed carpet, something tight (ish) which won't envelop the rocks. Unsure about planting, if any, on the branches, but maybe something a bit out of the box like floating, trailing clusters of hydrocotle t. here and there?....nice light green so not too heavy a palette to unbalance things? Hydrocotle would look nice in there, has a softness in keeping with the cobbles. Then maybe a feature plant reaching for the surface, a lily or nymphoides taiwan, rounder leaf shape to compliment the cobbles again?
Thats likely too safe a plant list for you though mate, you do seem to like some more unusual species, but really looking forward to following progress whatever goes in :)
Cheerio,
Ady.
Hey Ady, great to hear from you mate. Always love your thoughtful input on the threads... youve been missed while you were playing around with that salty stuff! Glad you've seen sense though and returning to the fold:D Marine is amazing and its wasn't so much the work that stopped me pursuing it as it was the the constant concern and feeling of impending doom haha does this mean a rescape is on the cards for you?
Actually the plant choice is pretty common, nothing too exciting. I did originally have a plant list with a lot of randoms on but ive had to change it for certain reasons.
Your not a million miles off though fella, similar idea different delivery:thumbup:
 
Cheers Iain, yeah, I've scratched the itch of keeping marines, the fish are beautiful but freshwater and planted fit much better with my lifestyle currently. One tank is enough and 'touch wood', I can keep algae out of a freshwater tank ;) Rescape could be on the cards, but need to move the marine on first, then decide what to do from there.

Regardless of your plant choice mate I'm itching to see it and once the plants get growing, they'll hold up 'Sutherland slope' ;)
 
Re plants. Your hardscape tells me it would be "island" type design. So I think you want some carpet plant at the hill foreground, that would be a shame to hide all those details behind huge plantmass (even crypts), all those twigs and boulders. And I see more stem plants at background, behind the main wood and around it (to hide the fixture). Maybe you would put some short crypts at left/right back background. Maybe little patches of moss on the branches of main wood to make hands of the wraith :)

That should be epic!
 
Evening all, update but no images just yet.... sorry

First off i need to say a huge thankyou to Aqvainnova who has kindly donated the plants to this project, all invitro or linea zero. Not wishing to break forum rules i wont rattle on about the brand etc but believe it is ok to say that as you would expect from 2 established aquatic producers the plants were in great health, i would gladly use them again and they are a welcome addition to the hobby.
I have a video of the whole planting process (most of it anyway) which ill edit together at some point along with full tank shots, images of new plants etc.

The reason for no images right now is the tank has had a huge bacterial bloom making the water very milky, no idea why? The established filters and daily 50% water changes (such a pain with big tanks and RO) are clearing it up slowly.

Plants have settled very quickly, showing new growth and most excitingly i have horizontal glosso for the first time. As the tank is running mature filters and no ammonia spike expected part of the clean up crew is in, couple of ottos and a dozen amano shrimp. CO2 levels seem stable and effective, the only slight adjustment i need to make at the moment is the ph swing caused by almost pure RO... from 6.8 - 3.9. Moving on, tomorrow i will be adding some buffers to achieve more reasonable levels in the region of where the end inhabitants will like the gh, around 5-8.

The plant list i had originally planned was adjusted to fit with the aqvainnova product line which is relatively limited but steadily growing as they dont launch until september, still more than enough to make me scratch my head though, what i ended up going with...

Glossostigma elatinoides
Lilaeopsis brasiliensis
Cryptocoryne parva
Staurogyne repens
Alternanthera reineckii "Mini"
Ammania sp. "bonsai"
Lobelia cardinalis
Lobelia cardinalis "dwarf"
Lagenandra meeboldii "pink"
Ammania gracilis
Ludwigia inclinata "Cuba"
Vesicularia ferriei "Weeping"

also reusing my bucephalandra, its very close to the light so it may come out again and will be adding a little hydropiper elantine once i can get hold of some to try out.

The banking has held up reasonably well, mainly the whole slope shrunk by about half an inch as it compacted, i stupidly didnt consider this!! Now i know why the pro scapers usually fill their tanks then drain then to plant, it gives you the opportunity to tweak after it settles. There is a little slippage but should be fine after the plants root.

I was going to add neon blue/ emerald gobys but i tested out the digging habits in the holding tank and its safe to say i wouldnt have much of a scape left had i added them, so wednesday im taking them back and picking up 15 different bottom dwellers to go in the holding tank for when the plants have established.

So again apologies for no images but thought id get this bit done while im being paid ;)
They will follow in due course.
 
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