My first Iwagumi - looking for pointers

[Knuta]

Hi,

I was originally going to go for a heavily planted tank with lots of stems, but decided to go for an Iwagumi for this tank.
This is what I've got so far. I haven't evened out the soil properly yet since I've been messing with the stones.
Excuse the poor picture quality, and the fingerprints on the glass.

Since this is my first Iwagumi tank, I'm looking for pointers when it comes to stone placement, what works and what doesn't and most importantly why.
Is something missing? Feel free to show off your skills in MS paint!


I'm thinking of going for a carpet of montecarlo, and maybe adding some rotala behind the rocks on the left at a later time.
Equipment is the same as the other thread I made a while back:
Tank: Optiwhite 100x40x40 cm. (160L)
Hardscape: Acid washed Seiryu stone
Light: WRGB2 Pro
Co2: Co2 art regulator with bazooka diffuser (might go for inline or reactor later on)
Filter: Oase biomaster thermo 600

 

[PARAGUAY]

I am not that good with hardscape so it's just my observation,maybe the large stone,nice stone btw is a little to near the side glass and a stone to complement it slightly less bigger on the right, then the smaller detail stones can be arranged around the two larger. Show look well when planted

 

[jamiep]

I concur; if everything was shunted left, it would change the focal point from (what I think is currently) the central valley empty space so the big stone was more the focal point. That supports the story of a fast flowing river going left to right from behind the large stone and hitting the right stones.

Keep everything the same and move it all right an inch or two

 

[Kalum]

some really nice stones and layout, just remember that 1-2cm will be lost with your carpet so plan how the stone will look once grown in (you might want to sit them a bit higher to keep the impact and drama of the stones)

 

[rdk1402]

Hi,
Do an online search for vanishing points, horizon line, and converging lines. Place the stones, including the stone textures on projected converging lines, to get a great hardscape.

 

[Knuta]

Hi,

Thanks for the feedback, very interesting points!

I did finalize the scape and plant it last night - before I saw your replies sadly.

That being said; The scape has been sitting for a few weeks actually, since I've been waiting for a shipment of plants. I thought 10 pots of monte carlo would be a lot, but looking at the pictures I can see that I could've done with a few more pots. I planted some hairgrass along some of the rocks as well.

As for the scape, when planting it last night I did move some things around a little bit. I did actually move the largest stone on the left a little bit further up on the supporting stone under it (aka I moved it to the right).
I also added a couple more stones, which I think helped with the overall look. I had some small chips from the shipment of seiryu, which I forgot about and sprinkled in after I filled the tank with water. You might spot them on top of the supporting stone on the left. I will move them later tonight when I do the first water change. I also set up all the equipment yesterday. I set up the new biomaster 600 with chihiros glass pipes, and I added the co2 gear. The light is very powerful, so I set it to 45% for 6hours a day for now, with an even split across the rgbw channels. Might increase the intensity as time passes, but I'm pretty sure even this is more than enough light.
The plan moving forward is to do a large water change every day for the next ~week, and then every other day for another week after that. Exciting days ahead, seeing if the MC will grow in nicely. Also thinking of getting a co2 reactor to replace the bazooka diffuser with. That side of the tank is the first thing you see when you walk up the stairs into our living room, so it would be nice to get the diffuser out of the way.. Any suggestions for a sensible co2 reactor?

I will try to update this thread regularily.

 

[Kalum]

That's 10x pots worth of MC?! Wow doesn't go as far as I'd have thought

 

[Knuta]

That's 10x pots worth of MC?! Wow doesn't go as far as I'd have thought

It's a 1m long tank, but still. It might just be me being bad at portioning it out for all I know. I think it'll be fine once it grows in a bit, though!