• 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

My first Layout "Two Tribes" updated 29/4

Re: My first Layout

That is looking much better, this has good potential, the next drama which plants and where? o_O :lol:
 
Re: My first Layout

Yup, this shows how much improvement you can achieve by rethinking again and again (he said rather presumptuously). Just before you go on to planting ( ;) )...

The right stone is really good, and giving you the height and impact you need. But I wonder whether the two central stones are a bit too even, in placement and size. There's a very even four-stone rhythm across the tank - if you alter the gap sizes between them, it might add drama. If you change the relative heights of the left three stones, it might add more movement, too. And on that point - you might try burying main rock number three (counting from the left) a bit more. It seems to be sitting on the substrate a bit too obviously.

As you can tell, you can fiddle about at this stage endlessly...
 
Re: My first Layout

hiya

i'm nowhere near as experienced as the the other guys
but have spent days upon days doing what you are doing before

try get a "master" stone within the golden ratio
then use smaller stones that point towards it

if your rocks have thinner edges or points
try to face them upward at angles

take your time and play around, you will have a "eureka" moment
when it all looks harmonius

here a great example from some japanese bloke ;)

Amano_8sized.jpg
 
Re: My first Layout

fourmations said:
g'day fourmations, thanks for tips and the great example, I have spent a great deal of time looking at the things he does.
paul.in.kendal said:
As you can tell, you can fiddle about at this stage endlessly...
Thanks paul for dropping in again and your advice is welcome, and as you will shortly see more fiddling was had :thumbup:
andyh said:
That is looking much better, this has good potential, the next drama which plants and where? o_O :lol:
Much appreciated andy :thumbup: , and as you will see below I have changed it up a bit... again :woot:

I won't go into a huge ramble, however pretty much decided to lose the main stone as it simply is just not big enough. With my tank being 2ft high, it needs to be at least 1.5 ft and it misses that by about 3-4 inches. The sand substrate I am having a little trouble with so it makes it tough to gain that extra height.
So I tried another one and four hours later .....
dsc4707f.jpg


dsc4710.jpg

Little bit different
cheers all
 
Re: My first Layout

Both look great and are vastly improved on your originals! Keep playing you will get on that makes you happy! :angelic:
 
Re: My first Layout

I'm liking that, very different and would look superb with the right planting. I can't see that sand holding its shape for long though...
 
Re: My first Layout

Thanks Andy, Sam, James I must say your responses have thrown me :wideyed: I really didn't expect such a positive result from my latest attempt.
Themuleous said:
Out of interest what kind of rock is that?
Sam, to be honest I am not 100% sure what type of rock it is, I will enquire though and hopefully can provide an answer tomorrow
JamesM said:
I'm liking that, very different and would look superb with the right planting. I can't see that sand holding its shape for long though...
I am worried about the sand also James, it has been a chore trying to work with it. I am going to cover the top with some bubble wrap and do a very very slow fill hopefully it will hold its shape.
andyh said:
Both look great and are vastly improved on your originals! Keep playing you will get on that makes you happy! :angelic:
Cheers Andy, and mate play time is over. . . tomorrow, we plant 8)

From this point not sure what the protocol is, however is there the possibility that this thread can be relocated to the Journals section as I would be happy just to continue this as opposed to starting a new thread.
cheers and thanks everyone :thumbup:
 
Re: My first Layout

fourmations said:
hiya

i'm nowhere near as experienced as the the other guys
but have spent days upon days doing what you are doing before

try get a "master" stone within the golden ratio
then use smaller stones that point towards it

if your rocks have thinner edges or points
try to face them upward at angles

take your time and play around, you will have a "eureka" moment
when it all looks harmonius

here a great example from some japanese bloke ;)

Amano_8sized.jpg

i liked this tank more during the hardscape:

fot3.jpg


:)
 
Re: My first Layout

tel said:
dsc4707f.jpg


dsc4710.jpg

Little bit different
cheers all
Yup, looking loads better. I really like the left hand group, it's hanging together well. The flat-topped corner rock is really striking - be sure not to weaken its impact with that big angled rock in front of it. You might want to try a tiered effect, with a second flat stone below and in front of it, like a stepped escarpment breaking through the substrate. It might look even more like it's all part of the same rock outcrop. Just a thought.

Not so sure about the right hand group. Are those two biggest rocks be pulling in opposite directions?

Great stuff, though, and as others have said, lovely stone.
 
Re: My first Layout

i like the left so much it's given me an idea for my 35 litre ;) :lol: .
 
Re: My first Layout

paul.in.kendal said:
Yup, looking loads better. I really like the left hand group, it's hanging together well. The flat-topped corner rock is really striking - be sure not to weaken its impact with that big angled rock in front of it. You might want to try a tiered effect, with a second flat stone below and in front of it, like a stepped escarpment breaking through the substrate. It might look even more like it's all part of the same rock outcrop. Just a thought.

Not so sure about the right hand group. Are those two biggest rocks be pulling in opposite directions?

Great stuff, though, and as others have said, lovely stone.
Thanks Paul, the left hand side I am going to leave though I do understand where you are heading. From an ideal I would have liked (though I did try) to have a much more pronounced flat area in front of the top corner rock. I am hoping planting well will help further that impression.
The right hand group I agree with what you say about them pulling in opposites. I was looking at that last night and felt it wasn't sitting right. So the front right stone I brought more toward the front and changed the angle so the 'head' is more toward the back. The base/ foot is now about 2 inches from the front of the tank and it has accentuated that "v" shape in the centre. It also has created a little depth perspective for that left hand group. Not a major change but there is a difference and it is sitting better
nelson said:
i like the left so much it's given me an idea for my 35 litre ;) :lol: .
:D cheers nelson, be sure to keep us in the loop :thumbup:

AdAndrews said:
this looks awesome! with the right planting it could be stunning, well done :thumbup:
Thanks AdAndrews, well planting will hopefully be under way in a couple of hours. the plants I am getting from my local LFS, which is fortunately about 500m up the road. The range they have isn't huge so I have been looking at plants online and writing down names, maybe they can get some in if they don't have already.

Some that I like, though not necessarily what I will get :

Hemianthus callitrichoides CU, (hem call)
Eleocharis acicularis ( hair grass)
Lilaeopsis nova-zelandae
Eleocharis parvulus (short hair grass)
Hydrocotyle verticillata
Anubias barteri
Eleocharis vivipara (tall hair grass)
Echinodorus horizontalis (horizontal echinodorn).
Micranthemum micranthemoides (baby tears)
Hygrophila stricta (stricta)
Echinodorus bleheri (amazon sword)

Some of those I think would look cool, and from what I have read most of those fall into the "fairly easy" to grow category which is a probably a good place to start :D
cheers everyone
 
Re: My first Layout

hi

my 2c (as always i bow to 99% of the scapers here!
so it just my opinion)

my eye is drawn to that flat rock left corner
so your main focal point is off in the far back corner

perhaps bring that rock into the golden ratio area
or try emphasize the one in front of it

maybe it will be a different story when planted

rgds

4
 
Re: My first Layout

SteveUK said:
No probs :)

Looks like a cracking rock scape you've got going here Tel! What type of rock is that?
Cheers thanks Steve, with regard to the rock I am trying to nail down what it is and will give a yell when I find out.
fourmations said:
hi

my 2c (as always i bow to 99% of the scapers here!
so it just my opinion)

my eye is drawn to that flat rock left corner
so your main focal point is off in the far back corner

perhaps bring that rock into the golden ratio area
or try emphasize the one in front of it

maybe it will be a different story when planted

rgds

4
Hi 4 thanks for popping in again, please don't think I am disregarding what you say, I look at what is written and not peoples post count ;) . The back left has become the strongest area and there is about 20 - 30 litres of sand holding all that together, which means moving it and having it hold shape are going to be nigh on impossible.
The golden ratio and I just don't get along I have also discovered :) , I have tried working within that paremeter but fail miserably.
So working with what I have available I just tried to create a scape that has a nice flow and some interesting and possibly quirky elements. Please also understand that this is my first planted tank, the last tank I had was about 10 years ago a little 2ft that had some fish and no plants. Which means undoubtedly I may not get it right and I am on a very steep learning curve and will always be looking for advice so keep on chipping in :thumbup:

Now on the subject of not getting it right, see below :?
dsc4712v.jpg

The tank is still cloudy after about 6 hours, so something in there is not right, it maybe the new filter, it may something from the rock, so will do partial water changes over the next couple of days and see what happens.

The plants:
Eleocharis acicularis ( hairgrass), though it could be Eleocharis parvulus (short hair grass), I wouldn't know the difference
Echinodorus bleheri (amazon sword), middle background
Anubias barteri mid right
Banana lily (floating heart) back left
Random ?, situated under the main rock on the left, broad leaf green on the top and purple colour underneath

cheers everyone
 
Re: My first Layout

This would look sooo good with a vast carpet of Hemianthus callitrichoides, Lilaeopsis nova-zelandae in front of and in between some of the rocks, and then a partial background of Eleocharis vivipara.

good luck
 
Re: My first Layout

chilled84 said:
You could have done with trimming the grass of by about 2cm to promote more growth and fast root takeing, What substrate nutrients you got? co2?
Thanks for the tip Chilled and along with a water change a hiarcut has been had. As for Co2, unfortunately no, it is not out of the question, it is just not in my budget at the moment. Substrate nutrients also no, but with that point I did have a discussion with my LFS about them. Short answer with the volume of plants currently in the tank, volume/mass being the key, dosing through the water column would be adequate at this point.

So as a couple of the technical specifics have been raised may as well fill in the blanks
Tank Size
Inchs: 48 x 24 x 24
Cm: 121 x 60 x 60
Gallons: 119
Litres: 453
Filter: Aqua one Aquis 1200
Heating: Fluval tronic 300W
Lighting: Heto T5 HO-480, 4 x 54W (two white, two blue)
Dosing: Flourish Excel, Flourish Comprehensive supplement
Other: Sobo Wavemaker WP-100m

AdAndrews said:
This would look sooo good with a vast carpet of Hemianthus callitrichoides, Lilaeopsis nova-zelandae in front of and in between some of the rocks, and then a partial background of Eleocharis vivipara.

good luck

Cheers for that AdAndrews, no Co2 definitely means no cuba from my understanding. Your other suggestions are on my list and I may be able to get them from my LFS
 
Back
Top