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Stuck in a rut!

GotCrabs

GotCrabs

Member
Joined
22 Sep 2015
Messages
211
Location
Adelaide, Australia
I feel like a complete tool for posting this on this forum as honestly I'm a complete noob sitting amongst artists when it comes to aquascaping, but he goes...

I've spent the last 3 days trying to do an Iwagumi hardscape using Seiryu stone and it's doing my f@#$ing head in something shocking, I can't come up with anything at all or I do and I go back and look at it a couple hours later and change it again because I'm not happy with it, I've spent about 2 hours each day on it and I am just lost, completely dumbfounded, can not come up with anything at all I am happy with what so ever at all.

I want to do an Iwagumi because if I don't use the stone it would have been a waste of $50 plus dollars, the ideas of planting the tank out with different plants are running through my head but no, I'm trying to stick with an Iwagumi hardscape, honestly, I'm at boiling point, people are telling me oh just walk away for a while and leave it and come back later and have another go at it, well that isn't working at all is it, ha.

Ideas, opinions, options... anything?
 
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I'd say start with growing plants first:)
Start your tank and grow lots of healthy beautifull plants, next to that make a mock tank, (cardboard or so) with some playsand and work on that layout'.
You can always start a new layout and use the plants you have grown. And growing plants is easier without the flow blocking hardscape;):thumbup:
 
The thought is right there to do exactly what you're saying @Edvet!
 
What i would do is google image 'iwagumi aquascapes' and get inspiration for exactly what sort of look you are going for. Heavy rockwork, minimal rocks or 3 stone 'sanzon'. Then look at your rocks and see if they lend themselves better to any style, ie 3 very detailed 'sexy' rocks, large feature rocks etc.
Once you have an idea you can make a layout work......with a bit more patience :what::wideyed::confused::mad::D
Sometimes you have a vision, but your rocks dont lend themselves to that so you have to adapt.
Cheerio,
Ady
 
I've been looking at Iwagumi images online, also started looking at Japanese Rock Gardens also for insperation, but you're right though, I have an image in my head of how I want it to look, but the rocks I have aren't helping at all, @Ady34
 
Hi
find an example of one you like.Rocks permitting-copy it.
Your first attempt doesn't have to be unique IMO
Learn to grow plants well.Besides your effort, will never be an exact copy of the original.
 
You could just look at Ady34s:). tank in progress.Most of us find rockwork difficult so your not alone.What appears nice placing or luck isnt always the case,in Japanese gardens have a name for rocks from the largest to the smallest.Check out James Findley Green Machine on how to position them
 
Yeah GotCrabs, that's what happened to me, started with a plan of a sanzon (3 stone) iwagumi, however had to adapt as my stones didn't lend themselves to it. Instead went with a end to end structure inspired by an ADG aquascape.
Good luck and stick with it, any rock placements you make that you like, photograph for reference so you can revisit them later if necessary. Sometimes you like parts of a hardscape but not the whole, keep trying different rock positions and rocks as it can make a huge difference to the look. I'll add some images later of my most recent hardscape to illustrate my point.....one rock really didn't work so I played with others to much better effect.
Cheerio
Ady
 
PARAGUAY said:
You could just look at Ady34s:). tank in progress.Most of us find rockwork difficult so your not alone.What appears nice placing or luck isnt always the case,in Japanese gardens have a name for rocks from the largest to the smallest.Check out James Findley Green Machine on how to position them
Click to expand...

Yeah have watched The Green Machine's videos on YouTube, also checked out Iwagumi videos on there, read a bit, sussed out Japanese Rock Gardens for insperation, listened to a podcast explaining the art of Iwagumi and it's history and it's how too, gone though a lot of images online, seen some absolute beauties but just can't seem to work with what I have at the moment mate, it's frustrating, I'll keep with it, but I'll have greyer hair by the time the weekend is over though, haha.
 
Ady34 said:
Yeah GotCrabs, that's what happened to me, started with a plan of a sanzon (3 stone) iwagumi, however had to adapt as my stones didn't lend themselves to it. Instead went with a end to end structure inspired by an ADG aquascape.
Good luck and stick with it, any rock placements you make that you like, photograph for reference so you can revisit them later if necessary. Sometimes you like parts of a hardscape but not the whole, keep trying different rock positions and rocks as it can make a huge difference to the look. I'll add some images later of my most recent hardscape to illustrate my point.....one rock really didn't work so I played with others to much better effect.
Cheerio
Ady
Click to expand...

Yeah I played with a Sanzon Iwagumi, but just looks a little dull to me, sounds rude I know, was looking to work with 5 or 7.
 
Maybe you should try to forget about rules and try to make something that "your eyes will like". If u don't lake what u make, try again, from beginning. Beginning is key word here. Don't try again and take same rock as focus, just try something different. In most times, we beginners, limit ourselves. IMO for good iwagumi hard scape u must put rock in sand, so u can take advantage of all stone corners.
 
Theres a interesting Amano one out there somewhere,PFK maybe ?)were its based on a mountainside leading in the valley,he literally scatters smaller stones on his built up mountain side adds more substrate on top,larger stones and plants foreground,hairgrass on the top.A bsolute genius looks just like a moutainside perspective very good
 
GotCrabs, have you any images of your rocks or past hardscape attempts? If we can see your tank and rocks we may be able to offer suggestions....
 
@Ady34

Here are two I did yesterday, the 3 stone just looks dull to me, and the 7 looks too crowded.

IMG_0572_zpseryezpva.jpg

IMG_0584_zpskc2lg9yi.png
 
I think you have problem because you are thinking too much, literally. Just try to relax, don't think too much and try to make something chaotic. Place the biggest rock, then opposite rock and then just try to make it look chaotic, like in a nature. I can see that you placing all rocks in the same way, try to avoid that. Try to tilt the biggest stone, just a little, and say if it's better. Hope I was helpful.
 
Is there any possibility you could buy more rocks ? My biggest mistake was buying a few kilo of seryiu,ohko,pagoda, bassalt when I first started in the hobby and I'm left with a box full of rocks that just don't fit together :lol: instead of an iwagumi a nice piece of redmoor or manzi driftwood would complement those rocks well, and let you get on with the business of growing plants :)
 
Hi GotCrabs,
you have a good selection of rocks there with some nice textures. You may be lacking a main stone though which makes scaping difficult. To overcome this try grouping a couple of stones together to give the illusion of a larger focal stone 'Oyaishi' and work from there.
As i said earlier you may have to alter your layout to get something your happy with. Take this for example:

IMG_9085_zps4s9tb5ae.jpg


P1150337_zpss9agdrut.jpg


in the first image the supporting rock to the left of my Oyaishi stone just didnt work, however i liked the rest of the layout so i played nice with a few more rocks until i found something that worked better.....

Its about trying to get rocks which compliment each other, work from a focal rock (or cluster rocks which fit nicely together) and your layout will begin to take a shape from which you can add complimentary rocks. You can add mounding, or slopes to your substrate to gain height if your rocks rant tall enough and try to use the rule of thirds for focal points :thumbup:
Stick with it, it'll come together in the end.
Cheerio,
Ady.
 
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