I have started a new tank a few weeks ago and I just can't decide on the plant arrangement.
I started off with a few of my favorite PICs from other designs and this is where it is now.
I was trying to go for a ledge and then a breakout to a stone garden but I am not seeing what I was anticipating to see.. I dont know if the left hand side is too low or if the right is too high.
I have a few other stones of hte same type that I was going to smash with a hammer to make some smaller stones to randomly place on either side and then I was thinking about introducing some Dwarf Hairgrass to carpet the side with the tree.
In the back now I have some micro Chain sword, knowing that this would be taller than DHG I though it would give off a nice perspective.
I like the idea. It looks like the right side it too high. It drops off of the rock ledge ok, but then it slopes up to the where the large rock is at. You can see this in the front glass. If you can shift some of the substrate to the left, I think you'll get what you're after by having the look be more pronounced. I also agree that you need some smaller rocks on the right, maybe going with a forested look on the left dropping off to an Iwagumi style on the right.
With the plants, I would add something taller than the micro chain sword in the background and move the mcs to around the base of the wood and large upright rock. Then, blanket the rest of the area with a ground cover. The wood would probably look good with some type of moss growing on it, too.
The middle needs some thinning and I forgot to mention I have on order some Xmas Moss to cling to the tops of the limbs. Wanted it to look like an actual tree.
I was going for smaller plants in the backgroud because I was afraid that the perspective of the scene would be thrown out of wack with tall plants in the rear.
Interesting, but i like. Never seen Mirco Swords as a background, i'm interested to see how this goes. And on the note of the hard-scape. I like it, i wouldn't change a thing. I like the ledge look. And your angel is pretty! A nice natural looking centerpiece!
Hope my bad typing did not offend anyone... I will try to be more cautious in the future with my typing / spelling
So anyway...
What I was looking to achieve was a scene. I am trying to keep scale in mind which is why I went with the chain sword in the back.
I was looking for some advise on the foreground. My original thought was to try out some dwarf hair grass (might be too tall though) Glosso or some sort of short migrating moss is a possibility. Here is where I am hoping you can lend me some advice.
This is a 20 Gallon tank 30x12x12 [reptile tank actually]. I have been trying to follow the 9 box rule and this helps with perspective --for me.
Anyway I am trying to do the best I can here, ya don't get too many opportunity to do over so looking to the experts
Thanks again for the posts
I would sick to something really small for the foreground. Perhaps HC, or Riccia would look nice. Also some Giant Hair Grass for the back corners, may look nice.
You could make a really great "tree" out of that piece of branchy wood (manzanita?) by creating a moss canopy on it. That rock standing up on the right side looks lonely to me. I'd either put some plants around the base of it, or add some smaller rocks of the same type right around it to create a grouping. Don't like those plants as a background either...maybe put those towards the front and put some tall val variety towards the back that will grow up to the surface.
One sided scapes rarely look good. I think you have a nice base design with the tree, terrace and rock. It sounds like you want to stay with short plants to give the driftwood a larger dimension. I'm not sure that's the way to go. I don't think you are going to be happy with just moss or grass type plants. Crypts have always stayed short for me, you might want to look at them.
I had a blue background and switched to black. Check the frogman thread a little further down in the aquascape forum.
Well…
To get the tank in the direction I was originally going to go in was seemingly too difficult. I had envisioned trying to make a nice scene with a tree, rocks grass and some bushy plants in the background (the micro sword) but oh well.
I bought some plants and some moss from a nice guy on this forum. This is what it looks like today with the addition of a few more rocks and a maxijet ..which looks huge :-( ..
Yes I know the rocks are very different.. When I bought them they looked almost exactly the same but after a rinse and a scrub this is what I ended up with.
There is not going to be any award for the best looking tank for me... but I and my fish seem happy... so there it is.
Wow I like it. I think it would look good with some sort of a carpeting plant.
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