tank pjan

[GTApuffgal]

George that is lovely! Your plants are so lush and healthy! I can't wait for mine to get that way. Maybe if I could leave them ALONE for 5 minutes!!! A couple of questions - what is the foreground plant middle right? Is that a moss? Also - right behind it. With the little round leaves? And last - how much light? I'm assuming CO2 with that much enthusiasm... Stunning!

Sigh...

Kathy

[PJAN]

Kathy, your welcome.

Rest of the reading bunch : thanks for the kind words

It is indeed time consuming, so I am going to explain the next things shortly :

lesson 2 : use of rocks and wood

lesson 3 : use of different plants

lesson 4 : forget the rules - break free or not

lesson 5 : examination time !

Gr. PJAN

[scolley]

Originally Posted by PJAN

But I live near Arnhem, still 1 1/2 hour drive from Amsterdam.

That is quite a haul. But I do know a person or two that make that commute every day. Bummer.

So I won't PLAN on hooking up, but will give you a yell the next time I'm there. Would LOVE to get a 1-on-1 explanation on your interpretation on using that golden ratio!

Thanks for sharing your techniques!

[GTApuffgal]

EXAMINATION TIME???

I hope to impress you during lesson 4 - Forget the rules - break free or not. Perhaps if I convince you of my radical ways I'll do better on the final exam...

Kathy

[PJAN]

@ Scolley
Well you never know. So lett me know. You're welcome of course

@ Kathy

Yeah. Examination...
Well, after the explanations I will share a tank and you tell me about it !

To all :

I will do my best to write some more lessons. But tomorrow I can collect my new tank and probably I will be busy next days installing the tank.
The set-up is DIY Amano, including cabinet, light, tank.

Gr. PJAN

[PJAN]

Lesson 2 : use of rocks and wood

Rocks and/or wood makes an aquascape not only interesting, but also gives you a guideline for planting and arranging your plants.

Personal preference is very important. E.g. I do like wood very much and rocks are so-so.
Further the combination wood - rock is difficult and wrong choices in rock can ruine your aquascape.
It is easier to start with wood OR rocks and not both !

Zen is used to place rocks in a certain position / height, based on Japan theory (Zen). It is often used in Japanese gardens en therefore a link with some examples of arranging stones :
example stones - japan

If you compare these "Japanese" arrangement with a picture of Amano,
you can see the following (roughly) :
Note : this picture is "borrowed" from MARC and I only used it as an learning example.


You clearly can see some use of focus-points (see lesson 1) and height-lines and the use of rocks in a triangel, which can be seen in Japanese gardens (link above).
Also follow the lines of the rocks : the eye is forced to watch the biggest rock.
In a bigger tank you can use 2 groups of rocks, mostly in triangel or use 3 rocks in the left and one "bigger" rock (shaped as a triangel) on the right.

Watch also that the rock has a "face" pointing towards you. So you can actually see on top of the rock !

Example 2 :



Wood

Wood is a very interesting material to use. You can plant javavern or javamos on it or use it bare.
The shape is very important and must really help you in your aquascape. Interesting pieces of wood are sometimes hard to find.

The next example is interesting because there is use of branched wood. But discover how it was used !
All the branches are pointing towards the strong focus-point and even the height of the branches are matching the height-lines (0,618 rule, see lesson 1).



Even the plants in the background were used to help this aquascape-wood-thing !

Wood as substrate for plants is also very interesting and is powerfull because you can lift certain species in the "air" ehhh, water.



Look carefully again : branches are pointing to the javavern. The javavern is the focus-point in this aquascape.
Also see that the height of the javavern matches between the height-lines (see 0,618 rule).

Also this is an example of using rock & wood together. The smal "stone" (see picture above) is carefully planted towards the right wood / javavern - in line.

The combination wood-rock is tricky. Use always matching colors or use rocks that have colors not dominating the wood !

Gr. PJAN

[GTApuffgal]

Thank you, Pjan! (I have some serious studying to do...) Awesome lesson!

Kathy

[Marc]

Great explanation! If only I could find rock like that around my area!
I don’t like using wood in my tank either- They look great but for some reason I feel like they change the chemistry of my water and always have problem with algae.

[PJAN]

Originally Posted by Marc

Great explanation! If only I could find rock like that around my area!
I don’t like using wood in my tank either- They look great but for some reason I feel like they change the chemistry of my water and always have problem with algae.

Yep, always be carefull with wood.
We do have overhere some beautifull wood "peat-wood" (??) but in time it get's to soft and algae will show.

The chemistry of your water will change because of the organic matter it releases : this will increase the bacterial count in your water (stress for the fish) and sometimes this organic stuff are nourishing the algae.

I know use tropical wood and the piece I have did not color the water and had also no algae grow on it when using it in the tank : this piece is safe.

Gr. PJAN

[sawallace]

PJAN, I was wondering why you shy'd away from angels? Your first scape really catches my eye and it works really well with the angels. Can you tell I like angels? I am told the light substrate may cause problems, was this your conclusion?

Anyhoo, all your tanks are phenomenal and your lessons are invaluable!

There is a saying "Imitation is the highest form of flattery” I hope this is true in Holland! You may see a similar scape in my house

[PJAN]

Originally Posted by sawallace

PJAN, I was wondering why you shy'd away from angels? Your first scape really catches my eye and it works really well with the angels. Can you tell I like angels? I am told the light substrate may cause problems, was this your conclusion?

Anyhoo, all your tanks are phenomenal and your lessons are invaluable!

There is a saying "Imitation is the highest form of flattery” I hope this is true in Holland! You may see a similar scape in my house

Thanks! Copy and aquascape what you want. All the lay-outs where just learning lessons for myself. And I had to learn why and how plants grow.

Angels : I like them but they are real predators. I had a few special angels ( A-class black) but when they laid eggs, every other fish attacked. And my angels where breeding like mad.
In my planted tank I like to see frey. With angels, well, it is almost impossible.
So I sold all the angels.
Now I only have friendly species and sometimes I can see frey / young fish coming out the bushes. That really pleases me.

I personally don't believe the color of the substrate matters. My angels where always in perfect shape and very happy. No matter if the substrate was dark or light.

Gr. PJAN

[Bayleo]

Speaking of substrate, I'm curious as to what you were using in your tanks PJAN, I personally don't think the black of eco-complete or even the grey of Onyx sand correctly compliment the green shades of plants. I'm guessing you used some type of small pea gravel w/ something for iron (laterite)...? At any rate, where did you find the stuff?

[PJAN]

Originally Posted by Bayleo

Speaking of substrate, I'm curious as to what you were using in your tanks PJAN, I personally don't think the black of eco-complete or even the grey of Onyx sand correctly compliment the green shades of plants. I'm guessing you used some type of small pea gravel w/ something for iron (laterite)...? At any rate, where did you find the stuff?

Sorry, missed your question.

In Holland we don't have eco-complete or flourite. Simply not available.

I use gravel 1 - 2 mm , white ( or almost white) colored. On the bottom I use just a little loam , laterite and some peat. Not much and the layer is about 2 mm thick ( 1/10 inch).

Lotus / big Echinodorus are normally placed in small pots with extra loam / clay and peat. It's easy to move them around if required.

I also inject the gravel with loam if needed.

You can say the substrate (gravel) is relative poor compared to other susbstrates like eco-complete or so. I had my share of nasty algea and using poor gravel is at least one question-mark less if algae appears. I did use heavy substrates, but I suffered always from algae in the beginning.
Now I start with poor substrate and control the plantgrowth with ferts in the water column.

The color of the gravel or top-layer is a matter of personal taste. I prefer light colored substrate and that is not unnatural. Also in nature there are many areas with light sand.

Gr. PJAN

[victortong]

Thanks for the links to the rocks...brought me alot of ideas on looking for the correct rocks for my next scape. Arigato.

Edited: You are a great teacher, like all your work. Keep it coming...oh yeah..how's the new tank? any updates?

[PJAN]

Originally Posted by victortong

Thanks for the links to the rocks...brought me alot of ideas on looking for the correct rocks for my next scape. Arigato.

Edited: You are a great teacher, like all your work. Keep it coming...oh yeah..how's the new tank? any updates?

Hey Victor....many thanks for the kind words. I am just learning how to aquascape.
I did enter the AGA this year with a finished aquascape.
I am now preparing for the ADA next year, which will be my master piece.

Finished aquascape ( with info and more pictures ) for the AGA can be found here :

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/sh...ad.php?t=19631

Example of the AGA in this thread of mine :



Gr.PJAN