[marioman72]

Hi, everyone. once again i have succumb to my fish tank addiction and gotten another tank. ive been planning this 29g tank for some time now and even trekked out to find the hard scape at a local beach before i even got the tank. but in the end i got this lovly tank from Han(H4n) and went at it right away. took a lot of cleaning but spruced it back up to its former glory. as of right now i have a HOB filter from one of my old tanks going, just to start the cycling process along. still trying to figure out the plant layout that i want to put in this tank but it will be started very very soon. As i want a very simplistic tank layout.

here is the start of the tank while setting it up last night!

the stand i made with 4x4s and 2x4s with a walnut stain finish using roofing brackets.


_DSC6400 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6389 by marioman72, on Flickr

started with play sand and root tabs


_DSC6388 by marioman72, on Flickr

here are some of the rocks that i collected form the local beach. in addition to the many that are all ready in the tank. i believe its granite witch there is a tun of locally in New England.


_DSC6390 by marioman72, on Flickr

after an hour or so of tampering with the rock placement, and a little help from some friends lifting the rocks to me, i came up with this placement. took a tun of tweaking to get it to this stage, im quite happy with the layout.


_DSC6395 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6397 by marioman72, on Flickr

started filling it, in total took about 45min :/


_DSC6398 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6399 by marioman72, on Flickr

All in all im very happy with the hard scape. cant wait to put plants into this tank. so far im thinking i want DHG, maybe try my hand at some UG for the foreground. but not sure yet on a mid and background plants. we will see what happens this week!

 

[tharsis]

Sweet hardscape, very dramatic! I really like your stand too, it looks fantastic.

Looking forward to see some green in there

 

[QQQUUUUAADDD]

Awesome hardscape!

Looking forward to seeing how this tank progresses!

 

[GeToChKn]

Love the rocks and the scape. Tanks like I that, I like to see, myself anyways, very little planting. Let those rocks and the hardscape be the tank.

 

[amphirion]

if you were going for dramatic, i think you hit the nail on the head. to preserve the effect, i would suggest using very low growing carpet plants such as HC, UG or lilaeopsis novae-zelandiae in the foreground and depending on your taste, DHG or some tall stemmed plants in the back.

 

[yondertank]

The hardscape and the stand are top notch. I like the idea of having a single species of a low carpet plant - this tank has a lot of possibilities in what you can do. I would consider doing a moss wall in the background, not putting any tall plants, and having the low carpet plant in the open space of the tallest peak. Then in the back right corner put in a Crinum Calimistratum and its long flowing vines will eventually take over the top space. You would have only 3 plants and you don't hide the hardscape.

Do you have any plans on putting a background on the tank or do you want to keep it so you can see the wall behind it?

 

[niko]

I too like the rocks.

But the tallest one should not have the very tip cut off. I don't know if you want or can push it down but it will certainly look better if it is not going out of the "frame".

Since it's obvious that the beauty of the hardscape is in its heaviness it would make sense to plant the tank in such a way that this feeling is enhanced. Also as it is the tank already looks larger than it is. One way to keep these 2 impressions going on is to use small frilly plants mainly in the lower parts of the rocks and keep a lot of the rock surface visible.

This picture leaves you with the impression of a very heavy rock mass:

This picture also gives an idea of the use of small plants/big rock:

And of course - the fish should be small. By the way one VERY cool way to stock such a tank full of rocks is to use a bunch of gobies. They will constantly play and move in, out, and around the rocks seldom wandering to the glass. The whole thing will look like it is full of life centered around the rocks.

 

[Michael T]

That is awesome. Cannot wait to see it completed & stocked. Excellent idea with the rocks & perfect placement.

 

[manzpants92]

can't wait to see it with some plants!

 

[orchidman]

WOW! Great hardscape! It's fantastic, I really love it!! Those rocks are awesome. But I would agree with the comments above saying that I would adjust the main stone so that the tip isn't cut off. I think you should be able to create a stunning scape in here!!

 

[driftwoodhunter]

I guess I'm the odd one out, but I think having the tip of the tallest rock extending out of the "frame", adds to the feeling of immense height...I like it that way.

 

[marioman72]

Sweet hardscape, very dramatic! I really like your stand too, it looks fantastic.

Looking forward to see some green in there

thanks! it was ur tank originally that shot the idea for it into my head. not quite the same thing but it got my mind moving!

Love the rocks and the scape. Tanks like I that, I like to see, myself anyways, very little planting. Let those rocks and the hardscape be the tank.

that is my goal for this tank is to keep everything nice and low.

if you were going for dramatic, i think you hit the nail on the head. to preserve the effect, i would suggest using very low growing carpet plants such as HC, UG or lilaeopsis novae-zelandiae in the foreground and depending on your taste, DHG or some tall stemmed plants in the back.

i agree completely, im realy starting to lean towards UG in this tank for the forground. it seems like it flow the bestfor the immediate front. then ether recided back inspace with DHG or Blyxa depeding on a the high difference i want in different places. the more i see it the more i want to add some hydrocotle into the mix of things. even tho i have it everyone one of damn tanks haha!

The hardscape and the stand are top notch. I like the idea of having a single species of a low carpet plant - this tank has a lot of possibilities in what you can do. I would consider doing a moss wall in the background, not putting any tall plants, and having the low carpet plant in the open space of the tallest peak. Then in the back right corner put in a Crinum Calimistratum and its long flowing vines will eventually take over the top space. You would have only 3 plants and you don't hide the hardscape.

Do you have any plans on putting a background on the tank or do you want to keep it so you can see the wall behind it?

thanks the stand didnt take much pretty easy to construct kind of a industrial look to things. agree with the low plants, but never been a fan of moss walls my self, but thats just personal preference. but crinum c. is one of my fav plants but is realy hard to find, at least for me. but im trying to keep the plant selection small like you said.

I too like the rocks.

But the tallest one should not have the very tip cut off. I don't know if you want or can push it down but it will certainly look better if it is not going out of the "frame".

Since it's obvious that the beauty of the hardscape is in its heaviness it would make sense to plant the tank in such a way that this feeling is enhanced. Also as it is the tank already looks larger than it is. One way to keep these 2 impressions going on is to use small frilly plants mainly in the lower parts of the rocks and keep a lot of the rock surface visible.

This picture leaves you with the impression of a very heavy rock mass:

This picture also gives an idea of the use of small plants/big rock:

And of course - the fish should be small. By the way one VERY cool way to stock such a tank full of rocks is to use a bunch of gobies. They will constantly play and move in, out, and around the rocks seldom wandering to the glass. The whole thing will look like it is full of life centered around the rocks.

These are such great ideas thanks! the largest rock is sadly touching the bottom of the tank. i tried to push it down as far as i could get it but it wouldnt budge anymore i bothers me everytime i see it cut off witch isnt so bad when ur looking at it in person cause u cant really see the tops of some of them any how. but as for the benefit of the scape i want to try to give it a good wiggle again now with rejuvenated strength! the second picture is exactly the type of planting arangment i was thinking, slpoed towards the base of the rocks and kept nice and low but still flowing upward. thats why i love the combo of hydrocotle and DHG together they have flow to them in their hieght difference that transitions nicer then some other ground covers.

the gobby idea is also great. i have a plan for some of the stocking, my lfs just got some very nice blue tetras in. i was thinking a big school of them would contrast nicly with the dark rocks and light sand.

That is awesome. Cannot wait to see it completed & stocked. Excellent idea with the rocks & perfect placement.

thank you, to a lot of time into placing thos rocks! and man are they heavy haha

WOW! Great hardscape! It's fantastic, I really love it!! Those rocks are awesome. But I would agree with the comments above saying that I would adjust the main stone so that the tip isn't cut off. I think you should be able to create a stunning scape in here!!

thanks! totally going to work on that tomorrow if not it will be its big flaw :/

I guess I'm the odd one out, but I think having the tip of the tallest rock extending out of the "frame", adds to the feeling of immense height...I like it that way.

i agree with the imense hieght feeling u get form it protruding out of the tank. its slowly growing on me. but my mentality usually is it should not at all or all the way! something i picked up from my art program i attend at my college. little things like that tend to anoy me haha




everyone else who i didnt get to thank you for the kind words and appreciation! up dates will be in the near future with hopefully a planted tank haha

 

[orchidman]

See if you can tilt it backwards a little bit. That might be just enough to give the top some room to breath!

 

[marioman72]

See if you can tilt it backwards a little bit. That might be just enough to give the top some room to breath!

that might just do the trick!

 

[tryank]

That is a sexy stand for a sexy tank.

Great hardscape. I wanna go find some better rocks now. But yeah, it's more than just getting good rocks, you knew how to place them.

Yeah, no moss wall. No way.

I'm with driftwoodhunter on liking that tall rock jutting out, but I see your whole "all or nothing" vision. If you de-rimmed the tank (perhaps too late) then that rock that's getting his tip nipped would look a whole lot better. Not that it has too though, it's looking great!

 

[Abhi]

Excellent scape with great stand. Would love to see the whole progress.

 

[marioman72]

That is a sexy stand for a sexy tank.

Great hardscape. I wanna go find some better rocks now. But yeah, it's more than just getting good rocks, you knew how to place them.

Yeah, no moss wall. No way.

I'm with driftwoodhunter on liking that tall rock jutting out, but I see your whole "all or nothing" vision. If you de-rimmed the tank (perhaps too late) then that rock that's getting his tip nipped would look a whole lot better. Not that it has too though, it's looking great!

i was going to try to de-rim the tank but i didnt want to chance having a failure being a larger tank. but thank you!

Excellent scape with great stand. Would love to see the whole progress.

thanks!

 

[orchidman]

that might just do the trick!

Hopefully it does! And I think the angle would add to the dimension of it!!

I think I heard someone mention a moss wall, I would vote against it. I see lots of people with moss walls that always fail because they take too long, so the tank just ends up looking messy.

 

[GMYukonon24s]

I'll jump on the band wagon of liking the hardscape. I think you did a great job on the stand and can't wait to see some plants in there.

 

[jonathan]

Part of what I love about this scape is the shadows. Do you find the rocks are limiting your light in any way ?