[h22prelude2k]

Been spending the last month or so trying to get my aquascape the way I want it and I finally feel like I'm actually getting somewhere now.

Love the three below and am trying to incorporate elements from all three of what I love about them in my 29gallon- my inspiration below






And here is what I have come up with so far. Left side has the cave, (right now its just a plastic cup temporarily until i figure out what i want to use to give the cave its structure

Any comments or criticisms are welcome!

 

[rick dale]

Cave

Wow! The cave is too cool man. I love it.

 

[Drewet88]

I like it, the only thing I would change is the cup just because I don't know how long it would last underwater. A pot for a plant would work just fine if you could find one small enough.

Are you doing a dry start? What do you plan on using to carpet the bottom? Or are you going to do stones instead of a carpet?

Regardless you're off to an awesome start I wish I would've took the time to do it right from the beginning like you are now.

 

[Mikeygmzmg]

I would recommend using egg crate and/or plastic pieces to achieve the hardscape shape to give your cave a bigger feel. Legos work great too for smaller tanks!!

I know the 2nd picture you posted is Dennis Wongs and he used egg crate for that particular scape. I think it will help with the extra height you'll need.

Still looking great though, very excited to see this one fill up with plants! I subbed.

 

[h22prelude2k]

thanks for the encouraging comments!

not sure what i want to carpet with just yet. I have some dwarf hairgrass that's in another tank right now that i might use.Any suggestions on overall plants?

 

[Drewet88]

thanks for the encouraging comments!

not sure what i want to carpet with just yet. I have some dwarf hairgrass that's in another tank right now that i might use.Any suggestions on overall plants?

I wish I had some suggestions but I'm pretty new to the planted tank game. I do like the way red ludwigia looks and the red flame sword. I just wish the red flame sword had smaller leaves.

I say go with the dwarf hairgrass if you already have it on hand.

 

[h22prelude2k]

replaced the small plastic cup with a larger glass one. What do you guys think?

Open to plant suggestions as well.

 

[Mikeygmzmg]

replaced the small plastic cup with a larger glass one. What do you guys think?

Open to plant suggestions as well.

Awesome! I like the extra height!

 

[WaterLife]

Verrrrry nice! :thumbsup:

 

[touch of sky]

Looks great. I like the larger cave.

 

[h22prelude2k]

made a couple more minor changes...

 

[shhh]

That looks really nice.

 

[Hilde]

You could put some white gravel in the valley. It would give the appearance of a dry river bed.

What light are you using over it? I have my 29g tank setup and still uncertain which light will work for the plants I have. Is this going to be a low tech tank? Injecting Co2?

Bump:

And here is what I have come up with so far. Left side has the cave, (right now its just a plastic cup temporarily until i figure out what i want to use to give the cave its structure

Here are my suggestions for the cave:
1. pcv pipe painted with rusteleum spray paint
2. hardware cloth spray with great stuff and painted with rusteleum
3. Make a mold with Sculpey III Polymer Clay around the cup.

Got a link to the second tank with the cave or the originators name?

 

[h22prelude2k]

You could put some white gravel in the valley. It would give the appearance of a dry river bed.

What light are you using over it? I have my 29g tank setup and still uncertain which light will work for the plants I have. Is this going to be a low tech tank? Injecting Co2?

Bump:
Here are my suggestions for the cave:
1. pcv pipe painted with rusteleum spray paint
2. hardware cloth spray with great stuff and painted with rusteleum
3. Make a mold with Sculpey III Polymer Clay around the cup.

Got a link to the second tank with the cave or the originators name?

I will be injecting CO2 and I have an aquatic life marquis dual T5 HO light.

 

[h22prelude2k]

Got a link to the second tank with the cave or the originators name?

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/1...-3ft-high-tech-low-tech-nano-experiments.html

 

[h22prelude2k]

took some advice from some of the guys at aquascaping world forum

What do you guys think of this layout?

 

[h22prelude2k]

freshly planted dwarf hair grass and dwarf baby tears- going to dry start for a month or two (or until the HC roots)

 

[RyRob]

Great start! I'd break up that hc a little more. You could probably get 2-3 times more coverage to get that carpet going.

 

[WaterLife]

took some advice from some of the guys at aquascaping world forum

What do you guys think of this layout?

Still nice!

Do you happen to have the link to that thread? Interested myself to hear of the tips they gave.

Personally I like how the scape is more "upfront"/in focus now that it is sort of "sloped" toward the viewer (not a big pile of substrate up front).

Though I did like the extended "creek pathway" that led from the front of the cave to the back of the tank. Now it looks more like a puddle in front of the cave. And I honestly think the wood reach over the cave entrance is sort of "hiding" the cave, making it more so just appear to be a hill, and now the cave isn't as noticeable in the previous scapes/set ups.

To me, as with the journal name, the cave was the main focus, with the tree and "creek pathway" being extra nice features. But I am no aquascaper though so take my opinion lightly!

Nice work either way! They all look great!

 

[h22prelude2k]

Added a couple more plants

So far I've got planted:

alternanthera reineckii mini
staurogyne repens
Dwarf Hairgrass
Hemianthus callitrichoides

Also, removed some more water after this picture was taken since one of the guys over at aquascaping world said for a dry start I had too much water in there.