[snoop-a-loop]

Hey everyone and thanks for taking a look at my scape!

Let me give the basics real quick:
- 72 gallon bowfront
- 108watt 6700K T5HO lighting for 10 hours
- Milwaukee SMS pH controller set to 6.8 which runs at about 2.5 bps
- Eheim 2026 on the right side
- Eheim Ecco 2234 with inline Aqua Medic 1000 Co2 reactor
- Aquariumplants.com own substrate
- No fert dosing other than Excel from time to time


I took this picture on monday after moving the driftwood to the left (had it in the middle) and moving all the plants around and trimming quite a bit.

Did I perhaps put the driftwood too far to the left? It seems to me that the left side is more red and the right side is more green and there is a clear dividing line between the two colors. Someone suggested that I try Wisteria as a foreground plant but I am finding that they come loose pretty easily so I need another recommendation for a foreground plant.

I will get more recent pictures up when its dark out so that I don't have too many reflections.

But please let me know what you guys think of it, am I on the right track..anything? This is my first "official" scape I would say, before this I just threw in plants and watched them grow in.

Thanks!

 

[alym]

in this type of scape, i'd say you want to leave the space on the right open, i.e. filled with smaller plants rather than the tall ones you already have. just a thought!

 

[snoop-a-loop]

That's what I was thinking as well but I had some extra plants left over so I went ahead and put them along the back and side. I am looking for some dwarf hair grass that would fill in the right side, so once I get that I will be moving the taller plants to the left or getting rid of them completely.

 

[Strick]

It does seem unbalanced. Too much stuff and too much red on the right. Maybe move some of the taller red plants to the left side of the tank?

 

[nismo tetra]

I would move some of those bright greens into the red section to further accent those reds. Would make them seem more "dramatic". Like that tall green plant move to the background of the red plant area. Almost as if the red plants are growing out of a patch of green plants.

 

[anastasisariel]

I'm gonna have to be the odd ball and say that I like it and would like to see how it will look when it is much fuller after a couple weeks, and I kinda want to say I'd like to see a reddish green colored plant put in the midst of the greeness on the right.

 

[snoop-a-loop]

I think I will be getting rid of some of the green plants and reducing the amount of different plants I have...It looks a bit hectic IMO. I will move some of the taller green plants to the left behind and around the red ones to make it more "dramatic" and do some trimming once it grows in a bit more.

I've read a few threads that tell you how to trim but I am still a bit unsure of where to trim the plant for it to come in nice and bushy so any advice on that would be greatly appreciated.

I also need to pull that small rock out, I had it in there to hold down a great big anubia but that plant is long gone now and for some reason left the rock there.

Thanks for all of your comments and opinions!

 

[snoop-a-loop]

Just got my dwarf hairgrass in and I also got some (and by some I mean a whole 10 gallon tank full) of java fern and about 10 anubias nana petite. I placed the dwarf hairgrass but not sure what to do with the java fern or anubias. Any recommendations? I moved some of the green into the 'red' zone on the left per recommendation of nismo tetra. The rotala indica is growing like crazy now...woohoo.

This is what the tank looks like now

And just finished making a semi-covered canopy for it. Used window screen to block most of the reflecting light, we will see tonight how it did. Got the idea from Niko, and thanks for helping me out with that.

Criticism is always welcome and appreciated

 

[snoop-a-loop]

Oh also my aponogeton longiplumulosus shot up a flower and its about to bloom. I'll take a picture whenever its in full bloom, its supposed to be really nice and purple. I'll try to cross pollinate so that I can have offspring.

 

[FSM]

I think the driftwood might look better on the right side, so that the branches are pointed towards the middle.

Right now, the left half of the tank looks great, but the whole thing doesn't seem very cohesive.

 

[mistergreen]

Keep us updated on the hairgrass. From my experience, hairgrass and loaches don't mix very well. Every morning I would see a bit of floating hairgrass.

 

[nismo tetra]

I think it looks pretty good to be honest. Very clear. Just give it a bit of time to fill in. Then you can trim the plants up to where they better flow with one another. I like the hair grass. I'm sure in due time it will fill in nicely. If you get really bored one day and want to mess with the tank, you could further separate those clumps of hair grass to blend them all in a bit better. Long and tedious task lol.

 

[snoop-a-loop]

The hairgrass came in the mail from someone else who had them and it looked like there weren't too many roots so I figured I would try to separate them a bit more but not to the extend of every little strand. I am more worried about my 2 plecos to kick up the grass because I've seen them take some plants out by moving a lot.

I think the driftwood could most a bit more to the right but I'll let everything grow in for a while then mess with it again. I have the anubias to tie to something so I was thinking about putting them on the driftwood near the top where it kind of looks like a sideways V, there is a little divot for them. Now tying them to that will be a task I believe.

Should I throw in some java fern somewhere perhaps (seeing that I have a 10 gallon tank full of them)?

 

[Dryn]

Your 'scape is looking good. However, there are a couple of things I'd critique: first, you are using a triangular-shaped layout which makes the rotala out of place (move it left some). Second, you lack a focal point with which to draw the attention of the viewer (follow the golden rule). Third, you are using far too many red plants in the layout making it look to complicated. Green is much more unifying. Your layout has a great deal of potential and it looks pretty good so far. Stick with it...

 

[snoop-a-loop]

Thanks for the advice Dryn! I took out some of the red plants (Ammannia Gracillis and Ammannia Senegalensis) and trimmed the rotala back to behind the DW. Took out the wallichii because it wasn't doing great. I placed the nana petit in the divot although the anubias aren't looking great themselves.

I am have the rotala along the whole back it just seems like the ones in the middle are growing faster than the ones on the left.

Wouldn't the focal point be the DW? I tried to place it 1:1.618 but I guess I should move it a bit more to the right and get the rotala to go behind it some more.

I'll keep messing with it for a while until I am happy with it...then I will redo the whole thing haha.

Thanks again for the critique.

 

[Dryn]

The driftwood itself is too big to be the focal point, but a piece of it could be if it was properly highlighted, say with nice chunk of neon green riccia on a dark field.

What you want in a focal point is something that immediately draws the attention, but doesn't overwhelm the viewer. You want a point that can be taken in one look without having to look back and forth to take it all in, that defeats the purpose. The focal point grabs the attention, then the driftwood acts as a piece of interest that draws the eye through the landscape.

A nice little knot of anubias at the bottom of the driftwood would draw the eye to it and the hairgrass across the front allows the eye to continue flowing... so on and so on.

You've got a good grasp - the devil's in the details.

 

[three105]

dude wanna build me a canopy like that for my 72?

 

[snoop-a-loop]

Hmmm...Well I believe I am getting some riccia here sooner or later so that could help. I can place an anubia or two in there or even put some java fern to make it 'flow' more. I get what you're saying its just going to take a bit to finally get that thought/image into the aquarium. I'll mess around with it again this weekend and post another few pictures to see how things are going, hopefully in the right direction haha.


I would gladly made you a canopy for your 72 but I think that sending it in the mail will cost quite a bit.

 

[snoop-a-loop]

Well I took some updated pictures. Let me know what you think.

 

[Aqua'd]

That flower is Sweet!!
Where is that plant in the tank though?? Is it that green curvy stalk going up on the left of the tank?
What does the plant itself look like?
Thanks