Planning stage for 40gb - Update: first attempt tell me what's wrong!

i would go with the wood + rock scape to make it look a bit more natural

Any suggestions for type of wood? I like the dark color of manzanita but all the end pieces seem too spindly.

You could go for malaysian driftwood. I personally like that you can get thicker pieces that don't have the "twiggy" look that you see with manzita a lot of times. Malaysian can also be very dark. I would agree though that a combination of a real nice collection of rocks with a couple pieces of wood could look great. Takes a while to find exactly what you like though!

Spike32 said:

Any suggestions for type of wood? I like the dark color of manzanita but all the end pieces seem too spindly.

Click to expand...

You can get a box of Manzanita and create your own piece. I got a full box for $50 with large pieces enough for a large tank.

I would answer you by pointing out that most scapes are a work in progress and not an end on to themselves. What I mean is that don't be afraid to experiment, try out different things and if you don't like them then change them all that sooner. It is easy to pick out gorgeous tanks to aspire too but those tanks were put together by folks who've had a lot of experience. You need to gain that experience before you can expect those type of results but that is exactly why this hobby is so appealing. If we could throw together a tank and have it perfect from the start then most of us would be bored to tears in no time. It is the learning, trying and experimenting that gives us the fun and challenge that keeps us interested.
So in other words dive in and have fun setting up your own unique scape and then have some more fun by pulling it apart and doing something different.
And oh yeh, talking about it with others and planning it out in your head time after time is also part of it.

So I got the materials and started scaping my tank. After a bit of feedback on the original try, I have version two now. Please let me know what could be improved on.

http://imgur.com/a/jxpIm

Needs bigger/more driftwood or rock in my opinion... that hardscape gets a bit lost in the huge bottom area of the tank.

I used the manzanita I had on hand, I'll take a look at what my LFS has in stock for driftwood and see if there is anything I like. I was thinking a carpeted open front would look good and with the slope going back create a illusion of distance, but I understand that the rocks are too small at the minute. Thanks for the feedback, I don't have much time to fuss with it tonight but I'll post back when I've made some progress.

the carpet in the front is fine but the area u have is way to big .... but these are just our thoughts, you can do what you like that u think looks nice to you... after all you'll be seeing it every day