Bunbuku

Due to an unfortunate encounter with a large M. mattogrossens rootball during topping, I went from crystal clear water in my ADA 60-P to café au lait in ~5 sec. helped along by filter that was running when I was trimming . In a panic, I quickly moved all my livestock into 5 gallon buckets in the garage, with no apparent casualties. Rather than risk battling an algae bloom, I tore down my tank and started from scratch.

I decided against recreating the previous “sand river” effect http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/f...e-ada-60p.html in favor of a simpler layout in the Iwagumi style as illustrated in the 2008 ADA catalog. As a beginner, I am not trying for something original, just something in the style of the master.

The hardscape consists of Amazonia II, Powersand S, Tourmaline BC and Yamaya stones. I used a much thinner layer of AS than recommended in their How-to-layout-making manual (2.5 cm front to 5 cm back). The plan is to have the HC carpet and something tall and grassy in the background like E. parvula or Cyperus helferi.

What do you think of the layout and plant selection? Should I add some mid-ground plants between the rocks? I was thinking of Eriocaulon cinereum (when it comes in season).

TIA for the advice!!

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HoustonFishFanatic

That looks nice Fil!!!!!! Where did you get those stones from?
Bhushan

Bunbuku

Hey Bhushan! Thanks for the compliments!

I got the stones from Aqua Forest Aquarium in SF several months ago. The process of trying to "see" the rockscape was not intuitive to me, so they sat in storage and I went my first scape, until this weekend's incident that is....I'm glad my plants went to good homes!

It's was leap of faith to order these stones on-line without seeing them first hand. Thank heavens for the 2008 ADA catalog!

Diana K

I would group the rocks into one or more distinct groups, not scatter them equally spaced about the tank. In a small tank, one main grouping with a couple of satellites works well. 2 groups, with one slightly larger and the other somewhat smaller works well, too. Avoid symmetry.
If you go with one grouping, make it off center, roughly 1/3 or so to one side or the other. Then add a few smaller rocks on the other side of the centerline and see. Maybe they should not be there. Gotta test-place them and see. (See March Tank of the month- one main rock, off center)
If you find 2 groupings works better then the taller one a little closer to center, and the shorter one just a bit farther from the center, on the other side of the centerline.
Think about the way nature does things. Rarely will rocks or boulders be equally spread out in a landscape. There will be a grouping, a pile, or several smaller boulders or rocks that have fallen off the main rock. The separated pieces do not fall very far.

Here is a hint: Take a pic of a layout you like, and look at it in a mirror. If the layout still looks good in reverse, go for it. If something looks funny in reverse, then the original layout has some sort of flaw, too, that may be hard to see, but could be improved on.

Side note... I tried to get to AF, in SF today, but there was some sort of event going on a block or two away, and parking anywhere within walking distance was impossible!

Paul Higashikawa

Will be interesting to see how this turns out. But yes, do give the initial set up stage more thorough consideration because once you put the plants in, it will be much more hassle to change things.

When all is said and done, though, I would just go with what you 'feel' looks right to you. If you like your creation, no one in the world can say anything and have any effect on you. Plus, it is an experiment and will give you experience. So if in the end it still does not work for you later on, you know what you can improve upon the next round. This is one reason I like smaller tanks. Tearing down is relatively painless

GlitcH

I like how you've laid out the rockwork.
well, minus one rock.......the big one, front center. I think if you take that out it would be perfect. GL!

EDIT:
After looking again I see one more thing........small but I think it would help if you spun the second rock from the left in front, 180 degrees. Then it would be perfect

TNguyen

I see a major flaw in this design. The ADA trimless tank is just too distracting and not in the right place. Just move all the rock out and sent the whole thing my way then it will be perfect! Have fun with your new scape!

Cheers,
Thanh

thief

Beautiful arrangement. Also Awesome advice you guys couldn't of made it better. I think you really got the rock placement down but I would make it into 2 separate groups with one bigger than the other.

Bunbuku

Thanks to all the critique! I wanted to get feedback now before the plants go in, as Paul said it will be a major hassle to rescape then.

I have done reworking the rockscape and will post pics as soon as possible (when they fix my DSL!). In brief, I moved the 2 large center rocks so that their intersection corresponds to the "golden ratio". I cleared off some of the stones to achieve and open space on the right side.

As planting, it will start this weekend. I plan HC in the foreground with glosso as foreground accents around the rocks. Cyperus helferi behind the rocks to soften the look and Blyxa in the right back ground

jeremy1

Very nice stones and great placement. I would not change a thing.

Jeremy

 

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