AheartlessFish

personally i like the right more than the left.

the left side plants arnt very filling...there seems to be some loose gaps where you can see the back of the tank.

but thats just my opinion ^^

nicpapa

Thanks , i have more wood ,i put some in the right side, i cut a lot blyxa .

AheartlessFish yes its a problem , that i want to fix..

nicpapa

An update i add more wood , please advice


By nicpapa at 2012-04-28

Zapins

Using MS Paint I did a quick edit of the way I was envisioning your tank with a few minor improvements. Sorry for the bad quality of edits I didn't have time to clone the background properly.

The bylaxa looks good on the right side now, its got definition and isn't overwhelming. The new driftwood you added is positioned really well, but I feel like it is too big of a piece, the thickness of the wood draws the eye and sort of dominates that area especially since the branch goes all the way up to the surface. If you have another branch the same shape, but thinner and shorter I think it would look just right there. Having one focal point is usually the way to go and the wood in the middle that reaches the surface is that focal point (all the wood points up to that area which draws the eye there).

I think the left side of the tank should loosely mirror the right side in terms of plant species. So I think that the myrio you have in the back left corner should be taken out and probably replaced with the rotala that is all over the right side of the tank. Just a little bit poking up at the top to give the tank a bit of symmetry.

Then the bottom left side might look good with a little clump of bylaxa and maybe one or two stems of downoi (pogostemon helferi).

Also another piece of thin drift wood on the left side in all that greenery would add to the design I think. And the single stem plant that is growing across the middle valley should be removed since it distracts the eye from the focal point (driftwood at surface).

Hope you don't mind my suggestions. I think you have made a really fantastic scape so far. Looking forwards to seeing how it changes over time.

Tex Gal

Looking good. I do think a little downoi on the left would look nice. Your plants are loving you.

nicpapa

Thanks a lot Zapins ,Tex Gal, i think i done everythink you saint
What about know? Is beter ?


By nicpapa at 2012-04-29

Tex Gal

I think it's great. Everyone will always be able to suggest little tweaks to your scape. It doesn't mean it's better, just maybe what their eye sees. That's what we all like about this hobby. I don't know anyone that doesn't tweak their scape. That's how you see them slowly morphing into a new look. This is really an highly subjective hobby as to what is great or not so great.

nicpapa

You are right , i love to tweak the scape , and i like to listen ideas..
This is my second scape in two years.. so i have to learn a lot of thinks..

Zapins

You know, I was thinking about your tank the other day and it occurred to me that there seem to be three levels to aquascaping.

The first is the main focus of the tank. This is the first thing that your eyes are drawn to when you look at a tank. In your tank it is definitely the wood that draws the tank. My eyes immediately look in the center and then follow the tall piece of wood up and to the surface. I think this aspect of your tank is nearly flawless. Possibly the left side of the tank could use another piece of thin drift wood, but I'm not sure I think its just a personal choice at this point.

Then, the second thing my eyes are drawn to are the plants. I immediately see the nice green hill on the right side and then look around at the other plants, the different species and the shape of them. I think it is important when designing this aspect of the aquascape to not use too many plant species and to use plant species that work well together otherwise the tank loses the feel of cohesiveness. If you look at nearly every 1st place tank in the yearly AGA competitions the number of plant species per tank is usually pretty low, under 7 and they tend to use certain combinations of plants that look good next to each other.

The third thing my eyes look for after the above two is fine detail. I love the fine detail you have in the middle valley and on the left side of the tank. The rocks, wood and HC growing over them looks so natural and perfect. When I look at the far right side of the tank, under the bylaxa I can also see there are rocks and wood under there but they are hidden by the bylaxa. I think if we could see the fine detail on the right side of the tank it would improve the third level of your aquascape.

As Tex said aquascaping is very subjective and it is definitely something that is fun to change over time, but I believe that it is also perfectly acceptable to ask for advice. You are in control of your tank, if you agree with the suggestions given then it is useful, otherwise it is just interesting to see what other people prefer.

The Trigger

Tank looks awesome. I think the white background made it stand out more