Draginduster

Ok, so I am trying to figure out the hard scape. I have been looking over many pictures but I see a completed tank. It's rather difficult trying to figure out how it was all laid out prior to the plants. I've heard a lot about "the golden rule" or triangle or something....Yep, I don't get it. So here are a couple of quick sketches so you guys can tell me how a proper layout is supposed to look, and what I am doing wrong-if anything. They are to scale with the image size being the tank detentions, and the one with without the tree branch is using rock shapes and sizes of those I just acquired. I have yet to get any wood.

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ferris89

Great sketches! I really believe in whatever you think looks best, is best, and yes naturally there are certain ratios we find appealing. The "Golden Ratio" is from the Fibonacci sequence, which goes 1,1,2,3,5,8,13... etc adding the previous two numbers together to make the next in the pattern. These ratios are found throughout nature, and thus the natural way is the appealing way usually. I personally just did a ten gallon (someday would love to do a 180 ) and redid the scape multiple times until just yesterday I think I finally settled into something I like.
So IMO I'd play around (sketches are a great way to do it) and find something you like.
Sorry for the rant, but hopefully things work out!

oregon aqua

I like the second one.

here are some articles about setting up hardscapes that i like.

http://www.adana.co.jp/_e_howto ada setup

http://www.aquatic-eden.com/2006/11/...uascaping.html golden rule article

Personally to simplify the golden rule with no math, nothing in the center, only one focal point, this keeps your eyes happy and you want to look at the tank longer and it looks more natural.

ferris89

oregon:
I like your description better! lol, much simpler!
and what a fantastic article!

Draginduster

Awesome! Thanks guys, that helped a ton.

ferris89

no prob! keep us posted on what happens!

ingg

Remember the size of what you are doing, is my advice - I look at that second pic and go, "what a shame, he'll never see 90% of his rock work".

Here are some comparitive shots for you. First, setting up my 180g. Note, those are 30-40 pound rocks for the larger ones. Funny coincidence, but we were showing our club the Golden Ratio, so the lines you see of the pink yarn are the lines the gold ratio call out, take from both ends, and top and bottom.

http://www.gwapa.org/articles/january2008/

Rockwork and wood looks huge, right?

Not really. Here is my tank now:

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/f...-williams.html

Don't envision a hardscape by what you see now. Envision it is a mature tank, and let the scape have the ability to still be seen and appreciated when the tank is full of plants.

Draginduster

I know that the hard scape is covered up in 95% of the tanks out there, which is why I need advice like this. In my head I envision a tank of mostly swords and very short plants on the edges. I am planning on seeing this from both 6' sides and one 2' side so I am going to plant the high stuff straight down the middle. I have no clue if this will work but it is, for some reason, what I have stuck in my head. I'm still retarded on plant names so I will make another sketch with some plants and see if I can get the advice of this forum on what makes sense where. My problem is that I don't know what a mature plant of any type actually looks like. I have never seen a planted tank in person and this is my first attempt. Like I said before, I could be setting myself up for a huge failure. We will just have to see.

dosj

guys,

i can't find the photo of this tank anywhere ! any help ?

thanks

Draginduster

The tank of this thread? That would be my bad. Laziness I guess. Tell ya what. I will take photos tonight and post them. I'm still scraping together my funds so I only have the tank, stand/canopy and filter as of yet. The rest is slowly coming together.