[tsunami]

Driftwood placement is a big area of interest for me, since my last three layouts all have very dramatic wood arrangements. I use mostly thin, branchy pieces of wood.

Some tips I can offer:

1) Practice. Each arrangement you make gets better and better. Plan an idea for your arrangement, draw it out. Know what plants you will use. It will save a lot of time, trust me. It took me 30 minutes to redo a design for my 20g when I knew what direction I would take. A cube I was working on took me a couple hours, since I had no idea what direction to take. No, it's not the cube I have in the journal. That layout is history.

2) Always use odd numbers. Never use four branches, especially.

3) Position each branch so that it complements the others somehow --something you learn with a little practice, experience, and visualization. Never add a piece of driftwood just because it looks nice. Add it because it performs some function (balances the layout, adds interest, etc).

Other than that, it's hard to give any hard set guidelines. Be creative and see what you get. IME, it's hard forcing a wood arrangement in an already established/laid out tank with plants. I would personally start from scratch.

Carlos

 

[tsunami]

I feel that you will have to use the big piece and one smaller piece. If you use each of the two smaller pieces, then the hardscaping will be too balanced on either side.

The second to last photo looks the most promising of the lot. Just move both pieces, keeping them in the same general angle, a little to one side.

Fifty-five gallons are hard to work with because they are narrow. However, they are not impossible. My best layout right now is a 55g.

Carlos

 

[tsunami]

Great start, I see you've obtained lots of healthy plants! I just have a few nitpicks though....

1) I feel that the wood got shuffled around during planting. Try getting it back to what aquoi originally posted. It makes a big difference in the presentation.

2) I see that the bunch of Rotala wallichii on the far right is packed together as one big bunch. You really should plant each 2-3 stems of this plant individually.

3) Just for presentation purposes, it's always best to even out the substrate lying against the front glass as best as you can.

Keep us updated!

Carlos