Peter16 Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 (edited) This will be my firs nano attempt it is actually 2.91g but who cares ? Im doing this tank in different stages. im up to stage 3. Stage 1. Consisted of gathering funds. so i sold all the useless stuff around the house on ebay. My greatest achievement was a small motorcycle some neighbours throughout. I spent a day pulling it apart and by late afternoon i got her going! so i put it on ebay for .99c and sold it for $102:D Stage 2. conduct DIY parts. so i put together the diy co2 unit and build the lightstand. costs so far 3.50 for spray paint and the ebay fees. Stage 3. Final preperation. I recieved my UP AQUA gravel today and i love it. It looks soo good. and i will order plants on the weekend. and in a month or so will order the mini heater and filter media..... So here are a couple pics. Please tell me what you think. A thin sprinkling of old root tabs. gravel depth there is about 20mm This shows where the tank is, temporarily next to my bed, once i fill it up with water i will move it down to the computer room. It also shows my diy light stand, on my little table i made back in year 10. I apoligise for the bad shot, my room has 2 black walls and a black ceiling so there is very little light and I had to use the flash. This is the current scape, the mounds in the corners are a lot more \'vert\' (steeper incline) in person. I kept it simple as i want the plants to be the main focus, so they should over grow the rocks in time if you know what i mean. I would really like your honest opinion with this. And this shows its position... oh and the greatest marine company in the world:D Hence my black and red room. Excuse the old federation style bed. Its my water bed:p http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii128/mercury16_2007/100_1577 Edited April 23, 2009 by Lilli Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 To me, the rocks look a little small and randomly placed. I think if you're going to go with rocks that size, they should perhaps cluster in one corner in a triangular-type shape. (honest opinion ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter16 Posted April 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 Thanks lilli. the rocks were placed fairly randomly. I will try a few different designs with some larger rocks and see if i can get something that works. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marianne Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 I would make the layer of substrate much lower at the front, and keep it's current depth at the back, to add depth to the tank. Agree about the rocks too, I'd use bigger ones. :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter16 Posted April 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 Thats a good idea Marianne, I have taken out a couple handfuls, so i will take out a few more. I took a couple more shots. I figured i had better show you my plants plan. first idea was to have it in the shape of half a tyre, so up the back and around the sides, having a small meadow of glosso in the middle. my 2nd idea was to have one side covered in the glosso and a corner filled with hair grass. my 2 sketches should show you. I need to choose a style by tomorrow because its the difference between 1 or2 hair grass pots and i need to order them. the larger rocks do look alot better. and once its all grown in i dont expect there to be too much rock showing. Here are 3 other possible ways. I like type 2 the most, but not 100% happy with it. I still have to remove some of the substrate at the front. type 1 type 2 Type 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holycow Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 advice: since you've used a lot of aquasoil and because it has a LOT of ammonia packed into it, tank will probably take a month to cycle. once the polymer coating wears off becareful poking around the substrate or rescaping, quickly turns to mud. ps. looks like a bowfront, 31 cm? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter16 Posted April 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 (edited) just has 2 front curved corners and yes 31cm I will be taking a fair bit more substrate out. It will be using a mature filter, but i will still be extra cautious. And once i finished with the emmersed growth i should not have to rescape much. during the emmersed period the substrate will be under water, wont it leak all its ammonia then? Edited April 23, 2009 by Peter16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holycow Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 nope. substrate leaches out ammonia for a very long period of time - that's what it's designed to do. had a mature filter in a tank of the stuff, with daily water changes and just when you thought it was safe to put something in, BAM. dangerously high ammonia reading - very, very dark green reading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter16 Posted April 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2009 Ok i will keep a close eye on it when i fill it up. a couple more scape, none have really impressed me. the step up would be my favourite. tell me what you think. Type 4 - pretty boring Type 5 - Step up, I liked this one. Type 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted April 24, 2009 Report Share Posted April 24, 2009 I like this one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter16 Posted April 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2009 Thanks Lilli, 3 people have now said type 1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Queenserpentine Posted April 24, 2009 Report Share Posted April 24, 2009 agreed type 1 I also think is the more appealing of all Name because its slightly off centre drawing attention to that area but not actually detracting from the rest of the tank :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter16 Posted April 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2009 here are a couple more. Thankyou for the comments so far. Greatly appreciated. Type 7. meh Type 8. this one looks a little unnatural but i like it and the hairgrass can easily be contained by the rock boarder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callatya Posted April 25, 2009 Report Share Posted April 25, 2009 I think maybe go for natural, and if you need to contain things you could sink plastic collars into the soil to keep everything neatly in place. I like 1, 4 and 6 if one or two of the rocks were moves from the pile and into the land area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted April 25, 2009 Report Share Posted April 25, 2009 (edited) I like Type 1 more than the others but I'd rearrange all of them. The big rock naturally draws focus so it should take centre stage. But not dead centre. Put it about 1/3rd the way in from the the left or right edge. Put the smaller rocks on either side of the big rock and make one of them closer to the big rock and the other one further away. Something like this, looking from above. ______O____________ ____o______________ __________o________ But bear in mind I'm limited in what I can draw simply using text. Edited April 25, 2009 by Bettarazzi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter16 Posted April 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2009 Thanks everyone. all Greatly appreciated. I will try and rearrange the rocks soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter16 Posted April 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2009 I collected some larger rocks and found this beauty and I love it. introducing type 10. with or without the smaller rock, doesnt bother me, but i think with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holycow Posted April 26, 2009 Report Share Posted April 26, 2009 looks promising but think you need a third, smaller stone to counterbalance the other two Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter16 Posted April 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2009 hmm, where abouts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holycow Posted April 26, 2009 Report Share Posted April 26, 2009 looking from above the stone should probably be placed in the space infront of the large stone, towards the glass. might have to bury or push the left side of the larger stone into the substrate so as to cover the it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duv Posted April 26, 2009 Report Share Posted April 26, 2009 I'm by no means an expert but I personally think another stone would crowd the look. I think it's lovely the way it is. Just my opinion *lol* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter16 Posted April 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2009 The third rock makes it look alot better. but im not sure if i placed it correctly, i think i could do better. what are your thoughts? Still have to adjust the substrate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted April 26, 2009 Report Share Posted April 26, 2009 I think it's really starting to get there. Is it possible to rotate the big rock clockwise a bit. I'd like to see it a little more upright. I'm not sure I like that all the rocks are leaning the same way. One of the commonly used rock arrangements is a central rock with 2 smaller rocks leaning towards it. They're very attractive rocks. What kind are they and where did you get them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marianne Posted April 27, 2009 Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 I think it would be more natural for all the rocks to lean the same way. Whatever conditions made them lean wouldn't make one rock lean the opposite way. But could always try it with the rock on the right leaning towards the other two? I like the look with the big rock much better than the previous ones:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callatya Posted April 27, 2009 Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 Triangles are generally considered visually pleasing, so maybe see if you can get the rocks to form some sort of triangle? It is the last one that is throwing it off for me. My eye hits the big rock, moves down to the darker trinagle on the front of it, and then flies off along the point. I'm not really looking at 2/3rds of the tank, only the last 1/3, if that makes sense. I like this one. I mean, I liked the others too, but this has some really nice strong design elements. It'll be an art piece as well as a great looking tank (and if they are part of a bigger rock that fell and split they could be facing in any direction ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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