# Opinions and help with 80cm 'scape



## Fred Dulley (9 Oct 2010)

Hi gang at UKAPS.
I'm undertaking my second year at Uni and I've been lucky enough to keep my Rio125 with me in the house I'm residing in.
I've just spent the last couple hours arranging the hard scape with fellow UKAPS member, "mitch".
Your thoughts on the hardscape position would be appreciated.






















I'm still throwing ideas around with regards to plants.
I might have a carpet of Echinodorus tenellus on the right hand side on the tank. Taking up roughly a third.
Closer to the wood I'm thinking mosses on the branches/rocks and Staurogyne repens at the base. I'd like to give Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides (maritima) a try towards the base of the wood.
I'm not too sure what to have on the left hand side (midground + background)
Your inputs are welcome


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## Dave Spencer (9 Oct 2010)

The wood is nice enough, and I like the way some roots reach out to the front of the tank. They will have a nice effect of disappearing down in to whatever foreground plant you choose.

The rocks will almost certainly disappear once the plants become established. How about leaving a fair amount of the foreground bare, with some E parvula around the larger stones and in and around the wood.

Staurogyne repens is a nice plant that I haven`t tried yet. I look foreward to seeing how you use it here.
Dave.


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## zig (10 Oct 2010)

The roots are nice but I think it will be hard to balance the tank without the right hand side being quite full with tall plants and bigger rocks. You could probably make the balancing job a bit easier by lowering/angling the furthest branch on the left hand side that would give you more scope I think for other possibilities. Just IMHO


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## George Farmer (10 Oct 2010)

I agree with the above.  

The wood looks nice , but I'd be inclined to group the stones together around the base of the wood to make them more dominant and adapt the planting accordingly.  I can visualise plants growing amongst the stones and softening the stone/wood transition nicely.  Just my Â£0.02.

All the best with the set-up and who knows, you may inspire other fellow students to try their own hand ?!


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## Graeme Edwards (10 Oct 2010)

Nice wood.


The main points I focused on were -

*1* Initial impression was good, this has scope. Clever planting will bring good dimension to this scape.
*2* The rocks are a bit small for a large scape like that. Where they are, they will get swamped once plants grow in, and it will look like a wood only scape.
My thoughts would be to either bring the stones you have forward, group some stones together to make them appear bigger,or find some bigger stones.
*3* Was the bundle of wood. It looks to close to the left of the tank. If thats the only way it will fit, then its still very nice. If you have a it of wiggle room, then it might balance out better if you slide it along to the right a few inches.

My Â£0.32


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## Fred Dulley (10 Oct 2010)

Thank you all for your replies.

Dave, I had a feeling that the stones would get hidden by the plants :?  .E parvula is a nice touch. I've heard it can get a bit unruly if not kept in check.

zig, after reading your reply I can see exactly what you mean about the branch on the far left. I'll have a go at lowering/adjusting the angle.

Cheers George. I'll have a play around with the rocks today. One of the benefits of taking photos is that you can put things back where they were in case other rock formations dont work out.

Some excellent points there, Graeme. Again, I had a feeling the rocks would get swamped... Luckily I have some larger lava stones left over so I'll try them instead. Always better to order too many rocks than not enough   I will also try shifting the wood arrangement over to the right a tad.

Thanks again, guys. It's nice to get advise from already successful aquascapers.
I'll post pictures of various attempts later.


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## Fred Dulley (10 Oct 2010)

I think I've managed to incorporate most of the ideas.
What do you think?





The branch on th far left has been lowered. The whole wood placement has been shifted to the right slightly.
More rocks have been put at the base of the wood and I've raised the rocks on the right handside.


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## Dave Spencer (10 Oct 2010)

The rocks are a big improvement, and have now become a more significant part of the scape.

My reservation is with the two large pieces of wood running parallel to eachother at the same angle. I would either put the left piece at a shallower angle, or make the piece towards the centre more vertical.

Dave.


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## Mitch (10 Oct 2010)

hi I'm freds housemate.

that peice of wood that you are referring to is a single peice. its less obvious live as there is an angular difference between the two peices mentioned.


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## zig (10 Oct 2010)

Mitch said:
			
		

> hi I'm freds housemate.
> 
> that peice of wood that you are referring to is a single peice. its less obvious live as there is an angular difference between the two peices mentioned.



Hi Mitch, ok I see it now alright, stuck together, I had something in mind like this before I knew that, excuse the 2 minute photoshop job.





But if that cant be done because of the wood I would stack the plants high on the right hand side to balance it out. The foreground could be sand (just a couple of inches) leading to a low growing grass type plant probably Eleocharis parvula, then a midground and tall background planting. You could also try have more low branches break the foreground lower down on the right hand side. Hope that helps


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## jay (10 Oct 2010)

By the way you've arranged the wood, I'm guessing you're going for triangular layout from the left, leading to a meadow style front and right side? 
Think zig has it right with the two main branches. Separate and angle away. The three branches at the back seem like they may get lost in the planting. Perhaps moving them over more to the right will help them clear the planting. Just off-centre. What's the plants going to be at the back, stems? Or vallis/hairgrass style?


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## Fred Dulley (11 Oct 2010)

Thanks for the ideas zig and taking the time to do a paint image.  




			
				jay said:
			
		

> By the way you've arranged the wood, I'm guessing you're going for triangular layout from the left, leading to a meadow style front and right side?



Yep, that's the main idea.



			
				jay said:
			
		

> Think zig has it right with the two main branches. Separate and angle away.



Wish I could. They're attached to the same bit of wood.



			
				jay said:
			
		

> The three branches at the back seem like they may get lost in the planting. Perhaps moving them over more to the right will help them clear the planting. Just off-centre.



Again, I can't move these. They're fixed onto another peice of wood.



			
				jay said:
			
		

> What's the plants going to be at the back, stems? Or vallis/hairgrass style?



I really dont know. I'm in a soft water area, so Vallis would not be my first choice.
I'd love to give these all a go.
Limnophila aromatica
Echinodorus 'Vesuvius' 
Hygrophila pinnatifida
Pogostemon erectus


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