# easiest aquascape for a beginner ?



## plantnoob (13 Feb 2013)

i've been looking more and more at aquascaping over the last day or 2 , and to be honest i find this part an even more daunting prospect than i did growing healthy plants . now i will concede , that probably the most important consideration in your 1st planted tank is to get the basics of growing plants and avoiding algae . however i also know what im like . if i didnt have an aquascape i was happy with i would be more worried about that than the plants .  i have been looking more and more at triangle style scapes and really liking a lot of them , so this led me to wonder what is the easiest scape to carry off well ?

ps , sorry i know i used a million words when a few would do


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## George Farmer (13 Feb 2013)

Hi,

Before you plan your aquascape design you will be wise to consider the following -

Tank size and dimensions
Set-up type (low or high energy, CO2 etc.)
How much maintenance you're willing to undertake
How much money you want to spend
What fish you want to keep

Meanwhile browse UKAPS and the rest of the net for inspiration and ideas.

If I had to recommend a beginner's aquascape it would contain easy and fast growing plants. Invest in decent hardscape as this is the backbone to most decent aquascapes and will last you many years.

The Journals sub-forum contains some great ideas and charts the life of many tanks to give a fuller understanding of what to expect. 

The pinned topics at the top of this sub-forum may also help.


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## plantnoob (13 Feb 2013)

hi george , thanks for your reply . tank dimensions are 80x35cm footprint , 45cm high .planned setup is 2wpg t5 , pressurised co2 via 2kg fire extinguisher , ei dosing . plant-wise for this 1st scape i wasnt thinking along the lines of anything majorly difficult . but it absolutely has to be a thing of beauty  as for maintainence levels , this isnt a concern for me , lots of pruning/trimming/tending is just fine with me . when i had my big cichlid tank i would lovingly tend it ( borderline anal levels of care !) , i actually really enjoy tank maintainence . i have been reading a lot of the articles , tutorials and journals on here with great interest , along with asking questions on various aspects of planted tanks . this is going to be a slow to get off the ground project , as aside from cycling , i will have to go out and get the equipment i need bit by bit as i cant really afford to just get everything at once right now . the time it takes is being used positively to read , research and learn so i can be as prepared as possible when crunch time comes . if you look at example 4 on the following page , that is very much the kind of look i would love to create .

triangle aquascape - Aqua Botanic's Aqua Bloggin

ps . forgot to mention , the planned stocking is to go with small shoaling fish such as tetras/ rasboras and also shrimp


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## George Farmer (13 Feb 2013)

Ok cool, looks like you're clued up enough to have a really good first aquascape!

I also love triangular layouts. My latest (DSM) aquascape happens to be the same.

Example 4 is almost a Dutch style with its relatively formal planting. 

This is quite easy to plan -

Consider sketching a plan view of the planting layout with boundaries for each species.

 If you're not familiar with what species you want then check out the Tropica website for more info.

Consider the focal point plant - this will often be about 1/3 or 2/3 across the tank.


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## plantnoob (13 Feb 2013)

i have been spending a fair amount of time on tropica looking at plants george , but  im now going to have to go back and rethink , as i was originally going to go another way , but then i saw this tank and jsut instantly fell in love with it and thought " thats the kind of thing i want in my living room "   if im honest , i think im enjoying the research/planning every bit as much as i will enjoy the tank itself


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## Ian Holdich (13 Feb 2013)

Have you checked the videos on the tropica site? They are great, they range from easy, medium, and hard. They also give you the layout plans...something that is very handy at the beginning.


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## plantnoob (13 Feb 2013)

i havent looked through the videos on the tropica site yet , but ive been having a good look through the layouts section with the difficulty rating , plant lists and step by step photos from setup to pruning . i have to admit that there is 1 in the same size range as my tank that i am quite tempted to try as it does look really nice . although i do think i would rather have something unique to me rather than just directly copy something that looks good . still really useful for ideas


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## plantnoob (13 Feb 2013)

doh ! just noticed its the layouts that have got videos


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