# What do you think about my new hardscape?



## Aquasheep (29 Jan 2022)

Any comments or suggestions on how to improve?
I'm going for a nature style aqua scape. 
The aquarium is 90x55x45.

Cheers!


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## Dobert (29 Jan 2022)

Hi Aquasheep, please don't get me wrong because the last thing I want is to discourage you. This one looks like two randomly placed pieces of driftwood. You have a beautiful stone and it would be interesting to see those exposed a little bit more . Now they disappear to me (or maybe it's a light, I don't know)


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## shangman (29 Jan 2022)

Oh funnily enough I really disagree, I think it looks very nice and great for planting. I don't think it looks random, it looks like a cool hollowed out piece of wood with lots of nice rooty bits to me. 

I like that it fills the space without being heavy, and I really like that it reaches the top so you could have some emergent growth.

I think in some areas you could extend the ends of the rooty bits with more small rooty bits so it doesn't always end abruptly, but it is nice as is. I would also add some more stone a bit further out from the wood on the right to give a little extra interest too cos the stone does look interesting.


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## Hufsa (29 Jan 2022)

A thing to note with dragon stone is that it can be a good idea to orient the stones so that the "pores" of the stones are all going in the same direction. If possible could you rotate the leftmost rock so that the striations / pores are aligned with the other three?


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## Garuf (30 Jan 2022)

The more experience I get the more I think hard scape, while important, isn’t the most important aspect in the very first instance, more important is using it to achieve your ends once the plants are grown in. 

I’m going to be big headed and use my own tank here as an example that I think might explain a touch better. 



See how the rock and the wood in the foreground split the attention and your eyes can’t find the focal point? It’s a sorta weak hardscape when it’s bare. But the thing with hardscape is you’re going to lose…30% maybe, of what you can see once the plants go in and even more if you use the hardscape as a planting surface. 



This is at planting, see how the balance has changed and that big ol lump of gray is no longer competing for attention and the negative space is the main focal point drawing in the eye. Also note just how many “details” we sweat over aren’t even visible.

What I do when I do my scape is to take my glasses off and sit as far away as I can, then you don’t see the details and you see what the “pure” composition is to focus on. You could likely do the same in photoshop with the blur tool if you aren’t optically challenged like me. Trust me, it really helps.


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## Garuf (30 Jan 2022)

That said, if we ignore your rock work assuming it will be planted and invisible, here is what I would do.


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## shangman (30 Jan 2022)

Garuf said:


> That said, if we ignore your rock work assuming it will be planted and invisible, here is what I would do. View attachment 181043


This is what I would do too, love me some twigs


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## Aquasheep (30 Jan 2022)

Dobert said:


> Hi Aquasheep, please don't get me wrong because the last thing I want is to discourage you. This one looks like two randomly placed pieces of driftwood. You have a beautiful stone and it would be interesting to see those exposed a little bit more . Now they disappear to me (or maybe it's a light, I don't know)


Thx for you feedback Robert! The stones I agree, I didn't place them in the right postion yet, its only supporting the wood now. I actually combined 6 pieces of wood. I will post an update where to stones are are in a better position.


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## Aquasheep (30 Jan 2022)

Update on the hardscape. I still only placed pieces of wood on top of each other, so the top left part will look nicer when I start construction everything. 
I;m going for a triangular shape. What I still cannot decide if I'm going to use sand in the foreground and on the right. Otherwise I go for a carpet of Monte Carlo. Reason for not doing the sand is I'm afraid of the sand and soil mixing.


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## Aquasheep (30 Jan 2022)

Garuf said:


> That said, if we ignore your rock work assuming it will be planted and invisible, here is what I would do. View attachment 181043


Thanks! I made some changes based on your suggestions.


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## Karmicnull (30 Jan 2022)

I like the second attempt more - it has a sense of continuity and flow about it.  Although I'm woeful at visualising what scapes will look like planted.  @Garuf thanks for the blur tip - definitely going to try that.  Although perhaps I won't sit quite as far away as possible when the glasses are off, or I won't be able to see the hardscape at all...


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## Aquasheep (5 Feb 2022)

Update:

I ended up with a different layout
Still need to add some 'roots' on the right sight towards the sand. 

I like how it turns out. Only things is that the stones and wood are a bit to orange for my taste. Will the Spiderwood turn darker after a while?

Let me know what you think!


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## Hufsa (6 Feb 2022)

Aquasheep said:


> Will the Spiderwood turn darker after a while?


Yes it will turn a much nicer dark brown after a little time 
The dragonstone will probably develop a natural greenish patina of algae if you dont scrub them clean, so the very orange look will settle down overall


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