# Need some help people



## tgc (15 Nov 2007)

Right big plans afoot!

I looking to do a total rescape on my trigon 350.

My insperation?







My tank? (not actually mine)





Basically what I want is to build a plato (sp?) with the "water" being Riccia or the like, I got experience with making false backgrounds with polysterien and cement, but the size this might end up being the polysterien might not be the best option, so thats why I'm stuck.

I need ideas for building blocks, the best plants to use to recreate the look.

This is the size of the tank in question.





Can't wait to here your ideas.

Cheers Tim


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## Themuleous (15 Nov 2007)

Right, think you're first requirement is to sort the rocks, check out either aquaessentials or this place dose a decent selection.

http://www.aquaristic.net/shop.php/sid/ ... l/-/lang/1

Re the scape, given that you have a fair bit of floor space, you could have quite a steep substrate from the middle of the tank to the back, into this place the rocks in amongst which is U.gramifolia.  Around this you could have what you like, but ferns or pelia might look cool for replacement trees?

Just my thoughts

Sam


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## Ed Seeley (15 Nov 2007)

Why not just use some large blocks of slate?  You can get them from landscaping supplies and they would look great contrasting with pearling Riccia IMHO.  I bought a large one and split it to form the backdrops to my main tank.  As they are generally squarish they are easy to stack as well.


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## Garuf (15 Nov 2007)

http://www.aquabotanic.com/aquascapingprincipals.html
This might help. 
I found it a good inspiration point.


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## tgc (15 Nov 2007)

Thanks alot for the replies guys keep em coming...

Right the first thing I'm trying to do is pick a section of the above picture to concentrate on, which is easyer said than done, 





Trying to imagine a 3d space in 2d aint easy! However i think this bit includes everything from the picture that i want, the waterfall, the rocks, the trees etc.

cheers Tim


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## Garuf (15 Nov 2007)

right, ok, I found this helped my aqua scaping, measure your tank then divide it by 2.618 this will give you a number round this up then draw a line in something that will wash off at that point on the tank.
this point ( known as the golden section)  is going to be where your main feature will be, either as a hardscape or a plant, from there take each aspect and draw it on, start with your hardscape, id use the area that will represent the waterfall as the focal point then draw around it the next aspects, for me this would be the high sides and slope that will give prospective. once your happy with the hardscape draw in your plants roughly giving an idea of colours and shapes making sure that nothing draws your eye away from your focal point too much. 

post up what you get and we can help give you some ideas, ill draw one up too as soon as I've done my english homework


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## tgc (15 Nov 2007)

Right had a quick play with sketchup, please don't look into the detail too much   

Its just to give an idea of scale.





Cheers Tim


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## Garuf (15 Nov 2007)

pictures not working for me


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## tgc (15 Nov 2007)

:?  anyone else not see it?


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## Maximumbob (15 Nov 2007)

i can see it.. and its groovy!


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## Garuf (15 Nov 2007)

I can see it now, totally not what I was expecting. will post my interpretation up soon but I think you've got it


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## tgc (15 Nov 2007)

Filled in a bit more for positions, as i said VERY rough just for ideas




]


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## tgc (15 Nov 2007)

And maybe a different take on the plan.......






OOOHHHHH decisions!!

Cheers Tim


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## Maximumbob (16 Nov 2007)

check this out for more inspiration.  It was a winner at AGA this year.  It looks like you are trying to achieve a similar theme

http://showcase.aquatic-gardeners.org/2 ... l=1&id=190


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## Matt Holbrook-Bull (16 Nov 2007)

Tim, I love the methods youve used for designing your scape from an image.. 

thats truely inspiring  if it works out, you should do a tutorial on it 

keep us updated, facinating to see how that works out.


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## tgc (16 Nov 2007)

> Tim, I love the methods youve used for designing your scape from an image..
> 
> thats truely inspiring  if it works out, you should do a tutorial on it
> 
> keep us updated, facinating to see how that works out.



Thanks mate, I'd love to do a tutourial, when it properly gets going......... the program I used for the scetches is sketchup6 which is a free download and really easy to use. http://www.sketchup.com/

Not the best looking drawing but they do give you an idea of space.

The next thing I want to try and work-out is what type of hardscape to use, slate looks favourable at the moment because I can layer it like in the second drawing, the only problem at the mo is how to ensure that the bill hill doesn't form a misiive dead spot in the tank?

Also I want to try and plant some of the "trees" high level (ontp of the plato (sp?)), and whether it would be easyer just to try and mount some pots for the substrate if you know what I mean??

Cheers Tim


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## tgc (16 Nov 2007)

Right just popped to the B&Q superstore to see what slate the had in, and found these stepping stones, the size and shape look top be ideal, what do you guys think??





Should be able to layer them nicley to create the "look"





At Â£3.92 seem a bit pricey so I'm gonna check the local builders merchants.

B&Q also had large sheets of stainless steel mesh for Â£12 which I'm gonna use to shape the waterfalls with Riccia, so alls looking good so far  

Cheers Tim


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## Ed Seeley (16 Nov 2007)

I'd go with bigger, thicker chunks personally.  Something like these Slate Rockery Stone.htm might work better to get the effect I think you're after.  Will be a lot cheaper too as there has been a lot less processing.


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## George Farmer (16 Nov 2007)

How about incorporating this idea too...?

http://www.aquatic-eden.com/2007/10/cre ... water.html


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## Arana (16 Nov 2007)

Can't wait to see how this turns out!


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## tgc (17 Nov 2007)

Another  "artists" impression on what I'm thinking, what do you think.






So you rekon ferns of some description for the trees?

Cheers Tim


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## CJ Castle (17 Nov 2007)

A lot more rock in the scape IMO... The last sketched drawing looks most effective IMO (with a little bit of tweeking, however)... 

I think those thin pieces of slate, if stacked up as they were shown in the pic, could create a fairly unique Aquascape...


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