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Little mountain scape

Dantrasy

Dantrasy

Member
Joined
22 Sep 2014
Messages
610
Location
Australia
I've been working on this one for about 7 weeks. I'll write about my tentative plans for the scape shortly, i think it's at a critical point. In the meantime here's a pic taken yesterday.

ui_zpse4499461.png
 
Looks great. Looking forward to seeing updates.
 
Thanks Bhu

@Vazkez, yes this is the newest scape of the three. It's actually the first scape I've ever done with a fts pic in mind. I usually do what I think looks good at standing height. Take that little rock at the back for example; it looks weird at standing height, it's just stands out for being too high above the hc. But down at fts level a lot of the base is covered by hc and i think is looks nice.

Things to ponder and tinker with:
  • The front left. I don't like the smooth left side of that rock. Anything i put on it slides off. If I were to remove the rock soil would cave down. I guess hc could grow over it. I'd like the gap between the rock and glass to fill with hc, but there's no soil there, so who knows?
  • Lower the sand line across the front.
  • Pull the foreground dhg closer together.
  • The rock below the biggest rock. Have hc grow up behind it. Make the rock more clearly defined.
  • At standing height the sand path starts 3/4 up and goes all the way down to the bottom in a continuous wavy stream. So I like it at standing height. But in a fts pic a lower portion of the path is obscured by hc. Might be moving that bottom center tuff of hc sometime soon.
 
Many thanks for sharing your thoughts! That gives us opportunity to look at your scape with different eyes. Very impressed.

Sent via Tapatalk
 
Ok all makes sense. So why don't you use the tuft of HC on the Rock on the left, try to find a way to secure it over the rock and let it grow from there using water column nutrient. Instead of disturbing substrate why not add a black card strip across the bottom of the tank to raise the level of visible substrate. It will be removable and adjustable. I personally think that the foreground dhg is ok... But we all have different tastes ;) I'd of like to see something fine coming up over the back from behind the large rock...
 
After talking to some aquascaping buddies I've got a few more things to add to my tinker list
  • remove most of the hg in the foreground, it will grow too tall and will probably look messy.
  • create a second sand path down to the foreground on the right
  • create a third path with steps down to the foreground on the left (might have to glue sand to little rocks)
So that's 8 things to work on. I'll get some done on the weekend and post a pic.
 
Changed up a few thing today.

removed a lot of foreground dhg, shifted the fiss around
more sand paths down to the foreground. + lots more rock fragments
removed fiss from bigger rocks
added some ottos
added security film background
removed some hc and trimmed the rest, trying to create mounds rather than a flat/sheer surface.

Here goes:

fhjs_zps7c8785e2.png
 
Love this :thumbup:
If you can be bothered, have you got any plan/top down pics, to show the spacing of the rocks
 
Daniel said:
Awesome scape. Good work so far. What are the tank dimensions?
Click to expand...

Thanks mate. The tank is an ADA Mini M knock off. The brand is FIRE. The tank is turned 'round so the logo is at the back. 36 x 22 x 26cm
 
Alastair said:
Hats off to you trying to work away at the plants In such a small space. Looks tricky.
The scape is lovely though
Click to expand...

Thank you. Yes, it is tricky working in a tank the size of a shoe box. But I figure the scape is small, so I can give more attention to each part. At least that's the theory. Some people do a similar style to me in a 4ft or 5ft tank - I really can't believe they do it. It must take up soooo much time.

Robert H. Tavera said:
Those stones are awesome!! Sadly, in my country they are not available ! :(
congrats ;), your skills as an aquascaper are even greater than the stones !!
Click to expand...

Thank you.

The rocks I'm using are seiryu. But yingshi is very similar. Seiryu is very new to my location. It only became available for purchase about 6 months ago. So this is the first time I've used it.

Seiryu definitely raises water hardness. TDS in this tank sits around 200, and that's using 0 TDS rodi 30% wc'es. 200 is ok for rsc, but I haven't dared to put any crs in yet.

Mini update: the hc on the right hand slope is struggling. I don't think it's getting enough light (shaded too much by the big rock). So I might plug the gaps with fiss on rocks while the hc slowly fills. Might get a desk lamp and shine it on that side of the tank during photo time.
 
Dude, really awesome skape. Great sense of proportions and depth. Very pleasant for the eye and no distraction elements. Keep the good work :thumbup:

How would you deal with the shrimp not mixing sand and soil ?:) I have problem with my cleaning crew rolling down pieces of the AS and dragging it on the sand area. I was thinking of no shrimp tank...but amanos are so good at cleaning moss and rock.:p
 
Thanks GF2!
Thanks clone! - the shrimp are a little destructive. I see the odd ball of soil. I just grab the tweezers and drop somewhere out of sight.

Some more changes, although they are getting smaller. I did a small trim, added yet more sand to make the paths a bit higher, particularly the path on the far left that doesn't show up that much in a fts. Also add a new rock back left. Next, I'm thinking of a fiss background maybe.

ghjk_zps199bd287.png
 
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