Re: Fluval Studio 900. 'Coastal Erosion' Journal.
ldcgroomer said:
Hi, I'm new to this lark but living on the west coast of Scotland I am very familiar with the type of landscape you are trying to create. The rock at the front/right doesn't feel right, too big or too triangular? Feel free to ignore, I'm sure it will look amazing. Just thought I'd say....
Antipofish said:
I like the rock that ldc mentions about but I think it would be better if it were another 5 or 8cms or so to the right so you can see more of the arch. Or maybe its the big bit on the left being a bit too big ? But I do agree it seems a little out of balance. When its planted though, the whole dynamic will probably change.
LOVE the idea of it though.
Morgan Freeman said:
Now that it's been mentioned I think I agree, it just slightly blocks the view of the arch. Other than that it's a really great scape!
Thanks for the input guys,
yeah i tend to agree that there's something not quite right, but i made a rod for my own back buying such big rocks as they offer less options regards scaping. I was thinking that they would offer a better sense of scale, a statement, but maybe in hindsight....
I thought the left most largest rock was detailed enough to stand almost alone as a rock face, but perhaps more transition was needed between that and the sand to make it look more natural. Unfortunately i dont have enough room (or rocks) to do it so it may be that it is in fact too big for the tank
. Perhaps the right 'triangle' rock is a little too flat in appearance in comparison. I do have some planting ideas to detract from this though
I wanted quite a large rock in this foreground area to give a sense of depth and scale, but perhaps again its just too flat and more smaller more intricate pieces would have been a better choice. With regards moving it to the right a little, i cant really as i wanted to create a raised hollow behind it for more planting area as they are quite limited anyway. If id moved the rock to the right id have lost this option and lessened the available planting areas. This rock does also obscure the archway slightly, however i didnt really want to reveal it too much as although the arch is one of the main features, i didnt want to make it so obvious that its all your eye was drawn too. When viewing the tank from different angles rather than straight on you can see right through the arch
All in all it probably looks a little contrived, more detailing and perhaps some more intricate pieces would certainly have helped but im stuck with these now. In all honesty it looks better in person as the camera setting i used was dark to reduce over brightening the pictures, and the tank lighting was at the rear of the tank which caused shadowing at the front which lost some detail of the rocks. (its going to stay like this too as plant mass is towards the rear)
That being said, it is just a representation with ideas taken from nature, the overall feel is supposed to be one of a coastal rock face with features taken from erosion processes, but in no way is it going to be exact. Because of this im also unsure whether to try and represent coastal planting too or to contrast totally. Coastal cliff tops tend to look like a mass of grass from distance so i was considering simply using elecharis ecicularis, cut at different heights to accent the rockwork. However im also considering other grass like plants such as tenellus, lilaeopsis, maybe even blyxa or cyperus to add interest. Riccia and marsilea are also considerations to give a more natural feel, but ive also thought about ammania sp bonsai, staurogyne, rotala green and hygrophila araguaia as stems to change the look and steer away from traditional coastal plant schemes. I like the idea of something on the rocks but unsure about mosses which tend to be much darker than the grasses. Utricularia looks like a good plant to use on the rocks if im trying to represent the coastal planting as its a lighter green colour more like the grasses, but ive heard its notoriously tricky and best suited to mature set ups with low fertilisation. .... but i suppose again it depends on what im trying to achieve which im clearly still confused about
Cheerio and thanks for your thoughts.
Ady