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Primordial - The beginning of the end.

I much prefer the new layout too Troi. The angle shot shows perfectly the alignment of the rocks and it looks very natural. Will look great with just the grass 🙂
 
Thanks Ady, I've stood the large rock at the top up a little more it wasn't quite right, I'm hoping the plants will arrive tomorrow🙂 And thanks too Justin.
 
Hi Tim, thanks. I plan to just plant between the rocks, so there will be at least some open sand all the way around.
 
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The grass will grow in nice and be easy to care for, you do not NEED much light for this tank.
The sand looks like dolomite and then the Seiryu, carbonates also.
DO NOT RELY on the drop checker for CO2. Plants and pH/KH are better.

Add shrimp soon, maybe 2 weeks after set up.
 
Agree with Alastair. Getting very skilled at this mate, really like the simplicity in planting against the intricacy of the rocks, it kind of highlights the hardscape, with the plants accompanying rather than the other way round.
Will look really nice when the grass fills in in the same way that George's Project Scree was so successful.
Cheerio,
Ady
 
The second shot (angle from the right) looks awesome!! Really great job mate. Going back to your post about insperation, I think insperation is the key word. Taking from it what you love and creating something with it in mind. I think it translates beautifuly mate. Grand job

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Thanks guys for all your kind comments.

Alastair said:
Very nice Troi. You've certainly gone over the dark but in style and your scaping is getting better each time. Really nice layout and very eye catching
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Thanks Alistair, I guess there are so many talented aquascapers on this forum who are willing to help with techniques and best practice that some of it's bound to rub off...eventually😀

plantbrain said:
The grass will grow in nice and be easy to care for, you do not NEED much light for this tank.
The sand looks like dolomite and then the Seiryu, carbonates also.
DO NOT RELY on the drop checker for CO2. Plants and pH/KH are better. Add shrimp soon, maybe 2 weeks after set up.
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Tom, thanks very much for the advice. I've never really had that much success with hairgrass, it's always just kinda hung in there, so I need as much help as I can get. I'm gona get Amanos in there ASAP.

Ady34 said:
Agree with Alastair. Getting very skilled at this mate, really like the simplicity in planting against the intricacy of the rocks, it kind of highlights the hardscape, with the plants accompanying rather than the other way round.
Will look really nice when the grass fills in in the same way that George's Project Scree was so successful.
Cheerio, Ady
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Thanks Ady, I've tired to stick to the fundamentals of Iwagumi, where the rocks are the star and plants the complement, so it's nice of you to notice.

Curvball said:
Beautiful. Love the simplicity. Posted from the comfort of my iPhone...
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Thanks Curvball, I like simplicity...less is often more😕

foxfish said:
I think the scape looks fantastic - very well done indeed.🙂
I feel kind of guilty to ask though.. the tank seems to have quite wide silicone joints...or is that just an illusion?
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Thanks, foxfish it's always nice to get compliments from one of the hobby's grandees😉 And yes they are...thanks for pointing that out...I hadn't noticed until you mentioned it. I guess the tank is getting on a bit, I'm not sure exactly how old it is, but George will know, it's his old shallow😛

aliclarke86 said:
The second shot (angle from the right) looks awesome!! Really great job mate. Going back to your post about insperation, I think insperation is the key word. Taking from it what you love and creating something with it in mind. I think it translates beautifuly mate. Grand job Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 4
Click to expand...
Thanks ali, I think that's the hard bit, knowing what you want to achieve in your mind but then translating it to reality.
 
I think 50 umols is plenty of light.
Now on going maintenance routines for folks with such scapes:

About 1x every one to three months or so, you will likely need to do a large water change.
When you do this, H2O2 and Excel/easy carb will help spot clean the rock and keep it clean.
Some harder green algae are okay as long as it's not changing the color of the rock too much, too obvious etc....... it makes a nice patina.
Excel will kill BBA pretty good.
H2O2, most everything else if the Excel did not work.
Just do not get any on the plant leaves if they are emergent when you do this. Submerse is generally okay.
Siphon the sand up that has any algae, add more and rake it around some to keep it from getting covered.

This hairgrass type grows very easily for me and my client's.

Very clean water and filters stay clean for months, so you can focus on the fish.

ADA adds $$$$$ to the tank, equipment, hardscape, then they go cheap on plants and even cheaper fish(or absent near as I can tell in many cases).
Frankly I've never liked that approach, it's like having an awesome Zoo display, then filling it field mice and farm animals.

Most of us come from the fish hobby, then focus on the scape side, but..........generally most hobbyists always wanted a nice scape AND their nice fish as well.
ADA tends to focus on the scape, and the fish are after thoughts. There is no good reason not to focus on the fish 1St, then focus on a suited scape for those species.
Open minimal plant scapes tend to offer this aesthetic, and most all aquarist like this design approach.
A good blend of both goals.
 
Thanks Tom I've been wondering about the best way to keep the rocks and sand clean once they inevitably start to become covered in algae. I always thought that scrubbing away with a hard toothbrush on its own would eventually prove a loosing battle.
I'm pleased with the minimal aesthetic I've created and have been thinking about what species of fish would suit it best. For some reason Glowlight tetras recently popped in to my head, I suppose because it's one of my favourite fish from way back, but I wasn't sure it'd be suitable for a minimal plant scape like mine, so I Googled it and discovered George had beaten me to it with Project Scree. I think its orange stripe would be a perfect compliment to the grey and green of the scape, but I'm also thinking that maybe they'll appear a bit too washed out against the light coloured sand.
 
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