Stepping It Up A Gear.

[colley614@]

Hello Everyone,
I'm in the processing of planning my first real aquascape and I went to my local shop to do a little window shopping.

I feel that the rock in there looks like bits of old brick compared to the stunningly detailed rock I see in other aquariums. His wood too, had big chop and saw marks. I feel attention to detail with these things is extremely important.

Any suggests where I can source better materials to work with?

 

[seedoubleyou]

Any suggests where I can source better materials to work with?

Sadly if you don’t have access to a decent store like our sponsors. The only real way to do it, is order online, and order way more than you’d need. Then select the best parts.
The best aquascapers are always acquiring hardscape so they have choice later on.

 

[colley614@]

Sadly if you don’t have access to a decent store like our sponsors. The only real way to do it, is order online, and order way more than you’d need. Then select the best parts.
The best aquascapers are always acquiring hardscape so they have choice later on.

Finest Aquatics is not too far from me. However, I'm not too sure how good their selection is. I don't even mind travelling as long as I could get the stuff I bought shipped to my house as I'd travel by train because I get massive travel discounts by train and ferry. As long as I knew I was sourcing top quality supplies.

 

[seedoubleyou]

I don’t think I’d like to travel via train with a tonne of hardscape 😅

 

[colley614@]

I don’t think I’d like to travel via train with a tonne of hardscape 😅

I can't imagine it to be much fun humping rocks around the country.

 

[UrbanDryad]

I like Riverwood Aquatics for online purchasing - they have photographs of individual pieces of wood and rock, so you can buy the exact one you want, rather than crossing your fingers and hoping for a good example of the type.

 

[colley614@]

I like Riverwood Aquatics for online purchasing - they have photographs of individual pieces of wood and rock, so you can buy the exact one you want, rather than crossing your fingers and hoping for a good example of the type.

That sounds a lot better that ordering and hoping, even if I could just get a few pieces of stunning Manzi. I ordered a box of Seiryu stone 'Hand selected for a 2 foot Iwagumi.' What turned up looked like 1 low quality piece of Seiryu and 4 cricket ball sized pieces of granite. It kind of put me off ordering online.

 

[Tim Harrison]

Call Aquarium Gardens and tell them what you’re after they may do a mock up for you in one of their dojos and send you some images. Or at the very least send you images of individual pieces.

 

[colley614@]

Call Aquarium Gardens and tell them what you’re after they may do a mock up for you in one of their dojos and send you some images. Or at the very least send you images of individual pieces.

The stuff at Aquarium Gardens looks exactly what I've been looking for. I think my plan is to start building a collection of supplies up over time. I've been thinking of setting up something like a Dutch style so I've got a little garden of stems and stuff I can harvest when I want to set a scape up. Not sure, yet. Basically, I just want to take scaping more seriously.

 

[Tim Harrison]

Good tip is to keep a watch out for hardscape, and if you see a piece you like buy it. It’s how to build up a decent collection. And the more you have the easier it is to translate ideas in to reality.

Don’t limit your search to just aquascaping shops. The landscaping section of garden centres is a good place to look for rocks too.

And also when out on walks etc. look out for fallen branches. Hard wood like oak is ideal, especially old dead wood that has been drying in the canopy for years. There are a couple of threads on finding your own hardscape somewhere.

 

[colley614@]

Good tip is to keep a watch out for hardscape, and if you see a piece you like buy it. It’s how to build up a decent collection. And the more you have the easier it is to translate ideas in to reality.

It was that exact train of thought that led to this thread! I was playing around with the few pieces of rock I have the other night and I noticed how my rock has far less detail and looks far less dramatic than the scapes I like on here.

Don’t limit your search to just aquascaping shops. The landscaping section of garden centres is a good place to look for rocks too.

This is something I have already been doing for years. Although, in the past, I've just accepted any old bits. Now I'm going to put a lot more effort into sourcing good quality materials. One piece of advice my head chef gave me when I was a chef "If you want an average menu start with average ingredients and apply an average amount of skill. If you want an exceptional menu, then everything has to be exceptional." I'm going to start applying this logic to my aquariums. Because all too often I rush setting them up and then I just sit there frustrated when I look at my aquariums when I spot obvious flaws I could have easily rectified or removed

And also when out on walks etc. look out for fallen branches. Hard wood like oak is ideal, especially old dead wood that has been drying in the canopy for years. There are a couple of threads on finding your own hardscape somewhere.

Wood is something I intend to put a lot of attention to detail into. I've done a lot of research into using wood in other art forms and when I look at aquascapes it occurs to me how bad a lot of wood looks in peoples scapes. Oak is a particularly interesting piece of wood because of how the tree grows. It grows similar to a yew tree, in that, as it reaches a certain height it begins to die in on itself and starts to expand outwards. That's why, in Bonsai, Oak is the only deciduous tree you will find with deadwood such as, Jin, Shari and holes carved into the trunk. I want to try my best to incorporate some of these things into my scapes. All too often I see bits of wood with chop marks in aquascapes and I find my eye stops dead.