The Stove & Its Flowering Anubias.

[zozo]

I can picture some a Peacock goby poking its head outside the little cave in the middle!

Yes something like that, would be very nice looking.. A also was thinking maybe dwarf puffers. These i realy like a lot. And indeed you are right, goldfish do not belong permanently in a tank, they are pond fish. In my case that pond is above ground and i have to take care for them in the winter.. And building this i got i bit caried away and all went a bit out of hand and turned into this. Well they will certainly help to jump start this tanks cycle for the first few months. Can't go back they have to go in there this winter season. 🙂

 

[Sarpijk]

Way to small...

It is 280 litres dimensions 118x 50 x 50 cm. It's the fish that make it look small.

 

[zozo]

Wow, indeed, large goldfish.. How old are they?? Mine are 5 to 6 years now and only doubled in size, the largest maybe is 4 to 5 inches..

 

[Guest]

Nice scape Marcel.
It'd be interesting to see if the wood to the left, sticking up with the H. pinnatifida attached, looks any better repositioned to appear like it's a root of the main trunk, like the wood on the other side.

 

[zozo]

Interesting thought Troi.. 🙂.. I'm curious how you see it.. That piece is rather short and wide, has not a tipycal root structure.. The trunk sticking out is hollow, like a plant pot, i want to fill it with substrate for the H. Pinnatifida, and put some Hydrocotyle tripartita at it's base hanging down on it left side. On the right side at the green dots maybe a wisps of hair grass or other small carpet plants

If you see it from above you'll see what i mean.

That corner is now assambled from 4 pieces 4-5-6 and 7.. What is green will all be substrate what could be plant with root feeders.. The big stump is also hollow with a big pocket at the back. That big rock at tthe front is only support for now, not in the game.. Still have to break some rock to finnish that part..

I which place would you see it? 🙂

I just took it apart all, need th shelf to test the tank for leaks above the bath tub. So have to wait for that and rebuild it in the tank.

 

[zozo]

Well what do you know.... It's tight!! At least it is for the first 2 hours. For now i leave it like that for 24 hours with a heater in it and let it work some temperatures.
All seams look ok, no airbubbles, so no reason why it will start to leak other than a truck driving by annd shacking the house.. For that we can only wait to happen.

I kept the seams pretty small, the glass is 6 mm and the seams 4 mm.. The tricky part is, working fast and get the thing done within 10 to 12 minuttes when it comes to applying kit. But for the rest it's straight forward with the procedure as shown in the video. Only thing i added was masking tape inside to smoothen the seams out and not make a mess. 🙂

I can recomend everybody playing with the thought building a tank, and confident enough to work fast to use this construction plan (inside bottom panel) if the glass i cut in perfect size it cant go wrong. You even do not need a carpenters square.

 

[Guest]

It's difficult to say, I guess I'd need to actually get hands on and have a go myself...but either way I see what you mean😉
H. pinnatifida will also grow epiphytically and eventually attach itself to wood...though you probably know this anyway🙄

 

[zozo]

Well i've looked at it already some time and added it here and there. It's shape doesn't realy fit the form of the big stump other than in that corner. Or i might not have seen it yet.. I got an other piece of intresting DW that might fit in somehowe, somewhere. I'll have to play with it, when the tank is setup with substrate and all, so i can see more of what it does in proper over all dimensions. H.p. i never grew it before, but what i read about it what you and others say here at ukaps, it indeed can grow like you say. But since the stump is hollow i might as well add some substrate to it. I found out many plants can grow kinda epiphytical or with the help of some moss. Till now i have about everything thats in the substrate in my small tank with hairy roots grow like that as well. Only the rotalas aren't fond of it.. And seeing the rootstructure of the Enchi and crypts, i doubt they like it. Didn't try..

Here is that other piece.. It's like i found at a KFC restaurant..
Maybe something for the RH corner. 🙂 (Or other plans in other tank??? the KFC scape)

 

[Guest]

They look like very interesting pieces. At the end of the day the scape looks great as it is, and anyway, the only person you need to please is yourself😉
Glad your tank is water tight.

 

[zozo]

the only person you need to please is yourself

Thanks Troi.. 🙂 That i also say always.. But any input from experienced scapers like you are or any other is more than welcome. After all many eyes see more than just a pair. Since i need a pair of glasses lately, i guess even more.. 🙄.. As i look at my current scape, i thought it was perfect at the beginning, now 6 months later i see things i definitely should have done different.. 😉 That's where early experienced feedback comes in handy. So please do not hesitate, i don't do in critics only in feedback..

 

[zozo]

It'd be interesting to see if the wood to the left, sticking up with the H. pinnatifida attached, looks any better repositioned to appear like it's a root of the main trunk, like the wood on the other side.

Tank is ready for use.. Did move the tank to an other place in the house.. And did put all dw in the tank again, leaving some out, some shifting and adding.. 🙂 I tried several spots but that piece you mention @Troi, kinda have to keep it at the left. But did repositioned it more to the front to connect it to the main trunk and added some pieces of dw at the left back, to create some more height, dept and dimension in that corner.. Also there is far less and smaller rocks..

Right side a new piece added to create a bigger and deeper plant pocket.. Didn't know what to do with the back panel.. At first i did cover it with a black foil, but that didn't look nice. Now thinking about it.. I thought leeve it open.. And i did paint the wall behinf the tank black. Maybe when the scape is planted i hang a sheet of frosted acrylic sheet behind it to use back lighting. Do not know yet.. All options are still open this way. 🙂

 

[Guest]

I like both...the new version still has tension but IMO it's more harmonious, but with your planting skills either will look fantastic🙂

 

[zozo]

Hi Troi,thanks you.. 🙂 i also like the last one better.. 🙂 Still went to the LFS for more dw pieces, but i sold them out. There are no more useable smaller pieces left.. But can you elaborrate on the term 'Still has "Tension" '..? When it comes to critters and aquatic plants i have by far over 15 years experience with aquariums and even more with ponds and or aquatic gardening. I know plants can make or brake and highlight and mask.. But when it comes to scaping 🙄 aquariums with hardware i'm about as new as a baby, just do what i feel.. Actualy i have no idea how to interpret the term tension..

 

[banthaman.jm]

The tank layout looks great Marcel, looking forward to the addition of the plants.
Jim

 

[Guest]

OK...that's a very difficult one to explain😕 damn it

It's something that is intuitive to many artists, and therefore unless you've had a formal art education it's not something most give much tangible thought to, let alone try to describe.

But a quick trawl of the interweb and I came up with the definition below...

Tension, a balance maintained in an artistic work between opposing forces or elements; a controlled dramatic or dynamic quality.

Tension is very important for an object to be beautiful. Tension is created in architecture when hard, vertical stretches of columns are placed against delicately curving columns. Tension is created in music when harsh, loud sounds compete with gentle, soft ones. And tension is created in dance when hard, jerky movements that take effort are combined with, or opposed to, gentle, flowing movements that seem effortless.

I guess the tension in your scape is created by the juxtaposition of the gnarly root in the left third of the scape and the flowing line of the less gnarly root stretching out through the other two thirds of the scape. Opposing forces which together create visual interest and energy without unbalancing the overall design.
In the fist version, for me the bit of root sticking up very proud on the left gave the scape a little too much tension and unbalanced the whole. In other words it was too dominant and my eye was continually drawn to it at the expense of rest of the scape, or the less dominant focal points.

Hope that makes sense🙂

 

[zozo]

Thanks Jim.. 🙂

And Thank you Troi!! Yes that makes perfect sense, didn't know it was called tension... Actualy never did dive into the theoretics of art all tho visited about every museum from art to history on my path during my live.. Reading your very intresting explaination i see what you mean.. 🙂 Looking at my first try i also wasn't satisfied with the left corner, the left stump alone was indeed to distracting, so i changed it's angle and added some smaller stumps in the back, those 3 horns to create some depth and play, something to wonder and think about.


Now yesterday i still was strugling with the right 2/3 part of the tank, once filled up with substrate i thought it's to flat and never could get the planting to make up for that.
So i thought i need something there as well to contrast the background planting.. I added another old tree like stump of DW 1/3 from the right. Still it didn't appeal to me and also added another kind of root structure in another kind of wood and color to give the right corner more play.. I'm still not happy with that horizontal new piece in the RH back between the upright stem and finger wood. I might take that away... 🙂

 

[Greenfinger2]

Hi Marcel,That's cheating getting Mother nature to scape your tank 😀

Superb design and execution

 

[zozo]

Thanks Roy.. Nice that you like it....
Well cheating.. Sometimes.. How would you say this in english..
"A good cheat is always better than a bad invention".. 😎 😀

 

[zozo]

So the sump also finished today.. Still waiting on the powerhead to test run.. It was a fun project to build.. 🙂

 

[Guest]

Where did you get the furry ginger media from and how effective is it...and is it biological, chemical or mechanical?