# Practice, paractice, practice



## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

Hey fellow aquascapers!

I finally got sick of looking at my overgrown, weakly 'scaped 15 gallon. With inspiration from recient posts by Gomer, the Senski's and the ever growing stack of AquaJournals beside my bed, I decided that there was no time like the present.

I have titled this post "practice" because this is what it is. I relish your critique and ideas, especially ways to improve. Already after only a few days, I see things I want to change. Small tweeks in the hardscape, different plant ideas, etc. Tell me what you think. The only way any of us will learn is by "practice".

Tank specs:

15 gallon AGA 24"x12"x12"
1x55watt 8800K All-Glass PC
50/50 Eco-Complete/Onyx
Fluval 104 with press. CO2 injected into the intake
Fauna-10 long finned Rosy Barbs, 1 Oto
Flora- Proserpinaca palustris, Red Tiger Lotus, Crypt albida, Myriophyllum mattergrossense, Heteranthera zosterifolia, Micranthemum umbrosum, Bylxa Japonica, Pogostemon stelleta, one sad, pathetic stem of Ludwigia inclinata var Cuba, Micranthemoides micranthemum (2 leaf variety) Anubias barteri var. Nana and Petite, Marsilea agustifolia and dwarf Lobelia
First, the tank before the renovations...









Next, I pulled all the plants, did a good gravel vacing and started placing my hardscape....









Next, I added most of the plants....









Lastly, I rewiped the glass, did a 50% wc, dosed the tank with Macros and started planting the Marsilea foregroud. This is how the tank looked when I was done...









All together it took me about 5 hours from start to finish. This is still sort of my _collectoritis_ tank, hence the single stems of this and that. I will continue to update this thread as the tank matures and changes. Please, share your thoughts and critique.


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## Gomer (Feb 2, 2004)

Hey Dennis, glad that something I did got you moving on your tank 

Given that this is a collectoritus type tank (I know the feeling!!!!) and that it is freshly planted (collectoritus tanks are VERY hard to visualize for me when picturing them grown in)....I will comment on what I consider to be a keystone to scaping: the hardscape.

I feel that your scape is a mix of 4 hardscapes LOL..so lets chew threw my clutter of thoughts and see if I can make anything meaningfull out of it.
The 4 components I see: 
1) the 4 rocks on the left
2) rest of the rocks on the right
3) v-shaped wood and the farthest left wood.
4) the rest of the wood.


....if this is my tank....

I'd want a harmonious tank, so the first thing I'd do is do something about those 2 rocks on the left that have geometric like faces. I'd either replace them, or take a hammer to them LOL... They feel really out of place to me and end up separating the rockwork in half.

The V-shaped wood is most "against the grain"...wverything in your hardscape draws my eye to a valleyish fore/midground that that V_shape wood occupies. The v-shape in it's current place has me directed in a whole new area...simply removing it or flipping the angle might work. now..you with the V-shapped, you have a switch hitter.the left most piece of wood works both with the v-shape and with all the rest of the wood..but not both at the same time.

I guess my last complaint is the v-shapped and the 2nd to the left piece of wood give the scape a very "stiff" feel while the rest is softer and "old"


so....if it was my tank...remove the V-piece, switch position of the left two pieces (can hid the straight piece easier and the curves of the smaller piece are more in the flow) and replace those two geometricish rocks on the left (not the left most...the ones next to it)

...ok..that is my good/bad deed for the day on tearing a scape to pieces LOL


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## Gomer (Feb 2, 2004)

I feel I need to follow up and say that when I get into "critique mode", I very strongly focus on what I would change rather than what is done that I like and wouldn't change.

...with that, I do like most of the rock work, and most of the wood work...just not all at the same time LOL


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## depthc (Mar 7, 2004)

Regardless of what the genius gomer says I like how you have arranged the driftwood and the rocks on the right  . I think it would look nice if things filled in, then the pieces of driftwood and rock would be accented by the plants. But being this is your collectoritis tank your going to have a large variety of plants so its a bit hard to envision what the outcome will be. You've got a great start and it should be nice to see how the tank ages.

Andrew


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## Gomer (Feb 2, 2004)

Genius?!!!!..Take that back!!!!! LOL...I am far from that stage.

..if you step back from my nit picking, then I will say that overall, I like your hardscape more than a vast number of other ones I have seen ...but you wanted a critique, so I had to dig and get dirty.


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

Dig and get dirty. That's why I posted it and this is an aquascaping forum, right? This is how we learn. All of my firends who went to art school learned to paint by "...here are the basics, now go paint." They painted and then got..."this is good, this is bad. Go paint more."

I am painting.

I already did not like the "v" branch, but just fit in in where there was space. I should have known better. I think it is time to break something in half My rock work needs a little more work and adjustment, but I am out of rocks.

I'll do some more playing soon.


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## Austin (Feb 18, 2005)

Feel free to drop by my thread Gomer and nit pick away, would love the input.


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## Gomer (Feb 2, 2004)

Austin, I'll hit there when I get some free time to give a worthwhile reply 

Dennis...I have had to resort to breaking branches and hammering rocks...with limited supplies, you sometimes have to make them do what you want...and sometimes forcefully LOL. Glad we both had the same idea with that V-branch


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## Aaron (Feb 12, 2004)

dennis, I've been taking a look at your tank for a while and am unable to give you a response that you deserve (your tank is complex, and so are my ideas about it. I'm not sure how to explain myself by typing words on a computer screen... I wanna come over to your house and move stuff around!LOL) 
I will say that you keep your "V" wood... well kinda. Something that I've found very useful when scaping with wood is to combine multiple pieces together so they look like one or two solid pieces. In your tank, each piece of wood is placed so in a manner that the viewer knows they are completely different. What if you arranged the wood where pieces would overlap and continue the line? each piece could be angled slightly different so two straight pieces would look like one longer bent one. One can essentially "build" their own branch, or stump etc. some strategic clumps of moss later and no one would ever know. 
Now back to the "V", as it stands, a "V" is static and too symmetrical. What I would suggest is to crop one side in half or third so you have a check mark. I have found that this is a VERY dynamic shape which can used right side up or upside down. I think the fact that it gives the viewer a starting point, two lines on different agles to follow,and a place where the eye is forced to change directions. 
Am I making sense? I'll try to post some pictures later... 
I guess I'll leave it at that for now. 
Oh yeah, Dennis, you are not painting, you're sculpting! A much more noble form of art I must say.


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

Dennis, 

I like the arrangement of the wood or the rocks, but not both at the same time. I think having the rocks vertical like that looks somewhat unatural and overpowers the branching driftwood. Perhaps you might try using rocks that are not quite as large and flat and place them at the base of the driftwood; a hardscape backround, midground, and foreground of sorts.

The tall red stem plant on the right (broad leaf stellatus?) might do better in the back because of it's size. You can't see the green plants behind it at all. Also as beautiful as lotuses are, they are near impossible to scape well with IMO. If you decide to keep them try to keep them lower if possible so one is left looking at the top of the leaves rather than the bottom and make them a focal point. Their appearance lends itself as a focal point naturally and to fight that would not look right.

I do like how the plants on the far sides slope down and forwards at much the same angle as the hardscape does.


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

Thank you all for your input. IT has been evry helpful to me, seeing what others see. I believe it makes me see things more truthfully. I lived wiht it for about a week and then started adjusting, I tried to just let it happen naturally, without any forcing on my part. Basically I tried not to overthink In the end I ended up shifting 2 rocks slightly and seroisly adjusting the "v" branch, it had annoyed me from the beginning. Thanks Aaron for the suggestion to make it a "j", I belive it worked out much nicer.

Sorry for the poor color of the photo, it was my first attempt to correctly set the white balance](*,)










Its not done yet, certainly. I really am looking at this as practice. I am trying to to rush anythign to but live with each adjustment for a while to "learn" from it and try to decide just when I feel something is right or wrong. Sorry that is hard to explain...my brain works kind of funny sometimes.

Anyway, keep 'em comming


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## Aaron (Feb 12, 2004)

Wow! huge improvement! The wood work looks more unified now, not individual, stand alone pieces. 

I'd take out the Nymphaea now before the roots get to massive. Also, give yourself some room around the Lud. sp. Cuba. I take it you'll be increasing the amount of stems at it grows out, I found it does not like to be bunched together too tight. And have fun keeping that one a manageable size in a 15!) 
Lastly, you might want to consider placing a rock or piece of wood in your carpet. Think fallen rocks or trees in a clearing. This will help with the transition from fore to background without using plants.


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

Here is an update as of 4/23/2005. I just did a trim so everything looks a little short. The Marsilea carenta fairground is filling nice and faster than I thought it wood. I just added 2 stands of Narrow Java fern to the wood arrangement on the left side, hard to see in the photo though. I think the lobelias will be leaving the tank shortly. The lotus is learning to stay low and I will keep it trimmed to about what you see now. I can't wait for the crypt albida to fill in more. I will slowly replace the myriophyllum and stargrass with some stands of anubias and the bacopa pink that is growing out (can't see it yet). I plan on slowly changing this to a mid light tank in an attempt to save myself some maintenance time and to try and cure my collectoritis habit. Hopefully I can keep the Ammania Bonsai, but I will lose the few miscellaneous stems of other plants on the left side. I like the slow growing Proserpinaca palustris in the back left corner but I think it will always be 2 leggy for me....we shall see.

Feel free to keep the comments/critique coming!


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## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

YES YES!! Much better, positioning. I think the big branch on the right should be lowered just a bit, my eyes where drawn to it when I first saw the scape, or you can grow some java moss on it to cover it a little.


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## dmartin72 (Oct 9, 2004)

Personally, I like where the big branch on the right is. I think it will look perfect when plants fill in. Everything looks pretty good and even better when the plants grow in. My only suggestion would be to use less variety of different plants next time.


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

Well I am finally getting around to updating this thread. The tank has gone though lots of changes, but very subtily and slowly. Here are the current specs....

Lighting: 2x17watt NO tubes. ZooMed UltraSun and ZooMed FloraSun with inefficient roof flashing reflectors
Eheim 2215
Flora: Bolbitis heudolleti, Microsorium Narow-leaf, Taiwan moss, Red tiger lotus, Rotala sp. Vietnam, Bacopa sp Pink, pogostemon stellata Narrow-leaf, Ludwigia var. inclinata Cuba, Bylxa japonica, Ammania sp Bonsai(one sad lonley stem), Anubias nana, Anubias garboon, Marsilea carenta

Sorry the glass needs cleaned Please feel free to critique away. Remember, constructive critisism!










Side view:


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## gregorsamsa (Jan 19, 2005)

Comments are as follows:

1. too many blyxa japonicas. you may need to add some rocks to give them lines or else the blyxa looks cluttered.

2. fish doesnt match the tank. its red on red some what. maybe a neutral colour like tetras will do better.

3. too many reds at the top right. this makes the lotus insignificant.

hope it helps


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## Robert Hudson (Feb 5, 2004)

This tank kinda reminds me now of James Hoftiezers tank, lots of reds and orange and a very dark look to it. It is an interesting look that not all appreciate. I think you can pull it off with a little more tweeking and continuity. I think a better foreground would help. I would get rid of about half the Blyxa, and use the Blyxa only as an accent and bring the foreground farther back to separate some of the background plants. As it looks now the foreground is just a narrow strip in a straight line across the front of the tank. The Blyxa also looks to much like a row of plants. Blyxa is a very clumpy looking plant, so how many clumps do you want?


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