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Aquascaping help

Started by Guest_lozgod_* , Jan 29 2010 11:13 PM

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13 replies to this topic

#1 Guest_lozgod_*

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Posted 29 January 2010 - 11:13 PM

I want to replace the swords. Going to replace them with something native. In the background there are vall gig. that are recovering from the move nicely. They will fill in the back. The center is the driftwood with the java moss and java fern growing on it. I have some ludwiga then the swords on either side. I am thinking maybe fill the one side out with more ludwiga and on the other side elodea. I am also thinking just a bunch of ludwiga on both sides.

I'm pretty open to ideas. Anyone have any suggestions?

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#2 Guest_bart_*

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Posted 30 January 2010 - 10:14 PM

How about some dwarf hairgrass in the front? I'm dieing to try that stuff. Myrio looks cool too.

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#3 Guest_mudminnow_*

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Posted 01 February 2010 - 11:48 AM

I would suggest that you first get some more wood or larger rocks to enhance your hardscape. Play with the hardscape materials until you really like the way they look. Then, it will be easier to envision what sort of plants that would look good. If you don’t like the idea of collecting more materials to hardscape with, I would suggest moving your wood so that it’s off center. Then, I would plant tall plants behind the wood. The plants that you mentioned could work well. So far, I’ve also found water shield and several of the Potamogetons grow well as background plants. Bart mentioned hairgrass. The hairgrass that grows around PA anyway, gets nearly 10 inches tall in my tank; I love it, but it’s more of a midground plant. I haven’t found too many native forground plants. So far, watercress and some of the aquatic mosses have worked well. Also, Bart mentioned Myriophyllum. I’ve tried one species of this plant, and indeed it was beautiful; it grew very fast but did not take well to trimming.

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#4 Guest_lozgod_*

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Posted 01 February 2010 - 04:23 PM

Actually I started work on it and did something pretty similar to that. The left side of the tank has a power head with a sponge filter covering the inlet and I am setting up a riffle on that side. The from the right side to about 10 inches inward is plants (vals, and ludwiga) and in front of that is the driftwood covered in java moss/java fern. I tossed the amazon swords. One was super healthy. Was hard to do.

Money is tight right now. Just had a big time car accident and been pouring out money fixing stuff but after that is squared away I will finish this up and plan on doing something along the lines of what you posted. Thinking a lot of vals and hairgrass. Going for the riffle/stream look.

Edited by lozgod, 01 February 2010 - 04:24 PM.

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#5 Guest_lozgod_*

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Posted 01 February 2010 - 11:10 PM

Here is what I did.

Full tank shot.
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Planted side.
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#6 Guest_mudminnow_*

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Posted 02 February 2010 - 12:13 PM

Not bad. I think the tank will really start comming together once the plants fill in. If it were me, I would continue to plant your ludwigia trimmings so that, in time, this plant comes all the way around to the left side of your driftwood. I would be curious to see the way it progresses. Also, have you considered putting a background on your tank? I bet a dark background would also improve the look.

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#7 Guest_lozgod_*

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Posted 02 February 2010 - 02:21 PM

Not bad. I think the tank will really start comming together once the plants fill in. If it were me, I would continue to plant your ludwigia trimmings so that, in time, this plant comes all the way around to the left side of your driftwood. I would be curious to see the way it progresses. Also, have you considered putting a background on your tank? I bet a dark background would also improve the look.

I was thinking about painting it black.

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#8 Guest_mudminnow_*

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Posted 02 February 2010 - 04:34 PM

I think a black painted background would look very nice.

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#9 Guest_Irate Mormon_*

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Posted 02 February 2010 - 10:39 PM

You might also consider a shadow box.

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#10 Guest_lozgod_*

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Posted 03 February 2010 - 11:41 AM

You might also consider a shadow box.

What's that?

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#11 Guest_Jan_*

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Posted 03 February 2010 - 08:55 PM

More rocks.

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#12 Guest_lozgod_*

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Posted 04 February 2010 - 01:35 AM

One day I will invest in a camera but anywho. I removed the java moss from the driftwood. I noticed it growing on it naturally so I removed the clump and am letting it spread on it's own. A few java ferns attached themselves and the remaining I attached with a rubberband until they take root.
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#13 Guest_Irate Mormon_*

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Posted 04 February 2010 - 10:34 PM

What's that?

A shadow box is a box built behind the aquarium that you can put terrestrial plants in or whatever you want. It adds depth to your composition and give you freedom from having strictly aquatic scenery. Normally it is painted black on the inside (hence the term "shadow box"), but really you can do whatever you want with it.

It serves the purpose of a 3-D background.

Edited by Irate Mormon, 04 February 2010 - 10:35 PM.

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#14 Guest_lozgod_*

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Posted 04 February 2010 - 11:00 PM

Shadow box sounds like more work than I am willing to do at this point. Like the idea though. Plans on getting another aquarium and that might be part of those plans because I like the idea.