Aqua Scape Suggestions

[stang1]

that looks really cool, how did you make them?

My other half brought a big bit of green slate from the garden centre and chiselled bits off. I just overlapped a couple of pieces and used silicone to glue it.
The pebbles are a different story! Brought two bags from lfs, £3 each. I laid the tank on its side and just siliconed pebbles on. I tried having some sticking out more than other for a bit of depth. In hindsight I should have overlapped them a bit more so the back didn't show. I had some pebbles left over so I got a big piece of slate and built an ornament on top of it, a sort of tower. I left a big gap either side which Boromir loves hiding in! About two thirds of the way up I siliconed some slate on top and then siliconed more pebbles on top. This left a hole in the top so I put some sand and gravel in it and put a plant in the top.
Took ages, but I must admit I did enjoy it!
As for the other tank, I just brought the background and silicioned it on. I placed another piece at about a 45 degree angle from the back just to bring it to life.
And re-reading this, I've just realised I've got too much time on my hands!

ha ha not at all, they looks cool, especially the slate one, means a total strip down of the tank though

i'll think about it though!

You'll have to post a pic when you've finished with it, I'd love to see it.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

i will do! tend to go round every few months and take a shed load of pics

 

[stang1]

Me too! Trouble is the kids are getting neglected! Went trough the photos still on my camera and realised I've got more pictures of my fish than my girls!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

aye, i've hundreds of pics of the fish and cats, only 1 decent pic of me and the other half

 

[stang1]

Thats made me feel better!. Might have to get the camera out and torture the kids with it. My 12 year old loves having her photo taken, right little poser, bless her. My 14 year old is a typical teenager, has to make sure shes dressed properly and even then its an effort!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

thankyou, yes it's on the bedside table.

no it doesn't drive me mad, if i can sleep through Ian's grunting and snoring i can cope with the tank!!

I kind of like the blank space to the back right??? how about just extending the 'crypt carpet' right to the back?

How about moving all the hardscape and plants to the back right corner? I know you like the blank space on that area, but since it's located on the right side of your bed, it would be nice to be able to have a clear view of the aquascape and fish

My betta tank's on my bedside table too, and I made sure the bamboo are placed in such a way that it doesn't block the view of the scape

hmmm cos of the way the wood's pointed i dunno if it'd look alright on the right hand side?

 

[lljdma06]

I actually like the layout quite a bit, Miss Wiggle. Add more crypts under the Nymphaea, some larger wendtii, green preferably. That will ease the gap in the right a little. Keep the wood where it is, I like the colorplay with the stemplant. Try adding a black background to help the plants stand out a bit more. The Nymphaea will really stand our more. Perhaps some small anubias or java fern on the crook of the wood, or even moss.

llj

 

[Miss Wiggle]

I actually like the layout quite a bit, Miss Wiggle. Add more crypts under the Nymphaea, some larger wendtii, green preferably. That will ease the gap in the right a little. Keep the wood where it is, I like the colorplay with the stemplant. Try adding a black background to help the plants stand out a bit more. The Nymphaea will really stand our more. Perhaps some small anubias or java fern on the crook of the wood, or even moss.

llj

thankyou

a black background is planned when I get a chance, it's a little awkward due to the curved corners of the tank and the way the hood fits on top, gonna be hard to get one to fit snugly and if they don't they look pap, anyway i'm working out how to do it best.

is the nyphaea the one on the left (i did ask for an ID in my first post, not had one yet though!)?

the crypts i have now are wendetti right ?? sorry bit rubbish with plant names.... are there different colour variations to the one's I have then? think those are probably the only ones i can get around here..... hmmmmm internet shopping beckons.

think i'm gonna pick up a bit more pygmy chain sword to fill it out a bit. would root tabs help underneath cos although it's not dying it's not doing a lot either?

FKNM - No I can't switch sides with him, I'm wierd I have to be nearest the door however the room's laid out. Not moving onto his side

 

[chardonnay1000]

I got some really nice rocks that look like wood,you can build all kinds of stuff wid it cos its nice and flat, looks really interesting 2.... i cant remeb the name of it but they look real nice. im rubbish cos i cant post pics ...ive read the pinned post a billion times.. ah well, its really really nice

 

[Miss Wiggle]

bump, can anyone answer the questions in my last post!

 

[lljdma06]

The Nymphaea is the lotus species, the reddish plant with the broad leaves on long stalks. The green stemplant on my left looks like creeping jenny (Lysimachia nummularia) to me, but the leaves are a bit crinkly. To be frank, rootabs would benefit all your plants, especially the chain sword, the Nymphaea and the crypts, which look a lot like red wendtii to me. They come in bronze, green, and red varieties. Cryptocoryne lucens and lutea are also common in LFS. I usually do not bother to much with precision in identifying cryptocorynes, it is a bit of a chore, and they for the most part require similar growing conditions. I'm just too lazy, and they all end up mixing together in my tanks anyways . I use rootabs and my root feeding plants particularly benefit. Hope this answers some of your questions.

llj

 

[Miss Wiggle]

The Nymphaea is the lotus species, the reddish plant with the broad leaves on long stalks. The green stemplant on my left looks like creeping jenny (Lysimachia nummularia) to me, but the leaves are a bit crinkly. To be frank, rootabs would benefit all your plants, especially the chain sword, the Nymphaea and the crypts, which look a lot like red wendtii to me. They come in bronze, green, and red varieties. Cryptocoryne lucens and lutea are also common in LFS. I usually do not bother to much with precision in identifying cryptocorynes, it is a bit of a chore, and they for the most part require similar growing conditions. I'm just too lazy, and they all end up mixing together in my tanks anyways . I use rootabs and my root feeding plants particularly benefit. Hope this answers some of your questions.

llj

thanks llj!

I'll attemp to remember those names, to me the nympaea is just a lilly!

i'll stick another root tab in under the sword tonight and see what it does. there's some under the crypts and the possible creeping jenny already possibly the nympaea is benefiting from them too as it's near the crypts.... it's doing really well though with loads of new leave coming through so I don't think I need to put any more in under.

to me it's just good that i can identify that they're crypts, i can tell the difference between these and the crispatula (sp... no idea!) Ian has cos they're much longer and thinner, that's as far as it goes!

i was gonna move some crypts around anyway, spread them out a bit to cover the back space and see how it looks. I'll do that and if I can find any other green wendetti's then I'll stick some of them in.

 

[lljdma06]

When you move the crypts, don't freak out if the leaves completely melt off. They usually do that after a change in environment. Most of the time, in a few weeks, they bounce back, better than ever. It's a fantastic way to conserve energy in adverse growing conditions.

llj

 

[Miss Wiggle]

aaaahhhh that explains a lot!


I've had crypts from Ian's tank and moved them to mine, and he's taken them out then put them back in with his new ADA substrate and the same thigns happned both times.

we didn't know if we'd done something wrong or what!