What Can I Do With My Set Up ?

[kylealastairlove]

here is a pic of my tank,

as you can see there seems to be nothing going on with the left side of the tank and it looks a bit empty. i tried to plant out the whole tank but i dont really like the look of a full heavy planted tank id rather scape it so there is one point in the tank to focus on,

i have a lot of vallis floating on the top as my tank is part way through maintenance, and i dont know what to do with it as it doesnt seem to grow and i also have a big bunch of crypts floating at the top too.

plants i have are
java fern
vallisneria
crypt wendtii
crypt becktii
crypt balansae
crypt cordata
crypt nevellii
and barclaya longifolia orchid lily

i also have a couple of pieces of wood and a couple of rocks in there at the moment

any suggestions on scaping ?
thankyou

 

[mattyeatsmatts]

Add a black background

 

[kylealastairlove]

thanks i was thinking of doing that soon !
do you think my tank would look better if i moved everything inside to the left slightly? just considering the rule of 3rd's when aquascaping

 

[mattyeatsmatts]

When doing tank design I don't really pay much attention to heater and filter placement as you can normally get some plants to cover them, do you dose EasyCarbo? I've have heard it affects Vallis in some way

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

I almost want to flip it around for some reason...

I see what you are trying to do but you've got no creation of depth going on, you need to stagger the height of the plants and hardscape more dramatically so you can see the depth of the tank...does that make any sense?

Maybe someone who knows what they are on about will translate

 

[kylealastairlove]

nope i don't dose with any ferts at the moment,
AA i know what you mean dont worry lol i think the problem is also that i don't have a lot of background plants to add some height to the scape, i've been playing around with it seeing what i can do but there always seems to be something not right about the way it looks

 

[tomtomtom1230]

Looks like the FishBox 64, right? I have the 120 version. Did a bit of a rescape today since some moss came and I wanted to plant some other stuff that was delivered I try and make 2 environments at either end of the tank, the trick is getting them to blend in in the center, whether that be a piece of bogwood to sweep from one side of the tank to the other, connecting the two environments or something else similar.

A black background will make that look pukka

 

[kylealastairlove]

yeah you got that right tom !
thanks for the tips i have a black background but my betta really does not aprove of it, he just flares at it all day long and it was worrying me so i took it down lol

 

[tomtomtom1230]

lol yeah, my fish were a bit unsure to begin with. They soon got used to it. I know bettas can be a bit funny even with their reflections in the glass!