Rescaping - Need Opinions

[DGalt]

Ok so, I'm just not happy with the look of the tank right now. My biggest issue is the lines (is that the right term) from the placement of the driftwood. Here's what it looks like:

http://i319.photobucket.com/albums/mm462/DGalt11/NewTank.jpg

I'm not sure what I don't like about it, but I just know I'm not happy with it.

I'm thinking of this:
Leaving the left piece of wood in the same position, but pushing it back towards the back of the tank more. Then I'll twist the right piece so that the cavity is facing the front of the tank, and again I'll push this piece back towards the back. I'm planning on lining the two pieces next to each other to make a somewhat straight line of wood across the back.

This will leave the crypt more room on the right side, so I'll probably move it forward a bit. I'll pull up some of the clover in the center and spread it along the front / the right side in from of the crypt.

I'm probably going to pull out the alternanthera and replace it with ludwigia repens. I'm still debating this, but I think the ludwigia will work better in the long run.

Thoughts?

I just don't like having the tank sectioned off the way it is, so I think trying to make the driftwood into one big centerpiece towards the back will give me room to create a nice straight foreground planting and also give the tank a "larger" feel to it.

PS. Sorry for out of focus camera. I can't seem to figure out how this thing works!

[WaywardSon]

I actually like the way the driftwood is positioned - if you plant behind and in front it quickly fades into the overall scape. Moving the wood back a bit, however, may certainly work.

[Bk828]

If it was me i would ditch that driftwood. I think its 2 bulky for the tank and in the end making the tank look smaller.
I would go for some branchier pieces or even one thin piece of driftwood.
The reason why you think the tank is sectioned off is due to the wood/plants. If you get more stem plants you will have a fuller plant scape and it will look as one.

I also personally like alternanthera more than ludwigia repens because the alternanthera has fuller bushier look while repens can get leggy and will look empty.

[gustavo85]

I would rotate the driftwood in the right so that the cavity is diagonally like it is now but to the center of the fishtank (it would be 90 degrees clockwise) that should probably let room for your crypt and it would add interesting perspective to your tank. Even more perspective would be added to your tank if you could rotate the left driftwood (around 45 degrees counter clockwise) so that the space I see in front of the picture would form an upside down V with the cavity of the right driftwood just like this icon ^. That way both driftwoods would appear to go deeper into your fishtank. This is Takashi Amano landscaping in a nutshell, which I use when decorating my fishtank.

[DGalt]

I probably would rather replace the wood all together, but I'm beyond broke right now so I'm trying to go with what I've got. Also, I need to have some type of "cave" type wood for the plecos, and longer, thinner pieces don't really lend themselves to that.

As for the repens vs. the alternanthera, I'd rather keep the latter but it just doesn't seem to be doing well. Since trimming it down and replanting it even the new growth has begun to die off. I'm going to give it a week or so to see if I get any changes, if not then I'll probably pull it out

As for what the person above me said, I agree with the change in the piece on the right. However, I'm trying to move away more towards a straighter line across the back, with stem plants then behind it.

Maybe I'll take a trip to the LFS and see what I can find

[gustavo85]

As for what the person above me said, I agree with the change in the piece on the right. However, I'm trying to move away more towards a straighter line across the back, with stem plants then behind it.

I perfectly understand but you could still move them a little to the back using the perspective idea (^), the area you would be using is the same, you could place the large stem plants in the back of the driftwoods, tall broad plants in the corners of the back to fill in some nice space you will have there and in the center back a nice plant like an Amazon sword would look amazing, and with the driftwoods pointing at it would all look great. Then in the front any small plants you like so you could appreciate the driftwoods and the plants in the back. But again that's just me.

[DGalt]

hmm actually that might work. I'll have to play around with it. For the center plant I'm not sure..if the alternanthera filled it that would look nice, but I have a feeling it isn't going to. The repends does have broader leaves than the rotala stem in there, so that might work. i could move the crypt there but I kinda like it where it is right now

[gustavo85]

The crypt is okay where it is, they could grow to be very tall. Just give my landscaping a try, I assure you it will be worth it. If you don't like it change it back. But I really like decorating fishtanks. (that's why I'm still here lol!)

[Mgamer20o0]

not bad fill in the back maybe something for the wood.

[DAVIDFBT]

I would just find some granite rock and use it to scape your tank a little better.

[DGalt]

I perfectly understand but you could still move them a little to the back using the perspective idea (^), the area you would be using is the same, you could place the large stem plants in the back of the driftwoods, tall broad plants in the corners of the back to fill in some nice space you will have there and in the center back a nice plant like an Amazon sword would look amazing, and with the driftwoods pointing at it would all look great. Then in the front any small plants you like so you could appreciate the driftwoods and the plants in the back. But again that's just me.

what would you suggest doing with the rotala? moving back a bit farther towards the corner? If I rotate the piece on the right the way you suggest the space behind it will probably be taken up by the crypt. As for the piece on the left, there will be the space in the corner and the space directly behind it (more towards the center). I assume I'll put the rotala in one of those spots. I know my LFS don't have a ton of live plants, but I'll see what they have in terms of "tall broad leaf plants." I know they have sword plants, but other than that I think they're rather slim pickings.

[DGalt]

Alright so here's what it looks like now:
http://i319.photobucket.com/albums/mm462/DGalt11/NewTank2.jpg

There weren't a whole lot of changes, but I think the tank looks bigger now.

I trimmed down the rotala in the back and then replanted the trimmings, so hopefully when it grows back in there will be a rather large clump of it in the back left corner.

I just kinda stuck the alternanthera in the only free spot. i don't think it's doing that well so we'll see. I'll probably end up pulling it out.

The plant in the back is a sword, like suggested. Hopefully it'll grow bit and strong, making it a nice centerpiece in the back.

Once everything fills in I think it'll look 1/2 decent. We'll see. Plants need to grow faster! lol

any more suggestions are welcome.

PS. I went to the store looking for new wood but they didn't have anything that would have worked. Hence the reason I stuck with what I had. Oh well.

[jameshilljr]

adding rock work is always nice:grinyes: your tank looks good after the rearrangement

[DGalt]

I was going to put some type of stone work in there instead of the left piece of driftwood but I couldn't figure out a decent way of configuring the rocks I have (they're all kinda small and flat and well, I picked them up out of a field so they're not all that interesting...)

I like how the right side came out. That piece of wood fits in nicely with the crypt and the anubias. I'm not as thrilled about the left side. Maybe it'll be better once things fill in. That piece of wood is kinda lopsided so I'm limited to stable positions I can put it in.

[gustavo85]

I see you did a great job!! It looks very nice. Your tank looks bigger because of the perspective principle I told you about (it does make your tank seem deeper). And don't be discouraged with your left side, if you ask me it is a very nice piece of driftwood. Once the plants start to kick in and grow it will look amazing. I had live plants in my tank, but where I live the water temperature goes of the charts during the summer (around 88 Fahrenheit) and plants die so I got discouraged. But, if you tell me what type of light you are using and how many watts, which fertilizers are you using and what kind of substrate I could help you a bit more to push your plants to grow faster.
I will be looking forward to helping you more. Be patient, relax, and enjoy your tank!

[CaitxSith]

Too symmetrical... Try scattering a few things...

You can always use this (http://www.theaquatools.com/aquasketcher) to plan ahead :)

[Rbishop]

Nice improvement, though I think the wood needs to be moved a bit farther back.

[DGalt]

I se But, if you tell me what type of light you are using and how many watts, which fertilizers are you using and what kind of substrate I could help you a bit more to push your plants to grow faster.
I will be looking forward to helping you more. Be patient, relax, and enjoy your tank!

Thanks for the compliments. My setup is this:
15 gallons
40Watt (2x 20watt spiral compact flourescent), giving between 2 and 2.5wpg, depending on how efficient the lights actually are.
Dosing with Flourish 2x weekly, Excel daily, and 1/4 tsp KCl 1x week
Nitrates are always between 5-10, except towards the end of the week and just after the WC, where they go a bit higher and a bit lower, respectively.
I don't play with the phosphate simply because I've heard bad things can happen (algae) if you're not careful with phosphate.

Too symmetrical... Try scattering a few things...Like I said, I'm not too happy with the left side. I think something other than that piece of driftwood...some type of stone or something, would work better there. When the plants fill in I may just remove the wood all together and just leave the large bush of rotala that is going to end up in that corner.

Nice improvement, though I think the wood needs to be moved a bit farther back.They are unfortunately back as far as they can go. They're both rather large pieces of wood. I could move the one on the left back a bit farther if I moved my heater, but it would only maybe be another 1" and I don't know where else I'd put the heater.

[gustavo85]

You have a good dosage of fertilizers and adequate lighting in your fish tank. Keep it up!

[fishorama]

It looks better but I'd move the sword so it's not dead center. A few inches to either side would really improve the balance, go left for my choice. Then let things grow for a while & reevaluate.

[DGalt]

It looks better but I'd move the sword so it's not dead center. A few inches to either side would really improve the balance, go left for my choice. Then let things grow for a while & reevaluate.

yea, that whole golden ratio thing. I just think once the plants on the left grow in it's going to be a bit crowded there. I don't know how the sword is going to grow, but from my understanding it's probably going to take up the whole center once it fills in

[clogstonian]

my 2cents: I actually really liked the pc on the right in the first photo, it had "shape", a pc pointing out, a cavity/negative space underneath. The big initial issue that struck me was that both pcs are about the same size/ht . . maybe take the pc on the left out and see what you think. thanks for sticking your self out there, fun to see what other folks are doing.

[clogstonian]

just had a thought; I noticed that the left pc has a large flat space on it, maybe butt that up against the side or back(flat against the glass/plexi, give it the illusion the pc is coming from outside, might possibly give the illusion of a larger space???