Opinions wanted! Help me re-scape please?

[Mokomon]

After 4 months, plants are doing really well and I need to move some.
I will be taking out some lge rocks & moving my wood towards the back a bit to free up some swimming space in the front, also trying to get more space up front for the cory's & loaches to feed.


I def have to move my Dwarf Lily, as it's now pressing up against the glass.
It has gone nutso the past week with 6 stems shooting up leaves to the surface!


My main question is seeing how it's the only spash of color that isn't green, where would you place it?
Left, middle, right??


I was thinking somewhere to the left & back


What say you?? :)

[Bethany1979]

I think it looks absolutely beautiful! Aside from some trimming I wouldn't change a thing.

[Mokomon]

Thanks Beth, but you don't think I should free up some more swimming space?

[Ryi]

Not in center....one of the basics of good visual design is 1/3, 2/3...place it a third or so of the way from one side. Your mind does not find symmetry relaxing. Besides, by offsetting the burst of color it will lead your eyes towards other less obvious visual treats :)

You have a beautiful tank so my only suggestion is not something I feel strongly about, it looks great as it is! You might consider moving the tall grass in the back (sorry, don't know the name) to the right rear corner to balance the green excitement in the front left corner. The vertical growths will balance, with front/rear planting adding a pleasant contrast.

[Mokomon]

Thank you RYI!!

[mel_20_20]

Absolutely beautiful!!!

[mel_20_20]

What size tank is that? What is the substrate? Do you use ferts and co2? I wish I could have a tank that gorgeous!!!

[Mokomon]

Thank you Melody, that's so nice!


I'm quite pleased, and surprised actually, at how well everything is doing considering I have never fertilized or used CO2
I just really want to make more space up front for my cory's and loaches to feed & play.
I will be attacking this job tomorrow.
Yikes! :D

[Mokomon]

Oops!
We were typing at the same time :)
It's 55 gal

No ferts, no CO2, just plain old gravel and 64 watts of light

[mel_20_20]

So lovely. :)

[Mokomon]

So lovely. :)



And so are you... :)

[Bethany1979]

Want to come to NJ and help me scape my tank:D. Post some pics when you are finished, can't wait to see!

[Mokomon]

Sure Beth, I'm on my way :)

[Bethany1979]

Sure Beth, I'm on my way :)
LOL! Actually I'd rather come up to NH. I used to spend a month every summer up there...till I had kids.

[inkyjenn]

looks great to me!

also, im amazed at the ease of growing plants in aquariums. i cannot keep a thing alive if it needs dirt, but if it grows under water, i can make it go nuts

[Turbosaurus]

It is a stunning plant- the whole tank looks great. I would continue to give it a place up front, even to the bottom it looks fantastic. Actually if you started fertilizing and adding CO2 you'd get leaves the size of dinner plates and it would ruin the scale in the tank as well as shade everything. Congratulations on finding exactly the right blend of plants and system to get it right.

Since you're taking it down anyway, when you rescape it I would focus on bringing the driftwood to a more exposed location toward the front. That can give you the swimming space you need and hide the bottoms of the plants. You already have the "golden ratio" 1:2 perfect, I would plan the exact same shape just change the structure of your groupings, just slightly. Show off your hard scape and use it to define a foreground.

Quick tip on the nymphea, if you pinch off the surface leaves before they get to the surface it will encourage the plant to make more submersed leaves. You can tell the difference because the surface leaves will start out curled into a tight roll, submersed leaves are not, they start out complete open smaller versions of what they will look like later. If the plant gets to the surface, once it knows where it is, it will continue to put up surface leaves more often and slow down on the submersed. To keep it lush and beautiful like you have it now, trim those leaves BEFORE they get to the top.

I would also consolidate your crypt balansae into one group, it will have more visual impact that way. I am all for no fert tanks, but for crypts throw a root tab under the plant once a month or 1/2 a jobes stick and it will REALLY thank you for it.

If you do use your driftwood to create a sort of boundary for a more open foreground, the hygro difformis actually works nicely as a foreground plant for low tech tanks. It take a bit of trimming and training, replant the tops, but you can train it to stay low and spread. I've seen it done and its very pretty. Its not low like a carpet plant, but you can keep it to 2-3" easily. Perhaps don't even trim some of the larger stems, but move it more forward and use a rock or driftwood weight to bend the plant to spill forward over the driftwood toward the front.

Dont change it too much, it looks great.

[Mokomon]

Thank you so much Turb for all the info & comments!
I truly appreciate it!!

[Mokomon]

Oh, and it's hard to tell by the pics, but with those plants in front, there is only about 1" of space between them & the glass, giving hardly any room for my cory's & loaches to feed & play :(

Actually, the leaves of the lily are TOUCHING the glass in quite a few places


I'm just so afraid I will wreck the plants by moving them at this point

[mel_20_20]

And so are you... :)

Awwww..... Thanks.....you're so sweet to say that.

[Mokomon]

If that is you in your avatar pic, you are VERY pretty!! :)

[mel_20_20]

Oh goodness, it is me.... but I'm not. :headshake2:
It's from a couple of years ago, and I've put on a bit of weight since then, lol..

I'm starting to resemble (around the waistline) my ADFs in the pic from the album of my tank that you see below.

The avatar pic is from a pic of me and my sister that I have included in my "Friends and Family" album.

There's one of me on a sailboat with my hubby, and the chubbier face is there, lol.

[Mokomon]

I hear ya on the weight thing :)
You are a beautiful person Melody, I mean that!

[evelyn80]

mokomon dont worry about moving the plants i just did a huuuge rescape about a week ago and all my plants are fine and my crypt didnt even melt from it! i love your lilly i have the same one was yours from a bulb?

[Mokomon]

No Evelyn, I bought it with 2 leaves
The funny thing is, I bought 2 at the same time, in the pic it is on the left side in the front, & that one has done NOTHING!
I may move it to my 20 gal & see what happens


Since I started this thread, my huge one has sent up 4 more leaves to the surface
I think I'm going to cut them back



I'm so glad to hear that all your plants did well!

[Mokomon]

<-------STILL haven't touched a single thing

<-------Don't even know where to start :(

[Mokomon]

Well, work is done :)
I just removed a huge rock I had in there to free up some space, moved some of the foreground plants back a bit, & planted a few more new ones (narrow leaf microsword, Red temple, a bit of Java moss, and threw in some Hornwort.

My cories & Yo-Yo's have been thanking me for the space by swimming circles around each other :lipssealedsmilie:

I'll post a pic after the dust settles :)

[Mokomon]

Before & After :D

[Mokomon]

I know I'm talking to myself here, but I just can't get over how happy my loaches seem to be now that there is open space in the front!

I wish I had moved things a lot earlier!:wall:

[SMinNC]

Looks great!

[dixienut]

I think it looks absolutely beautiful! Aside from some trimming I wouldn't change a thing.

:iagree: and i wouldn't even trim yet it looks like a under water wonderland and i love the position of it kina just grew look not scaped look,.. wonderful, i'd like it in a pic of the month contest, it really took my attention

[Mokomon]

Aww, thanks so much!
You guys are way too kind!

I didn't trim anything because frankly, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. :lipssealedsmilie:

Moving things back a bit was as far as I could go :)

[bitbot]

No ferts, no CO2, just plain old gravel and 64 watts of light

That's amazing! The tank looks great. I would just echo 'not centre'.

[Mokomon]

Thanks Bit!

[bitbot]

Didn't read to the end before posting, but I like the re-scape too. Glad your fish are so happy!

[Pogiebate]

I absolutely LOVE your tank!

[Mokomon]

Thank you so much everyone!

[Mokomon]

Just taken...