Opinions wanted! Help me re-scape please?
- Thread starter Mokomon
- Start date
Want to come to NJ and help me scape my tank
. Post some pics when you are finished, can't wait to see!
. Post some pics when you are finished, can't wait to see!
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LOL! Actually I'd rather come up to NH. I used to spend a month every summer up there...till I had kids.Sure Beth, I'm on my way
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
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
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.
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.
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
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
