Llj's 8g Nano Nightmare!

Nice work as usual L.

How about some moss covered stones as a foreground? Move the crypts to the midground/left and do something with the moss ball/anubias/wood on the left. It does little for the layout IMHO.

My £0.02

Looks good, I'd remove the wood personally. Then the crypt's from the front like George said to group with the others. Then grow the HM to the front of the tank, then across to the left but trim in to slope.

I'd like to turn my 8g into a low-tech. Though with only 3 plant species. I'm still trying to find Hygro. pol. which I'd use. I'd like to use Rotala and HM as well. Trying to just go for fast growers, may try soil under the substrate. Sorry going off, thinking too myself now.

George Farmer said:

Nice work as usual L.

How about some moss covered stones as a foreground? Move the crypts to the midground/left and do something with the moss ball/anubias/wood on the left. It does little for the layout IMHO.

My £0.02

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Hmmmm. That may work, moss-covered rocks. I actually have a few pieces that would work well. Let me give that a try, the idea with the crypts too. Just don't want them to melt. They can be twitchy sometimes. Big babies.

If people aren't liking the wood with anubia, I could always move it to my 2.5g and replace that with some small crypts from the 2.5g. If I don't like it, I can always change it back. No harm is ever done. I'll try it tomorrow and see how it goes. It's not like the 2.5g is a fantastic design anyways, more like a receptacle for cuttings.

Jayjay, it's actually quite nice not having to worry about CO2 with this tank and your tank idea sounds great, very simple. I have a Baroque mind, such a simple design, while pretty, isn't really my cup of tea.

Will, of course, update with photos when done. Thanks for the imput.

llj

Alright, I tried something. It'll either sink or swim with you guys, but I can't do anything about it now until I know the crypts are ok. They tend to melt when I move them and it takes a few weeks for them to feel better.

When I removed the plants, the HM came out as a compacted ball with one massive root ball. It actually looked quite rounded and attractive, like a poof ball of HM. Very dense. Then I had three red crypts of equal size and color, and then the A. reineckii. I'd like to eventually make a ring of rotala, ala some tonina scapes I've seen, surrounding the A. reineckii, HM, and crypts, descending in height, but I got tired and ran out of rotala about 1/3 of the way and I had quite a few more crypts to put in. I also actually tried to plant moss in the substrate and I think the balls add a bit of a topiary feel to the scape, which takes it's inspiration from formal garden. If the HM rounds up like I want it too with only minimal pruning, I think the scape has potential. At least it isn't a jungle, and it's not too bad considering I didn't buy anthing new. The platies didn't mind a bit, good little fish. It is extremely symmetrical, I know, but people have been working so hard to get away from symmetry that revisiting it might be fun.

Lovely rescape Llj bit too symetirical for me but each to their own, think removing the moss balls might help, but its up to you

Sam

I personally think it looked better before. I have a few newbie questions though. What does HM stand for? Is it that bright green stuff?

I also think it is a bit symetirical, anyhow it looks nice.

wei0204 said:

I also think it is a bit symetirical, anyhow it looks nice.

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Yes, it is symmetrical. I did that on purpose. I removed the moss balls and have instead planted moss directly onto the substrate. To my suprise, it is beginning to anchor quite well. Didn't know you could do that with moss.

llj

I'm continuing to work with this scape some more. I've eliminated the symmetrical look and I'm going for a more sweeping look. I've extended the HM mound to the bottom right and planted Rotala behind it. There is already a nice contrast between the moss, the HM, and the Rotala. I've wrapped the HM on the other side with assorted crypts, another contrast. Finally, I've added another Alternantera to the left corner, and moved the second large crypt in front of it. Hopefully, in a few weeks, the HM will grown forming a graduated, rounded slope towards the right of the tank, and I'll have a nice multi-leveled patch of rotala. In addition, the HM should grow about an inch taller all around. Now, I just have to let it sit and see what it does in the next month before my next tweaking.

Below is a picture. What do you think?




llj

It is shaping up very nicely. I like the nice variations in colour and predominance of small leaves. The Rotala looks particularly nice.

You are definitely going in the right direction, in my opinion. Having said that, I am not too keen on the Alternantera.

I like the combination of colours and the layering. This tank is just lovely since beginning...

Dave Spencer said:

It is shaping up very nicely. I like the nice variations in colour and predominance of small leaves. The Rotala looks particularly nice.

You are definitely going in the right direction, in my opinion. Having said that, I am not too keen on the Alternantera.

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Thanks Dave and Luc. The Alternatera is hard to swallow for some people. It's really hard, however, especially since this tank does not have CO2 or ferts, finding the right plants. It is a particular challenge, finding ones with smallish leaves. I'd love a rotala macrandra or R. wallichi, or a cambomba or myriophylum, but I just don't have the lighting to make these plants work, nor do I have ideal water conditions. My tapwater is extremely hard. I'm pushing it with the A. reineckii, which idealy should have more light and CO2, and I'm really surprised that it's doing as well as it is in such low light. I think the Alternantera will look better when the HM grows about an inch taller and the crypts next to them fill out. I'm also going to try to encourage smaller growth, which takes a lot of patience and manipulation on my part. But this is a long-term scape, so I have the time to sort things out.

I like the Rotala too, it is blushing a very nice pink. I had considered using that as a backdrop only, but I've tried that before and the layout lost a lot of character and brightness. A. reineckii really adds that splash of color that screams "Dutch". If there was a plant that thrived in low-light conditions, with smaller leaves, and displayed that kind of red, I'd be the first person on it.

Thanks for the complements, any suggestions would be welcome.

llj

This is one of your nicest scapes and superb skill for a low light. My only comment would be that the Alternantera spoils the illusion of scale for me, its the only larger leaf and that highlights the small size of the tank. I know how much you like it, so feel free to ignore me! As an alternative what about rotala indica? It can be a nice red, it's gonna be on the list when I redo my 20g. Or looking at it some indica on the right, to balance it out and graduate from the large alternantera, through smaller indica to small leaved HM?

But that is a small point, its a lovely tank, full of healthy, vibrant plants, excellent I would be happy with that!

Sam

Themuleous said:

This is one of your nicest scapes and superb skill for a low light. My only comment would be that the Alternantera spoils the illusion of scale for me, its the only larger leaf and that highlights the small size of the tank. I know how much you like it, so feel free to ignore me! As an alternative what about rotala indica? It can be a nice red, it's gonna be on the list when I redo my 20g. Or looking at it some indica on the right, to balance it out and graduate from the large alternantera, through smaller indica to small leaved HM?

But that is a small point, its a lovely tank, full of healthy, vibrant plants, excellent I would be happy with that!

Sam

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Thanks for the complement, Sam. It's appreciated. It's kind of hard getting a scape going with low light. That could bode well for me if I ever decide to enter this tank in a competition.

Rotala indica is another name for Rotala rotundifolia which I already have in that tank. It was much redder when I was adding CO2 but since I stopped adding it, it no longer blushes salmon, but now a light pink. It looks great still, but it's not an attention grabber. What I may do is train the A. reineckii to grow smaller, which means removing the more established stems and only planting the smaller plantlets, which have smaller leaves. I will also more the Alternantera more to one side and possibly plant rotala infront of it to soften it up. I think that will ultimately work, especially if I can create another sloping effect similar to the HM. It will involve planting individual stems, but that's never bothered me before.

llj

This little scape is superb, you should be very happy with it. Stunning use of colour.

For a low-tech set up it's particularly impressive.

Well done llj.