Comments/feedback on my new 4x2x2 aquascape planning!!

[illumnae]

Hi everyone,

I've done a rough planned scape of my upcoming 4x2x2 tank. it's a planted discus tank, so i've kept the plants to the back 2 corners, and will probably try and get a short hairgrass lawn going in all the blank areas. it still looks quite bare, so i'd appreciate advice on how to fill up the back to corners and what plants to use, especially the fillers =)

Tank specs:
dimensions: 4ft x 2ft x 2ftf
light: 364W PL (~3wpg)
CO2: 3bps
Fertilization: intend to do EI using KNO3, KH2PO4 and Seachem Flourish Trace

[ranmasatome]

Dont plant your crinium out in the open like that.. it will look very weird.

You can try chucking it in the rear corner behind the Echin.. then you get leaf differentiation within the same spot.

Filler plants just use small crypts lor...

Also if you are trying to get a hair grass lawn, try to use 2 types of grass and plant the longer variety behind...this will naturally give the sloping effect for your tank. Sporadically placing little bits of marsilea or hydrocotyle will also spice the scape up a little.

[genes]

The selection of plants are mostly broad leaves. Your tank will look sparse even when they grow out. Try adding some small leave plants. Will provide more depth to the tank since there is no hardscape. Rotala rotundifolia or micranthemum micranthemoides are some inexpensive small leaves plant that you may want to consider.

See this picture in the link, good mix of broad and small leave plants
http://www.aquabotanic.com/dutchsecrets.htm

[illumnae]

This is this semi-completed tank so far



I have Blood Stargrass (4 pots) unplanted so far, and expecting 1-2 big echis (uruguayensis and i think red melon sword) coming in at c328 tomorrow. should i put the blood stargrass in the area in front of the crinium on the left side, or would a large echi look nicer? i'm also wondering if i should cancel my order for the red melon sword before it comes in tomorrow evening as i have read somewhere that a tank shouldn't have so many large echis in it

[benny]

The initial layout looks a bit like a planned garden. I usually prefer a more natural layout. As ranmasatome has pointed out, the crinium should not be too far out in the open, but do give it a bit of space for the leaves to grow.

Oh..better start planting your hairgrass very, very soon. Best to keep about 80% of the substrate planted as early as possible to prevent an algae outbreak.

Cheers,

p.s. I've changed the title and hopefully you get more feedback this way.

[illumnae]

thanks for changing the title and your advice benny =) i was going for a segmented/planned layout as i don't have the imagination to visualise more natural layouts haha

what do you think of having 2 large echi swords on the left side where the criniums are? do you think it's overkill and that i should just stick with 1 sword and fill the rest of the left with stem plants like the Blood Stargrass i got and others, or will 2 be fine? i intend to leave the middle back and the front half clear of tall plants with only hairgrass =)

[illumnae]

6 pots of plants added today: 2x echis and 4x blood stargrass (stem plant). Tomorrow morning i'll be putting in moss rocks and 6 pots of hairgrass and probably travelling down to ecoculture or NA to see if i can find suitable branchy wood to add to the left side.

the blood stargrass (in between the 2 echis) is very short now, but should grow tall hopefully soon. how many more pots of stem plants would you guys recommend for me to put in to provide sufficient plant mass without making the tank look like a "jungle"?

i'm also thinking of moving the melon sword more to the left nearer to the glass, what do you guys think?

[AquaObsession]

Hurry up, plant more. Seems that the crypts are emersed version, the leaves might melt in the coming days, but they will grow back. Patience and hardwork are key.

[illumnae]

haha sorry for the slow progress..have a bad back so i have to do it slowly. i just planted in 6 pots of hairgrass, and the moss rocks surrounding the crypts are halfway done as i ran out of fishing line...will finish them tonight

for peacock moss, i purchased cloth netting from Polyart and was told the moss can grow out of the holes (about 1mm squares) no problem. i used the netting to wrap around the stones and attach the moss...does anyone have any experience as to whether this will work?

i think i just have to find 4-6 more pots of stem plants around the fringes and my tank will be ready for the fish to return. they're not too happy in their temporary home i think i might just do away with driftwood as it's hard to find what i want

[illumnae]

After a backbreaking hairgrass planting session, here is the almost finalized tank...just have a strip in front of the left area that i'm going to fill with blyxa japonica and 3 more moss rocks to put on the right area and i'm done, unless i can find a nice branch of wood that will fit onto the scape, which i highly doubt.

[oblivion]

the background still looks sparse to me
maybe it'll be better when the full setup is in place

[illumnae]

For good or for ill, here's the final setup.

[richietay]

The crypts seems to be planted rather close to each other.

Overall looks nice, keep us updated!

[illumnae]

10 days later, the blood stargrass and moss are showing very obvious growth and the lotus seems to have deepened in colour, the Fe dosing perhaps? Hairgrass doesn't seem to be spreading yet though, how long does it need to settle in before it spreads does anyone know?

but the plants seem to be doing well as i see alot of bubbling whenever the lights are on, especially from the lotus and swords and to some extent the crypts. even the moss is bubbling!

[oblivion]

just a comment.

seems like lacking abit of height at the background
i'm not sure if its by design or not though

[illumnae]

i'm waiting for the lotuses, echis and crinium to grow out and fill out more =)

[illumnae]

one of my criniums just developed a white flower bud today

[illumnae]

sigh, fish just went back in today and the panicky discus uprooted half my hairgrass =( the hairgrass was already well rooted in with nice long roots and runners forming...but the discus went and dug themselves into the substrate, churning the plants out and even exposing my tank bottom!

gonna have to replant and wait for an even longer time for the hairgrass to spread now...at the moment i feel like poisoning my water to kill off all the fish

[David Moses Heng]

After a backbreaking hairgrass planting session, here is the almost finalized tank...just have a strip in front of the left area that i'm going to fill with blyxa japonica and 3 more moss rocks to put on the right area and i'm done, unless i can find a nice branch of wood that will fit onto the scape, which i highly doubt.

i might have what you are looking for... 96814289 me.

[illumnae]

i might have what you are looking for... 96814289 me.

thanks for the offer bro, i'm putting a hold on my tank for now...the stupid discus went all skittish after i put them back into the tank and are continually destroying my hairgrass lawn.

very frustrated at the moment and i can't even replant as they destroy it again after replanting, so i'm just leaving it be for awhile. i'm actually hoping that they all die mysteriously for what they did to my lawn then i'd just replace them with altums...angels seem less destructive =P