Venturing into the Whole World Series Four- <Waterfall>

[Happy Camper]

wow, cotton falls.
Beautiful.

[dc88]

Simply AMAZING !

Not sure if is really cotton, as how can they be held in shape with all that water current in the tank.

We all have to wait for Gary to unveil the secret.

[valice]

I thought it is white sand? Hmm...
Anyway, I am always amazed by the planting methods which pack all the plants into the proper sections... Great planning and vision in your planting!

[michael lai]

Gary, I'm a newbie in photography. I like to check with you whether you used strong light to reflect off the white substance to achieve that gushing water effect? Thanks.

[GWU]

First of all, thanks for all who like this layout, your appreciation and your comment. I think all of you interest how the waterfall recreate under water. The idea is from a very famous scenic in China - Jiuzhaiigou valley, below are the waterfall from Jiuzhaiigou

http://images.google.com.hk/images?q...&start=20&sa=N

The secret is the fusion of filter floss and ADA Rio Negro Sand, I try different white sand cover the stone, the effect is not that attractive, some of particle is too rough, some of that are too white. Finally, I choice ADA Rio Negro Sand, the particle is fine and most of the particle is Silicon. The visual result after photo is perfect. It reflect as white but still have some texture detail.

My first idea only use sand to replicate, however it is not satisfied, it just like a white banner not waterfall. I look back my reference picture, it seems lack of water motion and splash, I notice that when water pass the stone, it would form as a foggy layer. I try different material to simulate this effect, finally I choice the filter floss, because it would not contract together in water even I tear it off to a very thin layer, and the texture is very close to the effect of moving water.

According to my experience, even though you have all this, if you don’t know how to arrange the sand, stone and floss, it still does not have this result, I try many many time and finally get this result.

[GWU]

Gary, I'm a newbie in photography. I like to check with you whether you used strong light to reflect off the white substance to achieve that gushing water effect? Thanks.

I just use the original lighting, actually, the ADA sand just like a glass powder, it's reflection is very high so to form a snow white effect after photo, actually if you over explorure 1 stop will also help to replicate. The gushing and splash effect actually is the sand hanging on the floss.

[michael lai]

Thanks for the tip, Gary. Very much appreciated.

[luenny]

Wow!! Very nice scape! I've never thought such thing to be possible. This will probably be another one of those scapes that I would want to copy but no skill to do so.

By the way, won't your filter floss gets dirty over time?

[GWU]

Supplement: After setup the floss on the stone, it is more difficult to maintain, the floss are pollute by the shrimp and fish ordure. I have to change some of the dirty floss and rearrange some sand position every week in order to keep the waterfall look. However as an aquascaper, I have to cleanup the tank to prepare my new layout, so the whole scenic has gone after a month. A four month journey has to the end.

[andrewtyr]

the fishes are very well trained, excellent photography skills, not to mention the scape

[Plantbrain]

Gary,

You might consider this as that sand looks cool but it not going to stay there for long, use Riccia as the flowing water......... with the bubbles pearling away........that will emulate the water with a plant, rather than a sand.

The Riccia has a very nice water fall effect.
The bright/white bubbles make a very nice impression and draw the eye to the area.

Nice tank and a lot of work.


Regards,
Tom Barr

[kemp]

it's really a master piece! Real soothing to look at i bet!

[ziyao]

wow thats v nice and so realistic

[coolbucks]

wow...really impressive...

[Shadow]

I'm new here...just browse around and... WOW...amazing, I can't believe it