My Childhood Dream (2ft Tank)

[Danny Lau]

Starting my childhood dream of having an aquarium! Approved by my CEO of the house

Have been doing a lot of research and finally decided to create an aquascape tank with some small like stock.

Strategy:

• Flow of energy entering into my house (Liveliness)
• Can be appreciated when entering the house as well as enjoy it in my living space

Idea:

• A Valley (small opening to a big opening)
• Place infront of my main door

1st Hardscape Concept
1stHardscapeConcept.jpg

1st Hardscape Concept in 2ft Tank
1stHardscapeConceptin2ftTanks.jpg

2nd Hardscape Concept in 2ft Tank
2ndHardscapeConceptin2ftTank.jpg

I'm very new in aquascaping.
I will slowly update my progress.
Pls kindly give your comments on my design/ concept. Both positive or negative comments will be truely appreciated.

Your Sincerely,
Danny

[Phillipians]

The mistake I have made in the past is not getting large enough rocks or not even buying enough. For yours, I think your rocks are not large enough. The sense of depth will not stand out well. You should get higher/larger ones. Helps in creating a deeper valley and also making it look higher. The concept is nice. You will be let down by the stones. Since your wifey says good, might as well get larger ones and do a good job so she can sanction more tanks later if it adds value to your house haha

[Danny Lau]

Hi Phillipians, thank you for your advice.

Bigger rocks means $$$ . Hard to find nice and yet not expensive rocks!

[bryan]

Always use light diffuser (egg crate) when playing with big rocks.

[Urban Aquaria]

Just a suggestion, try to angle the path and hardscape so that it curves behind the rocks or gradually disappears into plants, that way it doesn't look like it just abruptly ends at the back of the tank.

[AQMS]

Hi Phillipians, thank you for your advice.

Bigger rocks means $$$ . Hard to find nice and yet not expensive rocks!

Find and buy your rocks here.... and get ready for a workout...
http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...ighlight=rocks

[Danny Lau]

Thank you so much for all your comments! It's really great to receive prompt reply and guidance.

zerofighterx101, really great info. I will go down this week to get my rocks!

[Danny Lau]

Hi, after reading the post on rock distributor @ 40 Jalan Lekar, I did a test of vinegar on my rock and there is bubbling sound but no bubbles seen with my naked eye.

Does it mean that the rocks are not suitable to keep shrimps (Normal grade, not those high-end) or even fishes due to the possibility of high ph level.

Pls advice thanks

[Shadow]

Not sure what scape you have in mind but if you are looking at classic iwagumi scape, you need 1 big nice rock as a center point and small one as support. Currently your rocks are all almost the same size.

[Phillipians]

I doubt you are doing iwagumi but you will still need bigger rocks for the creating of the valley. Better to do up something and waste a little more money now than to feel the urge to rescape everytime you look at the tank haha

[jiajuen900]

Agreed! Big rocks will look much better. Will be a little pricey but it will be worth it in the long run. You will have less urge to rescape and you can reuse them in future

[ARTRN]

Just an FYI to OP. Those rocks are ryuoh rock. I have the same rocks and already removed them from my 2ft planted shrimp tank because of minerals leech. These rocks will make your water hard. I Have to do 10%-15% WC every 2 or 3 days to keep tds around 200 otherwise would've gone up to 300+ ( happened to me when back from a 7 days trip). I keep CRS shrimp albeit a lower grade one.

[Danny Lau]

Update.

After receiving all the advices, I created another hardscape using elephant skin stones and wood. after adding soil to about 3 to 4cm, the bigger rocks will likely covering 3/4 of the tank's height (i think should be big enough liao ) and a small branch from the wood will likely be sticking out from the tank.


3rd Hardscape Concept
IMG-20150204-WA0002.jpg


Your Sincerely,
Danny

[Ingen]

The mistake I have made in the past is not getting large enough rocks or not even buying enough. For yours, I think your rocks are not large enough. The sense of depth will not stand out well. You should get higher/larger ones. Helps in creating a deeper valley and also making it look higher. The concept is nice. You will be let down by the stones. Since your wifey says good, might as well get larger ones and do a good job so she can sanction more tanks later if it adds value to your house haha

I agree with Phillipians totally. Been unwilling to spend on rocks and always end up with neither here or there rock scapes. If I were to do rock scape again, I will definitely get bigger rocks or more rocks.

[Ingen]

Update.

After receiving all the advices, I created another hardscape using elephant skin stones and wood. after adding soil to about 3 to 4cm, the bigger rocks will likely covering 3/4 of the tank's height (i think should be big enough liao ) and a small branch from the wood will likely be sticking out from the tank.


3rd Hardscape Concept
IMG-20150204-WA0002.jpg


Your Sincerely,
Danny

I thought this is pretty similar to what you have

[Mikey Ho]

looking forward to see the result.

[jiajuen900]

I prefer the new scape much more. Some nice balance and depth.

[Danny Lau]

My action starts:

Wake up early in the morning (20 Feb 15) and started my scaping......
20150220_091040.jpg 20150220_091028.jpg

My final design:
Front: Back:
20150220_111632.jpg 20150220_110312.jpg

I'm looking for:
Carpet - Marsilea Hirsuta
Sides - P. Erectus

[AQMS]

Wow! that is nice...

[Phillipians]

You have 2 focal points which can be rather distracting. The ridge looks fantastic (wonder how you did it) but the small DW draws attention away. One way is to add more DW of the same size so it does not stand out and then the ridge can be your final focal point.