# 30 gallon plant/driftwood/rock re-scape



## ryndisher (Jun 1, 2010)

I would say take the rocks clear out and put a nice plant in there. Like say a big java fern.


----------



## SamandAnne (Feb 24, 2010)

Thanks...I tried to make the rocks more discrete instead of totally removing them...does that work? Any other removing, rearranging, or adding that would be better? Here's a photo of what I have now:


----------



## SamandAnne (Feb 24, 2010)

*a lot of new growth...still looking to change rockscape!*

I made some changes in plants, rock, and wood. I'm aiming for a south american river look, with a pair of German blue rams, tetras, endlers, and BN plecos. I have some dwarf emerald rasbora and A. australe orange killifish, which still blend nicely even though they aren't from SA. :icon_bigg I think it's really coming along, but am looking to improve the left side of the tank. Any ideas on improving the aquascape???

(First, it's a little overgrown in the photo...working on thinning and trading some plants this week...)

For the changes I've made so far, I removed the large, flat rock from the right and changed that area to use more driftwood and plants. I found a neat tall piece of driftwood that I placed with the two pieces I had on the right. I flipped that wide piece over and laid it on top of the long, narrow, moss-covered piece laying flat (can't see the wood that much now that it's covered in moss). Then I put the tall piece where the two meet, trying to get it at a location 2/3 in from the edge of the tank. I attached a bunch of moss to the top of the tall driftwood.

The small amount of baby tears in the above photos really took off and has a nice carpet going! I need to trim the back shorter at this point. I added Najas roraima (floating plant) that really filled in, which I was also going to thin out some. I have some narrow-leafed java fern at the base of the tall driftwood to accent it. 

I lost most of the amazon sword plants to beard algae. Still have a beard algae problem and need to scrub the driftwood again...and try to get it off the leaf margins...sigh...

I don't know the name of the leafy, tall plant, but I was thinking of moving more of it back to the left. I have some rocks there now...trying to have some type of cave with flat rock for the pair of rams, but I'm not really sold on how this looks at this point. I like how the moss has grown over the big blue round rock, flat rock on the top of the cave, and holey rock behind the cave. But overall, I'm not a fan of the structure.

What I have to work with is:

Already in the tank -

the big flat rock on the bottom, 
a large, rounder blue rock with moss, (currently making the left side of the cave)
two flat, narrow red/white rocks (currently making the right side of the cave)
long, hollow, round driftwood tunnel (in tank on left)
oval orange/white rock (in tank on left)
red holey rock with moss growing on it

Not yet in tank -

wood with large hole
"L" shaped wood
small, heavy wood

I would really enjoy help/suggestions on improving the left side of the tank! I'm open to adding or removing anything I have. Once I thin everything I can post another pic, too.

Thanks!


----------



## SgtPeppersLHC (Dec 9, 2010)

Like it, but show off those sweet pieces of DW a bit more. All of the plants hide them and maybe they could more like accent them. Know what I mean? 

Edit: Ah, but I see you still have more wood to add yet.


----------



## SamandAnne (Feb 24, 2010)

Thanks for the input! Yea, I think I know what you mean. The plants really took off :icon_bigg. Do you think there's a different arrangement that would work to show the wood off more (I was trying to keep them in view but also in the back half of the tank, because they block the view of anything behind them)? I am thinning and selling some of the plants, so that will create more open space. I can post more pics when that happens to see if that helps. Think there's a better arrangement, too? I really like the pieces.

The extra driftwood I'd like to add...somewhere on the left I think (but anywhere that looks good) to try to make the left cave area look better. Still working on how to arrange that...I'm kinda stumped!


----------



## Kibblemania1414 (Feb 1, 2011)

soooo jealous... my tank is below...  its OK to laugh.......
just look on the 2nd page for most updated... *sniff.. pictures


----------



## Kibblemania1414 (Feb 1, 2011)

oh! and what kind of light do you have? PM me, i tend to forget what thread i posted in, so just post it on my wall also. ty


----------



## TheShrimpOtaku (Feb 28, 2010)

I love the over grown look to it! Much better then the empty look it had before. IMO its almost perfect! Try taking that round rock off the flat ones cause it just seems out of place. So does the other round one on the right.Maybe it will make that small rock section on the left more open leading to the back of the tank. 

I can picture it in nature as a small stream that has carved its way through a small rocky slate ledge, and soft ground on the right side. The plants want to grow further but the stream separates them from the rocks causing them to grow wild and tall. I like this tank alot! good job


----------



## SamandAnne (Feb 24, 2010)

Kibblemania1414 said:


> oh! and what kind of light do you have? PM me, i tend to forget what thread i posted in, so just post it on my wall also. ty


I tried to PM, but it said your mailbox was full...so...here it is: 
It's a 36" long light, 96 watt power compact, with a dual 6700K/10000K bulb.

Thanks for the feedback!


----------



## palufreak (Mar 1, 2011)

30G is pretty hard to scape... 1G less and could be easier to scape... Anyways, good luck!


----------



## SamandAnne (Feb 24, 2010)

palufreak said:


> 30G is pretty hard to scape... 1G less and could be easier to scape... Anyways, good luck!


Ok, thanks!


----------



## SamandAnne (Feb 24, 2010)

*taking in your feedback...in progress!*



SgtPeppersLHC said:


> Like it, but show off those sweet pieces of DW a bit more. All of the plants hide them and maybe they could more like accent them. Know what I mean?





TheShrimpOtaku said:


> I love the over grown look to it! Much better then the empty look it had before. IMO its almost perfect! Try taking that round rock off the flat ones cause it just seems out of place. So does the other round one on the right.Maybe it will make that small rock section on the left more open leading to the back of the tank.


Thank you both! I like the kinda overgrown look, too...and want to show off the wood and have more natural rock arrangements.  

@SgtPeppersLHC, I wanted to bring in some more of the wood I found and bought, too...I found some more cool pieces (and need to boil/cure them) and bought one more (as a perch for a bamboo shrimp). I'm wondering if I can bring them into the rock area and have it look more natural. Also, I have a bamboo shrimp and wanted to try to put a wood piece in the open near the filter current (left) so we could see it perched out in the open. I was going to try and open up the space a little to show off the driftwood, and try to bring the plants in around that to accent them more. But, as I trimmed some of the baby tears and sold some of the Najas roraima, my other plants, including the java moss on the log, really took off and filled in the place the Najas was in! It's actually more grown in than the original pic, even with removing plants. So I'm still working on that feedback, SgtPeppersLHC, and hopefully I can pull it off.  When I get there I'll post more photos and let me know what you think!

@TheShrimpOtaku, yea, I see what you mean about the rocks. The problem is, those are my favorite ones!!! I see what you mean, though. I'm thinking of taking down what I have and trying a new rock/wood arrangement on the left. I found some cool wood and might try to move away from the flat rocks...but maybe see whatever looks most natural. I love the description of it looking like a stream running through the middle like you said in your post. That actually might give me an idea of how to try to accent that more with the rocks to make it more natural. When I try some ideas I'll post some pics of that, too. Thanks so much for the feedback!


----------



## TheShrimpOtaku (Feb 28, 2010)

excellent  if you decide to do a stream then add some lighter colored stones on the left and right sides of the center stones where the "water" would be. I think it would give it the look of a dry shore line kinda deal. Place one of the larger ones on the side of the stream so its kinda like the stone thats holding back the plants. And the other stone could be placed a little pushed down into the substrate where the "stream" would be. It could be like the stone you would jump to to try and get across without getting wet . 

Thats just they way I see it, and is obviously a suggestion. But if you're going to move things around you might as well try it and see if you like it. Lol I cant wait till my drift wood comes in so I can start my scape.


----------

