# How's my hardscape? - manzanita



## MlDukes (Nov 24, 2009)

not feelin the left side. try movin around the 2 smaller pieces.


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## D9VIN (Aug 23, 2011)

It's terrible! You might as well toss those sticks in a box and mail said box to my house. Haha. Looks great, I really like that wood, the only thing I might change is to change the angle of the piece on the right, to make the tall part back in the back corner, and the lower part in the front and center. But I am not great with hardscapes. Which is why you should send me that wood for my 75 I am about to redo...c'mon.


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## oldbonehead (Jul 18, 2011)

The right side has a flow to it but the left feels like the wood simply got laid down and feels unnatural. You can try using the left rear piece to help soften or add interest to the front piece.


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## ibmikmaq (Aug 19, 2011)

I like the curved one on the right I say take the rest and have them all pointing from right side towards the left, keep them all together like entangled with each other pointing the same as the curved one on the right that points towards the left. use all soil type substrate on the right side all around the base of driftwood . in the front two inches of tank run a strip of pool filter sand onlyand then on the left side make the sand go to the back of tank, make this about 1/3 the length of tank and leave open and plant all around base of drift wood and tie moss and java fern to driftwood. Back wall behind the driftwood plant some tall background grass like plant and have some slow top flow making the grass stretch towards to left like flowing with the drift wood!


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## iKine (Aug 4, 2011)

I would take the smaller piece in the back left and use it to fill in the gap in the middle/right.


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## jmrmotorhead (Sep 27, 2011)

I agree- right side looks great, try to place them so it looks like one big piece, entangled together, rather than oppositely placed. I love the pieces BTW


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## theloneplant (Sep 8, 2011)

Alright, I did some modification to the original hardscape as well as experimenting a bit. It seemed like most people liked the right half of the aquascape, so I changed around the two pieces that seemed off. Then after I got a picture of that, I tore down that hardscape and started building others. I like how they turned out, tell me which one you like the best! (I'll still try to continue experimenting until I get something perfect )

The original hardscape modified:









A triangle-shaped hardscape:









Valley/triangle shape:









Island shape (Using a piece I didn't use in any other scapes, kind of a cool look but I think I like the others a little more):










Tell me what you guys think, it's helping a lot! Should I keep adding more to the arsenal?


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## MlDukes (Nov 24, 2009)

IMO the modified original has nice flow and the way the wood is placed gives you some nice dividers for diff plants.

try to vision each hardscape fully planted


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## jmrmotorhead (Sep 27, 2011)

IMO, either the original modified, or the valley triangle one. I really like the separation on the valley one, I could see that with a sand path going from foreground right to background left between the wood, with heavy planting on either side. However id work the left side a bit more, get more of it down low where it would settle. Looks kind of "placed".

I like that your taking the time to get your hardscape exactly how you want it, wish I did that!
You'll get it,

Matt


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## Kibblemania1414 (Feb 1, 2011)

i like it


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## ibmikmaq (Aug 19, 2011)

Oh that valley triangle one looks nice with substrate it would look as if it was on continuous root that grew under substrate then came back out! Planted on both sides with that nice valley of sand riding between in center would look sweet!


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## jmrmotorhead (Sep 27, 2011)

ibmikmaq said:


> Oh that valley triangle one looks nice with substrate it would look as if it was on continuous root that grew under substrate then came back out! Planted on both sides with that nice valley of sand riding between in center would look sweet!


Exactly my thoughts!


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## iKine (Aug 4, 2011)

theloneplant said:


> Valley/triangle shape:


That one.


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## ibmikmaq (Aug 19, 2011)

Well I can't wait to see the build! Start a journal so we can follow along!


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## theloneplant (Sep 8, 2011)

I was planning on it! I think I'll go with my original hardscape instead of the valley/triangle because of the extra room for planting/swimming space. The idea for the valley/triangle is that there is so much space taken up by driftwood on the left and that's where I'm supposed to be planting. The original design does look good and also grants me that extra space while looking like the hardscape actually takes up more space.

I'm actually building my own stand and am probably also going to make a thread of that. Once I finish my stand I'll start cycling and update/whatnot.

Thanks for the support


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## ibmikmaq (Aug 19, 2011)

you plant around base of main drift wood and other side of center one and all along the back wall plus there is plenty of room for foreground plants! the valley/triangle is so eye pleasing! you will have plenty of space to plant!


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## theloneplant (Sep 8, 2011)

I think I'm set on the original hardscape, I'm not purely doing an amano style aquarium because if I was, the valley/triangle would be the best. I also want the scape to showcase fish, and I think that the original will be best for that.

I modified the original again, tell me if you like it


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## kuni (May 7, 2010)

Move the right piece all the way to the left.

Flip the large left piece upside down, move it a little to the right.

Use the smaller thick piece so that it looks like the third large branch of the combination piece.

That should work well.


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## HiepSTA (Aug 23, 2011)

the last time i asked how my hardscape was, she slapped me in the face


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