With the two large objects at opposite ends of the tank, the eyeis pulled in two directions and both are competing for attention imho. What about layering the wood over/under/around the stone to make one large focal point and allow the plants to draw the eye towards that one area?
What plants are ya using??
? Diana Lee ?
? the St. Augustine Redhead ?
http://floridaorchidendlers.com
It's really hard to tell until the plants are in IMO. I usually put my wood/rocks anywhere in the tank, and as the plants grow in I move them around until I find I spot where I think they look nice.
Fishobsessed7
With the two large objects at opposite ends of the tank, the eyeis pulled in two directions and both are competing for attention imho. What about layering the wood over/under/around the stone to make one large focal point and allow the plants to draw the eye towards that one area?
What plants are ya using??
�� Diana Lee ��
�� the St. Augustine Redhead ��
Florida Orchid Endler's | Documented Class N Orchid Endler's Livebearer Fish
Java Fern, Anubias, most crypts, water sprite, water wisteria, moss balls, and some aponogeton species do well in low light/tech tanks
Fishobsessed7
My two cents: A triangular composition always looks best, utilizing the rule of thirds, and also odd numbers of groupings. Right now you have an even number of groupings (2) that are about equally sized. Breaking it into 3 groupings, with a triangular composition so that the eye is drawn from small to large or visa versa can often yield pleasing results. I am by no means an expert and never did get it down, but in my 12 long, I tried to follow these principles:
It never did work out the way I wanted, but I think the eye was drawn in the right direction.
I tried in my mini m's as well, and think with a dozen or so layouts this was one of the more successful - again, triangular composition, odd groupings, rule of thirds:
There was a great article out there written by Amano but I can't find it... if you have time to search around it is all about hardscaping composition. I think what it boils down to is the rules that make for "good" photographs also apply to hardscape design. It is of course a matter of preference, but also amazing some of the science behind design composition.
I think you could make the hardscape as it is work out if you chose the right plants and tied it all into one fluid motion.
Is it important you have both the wood and rocks in there? Maybe look at what it would be like to keep just one or the other in there. Or maybe take some of the wood out to make it less of a clump and scatter the rocks around a little bit for the same purpose.
Before anything is done though I would put a background on that tank. A nice solid black to make the plants pop or whatever you want but it'll give it more of a completed look as opposed to seeing an electric timer plugged into the wall behind the tank. I'd also just go ahead and fill it with water, put your light on it and see how it looks filled with water.
You can plan and plan and plan but once you get the plants and fish, like you said, some plants won't make it, some won't look right, fish may require more swimming room and cause you to remove things, it's going to be an ongoing process to perfect it no matter how much you plan.
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What kind of background are you going for? Solid color? Frosted? Crazy pinwheels and tie-dye? ��
The frosted would look phenomenal imho. That can be done even with the tank filled...
�� Diana Lee ��
�� the St. Augustine Redhead ��
Florida Orchid Endler's | Documented Class N Orchid Endler's Livebearer Fish
The frosted can be painted on, on the back and side panels if you wanted!
Love the psychedelic colors for the coral, lol.
? Diana Lee ?
? the St. Augustine Redhead ?
Florida Orchid Endler's | Documented Class N Orchid Endler's Livebearer Fish
Wow, that looks a thousand times better!
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I also find it more pleasing.
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I love how it draws the eye around the tank, and not just to one spot. Looks awesome. Even with the uneven background, it has so much more depth and shadows which, when planted, will look amAzing!!
And thanks for checking out my thread!
�� Diana Lee ��
�� the St. Augustine Redhead ��
Florida Orchid Endler's | Documented Class N Orchid Endler's Livebearer Fish