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Open space needs to be filled

3K views 18 replies 5 participants last post by  Jayy 
#1 ·
I open space in the middle of my plant that needs to be filled. I'm thinking of a piece of driftwood and or some nice sized stones. Here's some pictures.


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The far left is also empty and I was thinking of planting some chain sword there and letting it spread across the front. I also added some plants to other day along with my seachem equilibrium. I hope the seachem will work it's magic. Plant wise I bought two bunches of Green Cabomba, two bunches of Wisteria, and two bunches of hygrophila angustifolia. I wasn't able to find any carpeting plant like Chain Sword, but I might order some in. I'm also starting to like the look of Black Neon Tetra, but I don't want a nothing, but tetra tank. I'm also interested in Pelvicachromis taeniatus. Has anyone here kept them before? I really like their colors and would prefer them over Kribs. I would post this in my other thread, but its getting too long.
 
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#2 ·
I'd do some small plants. That space is right in the middle of your tank and generally you don't want a piece of hard scape in the middle. Things look better off center. It's called "the golden rule of thirds," divide your tank into 3, and along the two lines you'd have would be where to put hardscape.
Anyways that's what I think.:)

Also, I love black neons you should get those for sure!
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#3 ·
Ok, I'm still working on my aquascaping. To some people it just comes naturally and they can make a beautiful tank and it looks like crap to them. I think I may to do Black ruby barb instead. Can think of any plants that would look good in that spot?
 
#5 ·
Haha yea, it does come with practice!
Really I only know the basics and it works- the rule of thirds and keep things in odd numbers. 3 rocks, one larger and two smaller is a popular choice.
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#7 ·
Using the Golden Ratio in Aquascaping | AquaScapist

Here's a good idea of how it works.
As you can see their numbers are super accurate.. but when you put a big rock in there there isn't any way to be that precise with it.
Other things.. odd numbers very important, wide leaf plants on the edges, thinner leafed plants more in the middle...
I can see your cambomba (?) and bacopa (?) have no leaves near the base, a good idea is to plant shorter plants in front of them to hide that fact. Also, planting in front of things like rocks and driftwood is also good, the rocks/wood being partially obscured by plants makes it look more natural since they don't stand out as much.
:)
 
#8 · (Edited)
Yes, I had the Bacopa planted too close together and the Cambomba the I just bought. The Cambomba has lower leaves, it's just a bad picture. There's a lotus in front of the bacopa and some smaller stem of it so it should hide most of it till I put something there. I know about the plants in front of rocks/ dwiftwood, I always liked how it looked. I looked at the article and it's for 20-50 gallon tanks. I'm also a little confused by it.
 
#9 ·
Mmm, the 55 isn't that far off the range for it so I included the article.
It DOES seem confusing. Instead of that crazy number, just take the length of your tank and divide by 3, that's how many inches from the end your focal point goes. :)
 
#13 ·
Haha aww! I'd build up some height with plants behind it, and maybe some smaller pieces of driftwood or even rock around it, it stands out a lot right now.

Of course take this however you want, but I think this would be a nice rock set up for the tank now. :)
5 rocks, different sizes, just be sure they all are roughly the same colour/type and I think it'd look swell.
 
#17 ·
My suggestion would be to stay with more of what you have, or at any rate don`t have too many bits of hardscape that are too different. Uniformity always opens up the space and appears natural, since it replicates nature. The same type of wood, or similar rocks.
 
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