Back after a few years

[DGF]

I was a member here many, MANY years ago. Just got back into the hobby. Picked up this UNS 90l. Finished the hard scape today. I’m in love with it but just like a newborn baby’s parent, maybe I’m blinded by the product of my own work. I really like the lines and tried to keep the flow with each piece of hard scape. Opinions? Also would love to hear opinions on how to plant it. I have some ideas but curious to hear what others have to say. The red lava rock will be covered with moss as will the visible seems joining hard scape pieces. The back of the stump has been removed with the thought of fabricating some sort of pot to plant plants that will grow with moist soil similar to pond style plants. Suggestions are very much welcome.

Thanks Scape. Happy to be back.

[akpoly]

Nice mate! Just me, but I think the branch coming out of the sand is a little out of place. Maybe attach it to some rock and bury the rock in the dirt so the branch hangs out over the sand?

Always good with some trident fern and s repens on a scape like this!

[DGF]

Nice mate! Just me, but I think the branch coming out of the sand is a little out of place. Maybe attach it to some rock and bury the rock in the dirt so the branch hangs out over the sand?

Always good with some trident fern and s repens on a scape like this!

Do you think that with moss on the lava rock and s repens on the white mesh it would look more natural? That’s what my thought process was. I’m going to train the moss from the lava rocks to the branch and the white mesh will be a s repens wall.

[akpoly]

Do you think that with moss on the lava rock and s repens on the white mesh it would look more natural? That’s what my thought process was. I’m going to train the moss from the lava rocks to the branch and the white mesh will be a s repens wall.

That could work. But what's the overall idea for the rest of it?

[DGF]

That could work. But what's the overall idea for the rest of it?

I’m still working the final plan out in my head. So far the s repens and moss are the only for sure plants. Thinking of using pieces of Marimo ball In some of the cracks in the stump. Leaning towards r. goias onthe left of the stump all the way up to the back. Ranunculus Inundatus On one of the terraces to the right and going up towards the stump. I really like mini tripartita so might try to work that in.

[DGF]

Quick update. Planted the tank and been running a dry start using a reptile fogger for about three weeks. I’ve done dry starts in the past and I’ve always ran into the same issues in each. Main one being the humidity. Too little and the plants don’t transition well once it’s flooded, too much and the air flow seems to suffer and molds can be an issue. With this in mind I decided to use a fogger and leave the top open the majority of the time. The fogger pushes air around the tank plus the top being open allows for great air exchange.

Here’s how it looks so far