Background finally came in for tanganyika tank. Trying out a few different scapes.
- Thread starter Lucas&kim
- Start date
I've dreamed about this tank for the last 5 years+.
And started saving the money. I paid the tank off a couple years ago. Tank is 3 years old. I've decided to change my stocking ideas. I'm going to do a very peaceful tank.
I have alot of extra rocks I haven't decided on placement yet.
I agree... you've got plenty of rock and the key to nailing the scape will be shadowing for depth.
Awesome tank. Not sure I'd put much more in it if it were mine but it's looked better each time you've toyed w/ it so far so keep doing what you're doing. I would highlight more of the background rock if it were mine, much like you had done earlier. Much of the coolness of this style of scape IMHO lies in playing w/ light and texture to accent depth.
Awesome tank. Not sure I'd put much more in it if it were mine but it's looked better each time you've toyed w/ it so far so keep doing what you're doing. I would highlight more of the background rock if it were mine, much like you had done earlier. Much of the coolness of this style of scape IMHO lies in playing w/ light and texture to accent depth.
Thanks for the feed back. Think I may only add one more rock. Getting the lighting right has been tricky. I think the overhang rock being lit up looks funny. The lights being diagonal creates more depth. If I push them back more to light the background it takes away from the shadowing and depth. I think there shouldn't be as much shadow towards the front.
Lighting is both science and art. If you get the chance consider going by a high end clothing store and as you walk through ask yourself what your eye is guided to and why. There are generally two types of light in that arena and they're referred to as ambient and task. Examples of how they're used in your home might be that an overhead ceiling mounted light that brightens up the entire room is simply ambient lighting. It's lighting up everything equally well. Task lighting would be the reading lamp at the end of the couch.
When you walk through that high end clothing store you're going to be walking through an ambient light level of somewhere around 30fc at about 36" above the finished floor but there will be much higher light levels that are often a different color as well and they're highlighting special displays in that room. Those displays are what you see first.
In your case you are likely attempting to use two identical fixtures intended for ambient lighting and you want to get some task lighting (or highlight certain objects) with them as well. That's not going to be easy and the best you'll probably find will be to orient them at an angle such that there's a greater implied depth. If you want to go next level you'll need a second type of light and it likely should be a different kelvin rating. If you're unfamiliar w/ what that means I might be able to help point you in the right direction if there are markings on your current lights to indicate color, color temperature, or degrees kelvin.
If you have an incandescent desk lamp in the house or something similar try temporarily placing it on top of the tank. Depending on how much different it is from the couple fixtures you already have up there you may see how highlighting, depth, light level and light color all play a big role in finishing a display.
When you walk through that high end clothing store you're going to be walking through an ambient light level of somewhere around 30fc at about 36" above the finished floor but there will be much higher light levels that are often a different color as well and they're highlighting special displays in that room. Those displays are what you see first.
In your case you are likely attempting to use two identical fixtures intended for ambient lighting and you want to get some task lighting (or highlight certain objects) with them as well. That's not going to be easy and the best you'll probably find will be to orient them at an angle such that there's a greater implied depth. If you want to go next level you'll need a second type of light and it likely should be a different kelvin rating. If you're unfamiliar w/ what that means I might be able to help point you in the right direction if there are markings on your current lights to indicate color, color temperature, or degrees kelvin.
If you have an incandescent desk lamp in the house or something similar try temporarily placing it on top of the tank. Depending on how much different it is from the couple fixtures you already have up there you may see how highlighting, depth, light level and light color all play a big role in finishing a display.
If the kelvin rating concept is completely foreign note that what used to be referred to as lower temperature colors on the kelvin scale seemed more red-ish and definitely highlighted red tones. As an example a kelvin rating of about 2800 might be used in a women's restroom at a nicer hotel or restaurant. The colors would make skin appear healthier by most people's standards.
Higher up on that kelvin scale would be lighting colors you might find at an industrial facility. Something around 5000 kelvin would seem to put off a blue-ish light and would be great as an inspection light which is all they care about at that industrial plant. That same light in the women's restroom mirror though would have patrons thinking they all looked horrific.
Whomever made those rocks may also have an idea of what kelvin temp light might best highlight various tones in the paint they've used as well.
Higher up on that kelvin scale would be lighting colors you might find at an industrial facility. Something around 5000 kelvin would seem to put off a blue-ish light and would be great as an inspection light which is all they care about at that industrial plant. That same light in the women's restroom mirror though would have patrons thinking they all looked horrific.
Whomever made those rocks may also have an idea of what kelvin temp light might best highlight various tones in the paint they've used as well.
