Time to Reorganize

[Codefox]

Alright, now that I finally have a planted tank with the plants not dying, I want to try and focus on this whole aquascaping thing I'm simply blown away by some of these tanks and its given me a lot of ideas of what to do. Here's what I have now :



I'm going to remove the Egeria densa entirely. I don't like it. I also plan to move the Rotala rotundifolia that's on the right to the left side of the tank to combine it with the big grouping of it over there. The fake log in there doesn't really complement the tank and will be coming out. I'm trying to decide between a peice of driftwood, a big rock or even leaving that area bare which would allow for significantly more plants in that area.

I haven't decided what I want to do there but I sorta like how I have lots of stem plants on the left side and then I have that nice bushy Ceratopteris thalictroides and think I'd like to continue the trend and have the right side of the tank just be full of very bushy plants.

I've never really tried to plan out stuff like this before, does that sound like it'll look nice? Any other suggestions? I really like the crypts in the front around the drift wood that's there now.

[dskidmore]

I agree with the Egeria densa. I found my tank improved vastly when I replaced the fast growing stem plants with slower growing ones. Takes more patience to fill things in, but easier to balance nutrients and keep algae at bay.

[Codefox]

The egeria actually grows slower than the rotala, interestingly. It just makes a mess as peices break off and float around and really isn't a very attractive plant. The Rotala is very fast growing but I really think its an attractive plant, so I'll keep that one around

Does the arrangement sound like that will work well, visually?

[mr funktastic]

i like your idea and it sounds interesting. i think u need more hard scape planning. some larger peices of driftwood with plants surounding it would look awesome. with a larger tank hardscape is your friend. smaller tanks are ok with just alot of plants. i like how u have thick groups of stem plants aswell. good luck and i cant wait for updates

[czcz]

I like all your plans too. The progression left to right sounds attractive. I like your crypts in the foreground too, and building that up would be cool. Maybe Anubias too, so you have a nice slow growing mid and foreground while you manage and trim the stems in the back.

I bet you could use Heteranthera zosterifolia or Ludwigia brevipes for the right bush if you wanted. Hygrophillia polysperma "Rosanervig" for color (though this will likely grow faster than the R. rotundifolia) if you want. Also L. repens for color around the tank if wanted.

[Codefox]

I'm going out to dinner so I'll be brief, but I've done several things this weekend

Friday before I left :


Now:



I added an Aponogeton boivinianus and a pair of swords in the back. Not sure which species of sword exactly. I like the way it looks already and can't wait till it grows out

[rich311k]

Looks great!!! Nicely done.

[Jchillin]

Looking good...I like the placement of the foregrounds against the background plants. Only one suggestion. The driftwood looks kinda lonely back there all alone. Perhaps moving it more toward the center?

[Codefox]

I really don't have room to move it towards the center. Not visible is the large stone base weighting it down I'm hoping that the swords once they grow up around it more will make it blend a bit better.

[dskidmore]

How long have you had the driftwood? My origional piece of driftwood came on a stone slab, but over time it loss boyancy, and I was able to unscrew the base and use the driftwood in diffrent ways.