'scaping tall, thin tanks....suggestions?? (Big pictures!!)

[newfound77951]

I am trying to aquascape a standard 55 gal tank (48"x12"x22"). I've had fishtanks for a while, and I am pretty good at spatial/artistic things, but I am new to live-plant aquascaping. I bought a bunch of plants that I liked, without totally thinking through how to arrange them (impulse buying!). And of course, 55 gal tanks are miserable because of the dimensions (should have got a 75).

So here is the tank at the moment...please give me some suggestions on what I should keep, what I should get rid of, where to move stuff, what other plants I could get that would fit in. I have 4 wpg so light is not a problem. Substrate is Eco-Complete. CO2 is DIY supplemented with Excel. I can ID any plants that you can't figure out from the picture, although most of them are pretty common. I would like to cover more of the background, but also maintain some sense of depth, as much as possible in a tank this narrow.

Thanks for the advice!

Whole tank:

Left side:
[img]http://www.gso.uri.edu/~brooke/Fishtank/Left.JPG[/img]

Center:

Right side:
[img]http://www.gso.uri.edu/~brooke/Fishtank/Right.JPG[/img]

 

[Derek015]

nice looking tank i see the fish look happy i want that tank

 

[mr funktastic]

lol i can see you have a snail problem. i would suggest a fast growing plant that u could bunch up side by side to give u a fuller look. i have hygro polysperma in my tank that i put in groups of 4 of 5 stems them it grows out really well and makes it look like one large plant. but the tank loos pretty full already!!! once those plants grow in more u will be over run lol.

 

[newfound77951]

Yeah, I'm thinking i need to get rid of a few things...that's what I was hoping for suggestions on...what to keep, what to get rid of, what would look cool.

And yep, quite the snail population. I am picking them out as much as I can, but I need to get a few loaches soon!

 

[czcz]

FWIW, I think if you got rid of the green swords near center and left, then let the stem plants around them bush out, it would look sweet.

Some of the best advice I've gotten is to slope the substrate as much as possible and build mounds to create the illusion of depth.

Maybe fill out the background with a fast growing green stem plant, like another Bacopa sp. or Vals?

Splitting up the carpet will help it fill out faster. Maybe use the stones to section off areas for different levels of carpet to create more of a midground, and the impression of a deeper tank?

Just ideas; HTH