# Please help me aquascape my plants



## Alin10123 (May 22, 2005)

Hey guys,
I could use a little hand here in aquascaping my plants. Here's a pic of my current setup.










Also, here's a link to the plant package that i bought.
http://www.aquabotanic.com/abstore/index.html?lang=en-us&target=d2.html

I got the starter package. 

The water is a tad murky now becuase i was messing with CO2 and got it to work better. Once that happened some of the algae started dying off and the water got a little murky. It is clearing up by itself though. 

I hope the pic is good enough.
Any suggestions? (i know i need to trim down the plants on the right hand corner except i found a fry there the other day (no idea which fish it's from) but if i were to trim too early he would surely get eaten and picked on. He loved hiding there. But i'll trim in a couple weeks when he's safe. 

The water scape looks a little jumbled right now. Any ideas? This is for my 55 gallon.

thanks


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## Fiki (Apr 27, 2006)

Alin,

What's your WPG, filtration, AQ height, water chemistry, etc... Could be a beautiful tank. Give us some details so we could help...

Rgds,
Fiki


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## Alin10123 (May 22, 2005)

Fiki said:


> Alin,
> 
> What's your WPG, filtration, AQ height, water chemistry, etc... Could be a beautiful tank. Give us some details so we could help...
> 
> ...


Hmm i meant only how to physically place the plants in the tank. Like how to arrange them to look nicer.

I've got 130 watts PC lighting over 55 gallons.
Magnum 350 filtration
PH 6.4
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 20

flourish once every 2 weeks
flourish iron once every 2 weeks
flourish excel almost daily or every other day
black tahitian moon sand.


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## Ownager2004 (Apr 4, 2005)

It looks really random right now. Part of that is because there isn't enough mass in there and another part is that the plants you have aren't grown in yet (same reason i geuss).

If you dont want to trim the stems on the right fine, but I would top the ones on the left and place the tops infront of the bottoms... Maybe some of the bottoms will grow some good looking growth and maybe they wont...

Also, I dont like the cave thing I would place it behind some midground plants so you can just see a "rock" formation. Also right now it is to centered/bold and adds a negative focal point to the tank IMO.

Next I would group up your midground plants. This doesn't have to be permaneant, but i think in the meantime it will add order to the tank. Try placing them in front of the stems so you can avoid seeing ugly bottoms and also try applying the golden ratio with them.

Just suggestions, I wouldn't follow them to the t, but if your stuck use those as a basis to work from. Also I dont claim to be an expert by any means 

An idea that I just had when I scrolled up to look again... Maybe you could try the two islands theme since your plants are kinda leaning that way already. Move the plants from the middle and plant denser on the two sides. Then slowly let them grow into each other.


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## Alin10123 (May 22, 2005)

Ownager2004 said:


> It looks really random right now. Part of that is because there isn't enough mass in there and another part is that the plants you have aren't grown in yet (same reason i geuss).
> 
> If you dont want to trim the stems on the right fine, but I would top the ones on the left and place the tops infront of the bottoms... Maybe some of the bottoms will grow some good looking growth and maybe they wont...
> 
> ...


Thanks for your suggestions. I'm going to give me tank a little water change and a good vacuum tomorrow. Then i'm going to give your suggestions a try. 
I'm no expert either, but what you say sounds good to me. 

Btw, the thing in the center is a piece of driftwood. lol 
It's kind of wide and diagonal if you catch my drift (hehe, that kind of rhymed). so it's kind of hard to really move it further back. Any other suggestions? Should i move it off to the side maybe?


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## RockabillyChick (Nov 18, 2005)

first, i would move your decoration to one side or the other. you don't want the tank to be cymetrical. try the "golden rule"

http://www.kingvinnie.com/aquaria/articles/auralproportions/

or try here for the golden ratio

http://www.freshwateraquariumplants.com/aquascapingprinc/aquascaping101.html

the above link is where i got all my aquascaping ideas


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## Alin10123 (May 22, 2005)

Ok guys, took your advice. Just tried to take a pic but my camera was dead. I'll post them up tonight when they finish charging.


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## Alin10123 (May 22, 2005)

here ya go!
What do you guys think? looks good? Or needs a little more work?


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## Cichlid Man (Jan 19, 2005)

Now that's more like it. The general planted tank usually has the tall plants at the back, and works towards the shorter dwarf species at the front, but this is only if you want it heavily planted. It looks good what you have now.
If it was me though I'd put some tall plants at the very back to fill it in a bit, and make the fish feel more secure.


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## Alin10123 (May 22, 2005)

Cichlid Man said:


> Now that's more like it. The general planted tank usually has the tall plants at the back, and works towards the shorter dwarf species at the front, but this is only if you want it heavily planted. It looks good what you have now.
> If it was me though I'd put some tall plants at the very back to fill it in a bit, and make the fish feel more secure.


When you say very back do you mean towards the center where you can see the glass? Would that take away the depth of the tank? Do you have any pics to see what you mean? I'm still open to suggestions. So i appreciate the tip.

thanks


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