# Suggestions on decoration/plant arrangement?



## luananeko (Aug 27, 2010)

I'm 3 weeks in on dry starting my 75 gallon tank and while researching plants I found out about the world of aquascaping... I'm totally new to the idea, so I was hoping some folks here might have some input on the best way to arrange my tank. I don't plan on this being an artistic masterpiece due to some of the decorations I had already bought not really fitting the same theme, plus my inexperience, but I want to at least incorporate some of the ideas. 

Here's what I've got so far, the large hole on the right will be partially occupied with a sunken ship decoration that is currently in my 30 gallon tank. There are more pictures of it in my album, but it's the "Top Fin Schooner Bow with Fabric Sails" decoration that Petsmart sells, and is wonderfully ragged looking by now.










The tank is 48.5" long, 18.5" deep, and 21" tall with between 2-4" of substrate in each area (sloped upwards towards back, combination of gravel and Eco-Complete). Light is two 54w T5 HO bulbs (one 6700K, one Colormax, both from Coralife) and unsure on if/what I'll do for CO2... Flourish Excel dosings for now. The plant in the middle is an Anubias (I think Hastifolia var.), with the dwarf baby tears slowly growing in at the front left, and a little patch of anubias nana petite on the left front driftwood. I have a red tiger lotus along with lots of Green Cabomba, Hygrophila Polysperma, and Ludwigia Palustris growing in my 30 gallon that I will be moving over as well. 

Goals: 
1. Have LOTS of hidey holes and dense planting.
2. Make look as coherent and pretty as possible (difficult I know since the tree trunk and sunken ship probably shouldn't be in same aquascape).
3. Make use of as many of my existing plants/decorations as possible.
4. Ideally have a good mix of red, pinky orange, and green plants of various textures, don't care as much for yellow/gold ones.

Sorry, I guess this is a bit long-winded... Any rearrangement/planting or just suggestions in general would be appreciated!


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## Kehy (Apr 19, 2011)

I'm all for adding as many plants as you can fit in. Once you know what you have, and where they'll look good, put them there. Once you have something set out, then you might start noticing patterns you like, or things that just don't look right somehow. Work with those feelings and eventually you'll figure out what you like. 

But to start with, stem plants in the back. Try patches of the same plant, in natural, uneven groupings. Fast growing stems like the camboba are your friends, and are easy to propagate just by taking cuttings from them and planting them. The lotus can get big and take up a lot of space and light, so plant for that. Depending on it's size, it could be a centerpiece or a part of the background plants. An alternative centerpiece could be the ship decoration, maybe turning the tank into the resting place of lost toys? hahaha

Essentially, just mess around and have fun. Figure out what you like, and go with that, everyone's got their own style. We can't all be Amano-san, but to be perfectly honest, I don't want to be! (he cheats at his scaping) Aquariums are great because you get a blank canvas, show us who you are with it. :3


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

How about attaching one of the pieces of driftwood to the 'root' in an upright position so it looks like a tree trunk growing under the water and growing moss on it to make it look more natural.


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## luananeko (Aug 27, 2010)

snail said:


> How about attaching one of the pieces of driftwood to the 'root' in an upright position so it looks like a tree trunk growing under the water and growing moss on it to make it look more natural.


I like your thinking  Unfortunately the driftwood pieces I have aren't quite the same shape/size as the trunk, so they don't really attach very well... I guess I could hide the junction with moss maybe... Downside is that I would be blocking off one of the best hidey holes for the fish since the trunk is hollow inside with a hole out the bottom. Blocking it means that there is only one route in or out, and its very difficult to check inside to see if a fish is there before taking the decoration out if it needs cleaning. Seeing as how my pleco likes to suffocate herself rather than let go of whatever it is she's hiding in, that's a definite safety risk...


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

Yeh, I see the problem


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## luananeko (Aug 27, 2010)

I've finally managed to convince my pleco to leave the sunken ship in the 30 gallon, so here's the updated picture. It was a bit smaller than I thought, plus my husband had some suggestions on how to make things flow better, so I've rearranged slightly. Here's the updated layout:









I've also started looking into ordering some plants. I have trouble fully visualizing how all the plants will look and what the best layout is, so I'm going to order a few samples of ones I like that seem like species I can manage and then I'll play around with various placements once they get here. My LFS has told me that I can bring in any extra plants I have from my 30gallon or plants I order that just don't end up fitting the tank for store credit, so I'm not worried about wasting money on plants I don't end up using. Here's the ones I'm looking into... 

Foreground:
Hemianthus callitrichoides, Dwarf Baby Tears
Ranunculus inundatus (accent)
Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides (accent)

Driftwood cover:
Christmas moss (still trying to decide if I want moss or not since I know it's a fry haven)
Anubias Nana Petite
Possibly train one of the foreground accents into growing on the driftwood?

Focal plant:
Red Tiger Lotus (maybe in front/right of the main tree trunk?)

Midground/Background:
Ammania species 'Dwarf Bonsai'
Lindernia rotundifolia, Variegated Baby Tears
Lindernia sp. 'India'
Ludwigia ovalis, Oval Ludwigia
Hygrophila polysperma 'Sunset'
Cabomba furcata
Green Cabomba 
Hygrophila difformis, Water Wisteria (possibly in the back left corner behind the tree trunk?)

I also have the regular hygro polysperma and ludwigia palustris as other options in the 30 gallon, but I sort of want to try new plants... So these will probably end up going into the LFS for store credit unless they find a good spot as fillers in the new tank.

Any tips on possible placements or which plants might work well together would be appreciated!


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