Thanks for all the nice remarks.
The plant in the back middle is Bacopa carolina. It does have a strong visual effect, buy you're right - it takes a little work. It only really looks good if you top it and trim off the side shoots. Thankfully, growth is such that it only needs it once a month or so if I trim it back heavily. The H. leukocephala is completely chaotic - but that's what I like about it. The leaf shape provides a very nice contrast with almost anything.
I do tend to lean toward a dutch style, but when I look at the tanks that usually win the dutch contests they seem very stuffy and artificial. The biggest thing that I don't like about my current setup is the complete lack of visible hardscape. Believe it or not, there is an enormous piece of malasyian driftwood on the left and several large, dark rocks in the tank.
For the next project I think I'll call Manzanita and see what they might come up with. I'd like a couple of large, branchy, twisted pieces to define things. I'm also planning on working some terraced areas into the tank with some exaggerated rockwork. I'm still thinking about how to limit the substrate depth in the elevated areas. Maybe placing the substrate over regular bricks would work. I definitely need some method of keeping the substrate from falling forward over time. I'm planning on a similar number of plant species in a tank that is four times larger. I think that will help it look less jumbled.
Anyway, this was a great learning tank. The only way to learn how to trim and arrange things is to try it out. |