Thanks.
regarding symmetry concerns, there si much you can't see in this photo. Tenellus will spread quickly-- faster than Lilaeopsis, so I planted very sparely to balance the growth over time. There's some individual plants on the sides not visible in this shot. The back will not be so much of a wall-- there is a space off-center. The Bronze crypt will offset the midground. Give it time my friends. I don't do straight symmetry. I am aware of it from at every step, but center mound orientation like this calls for some species repetition on either side. This shot is literally minutes after completion of planting.
Isoetes should be plentiful out there! It shows once again how far behind we are on plants availability and confusion about names. That plant should be very common and available everywhere. We get it direct from Florida Aquatic Nurseries (whose quality lately has been very poor, BTW). The confusion is likely that they call it "Octopus plant", so no one knows what the hell it is. That's a shame. One day someone will step up and give those guys a run for their money and grow just the best plants and the ones we readily use in aquascaping (I mean you still can't easily get green Rotala rotundifolia! That should be the bread-and-butter stemmed plant of them all!) watch out, it just might be us here pretty soon ; )
Power sand provides a porous under layer to the Aqua Soil for harboring microorganisms and beneficial bacteria. It helps to maintain oxygenation and circulation through the substrate as well. Amano used Power sand even before developing Aqua Soil.
The wood is a type we get long ago and shall never see again. It's mot Malaysian, and I am not sure what the species is, but it was great while it lasted. We still have some stockpiled and get old pieces out of other tanks as we re-do them. So we keep it in circulation even though we have not been able to buy it for years now.
Yes-- Susswassertang is just tied using ADA Riccia Line to a little piece of wood placed in the mid area.
