What to Do With This Mess?

When I plant tanks, I just buy a bunch of plants that look cool and then just put them generally wherever I have space. I do try to put background plants in the background, foreground plants in the front, etc, but I have yet to strategize and design a layout.

So, I end up with somewhat of a jungle, between my haphazard planting approach and the ability of algae to take advantage of my impatience and tendency to do what I want rather than what I should.

I'm trying to battle the hair algae in my tank, and I'm also starting to sense that it's a pretty chaotic layout.

Question: Can you take a look at the pic below and make some suggestions about what to put in the spot I circled? I think I want to pull out the wisteria I have there and put something else. I'm leaning toward something fast growing, but not dead set on it. I have CO2, so it doesn't have to be an easy plant (or plants.

Honestly, I would appreciate feedback on other aqua scaping measures you think would be helpful to make the scape prettier (understanding that getting the algae situation under control is job 1 ).

Thanks for any suggestions you can make!

No expert but to me - it seems too busy, there is much detail and branching in the wood and the wood would look better bare with the plants spaced back . Maybe even remove some of the small branches (roots?)

davros said:

No expert but to me - it seems too busy, there is much detail and branching in the wood and the wood would look better bare with the plants spaced back . Maybe even remove some of the small branches (roots?)

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yeah, not a bad idea. All that stuff seemed great individually, but it is pretty busy all in there. The roots have rhizome plants glued to them....not sure what I'd do with them, but that's definitely something to consider. Appreciate it.

I tend to enjoy jungly scapes, but that's really something! I would remove the reinecki in the front left side; I don't like tall plants right against the glass. If you place your heater vertically, straight up and down, it will line up with the existing seam and stand out a lot less. Same idea with the spray bar (?) along the back right side. Move it up as high as you can and make it level so it is less noticeable.

The wisteria actually isn't too bad where it is, IMO. Are you familiar with the rule of thirds? I tend to use that when planning my tanks, both hardscape and where I'll place my big, dramatic plants. It's nice and simple, and a good way to get a natural looking scape that still looks semi-orderly.

Hair algae is fairly easy to remove manually, and my guess is that once all those plants really get going, it will sort itself out.

WhistlingBadger said:

I tend to enjoy jungly scapes, but that's really something! I would remove the reinecki in the front left side; I don't like tall plants right against the glass. If you place your heater vertically, straight up and down, it will line up with the existing seam and stand out a lot less. Same idea with the spray bar (?) along the back right side. Move it up as high as you can and make it level so it is less noticeable.

The wisteria actually isn't too bad where it is, IMO. Are you familiar with the rule of thirds? I tend to use that when planning my tanks, both hardscape and where I'll place my big, dramatic plants. It's nice and simple, and a good way to get a natural looking scape that still looks semi-orderly.

Hair algae is fairly easy to remove manually, and my guess is that once all those plants really get going, it will sort itself out.

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Thanks, Badger- good points with the equipment. When I set it up I was just trying to get it in there LOL. I will move as you suggest.

Btw here is another angle to get a better idea of how it's laid out

It really isn't too bad. Just awfully busy. I would probably remove one, maybe both of the small roots up front and just leave that an open, sandy area. Then I'd take out the taller rock/tree stump on the right side, and move the smaller one so it's about 1/3 of the way in from the side.

The layout of your plants is basically fine; you can always adjust and trim as needed. I tend to remove fast-growing plants as a tank ages; They get leggy and ugly and I get annoyed with trimming them constantly. Once the algae is under control and the slow growers are doing well, you won't need them anyway.

The only thing I can say is. "In an angel tank you try to go vertical as much as possible".

I found this site that is really fun to play with.

Scape-It On line Aquarium Aquascaping

WhistlingBadger said:

It really isn't too bad. Just awfully busy. I would probably remove one, maybe both of the small roots up front and just leave that an open, sandy area. Then I'd take out the taller rock/tree stump on the right side, and move the smaller one so it's about 1/3 of the way in from the side.

The layout of your plants is basically fine; you can always adjust and trim as needed. I tend to remove fast-growing plants as a tank ages; They get leggy and ugly and I get annoyed with trimming them constantly. Once the algae is under control and the slow growers are doing well, you won't need them anyway.

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man, I was starting to wonder if I need to remove one of the "tree trunks." I paid a crap-ton of money for them (that's a financial industry term), but I think it is overkill.

My wife suggested getting the moss off the rocks on the right and getting the monte carlo off the rocks on the left. If it would have grown right, it would look good, I think- I may just be patient with it.

The monte carlo is frustrating- it's supposed to be a fast grower. It gets some pearling every now and then, so I know it's growing, but the way it's growing is up with skinny leaves- indications of not enough CO2 and not enough light. I have doubled the light - (2 Plant 3.0 Fluval programmable lights) and I have upped the dKH to about 8 so that the CO2 comes on a lot more (my PH is set to 6.6).

I'm going to take a hard look at the U shaped stump- of the 2 it's the less cool looking. I had it laying down before, but that bugged me, so I stood it up. Standing up, it just looks redundant. ...live and learn. My wife still doesn't know what i paid for it, so it'll only be me crying in my coffee over it (thank goodness).

I don't mind to look at a tank with a wild look of plants, tbh... But that's just me...

Heater and spray bar are noticeable, but I would move the thermometer to the side, towards the back( actually I have removed most of my tank thermometers, as all my digital heaters have thermometers built in )

I would be concerned about all the driftwood points, when the angel fish get bigger, could easily cause injury

Tank looks a little short on open swimming space ( how many angels are you planning to keep in this tank??? ) other than it’s a tad crowded, I like the soft scape, but would place hard scape better to hide some of the hardware

@jaylach is the guy that should chime in on this one . He recently posted that his plants took over and went wild and he had to thin them . You might be at the stage he was before his plants grew out too much . Personally , I like the look of your plants and aquarium and I would let it ride for a while and see what it looks like after they’ve grown in .

Update: I made some changes based on feedback above. Lots more to go, but I think it's getting better.

I posted it in my journal here. Thank you all! I am happy to receive any more suggestions you have. I thought I'd make this ting competition worthy in no time, but this dang aquascaping is hard!

Magnum Man said:

how many angels are you planning to keep in this tank???

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I have 12 angelfishies currently, but only ordered 6- they were very generous and all survived shipping and quarantine. I fully expect to re-home a bunch of them. I'm hoping I can keep half, but that depends on pairing, aggressiveness, etc. Worst case I should be able to keep a pair as long as I have some males and some females. The guy at angelmania told me that they'll pair up in about 10 months, so we'll see what happens between now and then.

Oh- good point on the thermometer- my heater is a good one, but it doesn't display the temp, so I got a cheapy just to have peace of mind. I had it on the side, but moved it for some reason- I think i was cleaning- just didn't move it back LOL.

Oh- one note on the spray bar. I tried to raise the whole thing to be very close to the top, but the way the FX4 clamp works, I can't raise it anymore. I did raise one section of it and took the opportunity to make sure both sections are shooting the water straight down (one was shooting it down, but across the tank). I think the sword plants will grow bigger and I'm sure the others will get tall too- will likely cover it at some point.

MuddyWaters said:

man, I was starting to wonder if I need to remove one of the "tree trunks." I paid a crap-ton of money for them (that's a financial industry term), but I think it is overkill.

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I can see a pattern there... Then you will have to buy a new tank, not to waste that money...

Are these hollow in the centre ?