Show Off Your Tank!

[FishFanatic04]

I know I just posted recently, but I lost a ton of plants and moved some things around. The left and right hand corners plants will get really tall and hopefully the crypts will get all big a bushy. Any suggestions?

They say to each his own but this is pretty much my idea of perfection. Your tank looks so stunning Black gravel and a black background really highlights the color of each individual plant you have in there making an awesome contrast amongst each plant. Suggestions? I only have 2 My first would be to get a thicker plant of your choice, add it to one corner, and hide the intake and heater behind it. That or cut the ludwigia (if it is ludwigia) to grow more stalks to hide the equipment behind that. The second would be to get an apisto pair. With such a great contrast a cac orange flash would look pretty superb in there as would any brightly colored apisto. Both are very minor and humble tweaks that I'd make, personally. It remains a superb looking tank regardless

I also have a question for you. What substrate are you using? If you say black blasting sand I'm going to shed an envious tear of frustration. Thhanks for posting this. It's so natural and so cool you should name your scape "Naturelle."

EDIT* lol Yup from my sig you can see that I've been shooting for something similar for a while but my tank can not compete with yours lol

Really very sweet and flattering. I appreciate the comments so much! The stems did grow in and hid the heater and filter pretty well. My main goal when planting this tank was to contrast the colors and texture of each plant, it's awesome that you picked up on the theme. Apistos would have been great, I had a spawning pair of Bolivian Rams at the time, not the brightest fish choice but their breeding colors were stunning enough for me.
This scape has been broken down, as I am in the process of moving. I am planning a new scape for after the move with a ton of branching wood, but hopefully a similar play with the plant colors.
To answer your question, the substrate is Caribsea Tahitian moon black, it wasn't the cheapest sand choice but the grain size is nice for cories, but not so fine that it builds nasty gas pockets like playsand. It is a little shiny as well, maybe not the best choice for a completely natural look. I liked it enough to wash and dry it out to reuse.

Thanks again for the comments. I remember a thread with your tank, I'll have to go have another peek. It's been awhile since I have been on here.

 

[m_attt]

heres my re-done rio180, was fed up with a 180litre java fern so a trip to the beach and some £3 play sand me and the mrs made this

 

[snazy]

I live the stones. Very nice!!!