Tips for making my tank look neater?

[Koenator]

I recently started aquascaping and have been putting a lot of different plants in my betta tank. I think I’m off to a good start. Nothing has grown in yet but it still looks kind of messy. How can I make it look more neat?

 

[Naughts]

Put a black background on the back.
Move the tall plants to the back.
Stick with one type of stone for the hardscape - I like the grey one, get more to replace the red and yellow rock?

 

[jaylach]

I would lower the heater to sort of hide it behind other stuff.

 

[Koenator]

All great tips thank you guys. Yea I will move the heater, the issue is my house temperature fluctuates a lot so i do a lot of manual adjusting and it would be hard to reach behind the driftwood... but the background, rocks, and plant tips are appreciated.

 

[PewPewChris]

I'm constantly thinking about ways to re-scape or add to my plant arrangements in my various tanks...to me it's half the fun! Good luck on your journey!

 

[kiko]

if you're going for scape you gotta drill the tank...
forget moving stuff around...you just lose space to it...drill it...sump it...no sponge filter no heater...as the filtration would be in the sump and so would the heater
black background to hide the pipes as mentioned earlier..
add more rocks and make them diagonally towards the outlet side
with some plants in front of them so they can move around with the flow..
easiest way to achieve flow in a drilled tank without a wave maker would be to have the holes diagonal or bottom drilled
me being paranoid as I am I would never have a bottom drilled tank simply because there's always the chance it could empty itself out with a few things happening...
so drilling halfway through the tank would allow the water to flow still from top inlet to halfway of the tank outlet eliminating the need for a wave maker
the whole flow diagonal is literally the basis of all scapes you see everywhere...
fish that don't like high flow will hide under the rocks and the ones that do will be swimming or on it..

this is a simple design...

 

[myrtle]

if you're going for scape you gotta drill the tank...
forget moving stuff around...you just lose space to it...drill it...sump it...no sponge filter no heater...as the filtration would be in the sump and so would the heater
black background to hide the pipes as mentioned earlier..
add more rocks and make them diagonally towards the outlet side
with some plants in front of them so they can move around with the flow..
easiest way to achieve flow in a drilled tank without a wave maker would be to have the holes diagonal or bottom drilled
me being paranoid as I am I would never have a bottom drilled tank simply because there's always the chance it could empty itself out with a few things happening...
so drilling halfway through the tank would allow the water to flow still from top inlet to halfway of the tank outlet eliminating the need for a wave maker
the whole flow diagonal is literally the basis of all scapes you see everywhere...
fish that don't like high flow will hide under the rocks and the ones that do will be swimming or on it..
View attachment 308010
this is a simple design...

You don't have to drill and sump a tank for an aquascape - there are external canister filters for that if you want to have inline heaters etc. OPlus, this tank is for a Betta, suggesting it can spend it's life hiding from the flow under a rock is, to be blunt, ludicrous. Not all aquascapes are Iwagumi.

Here's one of mine complete with internal heater and sponge filter and home to juvenile Betta imbellis. It may not win any awards at the AGA competition, but it's designed around the inhabitants.

 

[sharkweek178]

Put a black background on the back.
Move the tall plants to the back.
Stick with one type of stone for the hardscape - I like the grey one, get more to replace the red and yellow rock?

A nice black background will really tie the tank together. Some nice matte black posterboard or construction paper. You want a flat black so that you don't get a shine or reflection.