Planting too close???

[PeterGwee]

Hi guys! I have some questions regarding initial planting.

1) What is the distance between each plant being planted?
2) Do you'll guys plant one stem by one stem or group 3 or 4 stalks together before planting?
3)Should the foreground be left open for fishes like corys to rest?

I was wondering if i planted correctly because now my tank looks more like a jungle to me [] ..Sometimes find it hard to spot fishes as well as dead shrimps if any that is. Thanks for the help!

[vinz]

For me,

1 & 2) depends on the plant...
bunch plants - group them in 2 to 4 stems and plant them with about 2 to 3 cm between groups, depending on size of the leaves.
solitary plants - estimate how much space they need and not plant anything large in that space.
crypts - due to slow growth, I find it better to divide the pot into no more then 3 groups and plant each group like a solitray plant[/i]. They seem less likely to melt too.
carpet plants - spread out evenly over the area designated to them. For creeping plants and those that send out runners, you can plant them 1 to 2 inches a part... soon they'll cover the area.

3) I think more a question of aesthetics. Usually there are bare ground under the stemmed plants for them to rest. I find cories and loaches tend to try to dig into carpet plants. Soon you find 'Ho Chi Ming' highways between the glass and carpet plants grow. []