Help me aquascape my tank :)

[freemann]

Hello there my tank is ready to be aquascaped.
I am good at growing plants but a bit of a dump-head on aqua-scape I know what plants I want to place in it and have them all here growing well in my other tanks but placement is my problem.
Plants to use:
Rotala macrandra
Eusteralis stellata
Limophila aromatica
Micranthemum umbrosum
Micranthemum hemianthemoides
Eleocharis parvulus
Cabomba piauhyensis
Anubia nana
Christmas moss
Bolbitis heudelotii
Cryptocoryne wendtii red
Cryptocoryne lucens
Cryptocoryne parvulus
Didiplis Diandra
Ludwigia arcuata
Lysimachia numularia
Microsorum Pteropus 'windelov'
Nesaea crassicaulis
Rotala rotundifolia
Rotala wallichii
and maybe one Hygrophila


I have many more plants so if you have some ideas I am open to them

Bear in mind that the glasses of the tank will be visible on the right and fron side so a triangular design maybe desirable, background is black, substrate is flourite. I am pretty sure of the placement of the bogwood (found in a river here)
bogwood pic
Ok this is the trial on the landscape
Aquascape
The eusterallis and aromatica pic I borrowed from plantellas tanks cause I liked the placement but on this side nothing is conclusive only positive thing is the parvulus on the right side. Also I would like to plant the small crypts somewhere in the open for sure.
There is a hole in the bogwood shape what do I place there I could pour more sand there and put some plants nearer to the light there?
Please guys help me.

[BFG]

Freeman, you could place that bogwood infront of the two plants to act as a border.

[limsteel]

Dude, use your creativity! do up a tank that you proud of! not base on someone else idea!

If you are an engineering person, anything that looks too precise must be rearrange to look abit offset! Just anyhow plant, anyhow put some stone/Driftwood, make it look wild, artificial look is something many wanna avoid in a planted tank!

[freemann]

I was hoping that some people would advice me mostly on the functional plus aesthetic side of arranging the plants so not to overshadow each other (yes I know of pruning but still in between scissors there are problems)I realise that this can be a major problem with lots of the so called difficult plants. overshadowing. For example where and how do you place macrandra, it wants always to be on the surface of water and extend each leaves there to look glorius or umbrosum the light hungry or how would you go on placing the wild cryps so they won't overun half of the tank or how do you place bolbitis on the wood so each huge leaves wont be in the way, or will christmas moss be ok down near the bottom or always near the surface?
And yes I am a fixer not an artist at least not in the landscape field.

[budak]

On the functional aspect of the plants you cited, I will comment only those I have personal experience with:

Rotala macrandra - It's repeared ad nauseum, but this lovely plant really deserves planting by individual stems (rather than in bunches) to show off its best. With sufficient light that penetrates to its lower stems, it will develop side shoots readily and turn into a bush grove. For such stem plants, I find it's much better leaving space for it to grow "forward" rather try to insert mid-ground plants or stones/wood in between them and the foreground plants. And when they hit the surface, you can either let them sprawl across the surface for a while, or prune the stems to get a layered look when they resprout.

Eusteralis stellata - same observations as above. Give them space to develop laterally and you will get a richly layered clump (like what you depicted in your preview). Unlike the rotala, I find though that after a few rounds of pruning, the old lower stems tend to "wear out" and should be removed and replaced with fresh top cuttings. Not as difficult a plant as sometimes reputed.

Micranthemum umbrosum - I had purchased this originally as a foreground plant, but it ended up reaching the surface. Grows like MM, but with more upward orientation, and is really light and fert hungry (CO2 I find isn't that vital, just accelerates its growth). Same advice, give it space to develop laterally, as good light stimulates abundant side shoots. And place it towards the back, as a large clump, with its myriad of small, round leaves, stands out very well against most other plants (with longish leaves).

Micranthemum hemianthemoides - weed when established..... take that into account. Will demand high maintenance, but quite flexible in terms of aesthetic placement.

Eleocharis parvulus - takes time to take off, and needs regular combing.

Anubia nana - I find these really do much better with higher light levels, and when their rhizome is tied securely to some object (those of mine down on the substrate do poorly). Expect the plant to creep up the wood/stone as it grows and the roots may look insightly as well.

Bolbitis heudelotii - Give them lots of growing space on the wood, and a well-circulated location. When growth starts, I trim off older, darker leaves to relieve the congestion.

Microsorum Pteropus 'windelov' - tied to wood, you can do pretty much whatever you want with it. Personally i find the split ends rather messy though.

Rotala rotundifolia - similar observations to R macandra.

Hygrophila - which type?

[freemann]

Budak thanks so much for your answer this is the kind of approach that is of the out-most importance to aquascaping at least for me. In my opinion it is not only where it looks nice but where the plant will feel nice to be. Hygrophila I would like to put cause of there green long leaves what worries me thou is there invasiveness there roots will probably be in the other end of the tank in a months time, I have 3 species here Hygrophila corymbosa, Hygrophila corymbosa aroma, Hygrophila polysperma rosanervig. What I positively want to have also is the red cabomba I am completely in love with it, it seems also to wants light down to the bottom or otherwise new growth get stunted. so it must be few stems somewhere with lots of light, Lysimachia numularia could be a middle plant it is a slow grower and can withstand trimming to keep it low, this can be the case I think with Ludwigia arcuata as-well (they all love to be up at the top but this can be really nice low), Nesaea crassicaulis this loves to grow next to the light up on top and it is something else to behold my problem is toping it of if it is is placed in the back will make it to take ages to grow again, Rotala rotundifolia I think it will grow everywhere, wallichii I think needs to be under lots of light as well, Didiplis Diandra I think I am gone build a small glass container and stick it with suction caps somewhere high behind some plant so it will have as much light as possible or maybe in the middle of the grass cause it always turns black on me if it is not next to the light, as for Cryptocoryne wendtii red I think I will put it on a small vase and place it within the hole in the wood so it will be in jail I love them but they are so invasive you don't realize it and they are allover the place as for my small cryps maybe I will put a ring from pvc piping or some shape from glass bury it in the sand to make a barrier in some corner in the parvulus and put them there. So you see thinking of all this is what worries me more than an abstract concept of landscaping although it would be nice to accommodate landscape and functionality. I hate this mingle of the grasses under the tall plants and all killing each other for space and me to save the situation with the scissors. By the way I know this are a lot of plants but the tank is 500 lt. with a base size 150 X 57 cm so I may try to put as many as possible (how many would you take out in that base size?)
Here are some more views with the sand and wood added
New photos