46 gallon bow front tank Aquascape Suggestions

Hello ladies and gentlemen.
I have a 46 gallon bow front tank which started as a fantasy world with a lot of décor and fake plants, but over time I have been removing fake stuff and adding real plants and natural décor.

At this point everything in the tank is natural. I have been planting it little by little, added a beautiful piece of driftwood and this is how it looks now.




Plants in the tank are:
• Amazon Sword
• Italian Vals
• Cardinal Plant
• Purple Temple
• Anubias Nana
• E. Acicularis (courtesy of Baba)
• Blyxa Japonica
• Water Onions
• Java Moss
• Marimo Moss Balls
• Red Root Floaters & Frogbit (in breeder box for now)

Although I really like it, I feel there is more to be done on the aquascape side.

I am open for suggestions on how to scape it. What do you recommend? What can I add to make it look nicer and fuller?

This is a low-tech tank. Liquid ferts and root tabs, no Co2.




Thank you in advance.

Joe

 

If you can move the sword to the back left. And val to the back. And let the tank evolve. Simple as that

 

Hate to say it but the “purple ruffle” (not sure of its exact name sorry) in the front right isn’t a true aquatic. It will soon die off submerged. You can switch it out for a red/bronze crypt wendtii, will keep a similar shape/coloration effect and fill out that side a bit.

Agree with above, let it fill in a bit and see what does well, etc. after you get an idea of the plants that are successful you can always change it up/add on later

 

HI Buddy,

this would be my proposal. The sword moved a little bit more to the left, but still of center. The vals all the way to the right and let them grow in to a nice thick bush.
The DW is nice but very heavy on the left side. Maybe you can find the same type of wood a bit smaller to counter on the right side.
To make it visual I used the poor man's photoshop MS Paint.

 

Thank you so much for the suggestions.

Teishokue, I can't wait until the plants take over. I know it will take a while as I have no Co2, but I like the idea of a gradually evolving tank/plants.

Jocelyn Adelman thank you for the information about the purple plant. It has been in the tank for a few months, but it hasn't been doing good. As a matter of fact it was bigger and there were more leaves, but they have been slowly dying. Now I know why. I guess I'll keep removing dying leaves until there is no more of the plant. I will check your other suggestions.

Baba Man, you went above and beyond, like usual. I am a graphic designer, so I am very visual. Thank you for taking the time to do that. I like the idea of a smaller piece of DW a lot. I will go to my LFS and see is they have a smaller piece of the same kind of wood as the big piece. They have some smaller pieces like that for $10.

I will play around little by little and post an update as soon as I have it.

Any other suggestions are welcome as well.

Thank you guys.

 

Baba I found the perfect piece for the right side.




I think it will tie both sides of the aquarium nicely.

 

Beautiful tank!!!

 

I think it will tie both sides of the aquarium nicely.

Can't wait to see it in the tank

 

Beautiful tank!!!

Thank you

Can't wait to see it in the tank

Coming soon. It is in a bucket with boiling water.
I will update when I put it in.

 

I wonder when you will have CO2. Guessing from your progress it must be anytime soon

 

I wonder when you will have CO2. Guessing from your progress it must be anytime soon

Man, I'm so tempted. I might do it in the future... Time will say.

 

You will sit in front of your tank and get frustrated because it’s not growing in as you would like it to be. My story
Definitely go for pressurized and skip the diy, that’s my advise. So much cleaner and controllable.