As mentioned in Thinkfish Daily News thread #995-997, I've now decanted all of my plants into the sand substrate - not an easy task! I'm hereby attaching some pics (one taken from the front and one more from above) - they ought to make fellow fishkeepers void of plant-keeping and aquascaping skills/potential feel better about their own efforts but may be the ingredients of nightmares for everyone else on here who will no doubt be horrified at my haphazard planting!
A little word of explanation to accompany the pics:
* the reddish tinge to the tank water is the consequence of the root tabs - hoping this will settle in time;
* filters are both on the RHS - the one at the back is a "waterfall" type filter and may very well uproot the plants there, while the one at the front has its outflow nozzle tilted to the right, sending the water circulating in an anti-clockwise direction round the tank;
* the taller plants (possibly
hygrophila guensis) probably ought to be at the back and it may seem odd that they're on the LHS but they're very wiry and need propped up by something - the wood is ideal for this, and, in turn, the healthier leaves higher up on the plants reduce the growth rate of the BBA on the anubias attached to the wood, so this seemed the best location for them (and the wood looks best from this angle) - this hasn't been doing too well, with the lower leaves experiencing brown diatoms and many/most of the lower leaves dying;
* there is
vallis at the back LHS (probably not visible in the photo) - it's the one that has definitely suffered since tampering with it, so I don't expect it'll survive much longer;
* there is
hemiographis colorata also at the back LHS - what's left of it after a not-too-successful decant recently (lots of leaves detached from the roots/stalks when detaching it from the rockwool); once these die off, I'll probably buy some taller plants for that location, if there are any which can stand up on their own accord and don't need propped up;
* at the back on the RHS, there is
echinodorus martii ;
* at the RHS, there is something small TBC which I can't seem to find the label for (but will update if I find it);
* at the front LHS, there is a new
hemiographis colorata and a new
alternanthera rosaefolia - probably too large for the front but there doesn't seem to be space for them anywhere else - they might be better moved to the LHS or the back LHS once those die off (and if the rosaefolia survives that long - I do like them but have had rather a lot of them in the past 19 months);
* at the front RHS, there is a
cryptocoryne petchii and slightly behind it and to the side higher up, some very BBA-ridden
anubias on the wood (although this isn't as bad as it was after I put floating plants in a fish feeding ring immediately above it - these have died off).
If anyone can bear to take a look at the pics, then comments welcome. In order to let the tank settle, I won't be doing any more re-arranging until just before the next water change, though. Incidentally, for some reason, the tank always looks far more bare in photos than it actually is - the fish seem to have very little swimming space in real life but the photos don't reflect this at all.
@Matt - you'll see the two scratch marks down the front of the tank if you look at the pics close up - so be careful with any algae magnet cleaners on your new tank (and any other new tank owners, for that matter!).