55G Trimming, Wanting a re-scape. Suggestions? Calling all Scapers!?! (Pics)

[Gplus]

Hey everyone. Its been a while now since I restarted my 55 planted. Its time for my first big trim. I've been thinking about a re scape, but my skills are lacking. When I bought all my plants I didn't really know where to put them other than all the taller ones going to the back. So I need the help of you awesome scapers here on TPT.

I'm open to ANY and ALL suggestions here. I have a ton of plant mass to work with. I'll list as many of the plants as I can and hopefully you guys can give me your thought on what you think would look good! My only idea so far is that I'd like my sword to be in the middle (kind of a center piece). Maybe group the "cuba" somewhere I just dont know. Also My driftwood placement is terrible. The LFS up the street sells large,tall, branchy pieces that I might consider. Let me know what you guys and gals think! Thanks!!

Plants:
Ludwigia cuba
water sprite
assorted crypts
vals
foxtail
cabomba
amazon sword
red ludwigia
bacopa
java fern(small atm)

I'd like to get this done this week plainly because I dont think I can wait another week before trimming. I also wanted to ask, do you re-scape your tanks with the fish in the tank?

As always, thank you =]!

[librarygirl]

Wow nice growth! I stink at aquascaping and I'm still learning so I might not be of much help there. My only thought is to maybe move the two DW pieces toward the left, about a third of the way in, off-center and put the large sword behind it. Trimming would definitely help give some shape to the plants and create more layers of height.

You could do either a slope coming down from the left toward the right or maybe create two islands on either side with some open areas in the middle and front. I'm sure someone else with more vision will help more, I've gotten some great feedback from members here.

As for scaping with fish, yep I do it all the time. They're probably used to it by now and probably roll their eyes when they see me coming LOL Depending on how much I"m moving they can tend to get a bit skittish but when I'm I'm done I leave the lights off for a while so they can rest. I also sometimes throw some Stress Coat in there (not sure if it helps them any but I figure it can't hurt).

Do you have any ideas of the shape you'd like? I've found that looking at other aquascapes can give you some great ideas for your own and you can often find ways to tweak those scapes into something that will work for you. Good luck and have fun!

[Gplus]

It is growing in pretty fast, thanks! I like the idea of moving the driftwood over more to the left. I also briefly thought of having 2 open areas that kind of slope into the middle like you said. I'm glad to hear I can keep my fish in the tank for a re-scape this big. I'll start taking a look at pictures of tanks with similar plants and maybe I can get some more ideas! Hopefully others will chime in with some scape advice or just opinions. Most of the users on here have a good idea of what their doing so if they think something will look good, it will look amazing haha. I cant wait for people to chime in wiht more ideas! I've really been so impatient to reach the point of being able to re-scape without buying any new plants!

[Gplus]

Can anyone give some guidance here? please

[Kathyy]

I like your tank! Very jungly, I like the wood placement fine and you have healthy plants. Tape the 1/3 marks on the tank and see how you have done, not bad at all.

For a valley arrangement what about somewhat arbitrarily assigning your plants to different growth patterns groups and mirror the plant arrangements that way.

Broader leaved clumpy might be
java fern amazon sword crypt wendtii
Fine leaved stems might be
cabomba foxtail water sprite Ludwigia cuba
Round leaved stems might be
bacopa red ludwigia
Strap leaved plants
vals crypt balansae/spiralis

To tie the groups together use your favorite or best growing or the one that looks great with the most plants along the back, in several bushes in the middle of the tank or along the front.

Look at your plants. All of them are very beautiful but some will look better together than others. Look at your plants closely and decide which areas of the tank please you and which you dislike. Then when you pull everything up keep those particular plant associations together. Consider the wood too, most plants look great near wood but which really look great to you?

I leave fish in the tank for rearranging the plants. Since my inept fish chasing stresses out the fish horribly and I have to remove all the plants to do so I don't really see the point of chasing fish for hours [not kidding] in a bare murky tank versus just replanting with no fish chasing. Pull up slowly, trim your plants and place them in bunches so the fish can calm down as you work, refer to your notes/drawings as you replant and make a good sized water change when done. Turn off the filter so it doesn't get all clogged up as you work. If you have an airpump or powerhead you could leave that on if you are concerned about O2 in the still water but your hands in the tank should make enough water movement to keep the O2 at a good level.