Filling A Hole :p

ATK!!!

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Hello everyone, long time no see!
 
Recently I've decided to go along a new route with my tank which will require some scaping. Here's the tank currently:
 
tankpic_zps95ee2c22.jpg

 
As you can see there is a rather large hole on the right that I mean to fill with foliage (apologies for the burnt out image, only had my phone on me). I've been hunting around but I can't quite decide on things to go for so I hoped you guys would have some ideas. There is some Sumatran bogwood which could be utilised  here for plants as well as a nice area of substrate. I wasn't really thinking of a carpeting plant as that role is slooowly being filled by the green crypts around the front area. Instead I was thinking of a small leaved stem plant of some sort, but of course if you guys have better ideas then please feel free to suggest them!
 
Also non plant ideas may be a possibility, who knows! The tank itself is a Juwel Rio 180 so I have a fairish amount of space, maybe 40cm vertical room for these plants  if they should so need it. However as you may be able to see, I have already got a Nymphea lotus style plant which takes up most of the light in this area so no uber light dependant plants can be kept here. I also do not dose ferts or CO2 so that knocks out a few possibilities.. Anyways, fire away!
 
I think rocks or wood in a planted tank really adds a nice contrast to all the greenery, so that's what I would suggest.  Maybe a large rock with some sort of moss (whatever you prefer).
 
Fair enough, which kind of darker rocks would you recommend that would be safe for use then? The substrate is black so preferably it'd be something that would go well with that. Also, does anyone have any suggestions for some red stem plants that may work? I've managed to grow a few red species without too much trouble and they do look awfully good :)
 
What is that plant on the far right? The one that is bending over on the surface of the water. Very beautiful tank!
 
That's the nymphea he mentioned McCool.
 
Does kinda look like an imbalance there doesn't it. I'm inclined to agree that an area with the shading from the nymphea will be a challenge to plant, but some hardscape with something on it might work.
 
How about a root with something like a pellia?
 
Well to put it in perspective, I've managed to have Wendtii Green growing under the Nymphea for ages without problems as well as many fast growing stem plants that I used to kickstart the tank so the light's not a massive problem. I was just suggesting that plants that have high/extreme requirements will face problems.

Also do you guys know any darker rocks that are aquarium safe then? Preferably ones that do not form shards like slate. The Pellia would look quite nice in combination with something like this perhaps, I'm guessing it's like moss in that it has to be attached to a surface with string etc first of all?

And once again, any red plants you guys can think of that would work in these lower tech conditions?
 
Well after looking around at what I already have lying around I found this rather nice wood piece:
IMG_0888_zps55a11608.jpg

 
Which I was thinking could be placed like such in the tank:
IMG_08871_zps5e6f9b3d.jpg

 
However due to the wood's shape it could also be put in a number of other positions such as these:
IMG_0890_zpsce6ca196.jpg

 
IMG_0889_zpsab543ac6.jpg

 
 
So I'm not really sure what to do yet. Which position do you guys think looks good? 1st 2nd or 3rd? Suggestions for plants/ rocks would still be appreciated!
 
I like #3 - maybe with moss on the "branches" to look like a tree?
 
I thought the first one, to look like a root, in the context of the rest of the scape.
 
True, the 1st one would certainly fit the rest of the scape well in terms of rootiness!
 
I tried a tree/moss idea a while back with the Sumatran wood that is already in the tank as you can see in this picture from last year:
DSC00083.jpg

DSC00685_zps0e4c2899.jpg

I found it to work well after a few months of growing in (I used Christmas moss) but eventually the shape overspilled and despite cutting it back, it eventually disintegrated rather quickly so I don't paticularly want to try that again :p I guess I'll start soaking the wood anyway, hopefully it won't float too much! 
 
Plants wise Pogostemon helferi has always caught my and whilst looking for red plants I came across Hygrophila sp. ''Araguaia'' and Ludwigia sp. which certainly look very pretty, do you guys know anything about these ones?
 
That Hygrophila will stay relatively low by comparison, both will require fairly high light to give any red reliably, which tends to be true of most red plants.
 
Thanks for the heads up. Keeping it low might work out quite well in contrast to the taller plants over the rest of the tank :) I'll bear that in mind then, the Alternanthera reineckii I have already growing in there seems to have stayed pretty red over the course of the tank so with a bit of luck these will too. Hopefully I'll be able to order them soonish, I'll be sure to post an update when I get them!
 

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