And the vision that was planted in my tank, remains to be seen...

Now that I had my hardscape in good order, it was time to add some green into the mixture. I had a general idea of what kind of plants I'd like to use, and came up with a rough sketch:

The game plan was pretty simple: Shorter, grass-like plants to the front, medium plants to the midground and around the driftwood, and taller stem plants to the back, with some red accents. I would try to source the plants from private sellers, as the quality/price ratio is usually a lot better than what you get from the store. As the stores get the plants from big nurseries, and grow some of the plants emersed, the change when planted in a domestic tank sometimes takes its toll on the plant. But when you get them from someone else's tank, they usually do better from the get-go, as the conditions are more similar. The biggest problem with buying from other aquarists is the winter! Shipping plants around when it's -20C isn't such a hot idea. Also, some plants are just not available, and have to be special ordered from the store.

I chose Lilaeopsis brasiliensis for the front, as I had some experience with it earlier. It wasn't a total success last time, so in a way I wanted to see if I could get it to grow better this time. One factor that led to some problems last time with this plant was that I probably planted it too densely. The trick is to take the pot and divide it into several small patches and plant them in a checkerboard pattern. I will keep this in mind, when it's planting time! Luck was with me, as the Local Pet Store had a few pots of this plant, which was a welcomed surprise, as I was prepared to order a bunch of it online.

I also had access to some Microsorum pteropus 'Narrow' (I'm not 100% it's the "Narrow" variant), which will be planted to the driftwood for some accent. Same goes for Cryptocoryne wendtii ''brown'', which will go to the right hand side, next to the filter casing.

The middle of tank was reserved for Blyxa japonica, which is a favorite of mine, and did well in my last tank. I still haven't been able to get my hands on it, so for now, the middle is waiting...

For the reds, I'm thinking Limnophila aromatica, also a nice taller plant I'm familiar with. Sadly this one has also eluded me for the time being. I'm pretty confident I'll be able to source some from a fellow aquarist.

I received a few stems of Heteranthera zosterifolia, which hopefully will propagate and fill the right side of the background. In the same shipment, along came a bunch of Ceratophyllum demersum, a fast growing plant, which will hopefully help to keep algae at bay with my fresh tank.