[TimeTwister]

Hey all I am new to the whole aquarium hobby and was hoping for some pointers with the plants in my tank. Originally I had three plants, a sword in the front right, some kind of fern that looks like a sword on the back left and a plant that i can't remember what it is called, but has frilly leaves in the front left. Oh, also one of those floating moss balls from Petco, but as you can see it has sunk and is now just rolling around in the middle of the tank. The tank looked a little uneven and I also think some of my fish my be pregnant so I wanted to add another plant to the back right to both balance the tank and to add some hiding spots for the fry (if the fish really are pregnant). My LFS had some plants already in a tank and I liked the looks of this one (no idea what it is) so I added it.

Here is a picture from the front of the tank and a horrible picture from the back (that is cell phone cameras for ya)

front
<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/iUtw6U_Re-cqp5uPpJE17og-cZ0pvRdRlrrE9aNFauc?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_owdIU6kd9qo/TEJr1wUn8hI/AAAAAAAAAC4/RV2iknzHdsI/s400/IMG_20100717_215302.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/104526144523828330941/DropBox?authkey=Gv1sRgCJ2tnNictYmsYw&feat=embedwebsite">Drop Box</a></td></tr></table>

back (water is not that murky, just bad picture) Oh and that one little plant in the back right corner is actually a piece from the frilly leaved plant in the front. I wanted to try splitting it up to see how the plant would do.
<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/cgbQTCx28gAuyNm_kiNNZ4g-cZ0pvRdRlrrE9aNFauc?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_owdIU6kd9qo/TEJr8rFmUiI/AAAAAAAAAC0/VvLgggTIh3o/s400/IMG_20100717_220150.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/104526144523828330941/DropBox?authkey=Gv1sRgCJ2tnNictYmsYw&feat=embedwebsite">Drop Box</a></td></tr></table>

When I first planted my tank I didn't realize the plants could be broken up and spread around so i just planted them in clumps. I don't really like the over all look and was hoping the experts here could help me arrange the plants better. What do you all suggest?

 

[susankat]

Well your frilly plant looks to be elodea and if happy you will need to trim it often. You also have a watersprite in there. The moss balls will sink as they should and roll them on the bottom to keep their shape. Also give them a few squeezes in old tank water to clean them out once in awhile.
As for the sword plants will outgrow your tank in no time. I would ask the lfs if they can trade it for some crypts. Which will have basically the same look but won't get as big.

When you can find some crypts I would put them to just off center with the others along the back of the tank.