I, actually, like the over-grown-natural-look. It has a nice wild, jungle feel to it. However, I do like the tank looking clean versus dirty. Are there still frogs in the jungle? :)

That is amazing!!!!

Amazing, I agree with the comment above I like the overgrown natural look! Wonderful :drool:

Thanks, y'all are right, the natural look is great, and is what was intended with the design. But some trimming of the faster growing species is needed, especially on the ground level, to give all the plants their spot in the light. Additionally, it looks nice when the plants aren't too inter-grown. Natural... within reason. ;)

The aquaculture is another matter, being at the other end of the gardening hobby spectrum from orchid culture, keeping it looking nice can require removing pounds of plant material bi-weekly and scraping algae constantly. I believe some high-tech planted tanks provide an optimal balance of nutrients, lighting, and injected CO2 - reducing algal growth and increasing the aquatic plant growth rate.