Overgrown and overstocked

This is my first semi-serious attempt at an aquascape. Sorry for the phone quality photos but they're the best documentation I have of one month's progress from initial design to present state.

3-12-2010

I was aiming for the scape to grow into an intersecting triangular composition, background sweeping from rear top left to rear bottom right, crossed from front middle right to front bottom left. In practice this shape only stays put for a few days before it's grown out again.
This particular aquarium had been set up for a year or more and homed innumerable different fish and plant species prior to this aquascaping. The most important transition from its previous state was increasing the lighting, adding carbon dioxide (via the yeast, sugar, water solution in the bottle at bottom right), and thinning out the number of plant species for homogeneity and focus.

5-1-2011

The plants have grown extremely well save the Echinodorus 'ozelot' which I suspect is just relatively slow growing and also gets shaded, and the Pogostemon stellata, which is behaving like a strange twisted little creature that fears light. The Hygrophila polysperma and Rotala wallichii in particular have grown very fast and require frequent aggressive pruning.
This aquarium is also used as a grow out for fish before they are transferred elsewhere. Current residents include five insatiable Geophagus sp. 'Rio Branco' whom will soon be moved to sandier pastures.

I'll post more about the technical aspects of the aquascape soon.