Iwagumi looks simple because the hard work happens before a single stone touches the tank.
Dutch aquascaping predates the modern nature-style layout by decades, and it's built entirely around plant arrangement, not hardscape.
The wrong hardscape material can tint your water, spike your pH, or simply never look right no matter how you arrange it.
The right carpet plant depends less on looks and more on your light, CO2, and how much trimming you're honestly willing to do.
A genuinely lush aquascape doesn't require a CO2 tank, regulator, and diffuser — it requires picking the right plants for the job.
A nano reef under 30 gallons can look every bit as dramatic as a large system — if the rockwork is planned, not stacked.