Asian Blackwater Biotope Tank

I have always wanted to make a biotope tank. After browsing pictures on various sites on the internet I decided I would attempt to recreate an Asian Blackwater Biotope.
The tank I decided to use was a small 60cm X 20cm X 30cm. Its a bit small but it is what I had available at the time.
I studied many sites and pictures to work out what materials to use.
Starting with sand as my base. Where I live the sand is Ironsand which is perfect for a dark base colour.

I spent a nice sunny day at the beach collecting various sized pieces of wood which I soaked for a few weeks so they didnt float

I selected several pieces that looked the part and placed them how I thought they would appear natural. I tried to use pieces that looked like fallen branches or roots.

Leaf litter is abundant in tropical rainforests, and due to it being summer, there is a lack of leaves lying around for me to use. Luckily I have a collection of Oak leaves from last autumn. Oak leaves are certainly not found in Asian forests but some things have to suffice.
The leaves take a few days to sink. Oak leaves are good as they tend not to rot too fast.

Next it was time to add some water. I experimented with a few miniture palm fronds as many of the pics I took inspiration from had palms and ferns at the waters edge, sometimes hanging into the water.

I added some small gravel across the sand and left the leaves to sink and also allowed the tannins from the leaves to stain the water

After three days, most of the leaves had sunk and the water starting to look nice and tea coloured.
I placed in a few more smaller twigs and dropped in a few palm fronds to add more texture to the appearance.
The tank is almost complete

Allowing the tank to age a few more days, and the colouring is looking great. I added 3 Trigonostigma espei or Lambchop rasbora. I like the colouration of these rather than their more common cousins, Trigonostigma heteromorpha or Harliquin Rasbora.

Left Side View

Right Side View

Front View

If I was to recreate this biotope, I would collect a wider range of leaves and use a larger tank that did not have scratched glass.
I used no filtration or heating in this tank as I only intend to keep it made up for a few weeks as the leaves then begin to rot and make a mess of everything.Overall I am very happy with this attempt.