# My Aquaristic during the years - 2005-2008



## chester (Feb 22, 2005)

Hey guys!
I`ve been thinking of starting such tread for some time and finally I decided to do it I am not any of the great aquascapers seen here but still I hope that a short history of an average aquarist might interest someone. So let's start!

I think I started the hobby in 2000. Planted aquarium wasn't really popular in Poland so I had a typical fish tank. It was a 60x30x35cm aquarium with very poor equipment, few plants and lots of fish.
As time passed I was learning more and more, Polish aquarium magazine "Magazyn Akwarium" was one of my first sources of knowledge and I must admit that I learned a lot from it. At the end of 2003 I was addicted to Apistos and I even had some breeding success.
In 2004 the era of the Internet came.Man, that was lots of knowledge hidden in the Web. I reggistered on one of the first Polish discussion forums - akwarystyka.com.pl After few months in the magazine I mentioned above series of articles about planted aquarium were published. Then it was almost like a magic to me, and I felt it is impossible for me to create something that beatiful. I also found Mr Amano's aquascapes on the Web and was totally amazed. But I learned more and more and finally decided to start my first planted aquarium.

*2005*
Here it is, "My First Planted Aquarium":









I really liked this tank, and I was proud of it (don't laugh - it is important to me!)

After this one I made some other "aquascapes", for example this one:









Meanwhile I was under big influence of Norbert Sabat, Marcin Betlejewski and other Polish aquascapers' works, of course I was unable to achieve such results.
I was disappointed with the tanks I made and felt burnt-out a bit.
*
2006*
In 2006 I had to move and it was an opportunity to make a new beggining. I felt I need some rest so I took my father's old 126lts tank. I decided to makke something that would not request much attention, I would call these tank a Low Tech one, as it had only 0,3 - 0,4 W/L of lighting, no CO2 and little ferts.

First aquascape in the tank, "Amazon Forest":









The second one, "Edge of the Forest", my favourite actually:









And the last one, "Clearing in the forest". I didn't really finish this one as I was already thinking about a real aquascape in a smaller tank:









*2007*
I felt I was ready to start with a HT aquarium once again. I also achieved lots of theoretical knowledge about aquascaping, it was time to put it into practice!

My first aquascape in the new, 54lts aquarium, "The Spring is coming...":









This one taught me a lot. I consider it as my first real aquascape, not really good of course but still an aquascape! It was my debut into IAPLC, this tank ranked 396. By this time I also discovered a great LFS nearby, which was roslinyakwariowe.pl stationary shop. Big thanks to guys working there, especially Grzegorz Mosurek! I found lots of knowledge and necessary equipment, plants etc. there, and which is even more important meet many planted aquarists! I also started my website, which you can find here: Chester Aquarium

The second aquascape, "Summertime":









And the third one, "Rainforest Inside":









Later I have decided to change the aquarium tank. I bought an 60x30x36cm aquarium, which I have up till now.
The first aquascape in the new tank, "Autumn Chaos":









This is one of my favourites. I am satisfied with both aquascape and photography. With this tank I started to take pictures with DSLR - it was a HUGE difference to me

*2008*
By the year 2008 ADA products became popular and easily available in Poland, so I decided to try Amazonia Soil. Now, that was impressive!The substrate is absolutely amazing!
So here are the scapes of the year 2008:

"My first ADA Tank":









"Green is boring...?":









I sent this one to IAPLC '08, it ranked 534.

"A Summer's Tale":









And the last one, "Rest under the Red Tree":









That's all up till now.

What are my plans for future? Here are a few of them:
- Start a tank with HQI lighting.
- Begin taking aquarium pictures with flashlight.
- Rank in Winning Works in IAPLC.
- Keep layouts for a longer time, so that everything is well-rounded.
- Keep learning and making aquascapes as good as it is possible to me.

I would also like to thank all the great aquascapers for their inspiration, I will try to be as good as you are guys!


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## zer0zax (Mar 25, 2007)

Very nice aquascapes! I like "Edge of the Forest" a lot too, I love the rich green growth, and I think the driftwood adds just enough tone so the tank doesn't look all green. I also really like "Rainforest Inside", I guess I am a big fan of wild looking tanks! Hopefully I will develop good aquascaping skills when I get enough plants, keep up the good work! You should be proud of your aquariums, who cares if you don't ever get a better rank in contests? Lots of people like different styles, and as long as you are happy with your aquariums, that's all that really matters! Thanks for posting your pictures


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## lartist (Jun 10, 2008)

Great work Chester! I like especialy "Amazon Forest" for it beautiful simplicity. This tank proves that you doesn't need hi-tech stuff to be sucessfull in aquascaping! How long did you kept you scape before creating a new one?

François


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## batterup (Sep 21, 2008)

nice tanks


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

Thanks for sharing. Very nice. I love the lush green growth in 'Amazon Forest'. That particular system appears to be very healthy.


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

Those are some beautiful scapes! Thank you for sharing. My personal favorite was the "Amazon Forest" one, but they all are very nice.

-Dave


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## cah925 (Jun 23, 2007)

Very nice! I think Summertime was my favorite followed by Autumn chaos.


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## olyon (Nov 22, 2008)

I like "Amazon Forest" clean, green and shadowy. Also "Green is boring" doesn't look that boring. "Autumn Chaos" looks rich. Nice tanks! Keep it up.


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## chunkylover817 (Sep 28, 2007)

Ah! where do ppl get enough money to buy all that expensiv3 equipm3nt,lol, sooooooooooo jealous!


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## chester (Feb 22, 2005)

Thank you all for the comments!

*lartist*, I can't remember, couple od months I guess.


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## The old man (Apr 12, 2008)

WoW! I got a lot of work to do.


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