# Aquascaping Philosophy 102



## Steven_Chong (Mar 17, 2005)

I've had a few people mention here and there to me that they've read the article Aquascaping Philosophy 101 that I wrote, and found it useful. So, I finally found some spare time to write a second article. The main reason for writing this is because I find myself giving people the same tips over and over recently. Instead, here read them in one place. 

For those looking for AP 101, it's still my journal entry at Deviantart so just click on the banner in my signature.


Aquascaping Philosophy 102

In Aquascaping Philosophy 101, I discussed the formation of Aquascaping as a creative path. Specifically, 101 was a general premises discussing the value of Aquascaping as an art form and the hopes for its future growth. It was an article discussion the ideal and optimistic. 102 is the opposite-- discussed below is some of the nit-and-grit-down-to-earth ideas of Aquascaping. Essentially, I am laying down some rules of elementary Aquascaping-- rules for design, more specifically the “don’ts,” and as such rules that are essentially confining. That said keep in mind that in art rules are meant to be broken. However, breaking them comes after understanding them, and beginner aquarium designers have to start somewhere.

Before we get started, this is an elementary level and not baby level. I will not discuss such subjects as the differences between Nature and Flower Arrangement (to use Amano’s terminology), the golden ratio, or other such subjects on which there is a large amount of documentation. My Aquascaping Philosophy articles should be read alongside the Nature Aquarium World series and other widely read basic guides. For a thorough introduction guide, I will refer you to George Farmer’s “Aquascaping Basics 1-3” which can be found at the Aquaessentials forum.


Starting off as a Nature Aquarium Designer

After reading through the basic material (and hopefully Nature Aquarium World I) you should have come across the name Takashi Amano several times. Amano is an artist who really brought Aquascaping to where it is today. The most recent focus has been on the nature school of Aquascaping which really finds its foundations in Japanese/Asian aesthetic ideals as well as Amano’s work. I also fall on the side of this “nature school,” and so in this Philosophy 102, will be discussing some of the developments that fall under this nature school.


Field in Front of Wall Syndrome:

When one first comes to the world of Aquascaping, one’s eyes are caught on the jewels of the Aquascaping world. A beginner aquarium designer finds himself entranced by the sparkling fields of riccia or heminathus callitricoides, and the brilliant red stem plants such as Ludwigia arcuata or Eusteralis stellata. Entranced by these plants, they are the ones he first seeks out. The usual result of this is the development of Field in Front of Wall Syndrom (FFWS syndrome).

FFWS syndrome is the most basic mistake of beginner aquarium designers, and that is to build a layout with enormous amount of space given to either the foreground and/or the background, with virtually nothing given to the mid-ground. The result is the appearance of a field in front of a wall of stem plants.
Even if the plants are grown well, the result will be an Aquascape that is flat, and visually unappealing. The parts do not work together and so the Aquascape is split. Moreover, this layout type creates no sense of depth whatsoever, and so seems small and boring. FFWS is something that must be conquered in order to create a good layout.

Building a Foundation:

Just like in many other disciplines, the key to a good Aquascape is in laying out a strong foundation. In Aquascaping, there are 3 basic pieces to the layout-- the foreground, the mid ground and the background. You should be well familiar with these terms. One of the keys to creating an attractive layout is the unification of these 3 parts into an interesting and depth-giving design. For this purpose, one needs to build a strong foundation.

What I am getting at is that the most important of these 3 is the mid-ground. Advanced aquarium designers may implement some innovation into the fore or backgrounds but, even for the best of Aquascapes the mid-ground design is critical. In fact, the innovations of foreground and background usually come from an understanding of the mid-ground. For a beginner aquarium designer, mid-ground should be the target of focus. One can have a beautiful fore and background plants, and the Aquascape will look flat and spirit-less. On the other hand, one can have a foreground of plain sand and no background plants at all, but if the mid-ground is well designed, the Aquascape will be beautiful and pleasing to the eye.

In nature aquariums, the mid-ground is traditionally inhabited by epiphytes and small bushy stem plants. Such plants include:

Epiphytes:
Moss Species (Taxiphyllum, Vesicularia and fissiden sp. being the most available)
Anubias sp.
Microsorium (Java fern varieties)
Bolbitis

Mid-ground stems:
Hemianthus micranthemoides
Micranthemum umbrossum
Rotala rotundifolia “Green”
Microcarpea minima
Bacopa sp.


Keep in mind that depending on the size of the tank and the design, foreground or background plants can also be used in the midground. Plants that grow on runners such as crypts, hairgrass and echinodorus tenellus, depending on the size of the tank and layout, can be used in either fore or midground. In a layout with a sand foreground, even hemianthus callitrichoides can become a midground plant.
Aside from these types of plants, the midground (especially in nature aquarium style) is the traditional grounds for hardscape such as wood and stone. With the strong utilization of these elements, the foundation for the layout will be built.

Scared?

The mid-ground is the area that is most demanding of the artist’s design skills and creativity. Even a beginner understands this subconsciously, and because of this often carries a fear of the mid-ground. This is another reason why FFWS runs so rampant among the majority of layouts. In order to become better though, the aquarium designer must conquer this fear and face the mid-ground head on. Even if his first efforts are poor, he must try because only by trying does one improve.

Finding One’s Own Way

Unfortunately, because the mid-ground is the most demanding of creativity, it is not something I can hand down to you. It is something you must come to understand yourself through your own effort. This is where your inspiration and motifs come in.

An artist is a person who goes to strange places and does strange things, and desperately pays attention to every little detail in hopes that some sort of inspiration or understanding will come to him. He’s a man who keeps a sketchbook next to his bed, so that when he awakes from an awe-inspiring dream he can desperately scribble down its substance before it fades. He is a man who stops to notice the small grass patches on the side-walk. He is a man who never forgets to look at the sky. He is a man who routinely looks through the works of other artists. He is a man who will travel to the farthest reaches, even in danger of being killed by whirlpools, poisonous potatoes, or the roar of his snoring American neighbors, in search for inspiration (if you’ve read Nature Aquarium World, you’ll get these references).

When one finds himself unsure in the face of a problem of creativity, one must let his inspiration-- his background work in doing these things as an artist-- guide him in making his decisions. It is a bit like intuition, and the only way to get more of it is by doing it. Honestly, talent is a factor here too. Some people have more of it than others, and in different areas. The world is not fair, deal with it. Use what you have and what you can do to get as far as you can, and improve as well as you can.

Tip: Iwagumi is not a bad place to start. The structured rules will help you not make mistakes, and it will teach you a lot about stone arrangement even in your non-iwagumi layouts.


Other Distractions:

Off of the nature school, many other smaller interests have developed within its scope, primarily in Asia. However, these distractions are not particularly natural looking, and should be pointed out as something to be careful of.

“Tonina” style

Though not easily obtained, many should be familiar with plants from the Tonina and Eriocaulon groups. These plants have become a synonym with “rare,” “expensive,” and “cutting edge.” For better or worse, people tend to associate these words with “desirable.” Toninas and eriocaulons are very beautiful plants, and moreover require very special demands in the aquarium. Those who are obsessed with growing the “latest greatest” plants and looking for a challenge often turn to these.

Many an expensive ADA set up with aquasoil, high lighting, and CO2 have I seen dedicated to these with pages and pages of responses in tow.

Problem: None of them are very attractive.

I have yet to see a single example of top-tier Aquascaping that used Toninas or Eriocaulons, much less used them in a way that the Aquascape wouldn’t be better off without them. In the entire history of the ADA International Aquatic Plant Layout Contest, there has not been a single winning tank that used Toninas or Eriocaulons. Looking through the 2005 and 2006 contest books, they start to disappear as one gets into the top 100, and are non-existent in the top 50.

Why is this?

Of course volume is a problem-- how many people do you know who own 40+ of 1 type of eriocaulon? Collectoritis is also a problem since demographically, the majority (of the very small population) of tonina/erio growing hobbyists are afflicted with collectoritis. Another demographic problem is that the majority of serious aquascapers notice the lack of strong Aquascapes using these plants, and then choose to ignore them. Expensive plants that do not look good in over-all Aquascapes are not of great interest to serious aquarium designers.

Aside from these demographic/price/cultivation difficulties though, the plants are just not very easy to use from an Nature Aquarium Aquascaping perspective.

Toninas and tall Erios are leggy. Nature and Dutch designers alike prefer to have nice thick bushes, and usually hide the “legs” of their stems with either smaller plants or hardscape material. Compared to a rotala, hemianthus or ludwigia that will bush nicely and branch readily, a tonina’s shape is not-preferable. A straight leggy stem going up to a pom-pom like crown is not good for shaping. The most common motif for a stem plant to follow is that of a tree or bush. Toninas don’t do either of these motifs that well.

Smaller Eriocaulons would have more potential if they could be grown more thickly together. When I first saw Pogostemon helferi (Dow Noi), in my mind I put it in the same group of “too expensive a plant for no design pay-off” along with Eriocaulons and Toninas because it comes from the same “culture” or collectoritis-difficult-plant-loving keepers. However a few months down the line I had to eat those words. A number of aquascapers including Oliver Knott were able to use Dow Noi to breath-taking effect. The combination between Hemianthus Callitrichoides and thick bushes of Dow Noi are now well known to be amazing, and potentially a great combination in strong mid-ground design. Dow Noi’s ability to grow thickly and with others has allowed it to have this kind of success even in serious Aquascaping. If Eriocaulons could be grown in the same way, they would experience similar success. As of yet though, one normally sees the plant individually, spaced widely apart. Such an arrangement is distracting at best, and outright visually-annoying in others.

Erios and Toninas also have the disadvantage of not very closely resembling many plants in our terrestrial existence. Just like with salt water tanks, Tonina tanks often have the problem of not being able to connect with human instinct. They are just too “alien” looking. While beautiful, they do not touch our deepest memories, and make us feel rather alien.

All of this is not to say that it is impossible to make excellent Aquascapes with these plants. Rather, it is to say that doing so is difficult, and has yet to be done. What one should understand is that Toninas and Erios are difficult plants in cultivation yes, but ALSO IN AQUASCAPING. They are advanced, un-tested tools from which the beginner designer would do well to stay away from. They will likely require a high level of artistic maturity and inspiration in order to use effectively. I myself have only come up with only a handful of still un-formed ideas for their use, though I look forward to try my hand at it.

Simply, one should keep in mind that Tonina Obsession Syndrome (TOS) is a sub-species of Collectoritis, and can be just as inhibiting to the aquarium designer as FFWS.


Mosses and the men owned by them

Another sub-culture of the plant collecting scene that has developed (especially in South East Asia) is the moss-collecting scene. With the great efforts of one Loh K L in Singapore working with the Singapore moss-hunting community and a Singporean Bryologist named Dar. Tan, a wide variety of moss species have recently become available and identified for the public. With the large number of not-easily-distinguished bryophyte species, identification is critically valuable in order to create a market containing many types. With Dr. Tan’s help and the work of killies.com on the internet, correct information on aquatic mosses has become available, and thus the market on moss has been able to develop significantly.
New tools are always welcome to an aquarium designer, and one should put in effort to stay updated on the types of plants available and what they look like. If you have not made your way over to killies.com and updated your understanding of mosses, it is highly advisable that you do. Since moss are staples in mid-ground design, it is inherent that they will always be staples of aquarium design as well. From the start Amano has made frequent use of Taxiphyllum barbieri (java moss, though it is miss-labeled as willow moss in all the Amano/ADA literature), and “Koke” (moss) species have always been treasured in Japanese gardening from which much of Nature Aquarium style is derived.

That said everything should be kept in moderation. Moss is a staple, but it’s not the main player of a well-designed Aquascape. Moss is used by the skilled aquarium designer to add warmth and softness to other wise overly harsh hardscape or foreground areas. However, if moss is over used, the picture simply becomes too fuzzy. In most cases, it is best to combine the softness of moss with stronger elements such areas of bare wood or stone, or thicker leaved plants such as ferns, anubias, crypts, or even glossostigma.

Keep in mind that any type of collectoritis affliction is an affliction for a dedicated aquarium designer. The goal is to grasp an inspiration, consider how to create that inspiration, and then collect the exact parts one thinks one needs to create that inspiration. No-where in that process, does the collection of 10+ different types of moss and then desperately trying to find space for all of them in the same tank, fit into that process. If one allows Moss Obsession Syndrom (MOS) to control one’s life, one will never be able to create a layout that doesn’t look like a hair-ball.

Moss Walls

Recently, the creation of “moss walls” has become popular, especially with the growing moss-culture in South East Asia. The idea is that they provide a beautiful natural background.

Let me ask a simple question:

When was the last Amano/ADA Layout you saw with a moss wall?

The answer is, you haven’t seen one. Amano feels very strongly about the Zen principle “Create a Universe in a Small Space.” That is for most of us, we want our aquaria to look much larger than it actually is. This is the basis of the common focus on small fish, deep tanks, and small-leaved plants. This is also the reason for the popularized Frameless/Rimless Tanks and over-exposed white backgrounds-- all attempts to make the aquarium look like it continues past its boundaries. The goal is to eliminate the boundaries of the aquarium.

What happens when one makes a moss wall? What happens to the design when one grows many plants on the WALL and draws a lot of attraction to the WALL and clearly defines and highlights the WALL? You guessed it. The boundaries of the Aquascape become very clear, and the tank seems very, very small. Cramped too.

I am going to set the general rule to not make moss walls. For you beginners, I am saying this is a no-no, a design flaw. For advanced aquarium designers, rules are meant to be broken after all, but you better come up with a damn good design reason for using one, and a very tactful and creative way to use it.


Other objects of collectorites that one should be careful of becoming obsessed with:
-Foreground plants-- you don’t need to collect ‘em all. This isn’t pokemon
-Colored Shrimp (when was the last time you saw a meadow covered with red and white striped cows?)
-The “Newest, Rarest Fish” that might not fit your Aquascape.
-Nerites/Apple Snails
-other stuff


To be a great aquarium designer, your decisions come from your art. Ideally the don’t come from money, time constraints or distracting side interests (like collectoritis). Of course these things will always be there and impossible to be completely rid of, but one of your goals should to be to always eliminate their effect as much as possible. Act to improve your inspiration and vision, and act for the sake of your inspiration and vision. With that, you will keep improving.

That said, your existence as an artist is both with your brain and intuition, so look for “happy accidents” when something goes better than your original vision. Look out for accidents and run-ins or spur-of-moment encounters with people, places, plants or fish that might make your intuition blare like crazy-- “This is it idiot! Stop thinking and listen to me!” because that’s a part of being an artist too.

As a final word, I’ll leave you with a quote from Laozi in the Daodejing:


Give life to things, rear them,
Give them life but without possessing them,
Act but without relying on your own ability,
Lead them but without ruling them--
This is called profound virtue


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## gacp (Sep 11, 2006)

Great piece! Thanks for posting it.

I might add another 'syndrome' myself: ADA, Amanophyllic Dysfunctional Admiration, or Amanoitis, or "trying to be more Amano than Takashi-san himself". I am one of Amano's biggest fans, but his _Nature Aquarium_ is not the end of aquascaping, nor is he The Prophet, and even less is he a god. It's OK not to follow Amano's steps, not accept every choice he makes, not to take his taste as law and his vision as the Sacred Truth. There are other paths in the aquascaped garden, and you may choose to follow one of those.

I, for one, go for more of a truly *natural* aquarium than Amano's _Nature Aquarium_; that is, while I find Amano's work terrific inspiration, it makes no sense to me to see a tank that looks like a meadow or a mountain path---I've never seen tetras flying above mountaintops; I guess it clashes with what I know being an ichthyologist. Perhaps my approach of finding beauty in nature as it is---a boulder-laden riffle, a tranquil floating meadow, an eroded overhanging riverbank, a dying seasonal pond---and capturing it in an aquatic, truly _aquatic_ garden, might be more true to the Japanese aquascaping art? I guess capturing that watery beauty, especially the richness of the ecotonal zones, is my own path.

Also there is Amano's absolute dislike for floating plants. I think a hanging aquatic garden can be as aesthetically pleasing, and even more of an artistic challenge for an aquascaper. Yet another issue is the choice of fish: it's not such a challenge to create an aquascape for tetras or minnows; quite another thing is to aquascape for annual killiefish or rheophylic cichlids.

_"Too see the world as it is---this is equanimity. To see the world as it is and *choose* to look at what is beatiful and good--- that is wisdom."_


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## Afroturf (Apr 15, 2004)

Great thread Steven, this would be a great help to any perspective aquascaper. I agree entirly with what you say about obssesion with coloured shrimp, i must admit that i do have a couple of cherry shrimp in my tank but find CRS quite hideouse and very destracting when there is a whole army of themplaced in a beautiful planted tank and i personally can't see why people would pay the kind of money that CRS command, although everyone has their own likes and dislikes, 

Also i would add that the hardest thing for a beginner to do, is to try and limit the mumber of plants in one tank. There will be a long line of plants you whish to add to your tank but in my opinion and to coin the phrase 'less is more' it is very easy to make a promising tank look messy by adding to many different plants. Congrats on getting in to London School of Economics.


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## Steven_Chong (Mar 17, 2005)

gacp-- I completely agree with the sentiment that Amano is not the end of aquascaping. He is not even the end of Nature Aquaria. Aquascaping is just getting started.

It seems to me though that you're suggesting that a biotopial aesthetic is better, to which I'd have to agree. Of course 1-to-1 representation true to life biotope-like scapes can be beautiful, but I'd disagree that they have more value than Amano-style nature scapes.

I aquascape for people, not for fish.

My audience's memories are of running in meadows, in forests, looking out to see the mountains, and yes, playing BY or AT a stream. My audience are not gilled river dwelling creatures, and my art's creativity will be implemented to touch them. The strength of nature-world scaping is the strength of the creative element metaphorical representation, which biotope scaping doesn't have. Well, that's a topic of Aquascaping Philosophy 101.

For myself, I haven't yet had enough experience to make up fantasy worlds, so my scapes are based on real places. I think of myself as still as the level where I, not understanding the rules of nature, must look directly at nature to learn them. However, I would like to eventually reach the level where I can make scapes based on fantasy as well.

Afroturf-- Thanks 

Also, yeah collectoritis in general is a problem. Perhaps I should have discussed collectoritis in general, but I sort of figured everyone knew about it already. Maybe in a second draft I'll start there first . . .


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## gacp (Sep 11, 2006)

I myself dislike the term "biotope" aquarium---most people misuse it badly. And I am not arguing that it is better than Amano's work---just _as_ valid, and different. Another path that can be taken, and one I personally prefer, one that resonates better with my artistic vision and sentiment. I _do_ wonder, though, whether capturing the beaty of _underwater_ scenes in aquaria isn't more faithful to the Japanese spirit of gardening.

My aquascapes---the few I've done, the many I'm planning---like yours, are also based on real places, but _aquatic_ ones. I think the beauty of terrestrial ones is best left to penjing---traditional, non-aquatic penjing I mean, because what I love to do is a kind of penjing: a miniature river bank, a miniature mountain riffle, a miniature floating meadow.

I also aquascape for people, not for fish. I want to show them the beauty of the _underwater world_, the one they haven't seen much of, the one they haven't yet seen as beatiful. I also don't pretend that I understand how nature works, but I do find that aquascaping underwater places does help me understand them much better.

Sure, people are more famililar with landscapes. But isn't art supposed to shake people a little, in a good way? Shock them, even? Show them what the do not see, the beauty they miss, enrich their lives a little? :twisted:

And of course, there is the beauty of the fishes themselves. Again, maybe it is my Bauhaus-type aesthetics: good form-function is beauty. Different fishes do fit certain places or others, and in different ways, and to be able to show that off, the beauty resulting from millions of years of evolution, I think of as high art and enjoy it tremendously. 

Finally, we came to the point of "collectoritis". I most forcefully agree---truly terrible. I have a rule of thumb, to limit myself to half a dozen spp. of macrofauna and another half dozen for macroflora per aquarium, a little more for big tanks, even fewer for smaller ones. More than that is unnatural---even in waters rich in biodiversity one is not likely to find more than a handful of species of big animals and plants per m3 of water. I also do my best to build a _communty_, where each basic eco-guild is represented and species fit harmoniously and show of their unique beauty.

What can I say, for me, when that is well done, it is the summit of aquascaping art :mrgreen:


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## eklikewhoa (Jul 24, 2006)

Nice write up Steven.


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## Steven_Chong (Mar 17, 2005)

I don't think we're disagreeing much actually. If you're saying "equally viable" than we're really not.

I never said scaping underwater places's beauty is inferior. It's just 1-to-1 representation, where as I also like scapes that do 1-to-100+ representation, and I like using metaphors-- which you don't get if much doing 1-to-1.

I agree that showing people a beauty they've never seen before has great value, but for my work-- if I don't use metaphor, I do not feel like I'm on a "creative path." To me it'd feel like I was doing the same as a public aquarium. It seems more educative than artistic IMO.

I personally find that aquascaping has a great value in describing terrestrial existances because it is alive and moving unlike painting/photography.

If I wanted to shake people, there are more provacative art forms . . . Inspire awe? sure. Display beauty? definitely. Capture the living spirit of a place? Easily done. Provoke people? Er . . . it's not so good at that.

Also, I don't believe a "summit" exists.


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## gacp (Sep 11, 2006)

No, we do not disagree much at all. We follow different trails over the same general region of the garden, sometimes our paths cross, sometimes we can see each other from a distance, sometimes we lose sight one of the other.

I do disagree about it being 1-to-1 and it being what a public aquarium does. A public aquarium is more like a zoo, more a botanic garden than a Japanese-Chinese garden. They make little effort to show _beauty_. I do use metaphore, but lean towards seeing the tank as metaphore for the underwater place _itself._ Perhaps a touch of hyperrealism? Better than the real thing for the casual contemplation of its beauty.

(Ever been to a tropical rainforest stream? Muddy, insect-infested, oppresively hot and humid, and above all, taking place at an inconvenient location :heh: Worst of all, often the water has the clarity of caffe-au-lait. Did I mention the fish just swim away from you faster than supercavitating torpedoes? Cichlids even poke fun at you  Plants behave better... but still you have to get all wet---at least the water is not cold :heh: ).

Ah... but still, such _beauty_---a unique beauty that I want close and I want to show to people, that I want to make part of who I am as my art.

It is in _that_ sense that I believe this approach might be closer to the spirit of Japanese-Chinese gardening: almost like being there, but more suited for contemplation.

Oh, BTW: I like your new tank. Or rather, I think I do... it's still to young to know how it will look 

Best, gus

Oh, BTW: *Happy New Year!!!*


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## Steven_Chong (Mar 17, 2005)

That's a good way of putting it. I've been trying to reconcile the concepts of 1-to-1 should be theoretically, equally viable, and yet it seems temting to get too obsessed with realism. But now that you mention it, realism would involve mosquitoes. Guh.


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## Steven_Chong (Mar 17, 2005)

Actually what surprises me is that I haven't insighted any rage yet.

I thought moments after posting, the tonina and moss addoring hordes would rise up to smite me.


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## nasfish (Sep 26, 2005)

Hi,

Awesome write up, Steven, especially about "Tonina Style".

True, it is very difficult to include Toninas or Eriocaulons into any aquascape. Believe me, I have tried. The best I can come up with is this (8 month old tank), with my limited knowledge and talent.

Toninas or Eriocaulons, are not low maintenance either, but saying Toninas are leggy, I am not so sure. IME, intense light is one of the most important things to grow this plant well, bushier etc.

Regards


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## elliott89 (Jan 21, 2007)

Top write up Steven...for a beginner like myself it is really imformative and helps me already to see the mistakes in my layout (infact its made my tank feel rather crap lol) but IMO thats a good thing,being an art student myself
im used to harsh criticism and being told a painting ive spent hours on is rubbish even if i think its good...criticism is needed in order to progress..same with everything in life 

Art is a very hard thing to get right...some people will look at my work and love it..others will hate it..

So is aquascaping the same is there no wrong and right way to do it??? because different things appeal to different people..thats why there are no rule in art..well IMO anyway

Elliott


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

Very nicely written, Steve. :thumbsup:



> ..Colored Shrimp (when was the last time you saw a meadow covered with red and white striped cows?)
> ....


LMAO!


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## gacp (Sep 11, 2006)

_...the tonina- and moss-adoring hordes..._

...cant' read!

HAHAHAHAHAHAAHHH!!!! :rofl:

Just kidding, just kidding.


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

Well written. The collectoritis disease is one that is pretty hard to be cured of. There are a few ideas that I think might help. A beginner is understandably eager to try a wide variety of plant species. Who can fault this? The best approach in my mind is to define the goals from the onset.

At first, I'd propose that people abandon aquascaping and instead focus on the needs of the plants, learning to keep various species, learning to trim, and learning techniques that will be applied to later aquascapes. These might include experimenting with hardscape, trying the moss-on-a-stick technique, gaining experience with various growth rates, and learning to cover leggy stem plant with bushy mid-ground plants. It's also important to learn to match lighting, ferts, and CO2 to the desired species and overall 'look' of a tank. A plant's appearance and utility also depend a great deal on the conditions under which it's kept. After a few months of this, the artist will start to understand the available brushes and colors on the pallate. 

The next step would be spend several weeks contemplating a new design. IME, it's best to either tear down the tank completely or to start a new tank from scratch. Accidents can sometimes improve an aquascape, but deliberate design toward a pre-conceived goal is more likely to acheive success. Personally I find it advantageous to keep 2 or 3 tanks. One can be the main showpiece while the others can be storage and experimentation tanks for the 'paints'.

Toninas and eriocaulons will probalby find their place eventually. Every plant in a winning aquascape must be in top condition to really give the 'scape a nice feel. Many people who keep sensitive species handicap themselves with sub-optimal plant condition.


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## Steven_Chong (Mar 17, 2005)

nasfish-- I'm refering to how the plant looks somewhat leggy because the "crown" is so much bigger than the lower stem, and the lower stem is always exposed because it'd be REALLY hard (and artificial looking) to get tonina group with just crowns showing. Even in your photo, there's a lot of exposed, imo, leggy looking stem.

elliot-- people can make rules, but someone will always find a way to break it brilliantly.  Even my moss-wall rule. Someone could do it well I'm guessing.

Bert-- ain't it the truth!?  (that's why I like Amanos and wild cherries, inconspicuous)

gacp-- LMAO!


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## Steven_Chong (Mar 17, 2005)

guaiac_Boy-- I agree with everything you've said, but that's why this is "elementary level." You're talking about _really_ beginner hobbyists. This is more directed at people who are starting to turn to actual aquascaping.

As you said, T&E's will probably find their place eventually. Someone out there will eventually take the dive to make a well-thought out layout with them.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

Steven,
That was a fascinating read! I doubt that I will ever become an artist, able to create the types of aquatic scenes you do, but there are still a lot of ideas in what you write that are helpful to me. And, of course I get a great deal of enjoyment from seeing photos of well designed aquascapes.

Collectoritus is a deadly disease if it lasts too long, but it is an educational opportunity if it only lasts a short time. That is how most of us relative beginners learn how to grow different plants. Moving on from that educational phase takes some determination.


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## Steven_Chong (Mar 17, 2005)

Hoppy, you know way more about growing plants than I do.  

I totally agree about collectoritis being a learning experience. I don't even care to think how many plants I must have gone through (and killed) for my first year of planted aquariums. But as you said, the experience was valuable because it taught a lot about the difficulties with different plants, and also tought about how they grow and develop.


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## Squawkbert (Jan 3, 2007)

Nice read - points out how much I still have to read...

I doubt anyone here would be apt to ctiticize the views of a gifter 'scaper. Not much point in debating aesthetics anyway. You often offer your suggestions for changes in a constructive way and I think people appreciate that.

I must work on my mid-gound. So far all I have are Val, Cabomba (which starts at mid-ground if you consider its lack of low leaves) and Bacopa.

I guess I (at the least) need something that doesn't want to grow a yard tall and some moss to put on my wood & rocks (which are still weighting my wood down). Strangely enough, my color craving in satisfied (for now) my the Cabomba tops and Val leaves that float and go red...

Just for Bert:


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## trackhazard (Sep 20, 2006)

All I have to add is that aquasketch is spelled incorrectly in your sig Steven. Otherwise, interesting reading from you as usual.

-Charlie


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## ed seeley (Dec 1, 2006)

Charlie,
As an English Primary school teacher can I just say how much I love your signature! Made me laugh! :heh:


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

Steven_Chong said:


> guaiac_Boy-- I agree with everything you've said, but that's why this is "elementary level." You're talking about _really_ beginner hobbyists. This is more directed at people who are starting to turn to actual aquascaping.


I actually don't agree with this. Maybe I am mostly talking about NewB's, but I think the newbie stage lasts a lot longer than most people would like to admit. Probably it includes 90% of people that come to this site. Many, many people start aquascaping before they're prepared to be succesful at it. It's frustrating. It takes a lot of time and experience to master the basics, figure out what you can grow, and show the plants to their full advantage. I think your article is full of good information that can be applied to any level, especially concerning mid-ground development.

I'm just suggesting that even an artist with great inspiration and great vision can't really create a masterpiece in this hobby without understanding the medium.

Squawkbert,

What grade are those cows?


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## Steven_Chong (Mar 17, 2005)

I personally don't fall in the category that "that doesn't like to admit" that 90% of the members who come here are Newbs to aquascaping. It's true. A bit disappointing, but true.

There's the hobby of growing aquatic plants, and there's the art form of aquascaping. You can "understand the pallet," that is have the experience of growing a lot of plants, but if you still haven't conquered collectoritis or made a real resolve to aquascape, you're still "really beginner" in my book.

That said, I think you're right that real beginner's, and not-so-beginner (who've made a resolve to aquascape) alike can learn something from reading this.

In short generalization with no real evidence to back it up, maybe the vision of the aquascaping world we're imagining is like this:

90% Newb-- (this category includes people who've been in the hobby for a week or 20 years, if they haven't made the resolve to aquascape and learned the basic skills, they're newb no matter how many tonina species they've grown before)
8% Elementary-- (Again, come from varying levels of plant growing skills, but have made the resolve to aquascape and have some understanding of the basic design ideas)
2% Intermediate-Amano :heh:

Edit: Granted, there probably is a fairly strong positive correlation between aquascaping skill and plant growing. But we probably all know a fair number of members where one is much stronger than the other (though guys with better design than plant-growing skills are pretty uncommon). Er . . . actually, off the top of my head, I can't think of ANY besides myself (I still classify myself as "Newb-Elementary" class when it comes to growing plants)


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## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

I'm a newb


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## Norbert Sabat (Jun 26, 2004)

Steven_Chong said:


> 90% Newb-- (this category includes people who've been in the hobby for a week or 20 years, if they haven't made the resolve to aquascape and learned the basic skills, they're newb no matter how many tonina species they've grown before)
> 8% Elementary-- (Again, come from varying levels of plant growing skills, but have made the resolve to aquascape and have some understanding of the basic design ideas)
> 2% Intermediate-Amano :heh:
> 
> Edit: Granted, there probably is a fairly strong positive correlation between aquascaping skill and plant growing. But we probably all know a fair number of members where one is much stronger than the other (though guys with better design than plant-growing skills are pretty uncommon). Er . . . actually, off the top of my head, I can't think of ANY besides myself (I still classify myself as "Newb-Elementary" class when it comes to growing plants)


Hi

Nice overal thread - propably if my english was better i will speak more about things you speak about, Steven.

About part i quote...
I disagree with that because I know people which know lot about growning plants (know loooot about macros, traces, algae etc.), they plants are very high condition but overal they layouts are average. I know also people which layouts are very good but they don't have any special knowledge about plants - if you ask them how do this and do that they propably answer "i just us this fertilizer and i don't know lot about water parameters in my tank" . Speaking true i find only few planted tank junkies which are very good aquascapers and have big knowledge about "water chemistry and plant biology" .

Ah...one thing - newbes are scared use scissors :lol:. Plants love trimming...just like hair do.


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## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

"i just us this fertilizer and i don't know lot about water parameters in my tank" that's me. Norbert's right on the dot...


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## Steven_Chong (Mar 17, 2005)

Really? I thought it was just me thinking, "I just sort of use that fert and it comes out like that . . . " :heh: 

I've personally met a lot more of the "know loooot about macros, traces, algae etc.), they plants are very high condition but overal they layouts are average" types than those who have better design than plant knowledge.

Newbs are definitely scared of scizzors. :heh:


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

Honestly, the best 'scapes probalby come from people who use mostly easy to moderately difficult plants which are grown under moderate lighting and CO2. Under those conditions, perfect knowledge of water conditions isn't that important and the margin of error for keeping the plants happy is fairly large.

Maybe it's a constant clash of the science-minded chemistry type geeks like me and the more creative, inspired types like many others. This is a funny hobby that requires a bit of both.


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## Steven_Chong (Mar 17, 2005)

I don't think the best scapes are made with "Plants I can use easily" in mind. The best scapes are made with "plants that best fit my inspiration." The highest level aquascaper, IMO, doesn't avoid a plant because it's difficult-- if it's the best plant for the job, that's the plant he uses.

If he doesn't use toninas-- it's not because the plant's difficult. It really is because that plant doesn't fit the design.

For me, when I am planning an aquascape, I know one of the greatest moments is when faced with a particularly difficult to accomplish motif, struggling with the thought for days and days, running through just about every plant in the hobby looking for an answer-- that moment when you wake up, or you see something, or just something clicks when you're not even thinking about it, and suddenly you come to the answer. The moment you think of _the_ plant, the _only_ one that could do what you want to do, and that answer glows in your mind so beautifully. It's like that pristine moment a mathmatician has after working on a problem for years and then the answer suddenly comes to him.

For my current scape, that's the way I felt. I was riding the shinkansen, pondering for hours-- how could I create those beautiful forests outside the window? I dozed off in the midst of thinking about it, and then that beautiful moment when I awoke, and the answer of using R. Najenshan with moss came to me. It was one of those pristine moments.

IMO, that's how the plant selection for the best aquascapes is made.

This is in regards to money as well. Hypothetically, if I had a layout in mind where I needed 50 eriocaulon cinerum, but I had no way of getting them and no time to grow out that many, I wouldn't do the scape. I'd do a different design, and save the Erio one for another day. I couldn't do a scape half-assed. It would always be bothering me that I knew the plant selection was "inferior to ideal." For me, ideally, an aquascaper wanting to build a great scape knowing _there was no better way that I could have thought of._ There is no plant selection that I thought of that would have been better. This is _the best_ I could do.

He shouldn't be forced to a situation where he thinks things like,

"If only I had the skill to grow that plant the way I wanted."

or

"If only I had the money to afford those plants."

Those types of faults that aren't even connected to his own creative process should not be the cause of his failure. And when I say failure, I don't mean whether he receives praise or not from others. I mean whether he knows or doesn't know, that his is the best scape he could have made with his current abilities.

If it's about difficult v. easy plants, he should pick the best plant and if that's the difficult one, and he fails, that just means he has to get even stronger as an aquascaper-- in this case, strengthen his plant-growing skill.

Right now, I'm growing Nesea sp. Red in my 5gal, and it holds a critically important place in the design. Despite that the plant finder discribes it as "one of the most difficult plant in the entire hobby," and if it dies the whole layout will fail-- fear of that should not stop me from using it. If I know in my heart that it is the best plant for that place, that's the plant I'm going to use despite that something Rotala rotundifolia might do ok in its place. I don't care. I'm going all-out to try to achieve my ideal for this layout, and if I fail to reach that ideal it just means I have to learn from it and get better.

sorry for the rant, I was going to make a short reply but then ended up thinking of all sorts of stuff I wanted to say. :heh: Maybe it should just go into a new article . . .


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## YzMxer99 (Jul 17, 2006)

Steven, great topic! My single CRS has become my "red and white striped cow" lol

As for the newb stage, I feel that there is another component to that "title". Let's face it this and TPT are two of the definitive sites to learn about growing plants. So yes many, many are here to learn how to grow their plants. You all remember that one plant that made you find your way to this site. For me it was a small anubias. I still have that anubias, but it is now a big anubias thanks to the great information present here. As a result, the one tank has grown into three and a love for the aquascaping art form has blossomed. 

I feel that I, like many newb's here, are beginning to find there way with style and design. However, our "pallet" is limited to a few plants. Be it time, funds, or plant selection available, we are forced to work in a different way. Where the masters can design a scape from a design in their head or on paper, many of us newb’s design the scape around the plants available to us. 

I am at that stage and proud of it. It is hard because there are many challenges to those at this stage. And one of the hardest is trying to take a photo of your scape that represents your creation. (That is why there is only 1 crappy pic of my current tank in its virgin state lol).

So “masters” keep articles, journals, and pictures like this coming. It only serves to expand the “newb” pallet. I feel as this topic is a bit of a challenge for the newb to become a newb scaper. As hoppy said, “Moving on from that educational phase takes some determination”


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## gf225 (Mar 26, 2005)

Brilliantly written, with some fascinating feedback too. Well done Steven.

Thanks for referring to my articles at the start.


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## nswhite (Aug 25, 2006)

I enjoyed reading everyones opinions on aquascaping. But I think thats all it is opinions. I enjoy looking at Amano's aquascapes but I dont think thats the only right way to aquascape. Yes there are lots of good points he makes but there are also his opinion not the rules of aquascaping. I think people need to get off of Amano's nuts and start being more creative instead of trying to do what Amano does. Dont get me wrong he is very good at aquascaping but I dont agree with everthing he says. People follow his books like they are the rules of aquascaping or the bible when really they are just someones opinions. I feel that if you take a little bit from everybody than make your own the way you want it. Its art right, so can it be wrong I dont think so.

Also I belive that before you can make a beautiful aquascape you need to learn the basics about the plants and what it takes to grow them and once you've learned how to grow the plants then you can start thinking about aquascaping. I say this because people have great ideas about how they want things to look but know nothing about basic plants care.


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## houseofcards (Feb 16, 2005)

Steven,

Very nice read, informative yet applicable and understandable by even beginner's IMO. I wish I had your insight and dedication to something when I was your age. I do agree with the long beginner's curve for many, but of course like most things there are exceptions. I think part of the long learning curve is that most beginners don't have a tank they use as an "Aquascaping Laboratory". A place where they could apply many of the things you have spoken about in this thread. Instead they have one tank or maybe two and they set them up for the long-term (relatively speaking). Having a tank that is taken down and setup over and over allows one to "practice". Like any skill, practive makes perfect. After being in the aquascaping hobby for about 18 months, I am just now getting to the point of setting up a "laboratory tank" to experiment with. I believe this will accelerate my skills. 

Switching gears, it's not surprising that Amano was a photographer first and then a scaper. This is a virtual hobby for most and we don't actually see each other's tank in the flesh. What I mean is much of the success that Amano has received through his books and such would not have been possible without the photography level he or his group has achieved. I think when I first picked up one of his books, my eyes where drawn to the rippling surface as much as to the thicket of this stem plants. I don't mean this to be negative, but sometimes I don't know if APC is Aquatic Plant Central or Aquatic Photography Central. I have seen tanks that I think are very good, but the photography isn't up to task and vice versa. It would be very difficult to communicate the very prinicipals you have laid out here without the latter.


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## Steven_Chong (Mar 17, 2005)

George-- They are the best example, and the best place I could point people.

House-- You're right on about the photography. On the other hand, I think in a way, that's just one more aspect of aquascaping, and something-- if you want to become great, suck it up and get good at that too. :heh: My attitude for a lot of things seems to be "suck it up and do it."

Setting up layouts to get experience is indeed important. You know, I've never had a laboratory tank, though that's an excellent idea. 

Instead, 2 years ago when I started in highschool, I knew I didn't have the funds to get equipment/etc. I needed to make great long-term tanks, so I just gave up the idea of long-term scaping altogether-- figuring it was better to pick up skills for the day when I could afford the things I needed. So, I just kept setting 'em up and taking 'em down. I used aquascaping as the focus of my AP art project, and learned the art of "Use photoshop and design skills alone to make a 1 month old tank with crap light and DIY CO2, look as good as possible." I must have made about 30 layouts, none of which I finished or had up for more than a month (and many of which there are no photos of here). At the high point of desperately trying to finish my concentration for the AP test, I had 8 tanks set up at my house, 6 at school, and another 2 at a friend's house. All nanos that would never be completed of course, but all attempts to learn. 

Many didn't look that good. Since I lacked experience and focus, instead of thoughtful attempts like my current tanks, I experimented just for the sake of experimenting-- did things for no real reason in mind. Just to do it and see what happened. But it was a good time to learn a lot of basic visual concepts that are different in aquascaping than painting. I also built up a lot of knowledge on plants and fish-- not to mention getting my collectoritis out ot the way. lol From those though, my hands and eyes got a lot better at the designing I think. For the low budget young student, doing things like that are not bad IMO.


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## standoyo (Aug 25, 2005)

Great discussion, I like what you guys said Hoppy, Guaiacboy and Norbert.  I agree with most of the points you state Steven but I wonder.

A blistering attack on the Tonina keeping scapers. Lol.
What have they done to deserve this? What must they do to please you? Lol! Why the attack on these guys Steven? What is your objective? I thought the insightful and detail explanation was good but let down by the putdowns.

------------
Yeah, if aquascaping is about competitions right, everything you said Steven is true. Tonina's [sp belem, uapes] are handicapped cos they look great from the top, not in profile, just like sunflowers. If guys/gals who love this plant so much were given a tip like to reposition the light so that plants would bend towards the front a little more would have been more helpful. So you don't like the plant, there's hundreds out there who do and not all of them are 'competition oriented'. I wonder what gave you the idea aquascaping=competition. lol. Erios can look great in a layout. *The limit is the creator.* If the creator limited himself to a large tank, then a small erio[2" diameter] would need to be planted so densely it looks like a carpet of green thorns. If the creator had a large erio[12"diameter], it would look good as the focus plant in a smaller tank[30G]. For the record, I don't keep Toninas or Erios anymore because they are high-light plants that don't fit my layouts. [yet]

I think for a beginner everything is new especially if it's plants. For the seasoned aquascaper, somehow there is the urge to use an exotic plant to fit the layout. There's more than just the downoi, erio and tonina. The fissidens, utricularias, HC's etc. I have 3 tanks. 2 for fun/competition and one for shrimp.[plant dump station] I also have a section in the garden for emersed culture. Talk about collectoritis. :lol:

Hey otherwise it'll be boring right? Do you seasoned scapers still get excited when you see riccia? I know it's a crowd pleaser but... lol.

-------
I don't have red and white cows, I have CRS and I don't think they look natural, they look like money!
Totally agree they look out of place in an aquascape that's meant to be in a competition, but I like them very much. Makes me happy to see them crawling out for food and they always look busy. They also breed like rabbits and I'm going to be rich. :heh: :heh:

-------------------

My thoughts on copying terrestrial landscapes-Mountains, streams etc.
The more contrived it is the more irksome it gets. Man, why not get some fibre/plastic moulding done and paint it realistically to the point that you've got that mountain down pat to the last detail. Why?
I can get made fibre hardscape so real you can't tell it's fake.[I work in the advertising industry] 
Why not?

*Cos it's fake.*
My question is, are we heading that path?

I'm glad faux was not favoured in the IAPLC2006. Some of them looked like my kitschy art project window display, fake floss and all. Urks.

Aquascapes that have hills and and valleys are great as long as they're not trying to look like something they're not. There's such thing as too perfect and trying too hard.

I had this idea of using satay sticks and tying flame moss and stabbing it onto a couple of mounds of sand. In between would be a path of white river sand that flows from the right and left.
In time the whole scene will look like 'Salem' high country. 
Add some CRS and it'll look like candy canes on X'mas trees.

Woke up immediately from that nightmare!


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## Norbert Sabat (Jun 26, 2004)

just another 0.02$ from me .

I think that most of us chose plants for scape not because they are difficult or easy to grow but like Steven wrote they are best for the job. I have few friends which are the top aquascapers in Poland and most of them (almost all - including me  ) don't use red plants. We have many red plants but some reason we like more all green scapes than colorful. For example - guys from CAU are high skilled aquascapers but i don't like most of they layouts because there is too much orange, red and pink . I just hate some plants and i never use them  (f.e. : toninas, big echinodorus, cabomba, myriophylum, limnophila....).
Mr Amano isn't end of aquascaping but he is my Guru and his works are similar to my "art taste". I saw in web lot of creative works from all over world but most of them was (IMO) too creative ....I don't want to do innovation because i love what i do (even if this is only good aquascape craft  ).
If someone want to be good aquascaper he must work and work. In my homeland i heard some opinion that i do layouts only for photos and i can't "hold tank" for long time. Sad to heard that but what i can say? I can't look at same layout for long and i must (my soul told me :lol: ) do something new. In last 3.5 months i made 2layouts in same tank from "zero" do "end" and i started thinking about third (but i don't have wood ). If someone care about same layout for many months (8-12 or more) he can learn lot about growning plants and average about trimming technic but not about aquascaping. IMHO practice make you better aquascaper - don't be afraid to use scissors once a week and don't be afraid change everything once in 3-4months .


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## Steven_Chong (Mar 17, 2005)

Standoyo-- They've "never done anything to me," and this article is written without regard to grudges/preferences/feelings (mine or those of others).

In short, this is the aquascaping forum, it's assumed the goal here is achieving excellence. Having fun is secondary, as are "likes and dislikes." Your writing sounds like that of a hobbyist, and that type of argument is out of place in this sub-forum. I pick the plant _for the scape_, not because I like the plant. That's going all-out for excellence. That's essentially, tossing out collectoritis.

You are right that Aquascaping is not all about competition, and I never claimed it was. However, if competition was not at least an approximation of artistic excellence, we wouldn't care about competitions. It's not the true scale of excellence, but it's referenced here because it's the closest we have to a scale. It's viable enough to be worth referencing IMO.

My intention is not to attacking. I could not care less if my article "makes someone's feelings feel better or worse." I'm just pointing out a facet of aquascaping that needs to be pointed out-- T&E are not easy plants to scape with, and if used, should be used with well thought ideas. In fact, all plant selections should be well thought out, but difficult scaping plants like T&E require a bit extra. I'm sure you read carefully, so I'm sure you noted that I did not say that making a great scape with them is impossible-- merely that it has not been done YET.

If T&E keepers don't like what I said, all they have to do is aquascape better. There are no feelings, no grudges or anything like that involved here-- only the pursuit of higher and higher excellence.

If there's any feeling that motivates my writing, *it's my love for aquascaping*. I want to see it grow. I want to see more and more beautiful and well-planned aquascapes appear.

This is selfish but-- I want more rivals. I want more people to emerge who can push me, work with me, help me improve my own skills. If by writing somehting like this I can push some others in the right direction, and speed up the emergance of skilled scapers, than I'm getting what I want.

Norbort-- Well said.


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## standoyo (Aug 25, 2005)

Steven, I think if you weren't so careless with words then you wouldn't need to retract what you say every one-three months down the line when you've been proven wrong. Being bold is one thing but being brash is hurtful and unnecessary.

Funny I thought bashing something you hate was not condoned.

Like what Norbert says, he hates Tonina... That's good enough.

Aquascaping is a hobby-something we do in our spare time. People who aquascape are hobbyists. Now if the title of your thread is 'Aquascaping Excellence for winning competitions'.


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## Steven_Chong (Mar 17, 2005)

Stan, why do I end up feeling like I cannot make myself understood to you?

I'm saying I do believe a great layout with Toninas is possible-- just has not been done yet.

I'm saying competition isn't everything. But in art, reaching greater excellence _is_ what we strive for, and competitions are just a means for approximating excellence.

You know that this sub-forum is dedicated to the art, and if you want to talk about the hobby-- there's all the other subforums. What I've said is appropriate in the context of this subforum.

I'm making reasonable arguments and supporting them. And as I said, I am making them without emotion-- that is, without any desire to "bash."

Heck, I never even said that I dislike Toninas. I said "they are very beautiful." I've just been saying they're not easy to use in design.


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## standoyo (Aug 25, 2005)

I know, I'm a dull object. :heh: 
Steven, I know what you mean, just yanking your chain. Sorry about that. Don't read too much into it.
Back to discussion...


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

OK people, enough! This has been a great discussion so far. Keep it civil. I really don't want to see this thread get shut down. It's one of the most interesting discussions on the topic that I've seen in quite a while.

Disagreement and differences of opinion are perfectly fine. Name-calling and attempts to start a fight are childish and won't be tollerated.

Rant over..... back on topic......

I agree completely with House regarding photography. Even pretty bad algae problems can be hidden with the right photography. Absolutely stunning tanks can loose much of their appeal when shared via poor photos. The dutch are actually on to something here. All of their judging takes place with personal visits by the judges to see the tanks in real life. Flaws become immediately evident and well-planned 'scapes are even more impressive.

In real life, most tanks are far better.... and far worse. There is so much more eye-candy to feast on. Subtle colors are more visible. It's possible to see the interaction of fish and inverts with their environment. It's possible to see the sway of the Cyperus helferi in the background. At the same time, it's easier to see flaws, areas of poor plant growth, algae, detritus, ugly hardware, and stains on the carpet in front of the tank.

Great photos of great tanks are amazing, but, like most people in the hobby, they're almost always more enjoyable and more interesting in person.


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