Planted tank or planted aquascape?

Just an opinion:
I regard a planted tank as a tank with plants aranged in no particular order.It can be one or several plants,with a bunch of differnt fish species.
With no plan or any order.
Then you have an planted aquascape,plants are selected before anything is setup,fish,usely a single specie of tetra or rasbora is selected to compliment the plants.Everything is then planted and aranged in a specific way or plan that has been decided before hand.Amano-style or what ever you want.
My question is,who on this forum does aquascaping?

 

I know Solex69 is about to aquascape his 1.2m this weekend. He's been planning it for AGES - hence the relocation of most of his fish. His plans sound awesome.

 

Has he done aquascaping before?Any pictures?

 

Naaaaahh... not realy!
He's just rambling scientific plant names like nursery rhimes... and stick some green cuttings in some well prepared substrate/ sand or whatever...
He's got no mentor in prof Dirk or other plant geeks like Phill and others...
He's smoking Co2 or something...
But apparently his tanks look great with hundreds of diffrent plants.
I think he is also trying to redo a 1.2 or something... this guy has got too much time!
practicing on other members tanks etc!




Relax just a joke!
Dale is a dear friend and he know his stuff! ...Or know where to get info!
Here I go again...
I'm gonna get Moerd!
Ps read his treads on this forum and others!
Afroduck Hails!

 

RUNNNN Gert......RUN like you've never run before

 

Hi Rudi - dont think I quite agree on the aquascaping description. I would say any tank where the plants are laid out to a plan is aquascaped.. The fish species would have no bearing..
Be that as it may - Dale "Aquascaped" our 2m and it is already starting to look awesome. The plant growth is almost discernable daily and I think the end result will be brilliant.

Thanx again Dale. Those RED thingies at the back have added about 20cm since last weekend..!!!!

 

Sien jy daardie stofstreep... ek's 2 myl voor dit!

 

Hahaha!

Yip, Dale did an AWESOME job on our tank!

 

My definition of aquascaping is just designing/planning a tank before hand, then you go about actioning your plan for your soon-to-be tank in order to make it a reality. So, anybody can actually aquascape a tank...just takes a bit of planning on your side and then trying your best to get it the way YOU like it & have planned it, not somebody else's preference.

Re my other 1.2m, I think it is just crap at the moment even though others like it. Plants aren't laid out to my liking: too many fish in there hence they are being given away, substrate develops algae on it, diatoms as well, lack of enough substrate, sump isn't operational, suffered from BBA, not enough wood in the tank, Side leak into the overflow, etc etc. So yah, you can see why I'm not particularly happy with this tank. Once I redo it, I'll rip off all bad leafs from all the plants in the tank so that when I replant them, I don't carry old BBA traces back into them...heck, I might even bleach the plants before hand too. Planning is far from done though....I need to go and get me-self some nice rectangluar stones/rocks for my 'mountain sloped type' scaping theme I'm going for.

I wish......still feeling quite dom in this hobby. I'm just sticking to what is working for me and I share what I've experienced. I don't try to over complicate things...that, in my opinion, is the breeding ground for problems (hence I'm redoing this tank)

@gav & vee - no need to thank me dudes....if I have the time, I won't pass up an opportunity to plant a tank, I find it very soothing.
That Rotala Macranda does indeed grow fast under the right conditions. Mine has already ran across the water surface since the time you came to get the clippings.

No offence taken at all Gert

 

Phew! can I stop running now?
...and have a smoke!

 

OK.example,would you "aquascape" a tank and then ad Silverdollars or Mallawis or big Pleco?My point regarding specific fish species is that it should compliment the scape and not over power it.Just Google Takashi Amano to see a master at work.

 

Well lets see !!! adding Malawis to a planted tank - I don't think so - A big Pleco - I don't think so - Silver Dollars, hey fish gotta eat too.

But I would "aquascape" a tank, then add Angels, rummy nose, cory's and possibly a pair of Mesonauta Egregius if the tank is big enough. I personally prefer the plants to complement the fish and not the other way around..

However for the PURE "aquascaped " tank then I would agree that the fish complement the plants.

Just my opinion

 

:bigsmile:A bit of sarcasime from my side,sorry.
The only reason I posted the question is because I have seen so many pics. and read articals concerning "PURE" aquascaping,I wanted to know if someone closer to home have some expierience.What i've seen and red is on overseas websites and my back isues of Practical Fishkeeping magazine.:wondering:

 

:bigsmile:No Prob - Dale is the closest I know to an aquascaper and I think he will become a great one, I prefer the fish and to me the plants provide cover, suck nitrates and then look good:bigsmile:

Altough when I saw the aquascape a number of posts ago, with the tree and grass type landscape I was blown away. As well as the underwater waterfall, man those show what an art aquascaping is.. I dont have the patience

 

You mean to say Phil

 

:idea:How about a project for Dale, witch could involve the sponsors as well?
Why not set up a tank, aquascape it and the sponsors can sponsor,lets say,plants,livestock or equimptment?Not big,standerd 60cm?
Post feature on site and after period of time sponsord goods are returned.
Lets see some SA style aquascaping!!!!:bigsmile:

 

lol, how about a project for all CPT members to scape a tank. Have lil round-table discussion, reach consensus on amount & type of plants, rocks, lights, filtration etc etc etc, and then find a virgin tank and scape it. That then should become the official TASA tank as well as logo (if the oakes outside of CPT doesn't have a prob with it) Just a thought

 

Now THAT sounds like an idea.....I'm keen.

 

Sounds like a plan,but I would stil like to see the sponsors come on board.And lets do this correctly from the start,no half measures.I think there is enough experienced aquarists on this forum to do a good job of it.
If you guys don't mind,I've got a few suggestions:
A tank not bigger than 90 x 45 x 45 cm and braceless.
CO2 injection.
Overtank lighting.
Try to get clear filter hose.
Filter sould preferably be external.
NO BACKGROUND,nothing sould clash with the end product.
I realy think we can do this.Please comment.

 

I would suggest a plain background unless the plants are going to cover the whole back.

Possibly a slightly smaller tank maybe a 600 so others may also play along and it may just be a little cheaper.