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220 Gallon mono culture of belem hair grass and rock

One thing that is interesting is that we have a single type of stone, a single fish species (mostly), single plant species(not including the pennywort), and at a large scale.
You can see how the fish schooling behavior is influenced by the scape. If you added more plants and other designs, you'd rarely see this. Here, you see it all the time.
This tank requires very little work, and highlights the fish very very well.


 
I've had a few Asian folks really hate this scape and the rocks. Mostly ADA fan boys. They felt like I just tossed the stones in here any which way:)
They did not justify it much, said it lacked a focal point. But it's clear as day when you sit in front of the tank.

Scaping for a specific picture and viewpoint/perspective is very different than scaping for a live, moving thing.
The fish dart through the stones just as I'd planned.
There are few large schools of fish more powerful than hundred's of fat healthy cardinal tetras schooling through and around large dark stones with a bright green lawn below.


Now I could have done something like this with the same position of rooty trees for placement where each rock was...............and added a few other elements, using Monte carlo as the theme plant and then Blyxa around the trees etc.
This also would have looked nice with very little design change, just materials alone and swap the plant species.
But, the client could not grow MC for some reasons, but grass is easy. He was also tied of wood and wanted to try something no one else had.
 
Hi Plantbrain, Some people are fans of ADA but that's there choice.As I am new to Aquascaping only 7 months Well everything looks fantastic some are jaw dropping But all look Beautiful to me. My thing at the moment is Nature scape's i Know old hat well so i have read Never mind i just love the look But that's my taste So all i can say if you like it go with it. But am a big fan Of Wabi-Kusa Have learnt more about growing plants in 6 months well with a lot reading too than ever before:cool:
 
Greenfinger2 said:
Hi Plantbrain, Some people are fans of ADA but that's there choice.As I am new to Aquascaping only 7 months Well everything looks fantastic some are jaw dropping But all look Beautiful to me. My thing at the moment is Nature scape's i Know old hat well so i have read Never mind i just love the look But that's my taste So all i can say if you like it go with it. But am a big fan Of Wabi-Kusa Have learnt more about growing plants in 6 months well with a lot reading too than ever before:cool:
Click to expand...

I keep companion plants out in my bonsai which is really where and what Wabi-Kusa is all about.
I enjoy those very much and use aquatic plants instead of more traditional Bonsai herbacous species.
A tank this size can do many things and often times that gets away from many aquatic gardeners. I like the simple approach, one plant, one rock, one fish, one shrimp(more or less), but done as a different scale than we typically see.
Nature style spends a lot of $$$ and effort on the aquarium and hardscape, as well as the photography. But they go really really cheap on the fish. Spend 2000$ for a tank, then add 20$ worth of common fish.
I find it ironic personally.

Wabi-Kusa is easy to add to various tanks and locations, particularly as the background and as accents by the hardscape and transition zones.
Nature style, well, at least ADA, does focus strongly on the hardscape set up adn how to trim the plants, in fact, this is their main message.
Cut cut cut.
Trim trim trim.
Many new folks are scared to do this, but this encourages new healthy growth. Even with the Hair grass in this tank, it benefits from some trimming every so often.
ADA AJ details this out nicely for the many newbies.

I come from a Bonsai and Japanese garden approach for the terrestrial side of things and there are just so many myths by Western culture and just plain bad books written on the subject.
I tend to keep that separate from my aquarium views. I am more traditional there, but not with aquariums.

I am NOT a fan of clutter in gardening or aquariums, neither are the Japanese generally speaking.
This tank is not cluttered. I have done more jungle like scapes, but that's what the client's wanted.
If I have a lot going on, I tend to have a very organized flow, otherwise, simple and with space is the rule for me.

I did this tank maybe 14 years ago now in response to someone saying I do not know how to aquascape, I let my driftwood do the talking :lol:
25galwithsurfaceripple.jpg
25Galhardwatertank.jpg

A very open Nature style.
Or is it?
 
plantbrain said:
I've had a few Asian folks really hate this scape and the rocks. Mostly ADA fan boys. They felt like I just tossed the stones in here any which way:)
They did not justify it much, said it lacked a focal point. But it's clear as day when you sit in front of the tank.

Scaping for a specific picture and viewpoint/perspective is very different than scaping for a live, moving thing.
The fish dart through the stones just as I'd planned.
There are few large schools of fish more powerful than hundred's of fat healthy cardinal tetras schooling through and around large dark stones with a bright green lawn below.


Now I could have done something like this with the same position of rooty trees for placement where each rock was...............and added a few other elements, using Monte carlo as the theme plant and then Blyxa around the trees etc.
This also would have looked nice with very little design change, just materials alone and swap the plant species.
But, the client could not grow MC for some reasons, but grass is easy. He was also tied of wood and wanted to try something no one else had.
Click to expand...


I’m with you on this one Tom. Something like this scape captures the essence of nature, which for me, and many others, is what it’s all about. So who cares if it doesn't adhere to a set of rules arrived at by the mutual consent of others. Less is definitely more in this case. I really like the minimal aesthetic and it definitely makes a refreshing change from wood.

The Asian aesthetic seems to be increasingly heading in the direction of the diorama which I consider a corruption of the original naturescape vision - I've read somewhere Amano himself isn't very fond of it either. It appears to be more about miniature landscape modelling, and reminds me more of my kids train set than a natural habitat; in essence it’s the antithesis of a biome.

IMO diorama’s often rob the aquatic critters placed in them of dignity…it’s almost as though they’re forced to become performing circus animals, and for me that completely misses the point. So I don’t think you’re alone in this. I've also read that a lot of prominent aquascapers are turning away from competitions like the IAPLC for similar reasons.
 
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This is nice, but perhaps I felt the rocks were too uniform in size and kind of pointing in the same direction = lack of dynamism. I also think that slightly smaller stones might have created a better sense of scale. But impressive indeed and doing this over a distance of 3000 miles not less so :).

And agree with Troi: old school NA rocks!

Thomas
 
Seems the focus of this tank is the fish. The green a contrast to them and the rocks provide highways for their movement. If the rocks were small the fish would move differently. With different plants they would have opportunity to hide, so this scape is built around viewing the fish, they create the movement within the scape. Dare I say it is a fish keepers tank?
3000 mile tank install, I'd much rather watch this than tanked! You need to start a tv program Tom :)
 
Edvet said:
I was wondering, with this amount of fish you need to feed a lot and get a lot of droppings. How do you clear in betweeen the gras? I Always got a lot of mulm between my carpets. Do they have to "hoover" diligently?
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Shrimp are effective and then bacteria and microinverts. They break the waste down well.
The tank stays very very clean. I could set up a dozen such tanks and maintain them pretty well without that much work.
nd they could support high fish loads. I think the ADA aesthetic frowns on good fish loads or flashy colors etc, they prefer a a more subdued species and only a few.
I think this is for a few reasons, but one is rather obvious: they kill a lot of fish with CO2 gas. Low O2, canister filters, lily pipes, low flow etc.
No way around it for many.

Amano has a large sump and a modified skimmer cup that is similar to a bean animal design for his own home tank.
I wonder why.
 
Troi said:
I’m with you on this one Tom. Something like this scape captures the essence of nature, which for me, and many others, is what it’s all about. So who cares if it doesn't adhere to a set of rules arrived at by the mutual consent of others. Less is definitely more in this case. I really like the minimal aesthetic and it definitely makes a refreshing change from wood.

The Asian aesthetic seems to be increasingly heading in the direction of the diorama which I consider a corruption of the original naturescape vision - I've read somewhere Amano himself isn't very fond of it either. It appears to be more about miniature landscape modelling, and reminds me more of my kids train set than a natural habitat; in essence it’s the antithesis of a biome.

IMO diorama’s often rob the aquatic critters placed in them of dignity…it’s almost as though they’re forced to become performing circus animals, and for me that completely misses the point. So I don’t think you’re alone in this. I've also read that a lot of prominent aquascapers are turning away from competitions like the IAPLC for similar reasons.
Click to expand...



I agree about Diorama, I feel it's a bit tacky, but I like it at the same time. So I tend to go with if it looks good and is well done, it is good.
But it's nothing we might see in a well done Japanese landscape garden. Some elements can be added, but.........I do not think you would ever see Amano do this.
It would be very un Japanese. Still, he and others have accepted some of this.

Why?

Well, it adds another layer and style to aquascaping I suppose.
Oliver Knott is not above some tacky additions, but he does so with tacky purpose in mind, almost as a joke.
But a Japanese style would be perhaps like myself, it would use an offensive naturally formed piece of redwood to make the point perhaps, not a ceramic or a mini Balsa wood figurine.

I would never have topiary, but tamamono is used often in well done scapes.



I think this will help some UK folks thinking about scaping methods and general ideas.
These are not some Zen or mystical horse manure myths put forth, they are very logical and practical approaches to gardening.
They have been gardening for 1000's or years and have more vocab for various techniques than English does.
Diorama- I likely will never do it. It is nice, but I have time for a few things in life, that ain't one of them.
I am in complete agreement with the Japanese aesthetic here.
 
TOO said:
This is nice, but perhaps I felt the rocks were too uniform in size and kind of pointing in the same direction = lack of dynamism. I also think that slightly smaller stones might have created a better sense of scale. But impressive indeed and doing this over a distance of 3000 miles not less so :).

And agree with Troi: old school NA rocks!

Thomas
Click to expand...


They are very different sizes, but you cannot tell so much after the tank was put together.
We tried to use some smaller stones in the front and other spots, just did not look right at the end.
If I had my way, I would have sawed the stones down about 10-15 cm and made them flat on the bottom, I can do that at home, I cannot at this guys place.

Since they are large, pointing them other directions makes them look really weird.
Did not feel right.

So unless I could cut the rocks and had more to chose from, well............
But I do agree, one of the better explanations thus far.

I wanted a tropical mountain range, but there's too much space between the rocks and the front range should be shorter and more compressed towards the back ridge.
Also, a steep slope would help.
 
Ady34 said:
Seems the focus of this tank is the fish. The green a contrast to them and the rocks provide highways for their movement. If the rocks were small the fish would move differently. With different plants they would have opportunity to hide, so this scape is built around viewing the fish, they create the movement within the scape. Dare I say it is a fish keepers tank?
3000 mile tank install, I'd much rather watch this than tanked! You need to start a tv program Tom :)
Click to expand...


Yea, but I had my issues with that also. Client liked the idea a bit much.
I wanted to nibble down the rocks, but if I broke one the wrong way, I had no real backups.
I could not risk it.

I also wanted a steeper slope, but he was concerned about having less pace for the fish to swim.
I was like "this will push the fish up front!"

Still, ended up being a very untypical tank.
When I work with folks, I can only place my own aesthetic so much.
And the next round, they get a bit better and better.

So it's an on going process for the clients'.
 
Hi Tom,

Thanks a lot for your thoughts on this. Always interesting to hear a bit about the rationale and challenges behind a scape. I think you are right that what looks good theoretically/in your head sometimes just doesn't work when applied. In my last scape I obviously had some ideas, but much of it was really decided in the process.

I can see the issues in combining your own aesthetics with those of a client: must be hard at times, but also fulfilling when you see a happy client. Thanks, by the way, for the video on pruning technique and Japanese garden. Love the systematic approach.

Thomas
 
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