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What is Aquascaping anyway?

So what about color? I read once that Amano really preferred the greens. (Or I made that up!) How does one blend color into this Nature aquarium and/or isn't this a real strength of the Dutch style? All that rotala that people use to sweep across the background seems to be on the wain these days. Red which has such a large following seems so harsh at times,rigid. While the yellows never really seem to get enough attention or use as the great contrasts they can be. One of my own objections to the Dutch style is the way colors are isolated though I can understand the difficulties involved in blending color.

Just trying to stimulate a discussion here!
 
I suppose there are a couple of ways to interpret coloured plants. Some people might use them like a painter uses reds and oranges (probably the most artistic in the abstract sense), others to represent elements of the landscape or perhaps a sunrise/sunset, some might use them to represent fields of wild flowers and others again simply to represent the coloured bushes of stems you see in videos of natural bodies of water like those produced by Ivan Mikolji.

I do think there's a limit to the use of colour though. Too much colour and things look gaudy or extraterrestrial to me. Then again, I've always preferred shades of green.

I suppose it really all comes down to how you interpret what a nature aquarium is. For some it might be a strict interpretation of aquatic environments and biotopes, but for others it might be any natural landscape (terrestrial or submerged).
 
Some looking at nature in Amano 20160207_133254.jpg 20160111_123801.jpg 20160314_142013.jpg 20160102_132527.jpg s
 
Colours can (read; should) be used to enhance and/or compliment neighbouring plants - in the same way leafshape and -size should. An often neglected enhancer/complimenter is the texture or surface structure of leaves.
This does not mean you need to work in "separated gruops" of plants. You can achieve fantastic appearance, by doing "mixed groups" - ex. doing a group of Myriophyllum mattogrosense with a few Proserpinaca palustris mixed in, since the bigger leaves and more colourfull leavs of Pros. pal. is enhanced by the more calm group of Myr. matt.
Another classic, is to enhance red/purple colours by placing a very bright green colour right next to it - ex. Rotala macrandra and Nymphoides hydrophylla 'Taiwan'. It is a trick, cheating the eye......but it works !!
- and then ofcourse, many plants compliment themselves - orange tips of Potamogeton gayi or Rotala indica 'bonzai' are nice examples of this........
 
Amano, brought a zen aethestic and a standard of aquarium photography never seen before from the previous leaders in planted aquaria, Dennerle and Dupla. Even now browsing the Nature Aquarium World books still inspires and humbles me...

But what next? I think that is very much a personal thing. Do we each have a bucket list of scape styles to tick off? High light, low light, crypt, carpet, iwagumi, moss, HC, roots, white sand valleys etc. etc. and with everyone one of those there are a zillion subtle variations. We wont run out of ideas anytime soon and even if it may look a bit samey to the casual observer the nuances are many and varied for the creators.

Personally I'm increasingly interested in biotope type styles and also exploring the discipline of using fewer plants species together. The idea of a minimalist scape using just plants and no rock or wood but that is also a joy to behold is diverting me just now as well.
 
Mick.Dk said:
by doing "mixed groups"
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This is kind of what I meant by the Wabi Kusa influence. I think the question I have is about why we are dismissing the so called "jungle" aesthetic and or how exactly does one deal with that?
Chris Jackson said:
minimalist scape
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I tend to think there is a lot of this and perhaps too much but that doesn't mean I wouldn't like it in the living room.( or what ever you call that room!)
 
For the question "What is Aquascaping anyway?" Which is like asking "What is Painting anyway?" Or any other art form.. Well so, it's just an art form performed by a certain artists in a certain scene in a certain time spirit who managed to make it kinda popular in a croud And with this gaine some admirers and followers who are trying to achieve simular results. :)

It's maybe kinda boring to constantly come up with the same name, but imho this fellow is kind of the (self proclaimed) international ambassador of aquascaping and this scape in particular represents imho all what aquascaping is about.



If you listen and look closely to this video, you hear and see all essential key points in the art and what the designer took as inspiration. It actualy needs no further explaination, if you still do not get it after watching and listening what this artist created, then you probably missed some keypoints and rather watch it again and again. :)
 
Berlioz said:
I suppose there are a couple of ways to interpret coloured plants. Some people might use them like a painter uses reds and oranges (probably the most artistic in the abstract sense), others to represent elements of the landscape or perhaps a sunrise/sunset, some might use them to represent fields of wild flowers and others again simply to represent the coloured bushes of stems you see in videos of natural bodies of water like those produced by Ivan Mikolji.

I do think there's a limit to the use of colour though. Too much colour and things look gaudy or extraterrestrial to me. Then again, I've always preferred shades of green.

I suppose it really all comes down to how you interpret what a nature aquarium is. For some it might be a strict interpretation of aquatic environments and biotopes, but for others it might be any natural landscape (terrestrial or submerged).
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The use of reds plants it is basically the simplest way of creating contrast. If you ever studied color theory you will now this is the easiest way to focus attention on a spot. The problem is that complementary colour contrast can be quite harsh and look unnatural.

As mentioned already color contrast is just one of the techniques and contrast can also be achieved by light/shadow; textures; size and so on. If you compare amanos works over time you do see quite a variation from simple panted scapes to the heavier use of rocks and wood on the scape. Looking at the current trends it also seems that more and more simple similar plants are being used just feeling the spaces between the hardscape

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk
 
I personally am not a fan of red plants at all just don't like the look of them don't no why.

I prefer different shades of greens in plants in high light, co2 setups like some could be dalr or light green, some a slight hint of red (which I like just not the whole plant)

To the aquascape game side I've always kept heavily planted tanks BUT I have seen some very, very nice hard scape only tanks they are beautiful I think would be hard to keep clean tho :) I would love to do something like this tank below one day

 
BruceF said:
Hardscape really has taken its place and it isn't all that easy. When I first started it seemed like I always used rocks that disappeared behind the plants doom n enough.
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That's not the rocks fault.. :) That's years of experience and knowing which plants to use, how they mature and knowing how to trim (bonzai) them into shape. This we indeed often see a lot, the most beuatiful hardscape layout beeing totaly covered with plantmass after a few months. That's why i kicked out the rule Less is More out of the door with my first aquascape attempt. I realized my knowledge in plant choices fell much to short to realisticly invision the end goal.

I want to know plants first before i even think of scaping hardware like an Iwagumi, so i dumped over 20 different plant spieces into a 45 liter wood scape. Just to get to know them all and see what their possibilities are for future projects. I made some wrong choises and it could have well been if i kept with the rule Less is More of which i do not know enough about and planted the tank with only 4 or 5 species of the wrong choise. Then you shoot yourself in your own foot when it comes to the learning curve, looking a year or 2 at the wrong choises or prematurely strip the tank and start over again and only learned from 2 or 3 wrong choises.

In my second attempt i still did put a little to much plantspieces into a wood scape for the same reason i just want to learn and know as much plant options as possible before i think to much about applying scaping rules. That's for me the way i want to learn aquascaping, get to know the most important part first, the plants, which IMHO is the frst rule in aquascaping.. :thumbup:
 
Yeah Discus and woodscapes are one of the best tanks.
I haven't gotten much further than the growing out the plants myself.
 
I think that the fact that none of this is easy is the enduring attraction of planted tanks. Establishing a stable balance tank where everything truly thrives can be quite hard enough in itself but then add in the aesthetic of "aquascaping" and you enter a whole other level of challenge.
Amano's tanks, for the most part, evoke in me a tremendous feeling of balance and harmony. In our frenetic daily human lives balance and harmony can seem a world away as we struggle with the many challenges and demands of our working and personal lives. Achieving a cuboid or more of balanced, beautiful, harmonious perfection within my home could be a reference point to how I desire the rest of my life to play out in a balanced harmonious manner. It may seem esoteric but for me I think my aquaspaping habit reflects my own personal journey towards lasting inner harmony and peace. For me I think that is probably what aquascaping is all about. It reflects my personal search for inner peace and harmony!
 
Nice philosophy Chris...and well put, I think it reflects my personal aquascaping journey too.
 
zozo said:
So it's a bit like Jazz!? :D

The only concerts where the musicians have more fun than the audience.. :thumbup:
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Haha Marcel...that's so funny but very very true...:hilarious:
 
I know the feeling from an audience side.. Worked as bartender for (to) many years.. So many Revel pop was pushed down my throath, nowadays i can only enjoy silence and the sounds of nature and children playing or jazz. :rolleyes: Or a nice aquascape ofcourse.. :)
 
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