Promoting Planted Aquariums

[samyboy]

some really amazing tanks there 8)

 

[tetraman]

Sweet! You could get a few more fish.

 

[AMS]

Now all we need is a thread promoting planted marine tanks....




Awesome tanks by the way.

 

[OohFeeshy]

Indeed, Andy is correct bar his SW ravings A tank planted as indicated, not even mentioning all the high tech rubbish (I mean, why in the world would you want to spend hundreds of pounds on a light? A plant-friendly filter? Substrate that is not preffered by fish and you won't even see?), is incredibly limited as to what fish you can keep. You can't have any fish that might wreck the lovely aquascaping (ie, most things over mildly interesting), no fish that like to bury themselves, no fish that eat plants, no fish that don't 'go' with the plants (you're not exactly gonig to put a SA leaf fish in one of those, are you?). Pretty as they are, they aren't even that natural looking, they are too perfectly positioned, neat, tidy and all with almost exactly the same fish. And it seems to me it's almost a trip back to the roman ruins, fake castles etc- a lot of the newer tank aquascapes seem to me like they're trying to look more terrestrial than aquatic.

But anyway...
Nice tanks

 

[SeahorseWhisperer]

I have a SW planted tank and I love it more than my FO tank! I also have a reef tank with a lionfish, a puffer, ect AND plants!

With SW, you really can have it all!

Andy is close.....

 

[AMS]

I have a SW planted tank and I love it more than my FO tank! I also have a reef tank with a lionfish, a puffer, ect AND plants!

With SW, you really can have it all!

Andy is close.....

Agreed. But not so much about having it all, I certainly wouldnt put a tang that would eat all the macros or a toadfish that will trample over seagrass, or a jawfish that will uproot newly established seagrass. I believe seahorses are probably the greatest reason to set up a planted marine tank

 

[George Farmer]

Thanks for your interest and taking the time to pass comment everyone.

.....a lot of the newer tank aquascapes seem to me like they're trying to look more terrestrial than aquatic.

That's one of the concepts behind Takashi Amano's Nature Aquarium concept.

I quote from my own work -

It may surprise some of you to hear that the primary aim of a Nature Aquarium is not to recreate the biotope of a specific region (although this is possible). The main goal is in fact to create a kind of underwater landscape or an imaginary fantasy scene. If you study many of Amano’s and other Nature Aquarium aquascapes you will soon get the idea. Scenes that physically replicate a realistic underwater environment can be created but generally speaking they do not provide the same degree of aesthetic appeal to the aquascaper as an underwater ‘landscape’. I believe the reason for this lays in our own perception of what appears to most represent nature. Being a land-based species we humans are more familiar with landscapes, certainly more so than underwater scenes and the Nature Aquarium uses this relative attractiveness to its advantage.

As for your other observations re. "high-tech rubbish" and fish choice being "incredibly limited", I and I'm sure many others would beg to differ.

Please allow me to explain in more detail my motivation behind this thread (believe it or not my intention was not to antagonise marine and FW fish-only hobbyists!) One of the main reasons I starting writing for fishkeeping magazines in the UK is so that the planted hobby can be better represented and brought up to date. The marine hobby is very well supported and there are at least two or three lengthy, detailed articles in every issue. We are lucky to see one decent planted article. Rather than moan that this representation appears a little off-balance I thought I'd do something about it, hence my "pushing" of the hobby, especially in the UK. I suppose to an extent I am using my position on TFF to my, and the planted hobby's advantage but why not? I mention TFF in all my forthcoming articles so hopefully it will be a mutually beneficial experience for everyone.

For your interest I started out in this hobby like most, keeping fish as the main feature. Of course there is nothing wrong with this, it is simply a matter of taste. And taste is something we cannot possibly all agree on (and what a boring world it would be if we could!?) One day I may keep large fish and I fully intend to set up and run a reef tank in the future.

 

[SeahorseWhisperer]

Agreed. But not so much about having it all, I certainly wouldnt put a tang that would eat all the macros or a toadfish that will trample over seagrass, or a jawfish that will uproot newly established seagrass. I believe seahorses are probably the greatest reason to set up a planted marine tank


Tangs will not eat most Caulerpa species if they have a piece of Nori on their magfloat, and they will not touch Halimeda species no matter how hungry they are....

Jawfishes can be a great addition to a tank with hot, sexy macroalgae covering the rock abbove the sand bed where he lives, same with a funky frogfish.


I really think we can have anything in a marine planted. I prefer to have a lionfish with my SPS planted, and seahorses in my macro tank, but I could see any of the fishes you name adapted to a planted tank....

Sorry to hijack your thread GF, but I am on a kick to dispell some myths about marine planted tanks! I will start my own from here....

 

[AMS]

Tangs will not eat most Caulerpa species if they have a piece of Nori on their magfloat, and they will not touch Halimeda species no matter how hungry they are....

Jawfishes can be a great addition to a tank with hot, sexy macroalgae covering the rock abbove the sand bed where he lives, same with a funky frogfish.


I really think we can have anything in a marine planted. I prefer to have a lionfish with my SPS planted, and seahorses in my macro tank, but I could see any of the fishes you name adapted to a planted tank....

Sorry to hijack your thread GF, but I am on a kick to dispell some myths about marine planted tanks! I will start my own from here....

I actually have my own planted marine tank, maybe in an algae specific tank I would add a jawfish, but certainly not when there is new seagrass ready to root.

I have looked at your forum, looks good. I assume your under the name Algaewhisper on there.

 

[SeahorseWhisperer]

I would love to see pics! Are you into vascular plants?

(I think roots are over rated! I prefer holdfasts myself!)

 

[Dragonscales]

It is possible and easy enough to have a "natural" looking planted tank but I personally don't mind the "terrestrial" look. As a bonsai enthusiast I can apreciate the time, effort and forsight that must go into these types of planted tanks. The amount of dedication must be on par with maintaining bonsai and I really do think these are some stunning examples of living art. Great stuff!

 

[George Farmer]

It is possible and easy enough to have a "natural" looking planted tank but I personally don't mind the "terrestrial" look. As a bonsai enthusiast I can apreciate the time, effort and forsight that must go into these types of planted tanks. The amount of dedication must be on par with maintaining bonsai and I really do think these are some stunning examples of living art. Great stuff!

Thanks for that positive feedback Dragonscales. Aquascaping is indeed a living art. The advantage of the high-tech aquarium is that due to the lighting and nutrient levels we are not limited by plant choice, only by our imagination leaving the aquascaper to create whatever he or she desires.

Funnily enough I bought my first book on bonsai last weekend. Nature in miniture has always fascinated me, like playing god I suppose!

 

[VidVid]

i agree with you all...he GF does have cool tanks....i just cant believe that you can create a very good aquascape in a tank small as 8 gallons....once again im very amazed at your work...
I noticed your 33 gallon tank and how you showed your picture in order of modifying it....i assume the 8 gallon tanks are not all separate tanks but a modification of the previous?....

 

[voo]

Just out of interest whose are the tanks? And do they each have a journel describing how they were built up?

I have become interested in the planted tanks and trying it out on my own tank - started with DIY CO2, bought a new light and added a proper substrate for the plants. However my ideas let me down. I dont have the imagination to think up a good tank design

The other side that i dont like is waiting for it to all grow. I've got 2 small mats of riccia and one of pelia and for the last 2-3 weeks i think they make the tank look bad. Once they have fully grown they probably would look real nice, like in the photos. But it takes a long time till it looks like the tanks in the photos, and it's the waiting and how the tanks look whilst waiting that i dont like

 

[George Farmer]

dh - Detlef Hupfeld (AGA 2001 Best of Show)
gf - Some guy called George Farmer
jl - Justin Law (AGA 2005 Best of Show and small tank 1st and 2nd place)
nw - oldwhitewood (regular planted member)
pk - zig (regular planted member)

vivvid - the 3 x 8 gal. are the same tank, different layouts. Justin is a very highly respected member of the aquascaping community. No surprise there!

voo - I have a journal, not sure about the others.