Planting Strategy

[stream]

Dear all experienced aquatic planters out there

Could you share your planting strategy, e.g
. placement of plants in your tank; random or organized(vertical, horizontal or diagonal direction)
. Grouping of plants according to species, color. Pros and Cons
. which plant should go with which
. which plant should NOT go with which
. Emulate natural habitat
. Themes
. Emulate Amano
. Styles

I'm sure each of you have your preference. I'm would like to hear you out.

[benetay]

For me, i usually go for biotope of a certain area liek the SA setup.I don't follow amano becos i dun like the 'beautiful' bubbling effect so fakish. Amano styles don't compromise wif emulating the effect of a natural habitat IMO.

I go for Echinodorus family plants as they are big and huge(some) and small and nice(others) . For me i keep apisto so i will try to create a theme with rocks,driftwood and plants(of cos) it usually depends on what kind of setting up you're going to do.

i do according to my heart contents i don't stress myself over small little detail of where which plant should be precisionly rooted anyway doing a planted tank should be fun and not stressful.[]

So have fun

[vinz]

Hmmm.... I think my style leans towards dutch.

I don't really follow any rules. I don't think there are any plants that go well or don't go well with another... its all aesthetics which is subject to what your trying to achieve. Similarly for layout directions (err... horizontal, vertical?). As guidelines, I try to use colours and shapes of the plants to create contrast and focal points. This will pretty much help determine placement.

If you look at my tank in My Tanks gallery, the one with the large wood, I was trying to create a secondary focal point on the left side with the Gratiola sp. The shape of the wood was meant to direct the attention to the primary focus which is the red lotus. The sunset and pinkish colours of the R.Indica and H.Polysperma to pull focus towards the lotus. The B.Japonica and E.Triandra to contrast the reds in the mid-ground and background. Unfortunately it did not turned out as well as I wanted it and in the end I had to remove the wood as it started giving me massive algae problems.

A common pitfall with this kind of deliberate layout is the amount of time need to maintain the composition. I am leaning towards a layout that will look nice even when it gets overgrown... a more natural look.

[setiardi]

Well stream, I myself am a Amano follower.His styles basically to bring landscapes of nature he sees ard him and emulate in a tank.I can relate that coz was brought up during the kampung days and recall those landscapes I see to my tank.



Usually this is a bit artistic in nature, u could follow amano rule of 1:1.618 ratio which defines planting ur main stuff 2/3 left or right.Off-centre is the key coz planting ur mainbody exactly centre will make the whole setup a bit unnatural when viewed.U could add stones or wood in this area.


Place plants that grows vertical behind and possibly the fastest growing ones furthest behind to the slowest, horizontal growing ones infront.

U can also grow one species of plant with rocks /stone. U need to read up abt plant characteristics and colour.Try different hues of green so that each plant blend to the setup yet still distinct when viewed.Finally to add cherry to the cake add red plants. Usually this plants are to be strategicly located .Place them to the mainbody if u want to emphasize the mainbody.Red plants attracts the viewers eyes first.So if u want viewers to pan their eyes across the whole tank, place them on the left if ur mainbody is on the right. Hope this works for u.

[budak]

First things first. You have make sure that you have the substrate, sufficient lighting, CO2 and base/liquid fert as well as water conditions (kH, pH, temperature) such that the plants will thrive in the first place. Beyond this, aquascaping is pretty much a matter of individual taste and practical considerations.

One tip though: arranging your gravel such that the back part is much higher compared to the front portion, and using some wood, rocks or plastic divider to prevent the gravel from levelling out will go a long way in making life much easier later on, and the effect of depth of field is much better.

Generally, large plants go to the back, and small plants go to the front. Use the plant databases (www.dennerle.de and www.tropica.com) and search individual AQ posts to get information on the specific plants. Remember though, that fast growing plants (e.g. riccia and many stem plants) usually require almost constant maintenance in pruning and replanting, so though they look damn nice, the pretty picture you see in books and LFS comes about only through a rigorous maintenance regime (pruning, water changes, algae-scrubbing, liquid fert addition etc).

Whether you want to emulate a natural biotype or follow a certain theme is up to you, whatever pleases you. Amano and Dutch tanks are a school onto themselves: the former you can read from his books and for the latter, this site is a good starting point: http://www.ntnu.no/~foksen.

One tip: I find that trying to cram as many different species of plants in a tank usually makes it look haphazard and messy. A more natural (as plants tend to grow in thick single-species clumps in the wild) approach is to use several specimens of just a few species, especially stem plants.

[spilopterus]

see as many tanks as possible for inspiration.

Erm, by trial and error sometimes. Keep the number of species to as few as possible. I go for simplistic design. when there are too many, the different growth rates creates a lot of problem in maintaining visual harmony.

1-2 species of certain plants and the infinite combination can create and array of patterns.

Not forgetting, after getting some rummy nose tetras for my planted tank for the first time, I learned that fishes can change the mood and look of the tank dramatically. I have to say I find cardinals a little to cliche.

[kelstorm]

well.. initially, me wanted to plant a lot of species of plants as possible.. but i discovered that i have to constantly maintain it.. due to different growth rate.. sigh.. as a result, i gave away a lot of my plants and try to simplify my tank.. and wait for the plants to bloom.. the outlook is just simply for my viewing pleasure.. i dun really go into biotope or dutch method.. i guess some aquarists over here practise the same planting methods as i do.. []

[Alfa Low]

I intended to turn my tank into the combination of Amano and Dutch style but eventually it turn out to be "Rojak" style since i couldn't retrict myself for putting more plants in my tank.[]

Anyway, for a small tank, try to avoid huge leave plant such as Echinodorus sp and Nymphaea sp. Rock, wood and gravel should be in similar or contrasting colour and texture as well.

[stream]

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On 6/5/2002 7:13:12 PM
Anyway, for a small tank, try to avoid huge leave plant such as Echinodorus sp and Nymphaea sp. Rock, wood and gravel should be in similar or contrasting colour and texture as well.
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I agree to this point. If the tank is small and the plants are big in proportion, I personally find it odd and out of place. That is just my personal opinion.

Could those who have respond also share with me if they use rocks or driftwood in their aquascaping. Why are they used? How are they used? Are there any rules in their usage(e.g if you use rocks, don't use driftwood, etc)? Would driftwood affect the PH of the water?

Setiardi, your layout is very nice, very Amano. Good job.[:]

[budak]

On rocks/wood, one general rule is that you should use only one kind of each, i.e. dun mix different types of wood (e.g. the dark brown thick bogwood and the lighter, thinner mangrove root). But if you find experimenting to your taste, nothing's stopping you.

Wood is handy to block unsightly stuff like filter pipes, CO2 reactors, and stringy plant stems. They work best when placed in an off-centre, off-balance way (this creates dramatic tension). You can also tie stuff on them, like ferns, mosses, Anubias plants, barbie dolls, Chinese New Year lanterns [ahem] to make them more interesting.

[setiardi]

stream, if u want to learn the Amano style, try getting the Aquajournal vol 34 and ur qns will be answered. He'll explain the concepts of layout and stuff. One word of caution is that after viewing his master pieces u might get hook to his style. Abt dutch layout can try from the net or the dennerle plant book. Thanks 4 the compliment.

[stream]

Hi Setiardi

I have all 3 volumes. Thats why I recognize his style.

[kunner]

Hi all! I think, this is all depends on inividual preferance. My set up have change many times and in fact it is very different from the first one. The set up change from time to time. I guess rest of the "old timer" experience this.

[Simon]

off-topic

from what I see.. emulating Amano's work is great but copying it exactly the same is other thing.. can be seen in last years ADA competition.. I feel sad for those who use their creativity but cannot par those who re-construct Amano's work as their entries

I dun think u need to be a 'old timer' to constantly change the scaping.. sometimes, other factors is involved.. like work and family commitment..