Pictures from Thailand Aquatic Plant layout contest

[Nonn]

There are 3 majors event in a year. This is the first one of it. Follow the link below and take a look. And while waiting for an official result let guess which one is the 1st, 2nd and 3rd.

http://www.pantown.com/board.php?id=...03&action=view

[timebomb]

I like tanks 8, 9 and 11. But Nonn, why do I get the feeling that everyone is using the same brand of tank?

Loh K L

[stormhawk]

Pictures for tanks 7 and 8 are the SAME tank with the same layout.

I like tanks 9, 10, 11 and 18.

[greenmiddlefinger]

Most of the tanks seem like they need a lot more time to grow out . . . especially the foreground plants.

11 was impressive with good rock work and substrate match. The others . . . well, I think they need more time to grow, or else there are compositional failings . . .

I also think 15 would be pretty good except for that one floating plant.

thanks for sharing all the pics

[greenmiddlefinger]

Oh, and if you're wondering . . .

8: Water sprite is raggedy and thin. That one unhealthy plants detracts from everything else-- because it takes an important place in the tank and fails. The tonina was impressive though.

9: Having a perfectly symmetrical composition like this is weak. The eye cannot find a resting point-- which can be a good thing, but not here. There is not enough contrast between the two. Neither side is particularly attractive because of an excessive amount of brown. The plants should have nice greens and reds instead of brown. The wood on the left is too big.

10: Once again, perfectly symmetrical is dangerous. Here too, it fails because of lack of contrast between the two "islands." Multi colored rock field is distracting-- it takes too much space. The moss foreground looks like it was just set in the tank 5 minutes ago (it rides up at the edges).

18: This tank does have good form! I especally care for the neatness of the substrate-- rock foreground is strong as well. The hardscape in the mid ground though, it too strong, takes up too much space. There needs to be some place for plants in the mid ground-- the rocks take ALL the attention, and seem naked and unnatural.

[BeyondGomer]

I like some of the works there but others have me a little puzzled. Tanks 1, 13, 16, 17, 18 and 20 all could have been planted the same day as the photoshoot..

[ruyle]

I like 8, 11, and 15, though my wife says #7 won or is rated #1. I
don't like the smooth river rock in any scapes it was used.

Bill

[Piscesgirl]

I like the 2nd picture down, and the one that is labeled 10, I think. I really like the rock work on those tanks. I wish they'd send me some rocks!

[ruyle]

Deborah, 2 and 10 are very good, and...no river rock!

Bill

[Nonn]

Hi guys, these are from instant competition. Meaning, the host have a tank for you, you go in with all the stuffs and you get it all done in a few hours. Then they judge it a day later. It is not like Amano compettition that you have time to grow the plant and take the picture. This is judge from the real tank all together in one event hall.

[whuntley]

Deborah,

Unless you live along the Gulf Coast or other alluvial plains, rocks aren't worth shipping. Collect your own. Take your dogs for long walks and always carry a back pack or a paperboy's shoulder bag. You will soon find more than you can use.

It costs the price of a bottle of pool acid (HCl), maybe US$3 or so, and a small dropper bottle if you want to carry some in the field for testing. Most substances that would dissolve and cause trouble in your tank will "fizz" when some strong acid is dripped on them. Limestone, dolomite, marble, and other such fossilized carbonates will react rather strongly. They would make your water harder over time unless you do very frequent water changes.

I collect all kinds of rocks. Water rounded river rocks tend to be safest, for they have had long immersion in fresh water and have less probability of causing problems. Soluble stuff is long ago dissolved away. The same applies to river sand and gravel from places way away from the ocean and any shell sources. Lapis Lustre aquarium gravel, which is mined from near the beaches of Monterey CA, has lots of small shell fragments (the whiter chips) and bubbles vigorously when under pool acid.

Use caution and wear eye protection when using any strong acid. HCl will burn your skin a little, too, but is safer than nitric or sulphuric because you can flush it off with little damage if it gets on you. [I think the pool stuff is a bit dilute, maybe 3 normal (?).]

This winter, a serious roof collapse and melting snow gave me a large barrel of rainwater. Because pure rainwater is always acid (from atmospheric CO2 absorbed), and corrosive as all get out, I have used it to further condition my collected rocks by just storing them in the barrel submerged in the rainwater. Now that spring is here, and the water is more often liquid than solid, I see the minerals have enriched it enough to start a good green water culture.

Wright

[Piscesgirl]

Wright,

Will Coca Cola work?

[keehoe]

I like tank 14. Judging by look. It is very outstanding and bright.
18 also, is a total different feel.

[whuntley]

Wright,

Will Coca Cola work?

NO! Coke has too many things in it that promote bacteria, etc. If you are very rich, you can use seltzer water from WalMart, but it takes a helluva lot of it, to avoid saturating it and losing the beneficial corrosive effects. [ I make the rash assumption that you weren't just yanking on my leg. ]

Rain water, RO, DI or distilled water are better for leeching stuff out of rocks. The time is months, not days, too.

Wright

[Piscesgirl]

Wright, I was yanking your leg just a tiny bit but then serious too -- my brother used to clean rust off of metal with Coca Cola. I've always heard it is corrosive!

[whuntley]

Like any carbonated beverage, it will (sort of) dissolve the insoluble oxides, hydroxides and carbonates of the divalent metals like iron, calcium and magnesium.

Pool acid is quicker and better, but can burn you. A commercial product is close, called CLR (for calcium, lime, rust). I have found it very useful for softening the hard-water scale on old aquaria. You still wear rubber gloves or regret not doing so.

Wright

[FC]

I like 10 and 14 best though I like many others too. I am very impressed by these 1 day old tanks.

[greenmiddlefinger]

ah! that makes sense! In that case-- instead of being weak, the scapers were just lacking in strategical sense instead.

If it is a 1 day contest, the smartest thing would probably be just to leave an open, clean, light colored foreground, and create a strong background element with plants, especially moss, tied to stone with fishing line. Why even bother with stem plants? Smartest just to go with tall crypts and cyperus helferi for the background in my book.

[Madan]

Hello Noon,

My vote is for No.11 or is that the wide angle lens that is giving me the fish eye effect?

No.6 is too is very good in my book.

One question though, were some of the tanks photographed immediately after set up? No. 16 has Lobelia cardinalis in the foreground, the leaves are the emersed form.