POLAND IAPLC Contest!

[blue33]

I like to share with you guys on Poland IAPLC Contest! Enjoy! Will join your for the IAPLC 2009 contest, hope i can make it!

Click > HERE <

[blue33]

I find that this contest is more concern for ranking around ranking below 50-100! As you can see some of the contestant tank looks so good yet fall behind others who dont, guess too many tank to choose from.

[AquaObsession]

And the standards are so high!

[Burnz]

ooo... i like #87. Anyone knows what mosses are attached to the rocks? The cracks and crevices are quite interesting, good deviation from traditional iwagumi scapes.

[Shadow]

yeah their standart is very high, we are fall far behind

[Jervis]

Wow! The Polish are quite skillful... wonderful!

[benetay]

I think what we lack is time. I'm sure if time permits, we'll be able to match their tanks. Focusing is something that we lack, we deviate too much from the goal.

[Burnz]

yeah their standart is very high, we are fall far behind

I think what we lack is time. I'm sure if time permits, we'll be able to match their tanks. Focusing is something that we lack, we deviate too much from the goal.

Yes, as far as we see from IAPLC 2008 we are really quite far behind though we have all the resources to be found here in Singapore. Bene, i don't think time is a factor since we can shoot out tanks anytime they are ready even way before the dateline. However i agree that we lack focus and deviate from the goal. Threads on aquascape tend to focus more on discussing equipments, bio products and water paramenters than focusing on design skills, which weighs heavily in IAPLC.

This definitely do not sound nice but i honestly think we lack critical comments to critique each other's work, particular with regards to layout and composition. Comments like "nice" and "good" don't really help us collectively to progress. I am not trying to be a snob here but i just putting down words from my thought... which i am preparing myself to be flamed

cheers

[naturalmystic]

Good one Burnz.

Honestly, how many of us think about entering the contest when we start a new tank or scape? Most of us are newbies who tend to create an acceptable-looking tank that are pleasing just to our own eyes. Critiques can easily be brushed off with excuses like, "Oh, that was meant to be that way", "I'll let the plants grow and we'll see how it goes", etc...

When the scaping looks nice to others, then we start to think of entering the contest. I do believe that most of the top tanks, if not all, began their aquascaping journeys with the sole goal of entering the contest

That said, I am one of the newbies mentioned above with no desire to enter any competition. Put it down to lack of confidence or courage or a happy-go-lucky attitude but I am content to just admire the works of art of others Also, I think, most of us entered the contest with the right spirit: to be honoured humbly and to otherwise (cannot use the word lose here as all entrants are winners) graciously.

Right, I believe I should be like Burnz and "preparing myself to be flamed".

[blue33]

What people should learn from "George Farmer" has said,

"I believe the first fundamental lesson to learn before even designing and implementing a successful aquascape is to learn how to grow plants effectively. No layout will be successful with dying or algae-infested plants. Once plant growing has been mastered through appropriate lighting and nutrient levels, whether they be high light, CO2, etc. or ‘lower-tech’ methods, one is then free to concentrate on the creative side of aquascaping and layout design. "

I strongly believe that, as i went through the stages before, alot of people currently facing this issue, not much research done or observant enough. Like people said about my "first planted tank" on not much scape, my intention was to learn how to plant first and not scaping first, and how many has really successfully grown most of the plant(especially stem plant and to get the colour you want to achieve), i would said not many... If you cant even grow the plant you want, even you have the most beautiful scape is of no use, only healthy and vibrant plant will truly show the best of the scape you want to present. Remember this, plant is a living thing whereas scape is death thing. Currently what i see is most of the time people facing is lack of skill in planting then the scaping part itself.

We should occasionally gather and shared what we've learned, thought everybody is so busy...

-> Link to George Farmer has said, Click > Here <

[Burnz]

What people should learn from "George Farmer" has said,

"I believe the first fundamental lesson to learn before even designing and implementing a successful aquascape is to learn how to grow plants effectively. No layout will be successful with dying or algae-infested plants. Once plant growing has been mastered through appropriate lighting and nutrient levels, whether they be high light, CO2, etc. or ‘lower-tech’ methods, one is then free to concentrate on the creative side of aquascaping and layout design. "

I strongly believe that, as i went through the stages before, alot of people currently facing this issue, not much research done or observant enough. Like people said about my "first planted tank" on not much scape, my intention was to learn how to plant first and not scaping first, and how many has really successfully grown most of the plant(especially stem plant and to get the colour you want to achieve), i would said not many... If you cant even grow the plant you want, even you have the most beautiful scape is of no use, only healthy and vibrant plant will truly show the best of the scape you want to present. Remember this, plant is a living thing whereas scape is death thing. Currently what i see is most of the time people facing is lack of skill in planting then the scaping part itself.

We should occasionally gather and shared what we've learned, thought everybody is so busy...

Hi blue,

Glad there are some opinions to my post, though not many.

Although i agree that one must learn how to plant healthy plants, but i feel we shouldn't dwell too much in that domain. What i am pointing towards is "whats next" after George Farmers "Fundamentals"? Do we stop there or we move on to his next section, if you like, "Shape your Inspiration". My question is when people do finally learn how to grow healthy plants is there a ready pool of information from threads and discussions in this forum to help hobbist bring their hobby to the next level, to create inspiring scapes?

However, I disagree that the scape is a dead thing as you mention. Again, from Farmer's perspective if you like, "Aquascaping is the ultimate combination of living art, design and technology"..

Aquascaping is a living art, design and technology. Three components.

Cheers

[raglan]

Thank you for sharing the photos, Blue33.
I'm just contemplating planting all my bare tanks, so it was a good slide show to learn from. Any tanks I plant would have to be 'scaped', to give a "natural " look.

The funny thing I noticed when I tried a bit of scaping before was that my arrangements always ended up looking better from the back instead of from the front !


Dave

[blue33]

Hi blue,

Glad there are some opinions to my post, though not many.

Although i agree that one must learn how to plant healthy plants, but i feel we shouldn't dwell too much in that domain. What i am pointing towards is "whats next" after George Farmers "Fundamentals"? Do we stop there or we move on to his next section, if you like, "Shape your Inspiration". My question is when people do finally learn how to grow healthy plants is there a ready pool of information from threads and discussions in this forum to help hobbist bring their hobby to the next level, to create inspiring scapes?

However, I disagree that the scape is a dead thing as you mention. Again, from Farmer's perspective if you like, "Aquascaping is the ultimate combination of living art, design and technology"..

Aquascaping is a living art, design and technology. Three components.

Cheers

Like i said if first stage you cant clear, you can forget the second stage, just like driving, you got to pass basic theory before final theory and then practical driving, 3 stages or components. Same logic. Though there's ready pool of information from threads and discussion, you still see most of the tank not getting any healthy plant, so they opt for more easy plant to keep, from original plan they have to something which they reluctant to see. Are those winner tank having dramatic plant like candy and colour image easy to get, the answer is "NO"... even getting the plant to grow red is already so difficult for most people dont talk about scaping. Everyone after seeing those winner tank, they immediately think of trying to scape exactly the same as the winner but they fail not because they look different, is just that the plant dont grow like the winner tank. I'm not trying to pour cold water on it, but be realistic about it, you got to build strong foundation first before achieving other thing. Planting is not like following the thread closely and you'll get the same result but to actually understand why it happen and adjust to your own planting requirement to get the best out of it. Different tank different people different result produce. How many people get to plant HC emmersed successfully like "Tom Barr", most of the people after trying think he properly have another secret tool behind it to grow it well, cause alot of people fail to follow or understand the logic. And he hardly answer those question post on it as he knows that you either not following it or dont understand the logic behind it. Thats my guess!

Why i kept saying build the foundation first is because alot of people cant get the plant to grow what they want and they ruin the whole scape, so you see terrible scape they have, this is not what they want in the first place.

[richmaster]

I like #137. I like the tunnel that the fish can hide in and all of the plants make it look like its natural.

[Burnz]

I like #137. I like the tunnel that the fish can hide in and all of the plants make it look like its natural.

#133 you mean? Yes, the shaded area being the focus of the scape is quite novel as compared to the regular ones. The angel fishes helped alot in the pic.

[hii]

WOW .. so many entries.

[Captain Telecredible]

Thanks for sharing, its really beautiful and gorgeous !

[Burnz]

Like i said if first stage you cant clear, you can forget the second stage, just like driving, you got to pass basic theory before final theory and then practical driving, 3 stages or components. Same logic. Though there's ready pool of information from threads and discussion, you still see most of the tank not getting any healthy plant, so they opt for more easy plant to keep, from original plan they have to something which they reluctant to see. Are those winner tank having dramatic plant like candy and colour image easy to get, the answer is "NO"... even getting the plant to grow red is already so difficult for most people dont talk about scaping. Everyone after seeing those winner tank, they immediately think of trying to scape exactly the same as the winner but they fail not because they look different, is just that the plant dont grow like the winner tank. I'm not trying to pour cold water on it, but be realistic about it, you got to build strong foundation first before achieving other thing. Planting is not like following the thread closely and you'll get the same result but to actually understand why it happen and adjust to your own planting requirement to get the best out of it. Different tank different people different result produce. How many people get to plant HC emmersed successfully like "Tom Barr", most of the people after trying think he properly have another secret tool behind it to grow it well, cause alot of people fail to follow or understand the logic. And he hardly answer those question post on it as he knows that you either not following it or dont understand the logic behind it. Thats my guess!

Why i kept saying build the foundation first is because alot of people cant get the plant to grow what they want and they ruin the whole scape, so you see terrible scape they have, this is not what they want in the first place.

Yes Blue, I have agreed in my previous post that we do need to know the fundamentals of "aquagardening", but my intention is to highlight the relatively lesser focus in developing scaping design skills. My point is that we should also try to engage more in discussing design skills just as we ponder about growing healthy plants. The necessary stages "aquascaping" I feel, can be intermingled. Since you have quoted Tom Barr, I have come across an interesting article by him written sometime ago about the stages of aquascaping. No hard and fast rule, many ways to get where we want. To quote Barr: "Folks need to take the risk and try out their ideas"

http://www.arofanatics.com/forums/ar.../t-171607.html

Therefore, I think we shouldn't be too reserved about going ahead to design and voicing our ideas and opinions be it right or wrong, regardless if we are proficient in planting or not. Its all a good process of learning aquascaping here together.

As to your analogy of driving, from Stage A -> Stage B -> Stage C, that is a pretty structured way of learning as we are usually accustomed to here. However, there are also other means to get to Stage C, sometimes we just have to be a bit flexible. For example, to follow the route of basic driving theory to final theory and then practical driving only ensures you to drive safely under the TP codes. But that doesn't really make you a great driver doesn't it? I'm sure you know people around who can drive perfectly well without having gone through the steps? Well, I do. Sometimes flexibilty and bending around can help in achieving goals. Might be more rocky, certainly no less exciting. As Barr have mentioned in the last sentence, at the end of the day, creativity and interesting design counts.

Cheers

[jacian]

Frankly speaking, I am disappointed with the local aquascaping scene. We are far behind with the rest of the world. I agreed with what Blue33, Burnz and naturalmystic had said but no answer to how we can improve on it.

[blue33]

Yes Blue, I have agreed in my previous post that we do need to know the fundamentals of "aquagardening", but my intention is to highlight the relatively lesser focus in developing scaping design skills. My point is that we should also try to engage more in discussing design skills just as we ponder about growing healthy plants. The necessary stages "aquascaping" I feel, can be intermingled. Since you have quoted Tom Barr, I have come across an interesting article by him written sometime ago about the stages of aquascaping. No hard and fast rule, many ways to get where we want. To quote Barr: "Folks need to take the risk and try out their ideas"

http://www.arofanatics.com/forums/ar.../t-171607.html

Therefore, I think we shouldn't be too reserved about going ahead to design and voicing our ideas and opinions be it right or wrong, regardless if we are proficient in planting or not. Its all a good process of learning aquascaping here together.

As to your analogy of driving, from Stage A -> Stage B -> Stage C, that is a pretty structured way of learning as we are usually accustomed to here. However, there are also other means to get to Stage C, sometimes we just have to be a bit flexible. For example, to follow the route of basic driving theory to final theory and then practical driving only ensures you to drive safely under the TP codes. But that doesn't really make you a great driver doesn't it? I'm sure you know people around who can drive perfectly well without having gone through the steps? Well, I do. Sometimes flexibilty and bending around can help in achieving goals. Might be more rocky, certainly no less exciting. As Barr have mentioned in the last sentence, at the end of the day, creativity and interesting design counts.

Cheers

Tom Barr said those words is he already an expert in getting plant grow, if he is not an expert in plant grow i dont think he would be in today, sharing and talking about it. You can see how many here can grow stem plant alone, most of them are growing easy plant, such as ferns and so on, most of them are moving to easy way of maintaining it. that could be due to our hectic work that we are facing here in Singapore. Everybody said they are so busy, the best way to plant is go for the easier one after failing those high tech planting, they go for low tech, to me low tech or high tech is the same. There's no easier way of planting to get the best outlook, maybe moss, even moss also need detail maintain to get the winner shape like Filipe Oliveira the winner of "60L Syrah planura", you need every detail to maintain such.

Talking about driving theory, if you do not know even the basic sign, do you think you can drive on the road, you'll only cause accident to others, that is theory, bro!

No point debating on this! To get to the point of great aquascaping, you need to have strong interest, patience, observant enough of small detail and daring to try. Thats all i can said!