The state of Singapore aquascaping

[Wackytpt]

about plant growth....
Personally, i feel one has to know each plant before they do any scape using that plant. Most people, when starting out, simply pick and choose and plonk the plants that are pleasing to their eye into the tank. This usually results in a linear/stiff outlay and un-natural look. For me, i was lucky enough to have gone through a period where collecting plants was a fun thing to do. i remember that i even had a small "collectoritis" tank which i used to try to grow all sorts of rare plants. This allowed me to understand each plant's growth and characteristic..you'll be surprised that once you know that... you also know what and where to use them. Sometimes they even inspire you to create and try a whole new scape. Nowadays, you hardly get the chance to see the rare plants anymore.. its every now and then rather than in your face when the rage was on. What happened to ranunculus? or hong yu san (red umbrella..anyone can tell me the sccientific name? ) or ludwigia "araguia"? just to name a few?
Its through growing and learning/observing the growth of each plant that you realise their differences and understand how to use them to apply to your own individual distinct scape. That is when you learn to blend them like the colours of the rainbow. So all i can say is.. practice practice practice..observe and learn..then adapt to become better.
in short.. using plants kind of becomes like using hardscape. So are you an (a) or (b) in choosing your plants?

Hong yu san should be Proserpinaca Palustris "Cuba"

It is also known as pp for short.

[Blue Whale]

about plant growth....
Personally, i feel one has to know each plant before they do any scape using that plant. Most people, when starting out, simply pick and choose and plonk the plants that are pleasing to their eye into the tank. This usually results in a linear/stiff outlay and un-natural look. For me, i was lucky enough to have gone through a period where collecting plants was a fun thing to do. i remember that i even had a small "collectoritis" tank which i used to try to grow all sorts of rare plants. This allowed me to understand each plant's growth and characteristic..you'll be surprised that once you know that... you also know what and where to use them. Sometimes they even inspire you to create and try a whole new scape. Nowadays, you hardly get the chance to see the rare plants anymore.. its every now and then rather than in your face when the rage was on. What happened to ranunculus? or hong yu san (red umbrella..anyone can tell me the sccientific name? ) or ludwigia "araguia"? just to name a few?
Its through growing and learning/observing the growth of each plant that you realise their differences and understand how to use them to apply to your own individual distinct scape. That is when you learn to blend them like the colours of the rainbow. So all i can say is.. practice practice practice..observe and learn..then adapt to become better.
in short.. using plants kind of becomes like using hardscape. So are you an (a) or (b) in choosing your plants?

Lama, just brought out one critical problem. We are weak in plant names. If we don't know our plants, how do we compete with others? Hence, senior members in the forum can come out and share on plants at times. ^^ Please provide more tutorials. You create the avenues and people will start travelling on it.

[blue33]

Start from basic first, 2ft tank should be enough to give good result. Not necessary you need fantastic plant in order to scape, always start from basic and basic.

[Blue Whale]

Yeah...but pekchek man...not enough depth to play around....not like 3ft. lol...see? I regret not having a 3ft already...ha ha.

[ranmasatome]

That is my point. That you don't need fantastic plants to scape well or create depth. You just need to understand what each plant you are going to use will do for you and make that work for you in your scape. This is why understanding plant growth, whether they are rare or not, is important. i was merely stating that i was lucky enough to have gone through a period when everyone was crazy collecting plants which helped in my plant knowledge today.
2ft tanks are great! They are still my tank of choice these days for "home" and enjoyment and "experiment" tanks.
3ft ad above is when you really really want to start something serious because the effort taken is really not worth it if it ain't. at least to me la..haha.
Here is an example from a while ago.. of some experimentation without a "big" tank.. I still don't think it was great but it was fun while it lasted.

[Blue Whale]

My Christmas moss is in the process of spreading very beautifully...although it is in my 1ft; can't wait to show case it later on. ^^" Java Ferns...quite a lot...still thinking where to put them...hc...aha...this is simple, just increase the numbers. Another two types...lol...I have to do some homework on this.

Wilfred although did not attended Iwagumi workshop will be re-scaping in 1-2 weeks time as well after 2months from setup. How about the rest? ^o^/ I need to point out you don't have to get new tanks/filters/rock. Forum do have marketplace so you just need discerning eyes to fish them out.

Places like Biotope sell rocks in KG. There are two types currently. I can't openly give out price...wait spoilt market...so best for you to go there and see it yourself. GC also have rocks. So does other places. Do your walkaround, increase a bit of your local fs knowledge into what each of them carries, and you will know where to get it when you want it.

[blue33]

3ft is width not depth anymore . Common tank the depth is standard. I only scape 2ft tank, and the result is good, my friend William only use 45cm tank, he also get good result. If below 2ft you got problem then.... . Not sure how you going to manage a 3ft tank.

Yeah...but pekchek man...not enough depth to play around....not like 3ft. lol...see? I regret not having a 3ft already...ha ha.

[Blue Whale]

3ft is width not depth anymore . Common tank the depth is standard. I only scape 2ft tank, and the result is good, my friend William only use 45cm tank, he also get good result. If below 2ft you got problem then.... . Not sure how you going to manage a 3ft tank.

24x12x18inch. ^^" considerably, its a different 2ft than I used to have. I have 3 other 2fts same size but not like the current one. Hence having issue getting used to it. For a start, I need to change the light, filter, soil and plants. Just got 2L of power sand special plus the 3L Amazonia II that I have. Amazonia I ran out of stock at Biotope. Will speed up the dry up process most likely on Wed when I am on leave. Then dig into the driftwood stock I have from the storeroom ^^" have quite a lot to choose from. So you have to understand where I am coming from. More worry on shadow areas if I need to use drifty along the way that is.

[felix_fx2]

We are all bound by this constrains

Inspiration/Creativity
Material
Budget
Time

Patience.

So whats your biggest 3 constrains
i'll be getting a new 2Ft to try scaping in this 1-2 mths.

Biggest problems are. Inspiration:Material:Budget

[Blue Whale]

^^ Budget? I need DEEEEEEP POCKET!!!!! ha ha...Never kena toto nevermind. Buy 4767 and 5767, yet Sunday came out 6767! Walao...almost got my pocket money...ha ha..I just see $950 prize money departed from me. XD

[Blue Whale]

Thio,
You could let us know when the new stocks comes in.

^o^/ For those who don't know, they still have stock for Amazonia II, Africana. Don't remember seeing Malayan, but hey they bringing in Amazonia I again. And sorry, I just bought the last Bacter 100. hee hee. And yes, they still got the very very sharp pinsette.

Another idea for senior hobbist,
Some of you could grow some of the plants then introduce to members via workshop and give away. So you are looking at harvesting via co-ordinated efforts whilst having a workshop to introduce the plants. So this is something Vinz could be involved. ^^Y Yeah.

[BFG]

Let me chime in a bit.

Budget can be overcome. Save up a bit and don't follow the others. There's no need for you to follow what others are purchasing. You could hold off buying big ticket item until you have the cash.

Material is also linked up to budget but this is where you reach the crossroad. On one hand you need to save up to buy a big ticket item ( ie an ADA tank for example ) but you want to buy those nice formation of driftwood or those nice rocks that you happen to see at the lfs. What would you do? Walkaway and save your funds. An aquascaping 'artist' must not be held down by what he wants but rather by what he can create with the minimum he has or can get.

Inspiration- This is up to individual. You can have all the good stuff on the market but if you lack this, your presentation will not come out nicely, kinda like stage fright. You might not have up to date equipment but with inspiration, your setup might come out looking good.

Patience- This is all that you have right now. If you rush into creating something, the outcome might not come out the way you desired it to be. There will be moments of " I should have done it the other way........" or so on and so forth.

Planning-Start to plan what you want to get. Painter must have a canvas to paint on so an aquascaping artist must have a tank to create his art. Choose a nice and clear tank with minimal distracting element ( ie no botchy silicone line or whatever ) and place it on a stable platform or a permanent cabinet if your budget allow it. Get good reliable equipment so that it will not distract you from your aquascaping moment. After all this is done, you are left to determine your aquascaping concept. If you can't make it to this year competition, no fret and join the next available competition. No rush really. At the end of the day, if you want to re-scape you would already have your hardware and just need to change what's inside of your tank. With this plan in hand, it would not cost much ( $200++ for every re-scaping period? ) to re-scape and you would eventually gain more experience. I believe those top aquascaper in the ADA competition are not 1st time aquascaper and they would have gone through many re-scaping period to achieve their end result.

Sorry for the long reply. Hope this helps!

[Blue Whale]

^_^ not at all long. I read through every word. $200...never think along that line. $2000 yes. ha ha. $5000 goodie good good. Felix also have bigger plans in mind...shhh...don't let the cat out of the bag so fast, make people itchy itchy first. I can re-scape until I have the relevant equipments and tanks to do a good one and say Yata! ichiban! Temporary can only go "hai! hai!" (Yes Yes)

[Shadow]

Lama, just brought out one critical problem. We are weak in plant names. If we don't know our plants, how do we compete with others? Hence, senior members in the forum can come out and share on plants at times. ^^ Please provide more tutorials. You create the avenues and people will start travelling on it.

Knowing name is a plus but not critical. Even ADA don't really care about name. Don't be surprise if some of the name at IAPLC booklet is wrong.

[Blue Whale]

Knowing name is a plus but not critical. Even ADA don't really care about name. Don't be surprise if some of the name at IAPLC booklet is wrong.

I thought they don't actually list out the names of the plants? Now if supposed we go ahead and comment. Here is one.



^o^/ Number 1038. How do you describe the plants if you dunno the plant names?

[felix_fx2]

By asking fellow members.

Thats how i know my bacopa is bacopa .
Guess what, their flowering again haha...

[Shadow]

They list down the top rank only.

[StanChung]

I think just do it! If you don't fail you don't learn anything.
Nobody can only do one tank and be Grand champion! Not when there are so many other 'high hands' out there.

The road is long so enjoy the journey!
Stay positive and pssst- materials can be bought from this side of the border if you can't find it in Sg.
I know a couple that have done so.

[Blue Whale]

^_^ my sentiment, stan. Don't be afraid to fail.

Ladies and gentleman,

You just seen the struggle of Blue Whale and how the rest encourages him to move forward. Time for you to take that first step and don't be afraid to fail. \^o^/ Everyone enjoy your hobby and express yourself!

[[C]irRuS]

I think plant name is not really a critical thing at all.

The size of the plants, the growth rate, and how it grows is more critical in my opinion.

Usually I will just flip through those taiwan magazine with plants as their main focus for content. Then I will go to farm like TEO, and tell them I want this plant.

Most of the time shops and farm don't even know the plant name, they will just look at the picture and recommend you accordingly. If they do not carry the plants that you require, you can ask them to recommend the next best alternative or similar plants.