Rojak style... help needed!

[tsunami]

Hello everyone,

I'm from the www.aquaticplantcentral.com forum. As next week's aquascaping topic at our forum, I would like to describe Singapore's Rojak aquascaping style. Can anyone here give me any details on what this style is all about? Any rules or guidelines on plantings, or perhaps guidelines/tips on good hardscaping with rock or wood? Any help would be greatly appreciated. You can either email me your responses:

[email protected]

Or post right here, to spur good discussion. I would also greatly appreciate good examples.

Carlos

[BFG]

Hello Tsunami, welcome to AQ!

Rojak, in Singaporeanese term is a mixture of food. The Chinese have their own type of rojak, the Indians have their own types of rojak and also the Malay have their own type of rojak. As all the race easily knows and can identify with their rojak, the term rojak has become understandibly known as something that is being mixed together. The rojak is actually a food dish, a mixture of fruits and vegetable and certain race has some foodstuff added that is different than the other race dish. But all in all, everyone in Singapore enjoy all the kinds of rojak that is sold in the foodcourt. That is where the term Rojak was coined.

In answering to your question regarding Singapore Rojak Aquascaping Style, there are no rules( I believe). Anything goes in the planted tank. The owner of the planted tank does not segregate the plants from where it's geographical location are, instead, we used whatever plants that's available in the market. Just that you need to arrange it to be appealing. In my opinion, more planted tank owner went into this hobby just to have something that is from nature to be available right in their home to be viewed. Of course they would like to view something that is beautiful. Keeping things simple and easy is the aim as most adult comes home from work to de-stress and by viewing a planted tank it does helps a bit( in my case). I myself do not follow any rules of thumb in creating my own planted tank. As long as I am happy with the way my planted tank looks like, I am contented. If there are others who likes the way I have put together my planted tank, that will be an added bonus.

Hope this helps! Just my US$0.02 . Maybe the others can put in more views.

[budak]

haha, rojak style simply means doing whatever you like, taking whatever works for you from whichever source or inspiration.

Adding on to BFG's observation, I would like to add that as one matures in the hobby, one finds that if one really wants to set up tanks that will require minimal intervention (water changes + fert dosing, feeding, occasional trimming) and maximum enjoyment, one must be prepared to do meticulous research, careful planning and diligent preparation. The converse approach, i suspect, yields the opposite results.

[anzai]

one thing to note is ... will we ever be satisfied with our tanks?
i think not ...

therefore we cant resist to stick our grubby little fingers into the tank and add more plants to please ourselves ... for the time being that is ......

:P

[crandf]

Except manmade artificiality such as figurines etc that generally get beaten up.

[tsunami]

Thanks for clearing the concept up for me guys. Do typical tanks of the 'rojak' aquascaping style use cleanly divided plants like the Dutch or mixed plants like in Amano's tanks?

How about wood and rock? Do you guys usually use those? Thanks!

Do you guys have any tanks that I could use for show and tell?

Carlos

[TanVincent]

Does this count?



Cheers
Vincent

[Sleepy_lancs]

Vincent! Those were the wonderful days.. lol

[anzai]

i guess vincents tank would classify under the pseudo-dutch camp ...

rojak means salad ... so everything is also throw in ...
then it must be messy ... or else the essence of rojak will not be there ...

:P

[Wackytpt]

[quote:a62ce20f2b="Sleepy_lancs"]Vincent! Those were the wonderful days.. lol[/quote:a62ce20f2b]

Totally agree with you. Vincent's has a new tank look now

[lorba]

my first tank. rojak enough?

Those were the days where I know not of forum, co2, lighting and plant everything using fingers.

[vinz]

Acutally, I think "rojak" is more of a self-deprecating term, often used to describe our first few effortsat aquascaping then an actual style. Best english term I think of is "mixed-up".

[tsunami]

Ah, I begin to understand. I guess we have that here in the United States (or in the world, as a matter of fact!). Most call them jungle aquascapes... I call them tossed salads.

I remember a couple years ago that the term rojak was often used in this forum. All the scapes I saw being called rojak had very open foregrounds (glosso or APP) and very neatly grouped plants in the back --often some red plants. Perhaps with a branch sticking up covered in riccia.

Perhaps a little shift in focus... aquascaping in Singapore? Are there any trends? Help me try and pinpoint something.

Carlos

[TanVincent]

Hey,

From what i realised, dutch tanks seems to be very minimal, maybe aquarist are often hesistant when they realised the amount of work you have to put in to trim and maintain the plants.

Biotopes are scarce as well. I have to explain what a biotope tank is to aquarist with years of experience in planted tank.

Generally, I think the natural scape tank is widely accepted here, as it is (in my own opinion), one of the easiest to concoct.

As for the laksa scaping (wink), mebbe we can discuss that to some extend .

Cheers
Vincent

[letissier07]

[quote:492c88357f="lorba"]my first tank. rojak enough?

Those were the days where I know not of forum, co2, lighting and plant everything using fingers.

[/quote:492c88357f]

Heehee....i still plant using fingers.....

[budak]

Bona fide Dutch tanks can be quite a sight! But i personally find the exquisitely maintained appearance of balance and constrast too manicured as well as a pain to maintain. But you still have to hand it to those who make this a fine art.

Planted tanks and Biotopes actually very rarely are the same thing. One rare example is that ADA contest winer (2nd or 3rd i think) which has a mostly overhanging rock and wood tank with patches of Anubias and African riverine fish. But it still isn't a "conventional" planted tank by most definitions. But of course, there are also varying degrees of purism, from those who insist on exact replicas of natural eco-systems to those who are happy with just the "appearance" of a biotope.

Getting a "Natural" looking tank, I find, is really a hard area to pin down. With some, it's a matter of careful planning and care, while it seems 2nd nature to others. Often, I suspect, it's really a matter of letting the plants run wild, which works to great effect too.

Laksa is a popular Malaysian/Singaporean dish consisting of noodles, cockles, fish/prawn, hard boiled egg drowned in a rich coconut milk gravy. Very nice, if you are not watching your cholesterol. How it relates to aquascaping I am not sure though. Maybe Vincent would like to elaborate??

[TanVincent]

Hey Budak,

Nothing to elaborate on, its just a random name i thought of, nothing to do with the ingredients what-so-ever.

Its only my idea of doing a red colored planted tank with minimal green to contrast. How feasible is it, I don't know. How to do it, don't know either. It's one of those crazy ideas you conjure up while sitting on the bowl. Period.

Cheers
Vincent

[budak]

Oh, you mean the colour co-ordination! I recall jacian's tank which he submitted for the AGA competition (check their website) is predominantly reds and oranges (and Dutch like too). Maybe you can do one for CNY???

[TanVincent]

Hey Budak,

Maybe I shall do that for Chinese New Year as you suggested. Ludwigia Spec "Pantanal", Barclaya Longifolia, Ludwigia repens, Rotala Wallichi, Rotala Mexicana, Gratiola, Eustralis Stelleta springs to mind. Now, what shall be a good red foreground. DOH!!

Cheers
Vincent