International Aquaplant Layout Contest

[George Farmer]

The entries are ready for the public vote. Why not register and choose your favourite? There's some lovely aquascapes - including 3 entries from our very own Jimbooo.

You'll need to register to vote but it's worth it just to see the high standard of most of the entries.

http/www.aquaticplantcentral.com/contest/index.php

 

[Themuleous]

What category are his under?

Sam

 

[zig]

I was useing this the other day and it kept crashing on me, maybe its my browser although its only a beta version so expect problems, also the randomness of the images shown is very confusing, you can never be sure you have seen all the entries because it changes each time you go back to view another entry, i gave up in the end.

 

[jimbooo]

i must say i got a bit lost in there. i have no idea where mine are i haven't seen them yet.

if you can be bothered to browse through it i'd appreciate a vote of 2. but only if you like what you see of course.

thanks for the mention george. fingers crossed

 

[George Farmer]

In no particular order -
Jimbooo's Cube
Jimbooo's 60 Litre
Jimbooo's 180 Litre

 

[DaveW]

This maybe a silly question, but, why didn't you use a more recent photo of you cube Jim? It's just that it looks fantastic now!

 

[jimbooo]

yeah tell me about it. thats what it looked like on the contest deadline. it does look a bit shabby in there doesn't it. certainly not a winner by a long shot.

by the time it had matured it was too late to swop the pics. never mind it's just for a bit of fun.

thanks for the links george. i've just been browsing the site. theres some awesome tanks in there. my votes have been cast.

 

[George Farmer]

There are some cracking scapes - some rather dodgy ones too! Still it's the taking part that counts, something that I forgot to do unfortunately.

I'm still blown away by Old Chinese Garden. This guy has talent - and lots of cash, I've seen the gear he's running under that bad boy - it rivals ADA in style and the way he's set it up. Apparently he's measured his lighting levels using a PAR meter and it's brighter than the full-sun measured in his garden on a clear day. Interestingly he only runs it on full power for a short period though, using computer-controlled dimmable T5s. This ensure he doesn't get algae on his slower growers and explains why his NO3 and PO4 are relatively low.

 

[jimbooo]

great minds think alike then (cool i must have a great mind) i voted for that one too. quite a coincidence seeing as you get one vote for 108 tanks.

it really does jump out at you like a scene from nature. truely flawless. one day, one day...

 

[karlp]

I haven't got to old Chinese garden yet. Looks good.

I like these ones best so far:

Malawi Redux
The Rain Forest

From the photo it looks like the rain forest tank is about 8 feet long, but it's all done in only 2 feet!

There's a lot of similar tanks that seem to follow the: Stick a strange shaped piece of bog wood and / or rock in the middle somewhere that doesn't somehow look like it belongs. Stick Anubias / Java moss on it and plant heavily around it - formula.

 

[jimbooo]

okay so it's not the most adventerous aquascape but i just love the look of this. the whole room not the layout.

worth a click

cant remember the name sorry

 

[oldwhitewood]

Aside from Jimbooo's entries which should win obviously I really like this design

http/www.aquaticplantcentral.com/contest...ge&id=103&num=1

In terms of aquascaping it's really cleverly done and shows a high level of aquascaping expertise, it's a wonderful tank.

 

[onemisterchristian]

Wow, there's some great stuff. Threw some votes your way jimboo, though i didn't see your cube.

 

[George Farmer]

Aside from Jimbooo's entries which should win obviously I really like this design

http/www.aquaticplantcentral.com/contest...ge&id=103&num=1

In terms of aquascaping it's really cleverly done and shows a high level of aquascaping expertise, it's a wonderful tank.

That was my second choice, perfectly balanced. One could argue it's actually better in terms of flawless composition than the Old Chinese Garden as the latter breaks the "rules" (golden ratio) with the use of the lily on the right. This was the subject of some debate on the PT forum I seem to recall. Personally I feel that it was this "risky" planting that separates it from the rest, a great example of how not sticking ridgedly to the rules can produce something that bit extra.

The Discus tank, Green Paradise, is also wonderful. A great long-term layout as it uses more Anubias, Java fern and slower growing stems. Nice to see another tank with Sagittaria platyphylla too .

And The Rainforest is a marvellous example of how you can get beautiful results without CO2 injection.

Good choices folks. Come on everyone else, let's hear your favourites and why.

 

[kenneth_kpe]

i really like the old chinese garden too, ! its one of the tiny pictures/layouts that cought my eye while i was browsing thru the entries.

i also liked http/www.aquaticplantcentral.com/contest...howentry&id=122, not because it is the best layout but because his tank is placed beside his bed i think, something which i always wanted to do.


http/www.aquaticplantcentral.com/contest...showentry&id=37

with this tank i was quickly browsing thru and noticed that his lighting is quite low ? do you think its a typo ? its a nice nano tank too