El sábado pasado hicimos la 4ª clase del curso de paisajismo AQA espai y pudimos ver como se hace la primera poda de control y sobretodo la limpieza exhaustiva del acuario en general. Añadimos las primeras gambas y algunos Otocinclus affinis a la espera de los peces que ha escogido cada alumno. Todos los acuarios van por muy buen camino...próxima clase en tres semanas!

How you got inspired to create this scape?
Desired a lush scape with many shades of green that was low maintenance.  I don’t believe I used an actual image I just went with a feeling.

Why did you choose this name? What was the purpose?
Because I felt the scape had a wild nature, but was somewhat controlled by the use of slower growing plants the name was born.

Which techniques you used for to make the distribution and fixation of every kind of solids?
I knew I wanted a main area off center and I seemed like that would be a good place to fill out the wider part of the bowfront tank.  The rest of the solids feed from there.  The center is 18” and the sides are only 12” so it was a challenge.



Have you prepared any kind of draft or drawing previous to set-up?
No, I just had in my head basic layout then just went with my feeling.

To arrange the distribution of solids and plants, are you following any kind of previously studied proportion or simply you improvised as you work on the scape or followed your intuition?
Yes, definitely intuition of what I thought would look good once it filled in.

How you arranged the first planting (without water? Keeping just the soil wet? With the aquarium full of water?  
The very first planting was done with a little water and then filled quickly so the plants wouldn’t dry out since they were all submersed grown.

When you added the animals?
I take my time to add animals.  I like to get the setup the way I want it and have conditions stabilize and see healthy plants growing well and good water clarity.  So probably at least 1 month before animals were introduced.



How do you add nutrients in the first weeks of set-up? (co2, N, P, K, microelements…)
Pressurized co2 added at start-up via a ceramic diffuser.  I don’t add anything else 1st month since I have nutritive substrate.

Do you change the amount and the method of fertilizing when the aquarium is already mature?
After 1st month or so I go full NPK as per high-end EI dosing guidelines.  I don’t really change after that since I go pretty high-end from this point.

With wich parameters of water do you like to work? 
My water is pretty soft KH 2, as mentioned I go high on all added macros.


How and how much light you put on the aquarium? What colour light do you use?
This setup has PC/CF lighting.  4x65 with a 2 bulbs on 8 hours and 4 bulbs for 2.  They are a mix of 6500 and 10000k color.

What kind of water have you used and which criteria you use for water-changes?
I use tap water for this setup and stay consistent with 50% water changes weekly.  As long as NPK added this is fine for fish and plants.

Did you get any algae in any moment? Why you think it happened? How did you eliminate it?
I really didn’t.  I take many proactive steps to avoid algae.  Consistent water change, organic removal media, low livestock, shorter light duration at startup.



Do you have any preference for the first “pruning”?
I pruned where I felt I needed more space between elements.

How you do the pruning ?
This setup of course being mostly slow growers I didn’t have to do alot of pruning.  When there wasn’t enough space between different elements or glass I just selectively pruned those áreas.



In any moment in the initial steps you moved the solids as you were not convinced with the result?
Yes, I did fine-tune some of the solids to move them into better position.

Have you done a regular photo-follow-up of the set-up? Photography helps you to have a clearer image of the development of the aquarium?
Yes for the first few months I took regular pictures and did use them to make adjustments.

What kind of photographic material and technique you used for the finish picture? 
Not being an advanced photography, especially during this scape I used only tank lighting which consisted of the 4x65 CF fixture.   Pretty basic, took pictures at night with all lights off in room.

Have you added or removed any fish for the final picture?
Unfortunately for this scape many of the better full tank pictures did not show the Congo Tetras that were put in.  I simply went with best pictures at the time.



This set-up was created for contest purposes and will be “dismantled” after the last picture or do you have the intention to keep it for the long run?
I didn’t originally setup for a contest, but did enter AGA.  The setup known as ‘Controlled Fury’ was setup for about a year.

Once you finished the scape and after the final picture, what do you think could be improved on the set-up?
One think I missed was careful trimming of the moss.  When I took some final pictures I hadn’t trimmed close enough and became some point of distraction and non conformity.

Have you used any kind of Photoshop for this scape? Do you think image edition should be acceptable in the contests? Which limits would you fix for this, if any?
I didn’t, but I can see allowing one to lighten dark areas, etc, but not change color or manipulate content.  Obviously good photography goes along way in communicating detail which sometimes would not be evident without this skill.


It was a pleasure for me to have the chance to interview you, would you like to add anything else?
I would just like to thank you for doing what you do.  It’s hobbyists like yourself that allow this to be viewed as an art form.  It will hopefully continue to evaluate this art to higher levels, especially in the United States where it has a long way to go.