Would anyone know of a good book, or web articles pertaining to aquascaping? Something you could follow along and do, not just a description of various setups. Thx in advance. :gw 
Walter
Walter
Aquascaping
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Re: Aquascaping
I'm working on finding someone to do this ... stay tunned ...
Greg
jonathan11 said:Would anyone know of a good book, or web articles pertaining to aquascaping? Something you could follow along and do, not just a description of various setups. Thx in advance. :gw
Walter
I'm working on finding someone to do this ... stay tunned ...
Greg
Re: Aquascaping
I have a "Stages of the aquascaper" article I wrote some years back.
You will find it useful.
I think the main thing is to look, try, and do.
Experience is everything.
No practice, you will not get better.
Just like any art, if I do not practice bass, I will not get better.
Practice is the main thing here, not an article on how to, although it will help.
Regards,
Tom Barr
I have a "Stages of the aquascaper" article I wrote some years back.
You will find it useful.
I think the main thing is to look, try, and do.
Experience is everything.
No practice, you will not get better.
Just like any art, if I do not practice bass, I will not get better.
Practice is the main thing here, not an article on how to, although it will help.
Regards,
Tom Barr
Re: Aquascaping
I am too excited trying to get things to grow in my tanks, to really spend much time with design. I am so thrilled to see new plants grow, and how they grow, & WHERE they grow, what happens when you trim them, replant them, etc.... I just keep wanting more tanks, to grow more plants in.
I am too excited trying to get things to grow in my tanks, to really spend much time with design. I am so thrilled to see new plants grow, and how they grow, & WHERE they grow, what happens when you trim them, replant them, etc.... I just keep wanting more tanks, to grow more plants in.
Re: Aquascaping
addiction it certainly is! i started with one tank three years ago and now have ten.but with tom's EI its made it much easier to manage. a lot of work,but well worth it.regards,cornhusker
addiction it certainly is! i started with one tank three years ago and now have ten.but with tom's EI its made it much easier to manage. a lot of work,but well worth it.regards,cornhusker Re: Aquascaping
tom, i have a container in basement that i heat the water to 78 degrees and ariate.i allways add seachem's prime to this water. then it is pumped up to tanks upstairs and basement. every day there is a tank or two to change water 50 or more %. this regiment works great for me and keeps things consistant.thats where EI comes in so handy.livestock are so much healthier with these water changes.regards,cornhusker
tom, i have a container in basement that i heat the water to 78 degrees and ariate.i allways add seachem's prime to this water. then it is pumped up to tanks upstairs and basement. every day there is a tank or two to change water 50 or more %. this regiment works great for me and keeps things consistant.thats where EI comes in so handy.livestock are so much healthier with these water changes.regards,cornhusker 
Re: Aquascaping
When I first got my Amano books, I was disapponted that they were so "vague". Like most people, I wanted a step-by-step instruction manual. I wanted his talent to be broken down into a definite science that I could digest. I have learned that he would have completely failed if he had tried to make those books manuals. He would have been accused of giving false information, being unreliable, etc as people would have followed his steps and never gotten identical results.
I agree that aquascaping is analagous to painting, but I would take it a step further and liken it to sculpting, not of stone but of clay, since it has a dimensionality and is always ready to accept changes, additions, or complete recyclings. Of course, it's even more complicated than that since it changes even if we leave it alone and do nothing.
Like all the above art forms, examples are probably the best tutors we can provide and immitating those examples are probably the best lessons we can hope to recieve. I have some diagrams of how various Amano aquascapes were planned, but I don't think there's any way to effectively convey how they were conceived or nurtured without a one-on-one apprenticeship with someone that has done it, and even then you are only being shown the motions that were gone through to achieve that particular aquascape with those particular plants and under those particular conditions. The minute you go home and used your own water you are breaking the paint-by-numbers method somewhat and subjecting yourself to variables that you would have to experiment with to learn to control.
I think taking a strict step-by-step approach is sabatoge. We can glean knowledge from the experience of others with some things, like calculating how many seconds are in a century. You don't have to actually live 100 years and keep up with the passing seconds to gain that information, there are tried and true formulas that you can follow. Aquascaping, or any creative form, is not something that can be recorded and passed on with numbers or blueprints. I think pictures, design theories, and general planting techniques and general care of specific plants are the best and only help any of us can expect to get. Knowing how to put it all together requires talent, time, experimentation, and a long long series of failures. You either get lucky or you do everything wrong over and over again until all that remains is right. I hope I accomplish it through the latter rather than the former, as the latter will give me what I need to be able to adapt and create new things with higher success rates and more intuition.
Aquascaping is a personal and original form of balancing all of those things in unique and creative ways. Your aquascape is as much a reflection of you as your taste in cars or any mirror.
IMO, taking any approach other than experimentation and observation will be very limiting and very frustrating. It may make getting to a basic level easier, but it would involve skipping the important realizations and experiences that are necessary in reaching the higher levels of the form.
Knowing general values for parameters we can control, basic plant care, then observation and experimentation are about the only ways I can think to do it.
When I first got my Amano books, I was disapponted that they were so "vague". Like most people, I wanted a step-by-step instruction manual. I wanted his talent to be broken down into a definite science that I could digest. I have learned that he would have completely failed if he had tried to make those books manuals. He would have been accused of giving false information, being unreliable, etc as people would have followed his steps and never gotten identical results.
I agree that aquascaping is analagous to painting, but I would take it a step further and liken it to sculpting, not of stone but of clay, since it has a dimensionality and is always ready to accept changes, additions, or complete recyclings. Of course, it's even more complicated than that since it changes even if we leave it alone and do nothing.
Like all the above art forms, examples are probably the best tutors we can provide and immitating those examples are probably the best lessons we can hope to recieve. I have some diagrams of how various Amano aquascapes were planned, but I don't think there's any way to effectively convey how they were conceived or nurtured without a one-on-one apprenticeship with someone that has done it, and even then you are only being shown the motions that were gone through to achieve that particular aquascape with those particular plants and under those particular conditions. The minute you go home and used your own water you are breaking the paint-by-numbers method somewhat and subjecting yourself to variables that you would have to experiment with to learn to control.
I think taking a strict step-by-step approach is sabatoge. We can glean knowledge from the experience of others with some things, like calculating how many seconds are in a century. You don't have to actually live 100 years and keep up with the passing seconds to gain that information, there are tried and true formulas that you can follow. Aquascaping, or any creative form, is not something that can be recorded and passed on with numbers or blueprints. I think pictures, design theories, and general planting techniques and general care of specific plants are the best and only help any of us can expect to get. Knowing how to put it all together requires talent, time, experimentation, and a long long series of failures. You either get lucky or you do everything wrong over and over again until all that remains is right. I hope I accomplish it through the latter rather than the former, as the latter will give me what I need to be able to adapt and create new things with higher success rates and more intuition.
Aquascaping is a personal and original form of balancing all of those things in unique and creative ways. Your aquascape is as much a reflection of you as your taste in cars or any mirror.
IMO, taking any approach other than experimentation and observation will be very limiting and very frustrating. It may make getting to a basic level easier, but it would involve skipping the important realizations and experiences that are necessary in reaching the higher levels of the form.
Knowing general values for parameters we can control, basic plant care, then observation and experimentation are about the only ways I can think to do it.