# The brief and incomplete future of aquascaping



## Onoma1 (22 Aug 2020)

A few years back I stumbled on a George Farmer Video, found the Green Machine Videos, went to their shop just before they closed, found the UKAPS Forum, started my first tank, travelled to Aquarium Gardens. There I marvelled at their wonderful tanks and was presented with a sticker from ADA courtesy of @Siege. The sticker is now stuck on this laptop …my sister thinks that I may have joined a cult, however, is too polite to ask and my colleagues are perplexed by the Japanese Characters on my laptop but too polite to ask. I then started my second tank (incipient MTS) and then was lucky enough to visit Florestas Submersas while in Lisbon and Ecoarium in Portugal (concentrate I will be asking questions later).

In Ecoarium I saw the manicured ADA tanks and the then one in the corner. It was a bit messy, lots of emergent plants, full (and I mean full) of plants and looked (to be honest) a bit out of place. After I left the shop I started thinking about the strange tank, and my thought was that of all the tanks that was the only one that in anyway accurately reflected a ‘normal’ aquatic environment (you know the one you played in as a kid catching tadpoles or minnows).

Ok – back to the sticker, I was assured by @serge that a translation is “To know Mother Nature, is to love her smallest creations”. I can’t read Japanese and trust that @Serge and @dave aren’t ‘having a bit of a laugh’. This simple sentence is , however, the heart of the ADA way.

But I am perplexed, the ADA way leads to beautiful pieces of artwork, however, they are a far removed from ‘nature’ as could be possible. While some refer to them as ‘delicately balanced’ nature aquariums after two years of scaping I would refer to them as like balancing a feather on a bloody razorblade while pedalling a unicycle backwards…only achieved after years of pointless pain, practice and failure.

An there is so much, angst and despair from new (and not so new) aquascapers on the forum when they fall of their ‘unicycle’ as natural processes interfere with their attempts to achieve the ADA aquascaped version of nature. Is it the really the end of the world if you have green dust algae on rocks? If algae is an essential part of the natural ecosystem why don’t we welcome a bit of it in our tanks? Wouldn’t it be better for the hobby if we saw less of the ADA type tanks and more of imperfect but attainable and real slices of nature? Would more people stay in the hobby?

Please don’t misunderstand me I watch the ‘Zen Masters’ of Aquascaping with awe, I love their creations (just as I love looking at a piece of beautiful art). To take the metaphor of painting or art a bit further, I am probably still at the level of the chunky crayons, however, I expect more of artists.

What do I mean by this? Well their art pieces don’t say anything, they may look for five levels of depth perception within their scapes, however, they only have one level of meaning: the surface level. I get the reflective meditational element of watching a planted aquarium and believe me that’s helped me in my darkest days, however, shouldn’t our high art say something shouldn’t it have a purpose a value beyond the aesthetic? Even our ‘bad boy’ of aquascaping Oliver Knott doesn’t produce work with challenges or excites. It’s not new. Just as we strive for stasis within our tanks it feels like our art form isn’t progressing as we all aspire to produce an airbrushed version of Amano’s tanks.  @Geoffrey Rea recently posted to say there needs to be more about the art and less about the science (I paraphrase from memory).  I think he is correct, however, my view is this needs to be about the future artistic vision not about reproducing one vision (not that @Geoffrey Rea suggested this).

They are also (as systems) inelegant and wasteful – lots of inputs and outputs with the aim of stasis. One of my non-aquascapting friends looked at all my kit to keep the tanks going and commented that it looked a bit like the equipment you would see in a hospital (this wasn’t meant in a positive way). And we use all this kit to keep things the same. Our aquascapes don’t change – evolve – develop, decompose. The aim is to get to that point of equilibrium and stay there until you get bored, take the tank down and rebuild. Oh and don’t get me started on Dioramas. No really…

Then we have the alternative of the Walstad method which are more robust environments, however, let’s face it not the most beautiful aquariums. And biotopes the design of which necesitates sourcing the correct plants from exactly the same area or your proud post about your biotope will be flamed by an irate mob of biotopians with pitchforks and a bonfire ready for you and your heretical photo of your ‘so called biotope’. And let’s face it although biotopes really are the authentic slice of nature their aesthetic is an ‘acquired taste’.

After listening to the soothing voice of Scott Fellman at Tannin Aquatics talk on his podcast ‘The Tint’, I thought he might have an answer – until he also started to talk about 50% water changes per week, every week (btw he really needs to change his by-line my smutty minded older kids thought it was a spoof when they heard it and resolutely refused to explain why it was so hilarious).

So what’s my answer? I am not sure. I am still watching and listening to the voices on this forum. My artistic vision is mine, it’s personal and I like it (even if rendered in chunky crayons). I am beginning to play with botanicals, tinted water, emergent growth, living walls combined with aquatic elements (not quite a paludarium), dirted tanks, floating plants, trying to build ecosystems and I am looking for a way off my own aquatic ‘unicycle’. Perhaps my tanks will end up looking like the one I saw in Ecoarium. The journey will be interesting.

So what’s the future of aquascaping? In my view it has to evolve to look to shift beyond an ADA vision of the art and craft of building a planted aquarium. We need to be more sustainable, less reliant on technology to maintain fundamentally unstable systems and instead build intrinsically stable systems. If fear if we don’t then the future of aquascaping will be brief and incomplete.


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## hypnogogia (22 Aug 2020)

Interesting read.  I’ve often asked myself we call a nature aquarium something which is completely over manicured (as good looking as it is) with 30ppm co2. Neither of these is natural. 
I remember looking at one of Amano’s books is the early naughties (after returning to the hobby after a few year hiatus) and finding them stunning.  I also seem to remember reading that he uses very little fertiliser and less co2.  Perhaps those early tanks were closer to nature.


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## Sarpijk (22 Aug 2020)

Agreed. I have come to realise that I am more drawn to a more natural looking tank after having experienced keeping high tech scapes. 

If you look at Amano's early works they have this beautiful lush growth and look really natural. I have a book of his complete works and what is really interesting is the use of cryptocorynes which is not really used nowadays in manicured scapes. He also points out how good a school of Rasbora espei look in a tanked planted with crypts since they are both Asian species.

Also I won't forget @Akwaskape who did have the "Sustainable Aquaria" moto and his scapes and approach really had an impact on me.

The older I get the more I see myself getting back to were I started.


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## Zeus. (22 Aug 2020)

Very interesting read ( and well written), your journey is very similar to my own personal journey. So even though we have both waked similar paths with have both picked up and different aspects of the hobby, which is a good thing IMO. As it allows for diversity within the hobby. We can have the same hobby and from the route we take we pickup on different aspects which can vary greatly but all within the same hobby, we have picked certain sights on the path and payed more interest on them. We all bring something different to a party and take something different from it, its going to the party and precipitating that counts.



Onoma1 said:


> So what’s the future of aquascaping? ..... If fear if we don’t then the future of aquascaping will be brief and incomplete.



Is not life on the whole brief, the existence of lifeforms in the timescale of the life of the universe is brief and will end, but that time is 'now'


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## Melll (22 Aug 2020)

Good read 

Like everything "arty" there are many many schools of thought, modernist, cubist, realist and so on and it is up to each individual artist to create what makes them happy whether that be the very neat, clipped Iwagumi, the wild looking jungles and so on. 

I am not an aquascaper but I do like planted tanks, none planted tanks with wood or rock hardscapes.   I love to see the creations made by people, some totally blow me away and I would not have a hope in wherever of replicating them.   I also like to push myself and see it I can go a little further than I have before and that, to me, is what this is all about.  If that means using high tech gadgets to get to your vision then so be it, if not then so what  

About 5 years ago I started looking on the web for something other than the beautifully manicured scapes I had already seen and had a go at replicating.  At that time I just did not have the time to dedicate to it, I was a carer for my Dad who was terminally ill, so the tank went totally tits up and that upset me a lot, I found Oliver Knott and binge watched some of his videos and was so relieved that I could do my own thing that not all scapes had to be "perfect"  

There is no right or wrong way, just personal taste and hopefully the want to improve/better what ever it is that floats your boat.  

As @Zeus. says, Participating at the party and bringing our own ideas to it is what it is all about 👍


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## shangman (22 Aug 2020)

I am very new to the hobby but I have had similar thoughts. I'm a designer by trade, with a landscape architect parent so I've focused a lot on the aesthetics of it. I agree that there isn't as much variety as there could be, and there is a lot of untapped potential. 

To me, Amano creates wonderful, fantasy nature. It's like the beautiful backgrounds of Studio Ghibli films. It's obscenely lush and perfect. I don't think this is a problem - it's a special beautiful niche - except that so many people have attatched themselves to this movement as THE one, when there is so much potential for all sorts of naturalistic, weird and awesome stuff, there is too much 'perfect, but a bit off'. I don't think we need so many aquariums and aquarists that do this, especially as they never seem to do it quite as well as he did. 

My favourite aquarium I've found so far was here, Tom's Poco Pozo (and his bucket of mud is also lovely). I think it shows how effective different shaped aquariums and depth are, they have such an amazing natural feeling. There are messy bits, but it still looks incredibly captivating and hypnotic - there's nothing wrong with messiness in aesthetics, and I think it's needed for a truly natural look. I particularly like aquariums where it seems like the fish and other animals are having a lovely life - really that is the highest goal. I also think there's a lot of potential in emergent plant growing that should be explored, beyond the basic house plants people plop in (I can't remember who is was, but the person here who have floating mimosa in his tank was very inspiring, what a lovely plant). The allure of an 'indoor pond' is very compelling.

What is wonderful to me, compared to when I was a kid, is the amazing variety of plants you can grow now. The Dutch method has great plants, but the planting style is so incredibly old fashioned (like 80 years+ in gardening), it doesn't take full advantage of them. I think that the aquarium trade would do well to mix more with gardeners and plant people, and take that knowledge and mix it. If we look at the way that gardeners plant herbacious borders for example, that could create a very different and exciting aquarium that would look naturalistic but still have artistic flair (as the best borders do!).

I also feel like there's a place for more ornamental crazy aquariums, that none-the-less look beautiful. A lot of the more weird ideas like the moss bonsai trees are a bit naff, but I think there's something to that kind of out of the box thinking that could really go somewhere. I would love to see more artists and sculptors create aquariums - for example, I love this ceramacist http://www.katiespragg.com/ ... imagine a perfect little nano aquarium with her sculpture inside, just with some mosses and algae, and a few choice small shrimp or fish (honestly, I'm schoked that old Damien Hirst hasn't done a fake shark in an aquarium with a load of real fish swimming about with it, though maybe that takes the piss out of himself too much). When I have more time/space/money/experience, I want to pursue creating aquariums like this (and big ones a bit like Tom's) (and lovely emergent ones) (and maybe a blackwater with dramatic floating plant with some apistos and blackwater) (oh god the MTS is coming on strong). 

The journals (particularly the featured ones) on this website are great - I think they show how people can do whatever they want with the aquarium, to have ideas and try things out and create variety in a very interesting way. It's given me much more confidence to try things out and give them a go. What is great about aquasccaping is that it HAS this wonderful potential, you can do a lot with a box full of water. If things are boring, it's up to us to make them interesting


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## Geoffrey Rea (23 Aug 2020)

Good thread @Onoma1 

If it’s art we’re talking about then your culture may largely determine what you focus on. Living in Europe details rule, in the Far East the overall appearance will receive greater attention, the overall impression holds more importance. For some it is a look, for others it is a feeling.

Personally I like the symbiotic relationship between the aquarist and the scape. The scape changes, then in turn the aquarist changes. If the plants are too far away from what the desired outcome is I feel compelled to change it. In that way I’m part of the scape in that what it does emotionally affects me, I’m not just some architect removed from it all. But it’s a process and never still. Shouldn’t good art affect you? Or leave an impression?

There’s a sort of twisted irony that a ‘stable’ system in the high tech end of the hobby is having a stable aquarist. If the aquarist gets bored, unmotivated, distracted or disheartened too readily then the scape suffers and that symbiotic relationship fails. If there’s a team maintaining a tank then it’s more likely it will remain in good shape (in theory). If it’s a solo endeavour then the result is far more intimate.

On the part about ‘nature aquarium’ the very term is a contradiction @Onoma1 , suppose it just sounded better than planted aquarium in the marketing meeting. As for long term scapes my father ran low techs that trucked along for over a decade, used rain water for water changes when he thought it needed it, cleaned the filter with the regularity of a solar eclipse and he always managed to inadvertently breed something in his tanks. If sustainability is held highest then maybe going round full circle is what you’re describing as the future.


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## tiger15 (23 Aug 2020)

Geoffrey Rea said:


> Good thread @Onoma1
> *On the part about ‘nature aquarium’ the very term is a contradiction* @Onoma1 , suppose it just sounded better than planted aquarium in the marketing meeting. As for long term scapes my father ran low techs that trucked along for over a decade, used rain water for water changes when he thought it needed it, cleaned the filter with the regularity of a solar eclipse and he always managed to inadvertently breed something in his tanks. If sustainability is held highest then maybe going round full circle is what you’re describing as the future.


I don't know when the term "Nature Aquarium" was first used, probably starting with Amano.  I thought it was a wrong use of word by the Japanese as planted tanks used to be called "Natural Aquarium",  and the rationale in the narrative of my 1980 Tetra plant guide is that plants and fish complement each other in a natural way to complete the nitrogen and carbon cycle.

Nature Aquarium is indeed a contradiction as there is nothing natural.  First, Nature Aquarium imitates lush landscapes, not bioscapes.  Second, true bioscapes are not necessarily lush and can be void of plants. Third, a lush bioscape is typically monocultured or dominated by very few species of plants, not dozens as in a nature aquarium.  Forth, true bioscapes can be dull with cloudy water, debris covered with brown algae, and no lush plants or mosses attached to logs as in nature aquarium.


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## Tim Harrison (23 Aug 2020)

Nice philosophical post. It's kind of like trying to discover the meaning of life, or like a jazz musician's search for the right note; it's eternal and likely to be very different for everyone. But I think I know what you're getting at @Onoma1.

If I was to be particularly cynical, I could point out that Nature Aquarium is probably about as far removed from nature as farming. Okay it's not quite an industrial process on a landscape scale but it involves huge energy inputs and ultimately it exerts a negative impact on the natural environment. ADA's motto, ‘One who cannot love her smallest creations, cannot claim to stand before nature’, is pretty ironic considering, and an anathema when it comes to diorama style.

It's really no different from any other aspect of a modern aspirational lifestyle and conspicuous consumption. In addition to it's negative environmental impact it's another opportunity to grandstand or flex on social media, for instance. The flip side is probably more altruistic and fulfils a fundamental human need to nurture and reconnect with nature in an increasingly urbanised world where space is at a premium; that is aside from being a creative outlet with therapeutic benefits.

In terms of aquascaping as art...Like much that is considered art, aquascaping can manifest spontaneously as pure art or it can be very contrived and formulaic, like painting by numbers. Either way aesthetic appeal is only part of the story. The creative process can have greater significance than the finished product. For many folk aquascaping is a journey of discovery, attaining skills and knowledge. Not just artistic but to do with horticulture, animal husbandry, science, photography and video production etc. And an airbrushed Nature Aquarium may represent the pinnacle of achievement; the mastering of multiple threads to create a single entity. But where you are on that journey personally and where you feel happiest depends on many things, some of those will have very little, or nothing, to do with actual aquascaping.

Personally Tom's Poco Pozo and Bucket of Mud, as fantastic as they were, didn't hold much fascination for me at the time since I'd already explored that side of the hobby long since as a child. But then the polar opposite, a manicured Iwagumi, doesn't really do it either. It's all too formulaic, clinical and uninteresting, and more importantly the stark aesthetic often proves an unsuitable habitat for aquatic critters.

Increasingly, I find truth in the quote, 'the older I get the more I see myself getting back to were I started', but perhaps with the benefit of greater experience and knowledge that ultimately will inform the direction of my ongoing journey. Someday I know I'll get back to low-ish energy aquascaping with it's more natural approach, but for now I'm enjoying experimenting with The Dark Side too much.

As for the future of aquascaping, I think it's here to stay if only because it's a convenient connect with nature in an over populated world with a shrinking natural environment. And what is more, I believe it'll survive in all it's current styles and forms and perhaps many yet to evolve, not just Nature Aquarium. The future of aquascaping will be anything but brief and incomplete 🌿🐠


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## zozo (23 Aug 2020)

Even in nature, we can not compare 2 separate water bodies as being equal. 

Bottom line is rather simple, aquarium keeping never changed from the day it was invented, it stayed pretty much the same basics... And it truly is a slice of nature in your living room. Even tho you can not compare it to real natural water bodies, there still are quite some natural basic rules that apply to it. This is what makes the statement no 2 aquariums are alike the truth...

To name a few natural processes we have little control over, the development of bacteria, algae, plant growth, debris and decay etc. All-natural processes we actually can't get around and till today still don't quite fully understand what we are dealing with. We still have more theories than facts...

What we did change is implementing technicalities along the way, but all that didn't really change what's basically going on in the aquarium by means of natural laws...



.


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## Tim Harrison (23 Aug 2020)

Succinctly put Marcel. The imperfection and transience of nature is all part of the process and recognised by Amano as key to the Nature Aquarium philosophy. I think that may have been forgotten by some or lost in translation.


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## zozo (23 Aug 2020)

I guess we all like to stumble and fool our selves over the idea of having (or being in) control...  In regards to an aquarium, we are actually only guiding but never really controlling...


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## tiger15 (24 Aug 2020)

For those who want to simulate true biotopes at home, here are examples you can copy from.

 Rummynose, rams and green neon in their natural habitats.


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## Sarpijk (24 Aug 2020)

Had this pop in my Reddit feed and thought it is relevant.


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## tiger15 (24 Aug 2020)

Here is a biotope for a  Ludwigia bed.  To look more natural, you need algae, cloudy, weedy and neglect.


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## Fiske (24 Aug 2020)

Just my  €0.02, for what it's worth:
Like countless others I was blown away when I saw Amano's creations for the first time. I also knew that they weren't particularily natural. And while the iwagumis, and dioramas etc can be beautiful; just like the dutch style,  they never seemed more than manicured gardens. Respect for those who can do that, and like that. The future for me is more like this:





Is it super photogenic manicured underwater garden? Nope. Is it natural? Another nope; apart from the fact that this tank only receive infrequent waterchanges, occasional ferts and artificial light, it still has way to few algae 😁

(Aside, this is my oft mentioned, never shown, low tech 45P. It is now in it's 2nd year, and apart from the few things mentioned, I've only added/removed a few plants. Now it houses oodles of snails and Hyalella, 1 paros, and 5 newcomers in the shape of T. pumila. It's a fun tank, it goes through different stages, lots of ostracods and cyclops at one point. Algae (green dust, mostly) are prominent at times, and less so at other times. Lately the java fern has taken a beating from the massive amount of Hyalella (yeah, they do eat plants))

What it is though, is a very easy tank, both in work required and in resources consumed. And the critters are no worse off for that.
I'll keep my jungly hitech(ish) planted tank around though, but move more and more in this direction for any other tanks: Non manicured messy rainwater pools.

*edit: speeling


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## jaypeecee (24 Aug 2020)

Hi @Onoma1 & Everyone,

Excellent thought-provoking thread. May I toss into the melting pot a question over which I've pondered many times? I do believe my question is relevant to the thread title. Here it is:

Why is the world of aquascaping seemingly dominated by those of the male gender? Or, am I wrong in thinking this to be the case?

I'm male and I'm not much of an aquascaper so that's where I stand.

JPC


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## Zeus. (24 Aug 2020)

jaypeecee said:


> Why is the world of aquascaping seemingly dominated by those of the male gender?



Maybe its all about 'Control' 😲


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## Melll (24 Aug 2020)

jaypeecee said:


> Why is the world of aquascaping seemingly dominated by those of the male gender? Or, am I wrong in thinking this to be the case?




Good question, maybe males are more vocal about it and women just get on with it, I am female by the way   Given the chance I will talk about my hobby until the cows come home but the majority of my family and friends just think I`m crazy and they are not particually interested.


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## jaypeecee (24 Aug 2020)

Hi @Zeus.


Zeus. said:


> Maybe its all about 'Control' 😲



Mmm...food for thought. 🤔

JPC


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## hypnogogia (25 Aug 2020)

jaypeecee said:


> Why is the world of aquascaping seemingly dominated by those of the male gender?


The techie equipment and opportunity for endless tinkering


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## Melll (25 Aug 2020)

hypnogogia said:


> The techie equipment and opportunity for endless tinkering




Women like new toys too


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## shangman (25 Aug 2020)

jaypeecee said:


> Hi @Onoma1 & Everyone,
> 
> Excellent thought-provoking thread. May I toss into the melting pot a question over which I've pondered many times? I do believe my question is relevant to the thread title. Here it is:
> 
> ...


As a woman (despite the username), I think most explanations for why there aren't more women in it are gonna end up as dodgy old-fashioned cliches that don't really get at the truth. It reminds me a bit of video games which I also love - it's dominated and  gatekept by men, so women that play games just don't bother advertising their interest or getting into the community side. Fishkeeping doesn't seem to have the nti-woman stance of gamers, but it does look like a big boy's club from the outside. As Melll said, I imagine there are a lot of low-key women fishkeepers just doing their thing. I'm a member of a few facebook groups for swapping and selling, and there are lots of women buying and selling tanks there It is nice one of the most famous people in the hobby is a woman (Walstad), and that she represents some of the most scientific parts of fishkeeping. I don't think that love of nature is a one-gender thing, and bringing it back to topic, perhaps bringing more women into the hobby, and particularly the communities would encourage a greater range of aquascapes.

I do suggest that all the men here bring their daughters into the hobby as much as possible  That's how I was introduced to it.




Melll said:


> Women like new toys too


Hell yeah!!


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## oatfish (25 Aug 2020)

I agree with above (I'm female too).  I'm not put off by the seemingly male domination of UKAPS but I expect some are. I have automatically assumed to be male in PMs several times which I find a bit irritating but I'm encouraged by the number of female friends who want to know about by new (rather crappy right now!) aquascape. I think as it becomes more mainstream there will be more high profile female aquascapers in the future.


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## oatfish (25 Aug 2020)

Melll said:


> Women like new toys too


Ha ha,  definitely.  My husband said he was a bit put out by my love for my new CO2Art  regulator 😂


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## Tim Harrison (25 Aug 2020)

I'm surprised that there aren't more ladies what scape, keep fish, and planted tanks. I don't really think of the hobby as gender specific. But I think we've had more join lately.
What do you think we can do to encourage more ladies to join the forum and get over the impression that UKAPS is a boy's club?


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## oatfish (25 Aug 2020)

Tim Harrison said:


> I'm surprised that there aren't more ladies what scape, keep fish, and planted tanks. I don't really think of the hobby as gender specific. But I think we've had more join lately.
> What do you think we can do to encourage more ladies to join the forum and get over the impression that UKAPS is a boy's club?


I'm not sure Tim. I find UKAPS to be a very respectful and friendly forum and far less prone to the male posturing that I've seen in the cycling forums that I also frequent. 
I think carry on as you are and more women will join hopefully!


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## Melll (25 Aug 2020)

I used to be on another forum, predominately fish care based and had a weird gender neutral user name.  I answered questions that some people had on fish such as Flowerhorns, Arowanas etc as I have them.  I sometimes would get a "thanks or cheers Dude/mate/friend/sir/man"  If I then said, actually I`m female, I had sometimes private messages asking me to video chat, send nudes, sometimes I would be verbally abused on the open forum, I mean real nasty stuff or my perfectly acceptable advice was ignored and the OP would ask for " a man to give advice as women don`t know sh*t" yep that was a quote. 

When I worked in a store I was also verbally abused by male customers, physically grabbed as well on more than one occasion. 

Maybe these are some of the reasons women keep quiet and accept being called dude etc or have gender neutral user names. 

Personally I don`t give a toss if someone calls me mate but I will correct them as I have already on here  but if I then get treated differently, as in being ignored or talked down to which didn`t happen before my gender was known then that person will receive back what they give out.

 I`m a 55 year old Granny with 22 tattoos and into heavy metal as a way to relax, I`m not easily put down  

As for encouraging women/girls into the hobby/forums, maybe encourage users not to automatically say dude, man etc when replying to posts.  A simple @ username reply is good enough


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## Melll (25 Aug 2020)

Let`s face it, does it matter if we are male, female or not yet decided, we are all in a hobby that is slightly weird, keeping livestock and plants in water in glass boxes in our homes, these can be cheap or expensive, high energy, low energy but on the whole it is something that brings us together, share ideas and thoughts, buying, selling, swapping and so on. 

Everyone has something to contribute in some way and being pleasant and treating others how you yourself wish to be treated is the way to go and not just on the internet  

End of sermon, time for coffee and a smoke


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## Melll (25 Aug 2020)

oatfish said:


> I find UKAPS to be a very respectful and friendly forum and far less prone to the male posturing that I've seen



Agreed 👍


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## shangman (25 Aug 2020)

As oatfish said, I have also found this place to be very friendly and haven't seen any weird attitudes, which is why I joined (plus I accidentally killed some fish setting up my fist tank and needed good advice, UKAPs gave off the most expert vibes compared to other forums). It's a very nice creative community. And it's nice that this discussion has revealed some more awesome women fish keepers who I didn't know where here. The forum has attracted women fishkeepers by being a great place, and since the male-dominatedness of fishkeeping is across the whole internet, the fact that there are already some who are happy to reveal ourselves without flack shows that the forum is already doing well.


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## Melll (25 Aug 2020)

shangman said:


> And it's nice that this discussion has revealed some more awesome women fish keepers who I didn't know where here. The forum has attracted women fishkeepers by being a great place, and since the male-dominatedness of fishkeeping is across the whole internet, the fact that there are already some who are happy to reveal ourselves without flack shows that the forum is already doing well.



Absoflippinglutely 👍


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## Fiske (25 Aug 2020)

Yep. Great to see more women joining in every where in the traditional sausagefests of videogaming, comics, heavy metal, and fishkeeping. To be fair, fishkeeping hasn’t been nearly as male dominated as the former 3.
I like my geeky hobbies with a healthy dose of gender equality, thank you.


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## Melll (25 Aug 2020)

It would be interesting to know what the % is of registered female users here and what % of those are active participants compared to the male %.


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## hypnogogia (25 Aug 2020)

Melll said:


> Women like new toys too


I was being flippant.


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## zozo (25 Aug 2020)

UKAPS indeed is one of the user-friendliest forums I ever came across. And IMHO for that, we have to thank the very pleasant and socially competent UKAPS staff. Who are very adequately moderating this forum. And also educating the members' how to behave and clean up threads if necessary.

Most other forums are poorly or not at all moderated... Or moderated by very small rather defensive and competitive insider group that claims the entire forum for them selfs and are rather unfriendly towards newcomers with a better background. Then you will always have members with wannabee moderator attitude, lurking and trying to take over if given a chance, turning the majority of discussions into flaming threads naming each other idiots and all sorts of disqualifying nouns.

And I must confess 99% of the cases at those forums I experienced, the problems are indeed caused by cheeky and cocky boys... Must be a testosterone thing I guess.


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## Melll (25 Aug 2020)

zozo said:


> And I must confess 99% of the cases at those forums I experienced, the problems are indeed caused by cheeky and cocky boys... Must be a testosterone thing I guess.



Possibly you are right along with maybe cultural differences as well.   In some countries/communities women are not allowed to vocalise their opinions/thoughts if they differ from what the male family head says so the sons in the family group grow up the same as their Dad, Grand Dad, Uncle etc so coming across women who not only have advice to give through experience but who are also vocal to give that advice are shouted down/attacked etc as they are just not used to it.

A good discussion


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## oatfish (25 Aug 2020)

Melll said:


> Possibly you are right along with maybe cultural differences as well.   In some countries/communities women are not allowed to vocalise their opinions/thoughts if they differ from what the male family head says so the sons in the family group grow up the same as their Dad, Grand Dad, Uncle etc so coming across women who not only have advice to give through experience but who are also vocal to give that advice are shouted down/attacked etc as they are just not used to it.
> 
> A good discussion


It's closer to home than that I'm afraid.  My Dad for one and my family is about as boring working class white British as you could imagine! 
I do think the ratio of males to females is important to those young aquascapers coming into the hobby as I think it will put off talented females from engaging and learning from others (referring Melll's previous post about other fish forums) and I'm definitely of the opinion the more the merrier.  Which brings me back to the first original post.  Sometimes it just takes one person with a vision to change the whole nature of the hobby.  Perhaps we don't even know what that is yet (pretty sure it's not dioramas though,  I'm amazed at the skill but they are not for me, I find them a bit 'uncanny valley'). The more talent that enters the hobby the greater the chance of that 'something' being hit upon. 
I've only just returned after a 10 year hiatus Things have moved on and I'm very excited to see what the next 10 years will bring.  Hopefully I'll be part of it even as just an observer and tinkering around with my own piece of frustrating and relaxing (in equal measure 😂) slice of the underwater world!


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## Melll (25 Aug 2020)

oatfish said:


> 'uncanny valley'



That made me laugh 😄😄 



oatfish said:


> Sometimes it just takes one person with a vision to change the whole nature of the hobby.



Takashi Amano, let`s face it did do so much for the hobby and his legacy will carry on for decades to come.

Who knows, maybe there is someone on UKaps who is the next ground breaker so we can all go "ah well we knew them back in the day" 😃



oatfish said:


> The more talent that enters the hobby the greater the chance of that 'something' being hit upon.



Agreed 👍


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## zozo (25 Aug 2020)

Unfortunately, I speak only 4 languages and if I do my best I can read 7 if I need to... And I mainly do read forums in the 4 languages I can speak and fully understand. And must say UKAPS is indeed the one forum with the least female members. Or I simply can't see it, if female members present themself with neutral gender. That I can't know...

At the German forums, I actually see the most female members in this hobby and in my own country also quite a few ladies are active...

That this hobby yet still is a dominated male culture likely still is a post-war generation issue... Boys should be boys and are mainly raised with a soccer ball and a fishing rod etc. rolling around in the dirt so to speak. Girls should be girls and stay needly clean dressed at home, blowing nails and jumping rope and playing with barbie dolls etc. Our generation likely also still remembers exclusively boy schools and Girl Schools conditioning each other to fulfil a completely different role in society... All this is slowly changing, I don't know about other countries but where I live boy or girl school no longer exists. The entire education model already transitioned into mixed gender in the past 2 decades.

And we already see things slowly change, example 20 years ago a girl on a motorcycle was a rarety, nowadays we see it more often, same as girls riding a racing bicycle or playing soccer. It's still this very same post-war generation thing that it is received with mixed feelings but nowadays we have a female Tour de France and a female Euro leag soccer championship.

In a future generation, this will grow into something normal and generally accepted and I bet we will also have more females in the aquarium hobby as well.

It's a transition already in progress, this Barbie video proves it...


Sorry, it's also a generation thing that I also had to  a bit watching it, but it was a positive laugh...  It's definitively happening.


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## tiger15 (25 Aug 2020)

In order not to hijack the thread, I suggest the moderator to split this thread.   I agree this is the most friendly forum with mature and educated members, and gracefully no flame.

I am in several local aquarium clubs and the male/female hobbyists split I observed is about 70/30.  Male hobbyists interest is diverse, from plants, peaceful fish to aggressive tank busters only macho men love.  Female hobbyists I know, on the other hand, are disproportionally into plants and peaceful fish.

For instance, a major aquatic garden club president in US capital  is a woman.  My two reference aquatic plant books are written by women:  Diane Walstad (Ecology of the Planted Aquarium) and Karren Randall (Sunken Gardens).  Many of you know Rachel O'Leary who is a big Youtuber in plants, shrimp and nano fish. 

Women are big in planted tank hobby, just not big  in aquascaping competition or entrepreneurship.   The same can be said about women in cooking.  They cook more at home than men, but not many become chef or get a name out of it.


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## Onoma1 (25 Aug 2020)

One of the interesting (and particularly positive) aspects of the forum (in contrast with Facebook or Youtube) is the anonymity. There isn’t any identity check on the forum and we all have the choice of being anonymous. I am not defined by others according to my role as a father/ mother, male/female/ non-binary, rich/ poor, black/ white, financially successful/ poor, etc but by my ideas and by the value and nature of my interaction with others.


We can (if we wish) let all of the societal baggage behind and this can be purely a place of discussion, debate and a source of information about aquascaping. We can leave unconscious and conscious bais held by others about gender, race, religion, nationality, political views, expertise or power created by our real world personas behind. It can be truly a virtual 'polis'. I can be anyone I want to on this forum.


I would contrast with Youtube of Facebook which are commercialised spaces where the aquascaping personalities are constantly seeking acceptance, approval and engagement. Please don’t misunderstand I enjoy many of these and often find them useful and interesting, however, this doesn’t detract from the fact that in these hyperreal spaces gender and power are used and amplified.

This could answer the question of where is the future of aquascaping …perhaps the where should be here (or in places like this) where we can all contribute without fear or favour.


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## zozo (25 Aug 2020)

tiger15 said:


> Women are big in planted tank hobby








She's a Botanicus and authority in aquatic plants.  Since 1976 
About any description you can find about an aquarium plant has references to on of her books.


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## Tim Harrison (25 Aug 2020)

shangman said:


> the fact that there are already some who are happy to reveal ourselves without flack shows that the forum is already doing well.


Thank you, that's really good to know. I've said this before but I think UKAPS friendly and polite atmosphere is one of the reasons it's still going strong when many other forums have gone to the wall


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## tiger15 (25 Aug 2020)

I’m surprised I haven’t come across any flame in this forum.  I think Euro forums have polite people..  American  forums have rude and Trumpian people.


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## Tim Harrison (25 Aug 2020)

tiger15 said:


> I’m surprised I haven’t come across any flame in this forum


It happens very rarely, but when it does the flames are quickly extinguished  🚒


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## LondonDragon (25 Aug 2020)

Wow, nice read so far and some great input into the hobby and where we might lead to! Maybe one day we will go back to another very popular lady in the fish keeping scene  Diana Walstad, no filter, no co2, low light and a nicely balanced ecosystems! To be honest I do have a preference for low techs, so much easier to maintain and long term get the same satisfaction.

We have seen more and more ladies taking up the hobby and the aquagirls movement in social media also assisting and some major brands also have women to support their products.

Think what sets UKAPS apart is how the forum is moderated, and we take our rules seriously, but we are not the police, we have to be totally unbiased which is not an easy thing to do, I have diffused a few situations on the forum over the years even though sometimes I have a personal relationship with one of the members I cannot take sides and have to evaluate the point of view of both and always try to come to an amicable resolution, and that has been the message to all moderators, once you are a moderator there are no groups and there are no friends, every one must be treated the same as a community, which I think it's fair.

But I have also been told sometimes that there is no freedom of expression, this is not true at all as it's been expressed here already, which I think is more narrow-minded people that just want to be rude and do what they want because this is social media and you can say what you want and insult whomever you want, well if you want that go on Twitter  Respect is a very nice thing, and since I am writing this be careful when you use the tongue out emoji, that could be considered offensive to some  (so I have been told).

Forum pretty much moderates itself, friendly bunch here and since 2007 we have actually only ever banned one person!

Thanks everyone for making this community one of the best if not the best in this hobby.

Cheers
Paulo


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## zozo (25 Aug 2020)

tiger15 said:


> I think Euro forums have polite people..



Oh no not really, UKAPS is absolutely an exception to the rule... I've been a member of quite some European forums and till now UKAPS is the only one that has proper and adequate moderators jumping on it as Tim says, they don't get a chance to escalate. Then posts are removed and instigators or pyromaniacs start behaving or move again to other forums.

And I've been at these forums, loads of vultures around waiting for the tiniest discrepancy in your posts whether it's technical or gramatical it doesn't matter and the bashing begins. 💪 Also seen moderators participating...


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## castle (25 Aug 2020)

jaypeecee said:


> Hi @Onoma1 & Everyone,
> 
> Excellent thought-provoking thread. May I toss into the melting pot a question over which I've pondered many times? I do believe my question is relevant to the thread title. Here it is:
> 
> ...




With fish keeping it's fairly obviously almost balanced in gender from my experience (40/60 F/M) - no famous aquascapers, but it's a fairly niche side of the hobby.

I've got a few female friends that are keeping tanks, all my age (20-30) - in fact, I don't have any male friends keeping fish =/ maybe it's a Norfolk/Suffolk thing, we're fishy.


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## jaypeecee (25 Aug 2020)

Hi Folks,


Melll said:


> A good discussion



I'm so pleased that I brought up the matter of gender. I wasn't sure what response it would elicit. But, it's something I've often wondered about. I was a tad nervous about asking the question but I'm now pleased that I did.

JPC


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## tiger15 (25 Aug 2020)

castle said:


> With fish keeping it's fairly obviously almost balanced in gender from my experience (40/60 F/M) - no famous aquascapers, but it's a fairly niche side of the hobby.
> 
> I've got a few female friends that are keeping tanks, all my age (20-30) - in fact, I don't have any male friends keeping fish =/ maybe it's a Norfolk/Suffolk thing, we're fishy.


Only planted tank and peaceful community fish keeping portion is gender balance, not overall  fish keeping which is male dominated.  It is understandable as I used to visit gardening forums in which women post as much if not more than men.  

Similarly, more women than men keep cats, more men keep dogs, and even the type of dog women keep are different from men.


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## Wookii (22 Sep 2020)

Wow, very interesting thread - I'm not sure how I missed it!

As the thread seems to have morphed into three aspects, I'll offer a comment on each one.

Excellent opening post @Onoma1 and I feel your somewhat conflicted thoughts, as I've had similar thoughts myself. I've grown up being inspired by Amano's tanks - I think because they've been held in such high esteem for so long, (my Nature Aquarium World books must be 20 years old) and because he was the one breaking new ground in terms of aquascaping techniques, I can understand why those scapes are considered by many as the gold standard. I do agree, it is something of a contradiction in terms calling them a Nature Aquarium, but then everything is relative, and when Amano's creations were first reaching public awareness, most peoples tanks looked nothing like his glorious plant filled creations.

The key takeaway for me really is that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder", the power is with the owner to try and create an aquatic scene that they find beautiful - be that a lush algae free garden, a brooding leaf-littered mangrove biotope or a plastic skeleton sitting on a bubble treasure chest. Just as you get gardeners that like a manicured bowling green lawn and flowers in rows, you get gardeners that relish a random wild flower bed with a nature pond in the middle. Similarly with aquarists you get those that like their tanks as a manicured artistic 'interpretation' of a natural aquatic scene, those that want to create a realistic copy of a habitat, or even those that want to create something completely abstract. The aquariums I see images of seem to be as diverse as the people creating them, which is remarkable when you consider the limitations of the similar sized glass boxes they're created in. Ultimately there is no wrong answer, and to the question of where should the hobby be going, there is no right answer, there shouldn't be boundaries or limitations - there will always be trends and fashions that people grasp onto and follow but the scope of the aquarium, and more narrowly the planted tank should always be limitless.

As to the gender question, I think its good to see more women aquascaping and taking part in this forum - I can't for the life of me understand why there aren't more. I consider keeping a planted tank akin to keeping an indoor garden of sorts, and normal terrestrial gardening appears to be far more dominated by female participation than male from my own experience. I keep trying to encourage my own Mum into setting up a planted tank, and she's a superb and avid gardener and could surely utilise her green fingered skill on an indoor planted tank.

As to this forum, I have to say it is a fantastic place. I've participated in a quite a few forums over the last 10-15 years in other unrelated topics, and I don't think I've ever participated in one that is as friendly and helpful as  the community here at UKAPS. Aggressive and unnecessary confrontational posting seems to be virtually non-existent here compared to many I've been on that seem to attract users venting their bad day by becoming a keyboard warrior at night. It's the reason that I pulled the plug on those others quite some time ago, and this is now the only forum I frequent.


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## hypnogogia (22 Sep 2020)

Wookii said:


> Aggressive and unnecessary confrontational posting seems to be virtually non-existent here compared to many


It is a very friendly and welcoming place here.


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## Onoma1 (10 Jan 2021)

I just stumbled across the work of the Japanese artist Azums Makoto  (which I thought was both enjoyable and provocative) see .https://www.japanhouselondon.uk/discover/stories/life-and-works-of-japanese-flower-artist-azuma-makoto/

I wondered, however, if his most recent work exemplified where the ADA driven vision / hyper real contest scape approach was leading us. The brushed stainless steel 'life supports system' seemed so strange but so familiar...




The picture above is one of his terrarium installations which seem to be placed in a large aquarium tank. He must be referencing ADA.

I wondered if anyone knew anything more about him work or had an opinion about his work in relation to aquascaping?


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## dw1305 (11 Jan 2021)

Hi all, 


Onoma1 said:


> had an opinion about his work in relation to aquascaping?


I've an opinion about his work in general, totally artistically and morally bankrupt.

cheers Darrel


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## Kezzab (11 Jan 2021)

dw1305 said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I've an opinion about his work in general, totally artistically and morally bankrupt.
> 
> cheers Darrel


Aye, ok, but what do you really think?


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## dw1305 (11 Jan 2021)

Hi all,


Kezzab said:


> Aye, ok, but what do you really think?


I'm not sure I understand conceptual art.

I went to talk where the presenter explained why the paintings of Vermeer and Rembrandt were of their time, and that if either of those artists had worked in the 21st century they would have produced video installations etc.  At least I think that is what they said (I mainly looked at the pictures) because there were whole sections using terminology ("_gender normative_") that I didn't fully understand.

I was totally bemused a the end, how can you equate <"Rembrandt's self portraits">, or <"The Little Street in Delft">,  with a <"six minute vide of an installation of randomly  flashing lights">?




_By Johannes Vermeer - YAGJRuPz8yVuRQ at Google Cultural Institute, zoom level maximum, Public Domain, __https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13409022_

but

It would be fair to say that the talk was very well received and generally the (educated) audience agreed with the tenet of the argument, because "_figurative painting had no real relevance to the modern world_".

cheers Darrel


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## Wookii (11 Jan 2021)

dw1305 said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I'm not sure I understand conceptual art.
> 
> ...



I have to agree Darrel. I can fully accept that appreciation for 'art', like all things of beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. But for me personally I have a much greater appreciation for figurative art than I do for conceptual stuff - I still struggle to understand how Tracy Emin's bed, or Damien Hurst's pickled animals qualify as art - but what do I know, the only paintings I have on my walls are some John Miller beaches, an amateur (but very good) water colour of Oxford's spires, and the rest are photo's of our own.

As to whether "_figurative painting had no real relevance to the modern world_" - I'd wager figurative art out sells all other types by huge multiples year after year, not sure if that qualifies it as being of relevance, but  . . .


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## George Farmer (11 Jan 2021)

Onoma1 said:


> A few years back I stumbled on a George Farmer Video, found the Green Machine Videos, went to their shop just before they closed, found the UKAPS Forum, started my first tank, travelled to Aquarium Gardens. There I marvelled at their wonderful tanks and was presented with a sticker from ADA courtesy of @Siege. The sticker is now stuck on this laptop …my sister thinks that I may have joined a cult, however, is too polite to ask and my colleagues are perplexed by the Japanese Characters on my laptop but too polite to ask. I then started my second tank (incipient MTS) and then was lucky enough to visit Florestas Submersas while in Lisbon and Ecoarium in Portugal (concentrate I will be asking questions later).
> 
> In Ecoarium I saw the manicured ADA tanks and the then one in the corner. It was a bit messy, lots of emergent plants, full (and I mean full) of plants and looked (to be honest) a bit out of place. After I left the shop I started thinking about the strange tank, and my thought was that of all the tanks that was the only one that in anyway accurately reflected a ‘normal’ aquatic environment (you know the one you played in as a kid catching tadpoles or minnows).
> 
> ...


Great insights. I love a deep thinker that can articulate themselves too!


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## paul.in.kendal (11 Jan 2021)

Marcel Duchamp first pressed a urinal into service as Art in 1917, and debate as to "What Is Art?" has gone on ever since. It's largely pointless, because Art is whatever we say is Art. 
I think some of the work by Japanese conceptual artist Makoto is both thought provoking and extraordinarily beautiful. The bonsai on life-support is surely a comment on our destruction of the natural world, and those frozen flowers are simply wonderfully beautiful.


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## Nigel95 (11 Jan 2021)

hypnogogia said:


> with 30ppm co2. Neither of these is natural.


According to Christel Kasselmann, 2003 Aquarium plants In Rio Aro (Venezuela) Carbon Dioxide is around 32.4 ppm in that biotope. Usually I agree it's a bit lower in nature.


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## dw1305 (11 Jan 2021)

Hi all, 


paul.in.kendal said:


> The bonsai on life-support is surely a comment on our destruction of the natural world


I'd like to think so, but as another Bonsai related sculpture is:


> ........At an altitude of 30,000 meters and minus 50 degrees celsius, botany evolves into EXBIOTA – an extra-terrestrial life. While a pine tree bonsai confronts Earth’s horizon, a bouquet of flowers marches towards the sun. Free from everything, the plants can head to space. This is a botanical journey in space carefully documented by a camera......


Which seems to have a touch more of the Elon Musk's about it. 


paul.in.kendal said:


> and debate as to "What Is Art?" has gone on ever since. It's largely pointless, because Art is whatever we say is Art.


I understand that, I'm not trying to impose some sort of cultural hegemony, and people are going to see very different things in any art work. My guess is that it his is an art form that might be more easily appreciated from a Japanese cultural viewpoint. 

I was very much in a minority (possibly even a minority of one) at the "Figurative Art is dead" talk. 

But I'll let Japanese conceptual artist Makoto speak for himself.


> ......... With conceptual botanical sculpture, freezing multicoloured floral compositions, creating installations for brands like Hermes, working with fashion designers like Dries Van Noten, and even sending a 50-year-old bonsai and tree flower bouquets into space, he has experimented with the strength and power of flowers and plants when they face a hostile (or alien) environment like space, ice and fire. Despite critical environmental conditions, plants and flowers still burst with life, finding new expressions that even flowers or plants could never have imagined. The beauty of nature can now find new ways of communicating their organic forms through the artist’s work..........



cheers Darrel


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## jaypeecee (11 Jan 2021)

Hi Folks,

For me, an artform that I like is one that doesn't require me to think about it in order to appreciate it. That's the beauty of Art - it bypasses the intellectual faculties. It communicates in a way that cannot be put into words. I'm happy to leave the rest to that branch of philosophy - aesthetics.

JPC


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## Onoma1 (16 Jan 2021)

Thank you for the thoughtful responses. The first time I approached it I thought that it pretentious rubbish - a visual version of a Marina Abramović performance art. As I thought about it the thing that struck me about Azums Makoto's work was (like @paul.in.kendal) both the beauty and the message within it. I read this both as a commentary on the destruction of the natural work but also our disconnection from it. It was art but also had a political message within it pushing us to change (a more subtle approach than Banksy). 

In relation to aquascaping it was a bit of lightbulb moment - my personal take on this was as follows:

1.  *A potential future:* The development of further brushed stainless steel 'life support' systems to keep alive a perfect moment through a blend of art and science shown in Makoto's work could (and to an extent) already is one path the ADA (by this I mean the ADA inspired competition approach) is following. Makoto's terrarium seems to characterture of this approach but also give us a glimpse of one potential future for aquascaping.
*2. Disconnection: *It highlights for me how far the current ADA approach takes us from nature and how the ADA approach attempts to control, manipulate, literally box in life into sterile engineered environments removed from nature. This seems a far cry from Takashi Amano's  original philosophy of aquascaping:
“Through building and maintaining natural aquaria, people relearn the intricate connections between forms of life: plants, fishes, microorganisms, and humans. Riches and beauty come from harmony, from balance. Aquaria are great teachers of this truth.”
– Takashi Amano, epilogue of _Nature Aquarium World, Book One_, 1992 
The aquatic world isn't one of just crystal clear blue water without biofilm or algae. Aquatic nature is rich, diverse and above all messy. Shouldn't we be connecting with and supporting this worldview?
3. *Lack of meaning: * Makoto's work has meaning within it in addition to being beautiful. ADA aquascapes are beautiful pieces in themselves, however, as they take us further away from 'nature' and Amano's 'truth' they have lost their meaning and their artistic value. Pretty pictures, however, nothing more.
4. * Spiritual disconnection*: Both the work of Makoto and ADA seem to take us away from a spiritual connection with creation, husbandry, nurturing, caring towards engineering short term solutions.*  Add in a mirror, discuss the correct fish to show off your aquascape (after all fish they are only pretty objects which function to enhance the photograph of your amazing diorama). If they don't fit with yout latest scape then give them away. 
5.* Instant gratification:* In my slow ineffective way I see aquascaping as a process of engaging with natural processes, working with them, nudging rather than pushing cajoling over time as a lengthy process rather than a rapid development, rip down and when it's reached perfection (instagram) and rescape. 
6.* Outcome focussed. *For me the value of aquascaping is and should be the process.   It refreshes my 'soul' it's a place of mindfulness and at its' best time slows when I am aquascaping. If the outcome isn't competition standard (it's far from this) and has a bit of algae it doesn't lessen the value of both the object and the process. Makoto's work seemed to point to the importance of the final object which we stare at through glass - something which it has in common with the current ADA approach.

So back to the future of aquascaping. Where now? I think the ADA competition approach is a dead end.  Perhaps we need a different approach - drawing upon the knowledge gleaned in the biotope movement, however, blending it with the artistic skills in the mainstream aquascaping community.

Sorry for the longish post...

* On re-reading these are these polarities and mutually exclusive?


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## Simmo (16 Jan 2021)

Eloquent and thought provoking. I’d guess all forms will continue to be expressed as this reflects our diverse personality types. Do you wash and wax your car every Sunday or drive through the carwash just before you sell it? We might all like doing planted tanks but our motivations and drivers are probably diverse.

personally it’s an expression of interest in nature; there is design there to enhance the lives of the fish and because the creative process is enjoyable and yes to make something beautiful, a pleasing composition, but not art; but maybe I’m an aquarist not a scaper?

my fear is the hobby exists in a vacuum, obsessively trying to recreate a mirror of nature whilst being blinkered from its degredation. For example, is it sustainable to pump CO2 into a tank in an age of global warming or source wild caught fish from shrinking rainforests?


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