# Aquascaping event at Emperor Tropicals



## Manuel Arias (11 Jan 2016)

Dear all,

I have the luck of being proposed to manage a two-day aquascaping event at Emperor Tropicals, Plymouth. The idea is to get more people involved in the hobby, as well as help and support the best shop for plants in UK, as voted by Fishkeepers Magazine.

You can find all the details in this thread of Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1016301191770784&id=132406846826894

Also, if you need further details, please, do not hesitate in contacting me. I wish I have the level of George Farmer, but I will do my best! 

Hopefully, see you there!

Cheers,


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## Greenfinger2 (11 Jan 2016)

Hi Manuel, I would love to attend It is a long way from London though. We will see


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## George Farmer (11 Jan 2016)

Well done! All the best with it.


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## Manuel Arias (12 Jan 2016)

Greenfinger2 said:


> i Manuel, I would love to attend It is a long way from London though. We will see





George Farmer said:


> Well done! All the best with it.



Thank you to both of you!  It is going to be fun, for sure! I will also take the chance to encourage people in the hardscape contest.  I do not know if you are planning posters, but if that is the case, I can bring one with me. Just contact me and I provide the details.


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## George Farmer (12 Jan 2016)

Hi Manuel

If you are able to print yourself, posters are available for download here -

www.ukaps.org/ae


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## Manuel Arias (12 Jan 2016)

George Farmer said:


> If you are able to print yourself, posters are available for download here



Sure, no problem! I will do it.


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## PARAGUAY (13 Jan 2016)

I would not be able to make it but I am sure it will be a great day


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## Antoni (13 Jan 2016)

That is great news, my friend! Well done! Will keep an eye on this


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## Manuel Arias (17 Jan 2016)

Antoni said:


> That is great news, my friend! Well done! Will keep an eye on this



Thank you Antoni! I am really excited about this opportunity. I think is going to be a good experience. I will probably publish the work here.


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## Manuel Arias (19 Jan 2016)

Getting ready for the event of this weekend!


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## Nelson (19 Jan 2016)

Good luck mate.Plenty of pics please .


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## Manuel Arias (19 Jan 2016)

Nelson said:


> Good luck mate.Plenty of pics please .



Thank you Nelson! I will need it. It seems lot of people will turn on the shop...what makes me glad but increases the pressure.  It is going to be fun, anyway, that's for sure. Yes, I will put lot of photos, no worries. It will be a delay, as another person will make the photos during the event, but I also will make some. I will probably also open a Journal for this one and show the evolution. Hope my idea for this aquascape works.


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## Nelson (19 Jan 2016)

No pressure.You've done a 'live' scape before.Only ALL the attention will be on you .


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## Manuel Arias (19 Jan 2016)

Nelson said:


> No pressure.You've done a 'live' scape before.Only ALL the attention will be on you .



Lol...


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## Manuel Arias (24 Jan 2016)

Long weekend! It has been exhausting, really. Lots of people asking questions and big work in the aquascape. At the end, I am really happy with the result. I will show photos once I got them, as I did not take mines, so waiting for the various photographers that came to the event. Really happy with the experience and the discusions.


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## Nelson (24 Jan 2016)

Well done .
Looking forward to the pics.


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## Nelson (29 Jan 2016)

Are you teasing us ? .


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## Tim Harrison (29 Jan 2016)

I've been there plenty of times - Plymouth is my second home...wish I could have been there sounds like a great event...be good to see the photos


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## Manuel Arias (30 Jan 2016)

Nelson said:


> Are you teasing us ? .


Hahahaaha! No! Waiting for the photos, still...  I hope get some this weekend! Keep tuned!


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## Nelson (8 Feb 2016)

Oh Manuel, what are you like.......


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## PARAGUAY (8 Feb 2016)

Reminds me of the old days a lad I worked with did wedding,occassions like photography (35 m camera )as a hobby as he was quite a good amateur photographer, if he did a wedding at weekend he had trouble sleeping all week worried at work in case the photos didn't turn out right.


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## George Farmer (11 Feb 2016)

Any updates on this? I'd love to see some pics. Workshops are so important to get that face to face engagement. Kudos.


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## Manuel Arias (13 Feb 2016)

I got the photos today! Hooray! But they are in RAW. I will select some and post them.


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## Nelson (14 Feb 2016)

Bump .


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## Manuel Arias (14 Feb 2016)

OK, after fiddling around with the RAWs, I managed to prepare a batch of photos. Just a warning: they come from different devices, and unfortunately, the guy who did the photos at the end did just provide them in low resolution, for unknown reasons. Lesson learnt anyway. Next time I use my own equipment to avoid this.

I have also excluded at purpose the final hardscape, for obvious reasons...  I will post them later...around 24th February. 

1. Getting ready, me at home, with a shirt courtesy from Emperor Tropicals! It was unexpected but lovely!






2. Explaining the hardscape strategy in an early stage. Photo is not good, but I spent quite a lot of time to do the hardscape and explain each step to people, as they had lot of questions about it. Apart from me (I was 3rd), shop counts with 4th and 6th positions in last UKASC (they are employees of the shop). The shop itself was awarded as winner shops for plants (Fishkeeper´s Magazine) and also finished in the Top 40 of global best shops in UK. The certificates were on top of the aquarium. 




3. Better shot of the hardscape at this stage. The tank was difficult to deal with, due to the dimensions (very narrow) which made really difficult to work with it. I love the contrast between the colour of the rocks and this sand.




4. Final hardscape (to be shown later!)

5. First stage of planting. Attaching mosses (_Taxiphyllum berbieri_ and _Vesicularia ferrieri_), adding _Anubias bateri nana_ "Petite" and also _Eleocharis acicularis_ "Mini".




6. Adding _Cryptocoryne wendtii_ "Green" and _Cryptocoryne lutea_. I usually plant forward and back so I can get a better idea of the aspect is about to get, adjusting it if necessary. I intended to get the "Mini" version for _C. lutea_, but was not possible this time.




7. More planting in progress. I completed _Cryptocorynes _and started to add_ Staurogyne repens_




8. More planting but I did not got the photos so far. I will keep trying.

9. Final aquascape (but very low resolution, sorry! I am trying to get the high resolution ones). Main differences from above are _Blyxa japonica, Alternanthera reineckii _"Mini", and_ Microsorum pteropus_ "Narrow".


 



Well, I hope you enjoyed it. I had a lovely experience I hope to repeat. People coming to the workshop were lovely and I managed to get some of them staying the whole two days with me and the shop staff was very happy with it! Any comments are welcome.


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## Greenfinger2 (15 Feb 2016)

Hi Manuel, Great looking Hardscape Nice planting too  Looking forward to the final photo


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## alto (15 Feb 2016)

As above 

Hardscape is a terrific success as I'd never suspect the tank to be narrow 

Nice to see these photos too!


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## Manuel Arias (15 Feb 2016)

Greenfinger2 said:


> Hi Manuel, Great looking Hardscape Nice planting too  Looking forward to the final photo





alto said:


> Hardscape is a terrific success as I'd never suspect the tank to be narrow



Thank you guys! I finished quite happy with the results, even if I identified a couple of points of improvement, but hey, aquascaping is a continuum learning process! However, I am encouraged by your words. It is really appreciated.

If I am lucky, I will get good photos from the final, but then I have to work it, so still no idea of when. 

Cheers,

Manuel


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## PARAGUAY (15 Feb 2016)

Looks good,I really like the way the stone sits with the wood and choice of plants


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## Nelson (15 Feb 2016)

About time .
That's fantastic mate .Great hardscape and also looks great when planted.
Please keep this updated


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## Manuel Arias (15 Feb 2016)

PARAGUAY said:


> Looks good,I really like the way the stone sits with the wood and choice of plants





Nelson said:


> About time .
> That's fantastic mate .Great hardscape and also looks great when planted.
> Please keep this updated



Thank you so much, really. It is appreciated. Sorry for the delay in posting photos...but it was more difficult than expected (and also I was travelling almost 10 days). I will keep updated.


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## Nelson (15 Feb 2016)

Is this high tech ?.


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## Manuel Arias (16 Feb 2016)

Nelson said:


> Is this high tech ?.



Yes, Nelson. The tank has CO2 injection and a set of Kessil AP700 LED lights. We have to change the lights, though, as they are for marine tanks, so the spectrum is no ideal in my point of view (too cold, spectrally speaking). I used also a new substrate, scarcely available in UK at the moment: Aquavitro Aquasolum, for what I have already guessed the specs and allowed me to work well with the fertilizer plan.


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## tim (17 Feb 2016)

Very nice layout Manuel, that will mature very nicely over the coming months, please keep us updated with progress pics.


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## Manuel Arias (17 Feb 2016)

tim said:


> Very nice layout Manuel, that will mature very nicely over the coming months, please keep us updated with progress pics.



Thank you Tim! Yes, I will keep posting photos, for sure!  I really like the planted layout. It reminds me to a rain forest. Let´s see how grows.


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