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ADA Nature Aquarium Gallery and Japanese Aquascaping

Different growers do rate plants in different categories. For example Tropica have Bolbitis as medium, Glass Aqua have it as easy ( I think it’s "easy” ).

I suspect it’s a combination of light and co2 demand ( in fact now I’ve said that it seems obvious, as surely the only other fact in nutrients which if you follow EI methodology at least should always be in excess ) that categorise plants, but if you go off tropicas easy medium hard there are plants in medium that are ok without co2 and some which need it. There is no clear line ( not sure I’d necessarily expect one ) is a sliding scale from super easy to super hard with lots of variation in between.
 
My point being that; the gallery have several examples of species that have high demands for both light and Co2. You look at something like UG it's even trickier, as it tend to dislike nutrients that a lot of other plants more commonly likes.
I don't know what Wong or Barr classifies as a "hard to grow" plant and by what measures they qualify.
Sure you'll see plenty of epiphytes and shade tolerant plants at the gallery, but the opposite is also very true in regards to higher demands as mentioned above.
I conclude from own experience and what I've seen and heard from others; that the ADA lamps won't be the limiting factor to your plant selection and that they supposedly only use 'easy plants' is by my understanding simply not true
 
Different growers do rate plants in different categories. For example Tropica have Bolbitis as medium, Glass Aqua have it as easy ( I think it’s "easy” ).
.

Bolbitis hasn’t been easy for me. The first two times I tried, both died. Only the third time I tried Bolbitis mini that it thrives.

I conclude from own experience and what I've seen and heard from others; that the ADA lamps won't be the limiting factor to your plant selection and that they supposedly only use 'easy plants' is by my understanding simply not true

Without PAR values reported, we can only speculate the light intensity based on outdated measurements by Barr and the type of plants used. I don’t think ADA chose easy plants due to light limitation, but rather difficult color stems don’t fit well into ADA nature style.
 
Madagascar lace leaf
Is this plant difficult though :confused:
I’ve grown Tropica’s version over the years - the only difficulty I noted was limiting its aggressive takeover of the entire tank :eek:
I’ve seen it grow well (in lfs display tanks) without CO2, with poor to moderate light, with minimal to moderate flow, without added fertilizers (except the Tropica Soil substrate) - though obviously some shops grow it in stable high tech tanks (where it’s decidedly more beastly ;))

If you read through Takashi Amano’s Nature Aquarium volumes, many tanks had 4-6 fluorescent tubes, moderate CO2 etc and a range of “difficult” to “easy” plants
My idea of a “difficult” plant is more along Tropica’s concept of “advanced” plants


Does Tom Barr have an active media page for his scapes?
(I’ve seen the odd photos/videos but when I think about Aquascaping, Tom Barr doesn’t really come into my mind - except for his wood collecting contributions!)
 
I don’t think there is much ambiguity of what are easy and difficult plants based on rating from different sources. There may be some border line plants between easy and moderate or moderate and difficult plants depending on the rating source. Easy plants generally mean low light, and difficult means high light with a few exceptions.

Tom Barr has showcased many of his setups in videos and photos, but he is not much an aquascaper as his specialty is color plants in Dutch style. Dennis Wong is more an aquascaper as nature and diorama style require skill to pull together hardscape and plants in harmony. Barr contribution is mainly to prove that CO2 and EI eutrophication can grow lush plants with his own experimental data to back it up. He went all the way to ADA gallery in Japan a decade ago with a PAR meter to take data.
 
Is this plant difficult though :confused:
If you read through Takashi Amano’s Nature Aquarium volumes, many tanks had 4-6 fluorescent tubes, moderate CO2 etc and a range of “difficult” to “easy” plants
My idea of a “difficult” plant is more along Tropica’s concept of “advanced” plants
I have visited Sumida Aquarium where Amano completed his last project and the largest nature aquarium in 2013. I have not seen any difficult plants in the sense of intensity colored plants as in Dutch garden. Similar to Japanese gardens that accentuate the shade of green, form and harmony while colorful flowering plants are used sparingly. Amano pioneered the use of carpeting plants, and in the sense that growing dense carpeting plants is no easy task, he has some difficult plants.
 
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