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Aquascaping event at Emperor Tropicals

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.
 
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!

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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. ;)
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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.
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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".
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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.
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7. More planting in progress. I completed Cryptocorynes and started to add Staurogyne repens
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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".
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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. :)
 
As above :D

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

Nice to see these photos too!
 
Hi Manuel, Great looking Hardscape Nice planting too :clap: Looking forward to the final photo :)

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

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
 
About time :p.
That's fantastic mate :thumbup:.Great hardscape and also looks great when planted.
Please keep this updated ;)
 
Looks good,I really like the way the stone sits with the wood and choice of plants

About time :p.
That's fantastic mate :thumbup:.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. ;)
 
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.
 
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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