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Is the carpet out of fashion?

JohnC

JohnC

Member
Joined
14 Nov 2008
Messages
1,067
Location
On a mountain in the Highlands of Scotland
hi,

general question, are planted aquariums with a full glosso, ricca, hc or whatever carpet out of fashion now? I'm noticing alot of new blogs with mix'ed substrates, paths and sandy open areas?

for the older guys in the hobby here whom have followed ADA comps for years, do trends in scapes come in cycles? if so are these trends forum specific or more regional or global?

Best Regards,

John
 
hijac said:
hi,

general question, are planted aquariums with a full glosso, ricca, hc or whatever carpet out of fashion now? I'm noticing alot of new blogs with mix'ed substrates, paths and sandy open areas?

for the older guys in the hobby here whom have followed ADA comps for years, do trends in scapes come in cycles? if so are these trends forum specific or more regional or global?

Best Regards,

John
Click to expand...

John

I am attempting to do all three - Crpyt hedge, path and lawn with HC. All in at the weekend - post pic's as it grows.

Regards
Paul.
 
gratts said:
Not out of fashion in my book, I just struggle to get mine growing! :lol:
Click to expand...

Stick at it, the most rewarding thing in planted tanks for me this year has been getting my HC to carpet properly.

You may have highlighted another angle on this thou, maybe this isnt so much of a trend thing, more of a maturity of aquascaping and aquascapers in an overall group thing.

I remember seeing a Tom Barr post on another forum about the "stages of an aquascaper" highlighting the different key points of the hobby you get past (getting stuff to grow, collecting as my different varieties of plants as possible, attaching things to rocks, playing with substate). Maybe what i am seeing is a maturing of the UK aqualandscaping scene with all the "new wave" journals.

:D

I blame ukaps.

In a good way.

Best Regards,

John
 
I know what you're saying :) I seem to be all over the place, on different stages :lol: That's always been my problem with many things. I find it difficult to do just one thing, and end up doing several, but perhaps not as well as doing just one thing.

I'm currently trying to carpet HC and it's sorta happening, slowly!
 
I tried for a carpet once and failed so moved to less complicated foreground plants.
Now I'm getting back into them.
Each to their own.
I think the trend of not having a full carpet is helped by the fact that we have so much more choice of substrate and hardscape meaning you don't have cover 100% in plants!
 
There's that plus some carpets need a lot of maintenance.

I for one initially went down the EI/high light/CO2 route to get my plants to grow better. What I found out quickly is that yeah, they grow better, but they also grow much faster which ups the maintenance level each week. After trying a few different plants to see if I could actually grow them myself, I'm now looking towards a scape/planting choice which offers a lower maintenance level. That and I also like to see some substrate and some of my fish prefer something to dig around in too rather than have a 100% covering of plants :)
 
nry said:
There's that plus some carpets need a lot of maintenance.

I for one initially went down the EI/high light/CO2 route to get my plants to grow better. What I found out quickly is that yeah, they grow better, but they also grow much faster which ups the maintenance level each week. After trying a few different plants to see if I could actually grow them myself, I'm now looking towards a scape/planting choice which offers a lower maintenance level. That and I also like to see some substrate and some of my fish prefer something to dig around in too rather than have a 100% covering of plants :)
Click to expand...

fair points there, my blyxa carpet is a total cheat, so easy to maintain and grown. at the same time my cory's hate it.
 
There are fashions in planted tanks. Just look at Riccia. Everyone was using it 2-3 years ago. Nowadays it is still used but not as much.

I don't think carpets are out of fashion at the moment. I think people are just trying to experiment with different things a lot at the moment.

The HC carpets became very popular a couple of years back when Iwagumi became the 'in thing'. before then it was still used but not as often. Glosso was more popular before that time.

I think the way things are at the moment is a breath of fresh air really. Loads of people trying to do something different and therefore lots of different things to see when we look on the internet ;)

AC
 
Fashion wise it's easy as pie today, the DSM made quick work of that.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 
plantbrain said:
Fashion wise it's easy as pie today, the DSM made quick work of that.

Regards,
Tom Barr
Click to expand...

i'm presuming you mean the dry start method not the The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. :D

although many people looking inwards into a hobby where grown men and women obsess so much about the placement of a bunch of rocks and plants in the presuit of beauty and art might be inclined to think we were a bit mad.

best regards,
john
 
hijac said:
although many people looking inwards into a hobby where grown men and women obsess so much about the placement of a bunch of rocks and plants in the presuit of beauty and art might be inclined to think we were a bit mad.

best regards,
john
Click to expand...

It's not a bunch of rocks or plants (hollistically) that gives this impression but the obsession of the exact placement of one rock or piece of wood that gives concern to some that aren't in the know!

Now I'm getting concerned which only leads me to one conclusion : I'm not in the know or I'm too much in the know.

Now confused myself, going to lie down and think about that . :lol:
 
I am enjoying the humorous posts here. Me personally I prefer wooden floorboards (or even cheap laminate) to carpets. Easier to clean.

Joking apart I have a hunch it is limited knowledge\ability that is the governing factor in growing a carpet for the majority of people, rather than it being in\out of fashion.
 
I like carpets and walls :) the most sucess I have had with a capeting plant is glosso, I have in the past created a riccia carpet too which worked pretty well. My latest attempt if a Fissidens Fontanus carpet which you can see in my shrimp tank journal :)
 
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