To be honest mate I've looked through the top 127 on phillipe oliveira fb page and none of them make me smile as much as when I see yours don't get me wrong there amazing scapes. yours is a part of the ukaps community and speaking for myself I feel like I have been a part of the journey and that is so much more fun than any of the other scapes in the IAPLC that ranking they gave you sucks but at least you had the balls to enter and the memory of the final pic with all the family involved so congrats is in ordered either way
Thanks so much Jay, I guess that’s the thing, the scaper gets enjoyment from developing his tank for different reasons. Competition tank makers get their enjoyment from that process, hobbyists an entirely different journey with different goals.
Im pleased to have shared the tanks development here and I’m pleased that others have enjoyed it too.
Definitely like it more than many of those in the top 127. Depends a lot on taste I think, always prefer plant scapes rather than hard scapes.
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My own thought on completions and types of planted aquariums is that there is room for all types and everyone differs so as in 2018 the winner .Well probably a surprise with against previous winners and no two people pick the same winner and my view l look at some in the hundreds that could have been the winner. IMO😎 Also noticed certain parts of the world favour distinctive styles
Thanks Luketendo and Paraguay, it’s so subjective and I guess that is why the limitations and possibilities are being challenged so much nowadays. It is the international Aquatic Plant Layout contest after all
🙂
Agreed. I just watched the top 127 as well and after seeing variations on the same three themes for like 60 tanks I skipped forward, only then did they get more interesting. They certainly werent ugly tanks by any means, but they just didnt interest me. But your tank looks like the sort of tank I could sit in front of for hours. Its lovely and deserved a better rating imo.
Thanks, I guess that’s the main difference between a hobbyist tank and a competition tank. Many competition tanks look like the fish have been added for the day to prove it is an aquarium rather than live in it as part of it long term. I think that to a degree is some of the contention with judging criteria as ultimately they are an aquarium and should represent in some way a more natural setting. The iaplc always produces outstanding works of art and that is where there is often a divide in opinion between art and environment.
Your tank was one of the first tanks that really inspired me to look at aquariums differently, as works of art if you like, I know very little about aquascaping and the iaplc but I prefer your tank to many of the higher entries. I would be more than happy if I could create a scape and maintain a scape as you have.
That’s so nice to hear, I’m pleased it has inspired you and that in itself means more than any ranking. I see aquascaping as an art form, I guess it’s a blend of looking nice and being in some way natural, some look at it as purely art. There are other factors I consider such as ease and longevity of producing and maintaining an aquarium suitable for both fish and plants.
I think that's what more people on this forum are looking for these days, I know I am.
People that want to make tanks specifically for competitions or as more of an intense hobby is fine and I have no problem with that but I think when you find you neither have the time and/or abilities to do this with ease then why feel that your simple aquarium doesn't live upto expectations - I know this is something I've experienced and ultimately it's you that wants to enjoy looking at your aquarium so if you're pleased with it then that's the main thing.
On a side note I really like what you have done and think that photo would fall right into place as inspiration to anyone, myself included as I've told you before. It looks great and well done you.
Very true, what drives a hobbyist and a competitor are different. Both are fine. There is a lot in between also and you are right, as long as the maker/keeper is happy and enjoying the process then the hobby will thrive as ultimately that is what it is about.
To be honest I think the na concept is perhaps more based on hobbyist aspirations nowadays rather than competition as the bar has been raised and developed on competition.
I think most members here are hobbyist focused and just want a nice aquascape in their living space. I’m all for ease and impact, I know @GeorgeFarmer advocates an easier style also and I think for many now they are choosing to fit aquascaping to personal briefs, be that budget, time, space etc. Maybe that has always been the case but I think now it is more easy to see through you tube and internet access that you can achieve a beautiful aquarium more easily, that combined with the ease of access to the hobby through the increasing number of stores now around.
Like I said before Ady, it's a great looking scape and the image is great too. Scaping for competitions has become something of a different skill set pretty much divorced from the Nature Aquarium concept the IAPLC was originally conceived to promote. I think you have to go in to most competitions with that mind set these days.
The competition is supposedly heavily weighted toward creating a natural habitat for fish, a max of 50 points. But I'm left wondering what the weather's like on the planet the judges come from. The wining scapes have more in common with scenic model making than natural aquatic habitat, hence the term diorama style.
If you want to split hairs you could argue that since the judging criteria has become weighted toward the above there has been a slight shift back in the original direction, but it's nothing to write home about. Either way it's not my cup of tea...
The last time I thought the winner of the
IAPLC was justified was 2018, which is not that dissimilar to your scape. Forth place is good too.
Thank you Tim, I was happy with the image but know that things can be improved. I guess it’s down to the emphasis you put on what you want to achieve from the tank. Competition vs other goals. As you know this tank was never a competition tank, I’m pretty sure I have my level and my needs from aquascapes now and will never push or perhaps have the ability to produce a competition tank tbh, I don’t have that drive. I like fish and aquascaping so blend the two to enjoy in my home on a daily basis and that is where I get my pleasure. I may choose to try new things and to push my goals with small steps, different hardscape choices, different plants but that is it, I have no desire to attempt to create a highly ranked competition tank.....unless it was a lifestyle tank competition
I have to agree with you in the judging criteria and was hoping for a slightly more na biased top 27. There are tanks which I think are more true to the concept, however some are like you say, diorama. I have to say the number 1 winning work is leaning towards a blend of natural, more so than many of the others I guess but some seem to me almost fairytale. I really do appreciate the skill involved in making some of the scenes and they look incredible but in no way do I associate them to aquariums and an environment for fish. Take for example work ranked number 4. Incredible scape, highly skilled and unbelievable vision and execution, but wow, there is nowhere on this planet that looks like that in Nature on land or underwater. That doesn’t make me feel happy personally and it wouldn’t be something I could sit in front of on an evening enjoying a cuppa.
I think both yourself and Thierry have very strong opinions on the iaplc and both are relavent.
I Can’t agree with that, iaplc 2018 winner was just an guy without imagination;
This for me epitomises the change and progression in the iaplc. I think to say the creator had no imagination is strong, I think more the issue is that the na concept leads creators to produce very similar scapes simply due to the fundamentals in hardscape and plants, it is a style. We all love that style and many hobbyists strive to recreate and produce scapes in a similar way as they are beautiful for fish and plants. This is also perhaps more achievable nowadays with the progress and accessibility within in the hobby. More aquascaping stores and more aquascaping equipment mean that more can access and buy materials, plants and equipment at reasonable prices so can create their own slice of nature. This promotes the ability of more to produce top quality competition winning worthy aquascapes.
Sure, but NA style was Amano stuff. Does it means that everyone has to copy amano stuff to get high ranking at iaplc? Mhhh definitively would be boring. Iaplc has to make aquascaping evolve, and with the creativity of some guys in the top 27, I’m glad it has evolved into something that can turns more people into aquascaping.
simply try this: show 2 scapes to a non hobbyist;
1) na style; ‘well it’s an aquarium with plants’
2) Steven Chong work (for example): ‘holy molly it this even an aquarium’
I still find nice to see perfectly made na style or iwagumi in the top 127 at iaplc this year, it shows there is an place for everyone.🙂
😉
I can understand your feelings, the iaplc as a competition needs I guess a level of progression too to promote competitiveness. Na tanks tend to look similar and that makes seperating them even more subjective and difficult. When creators are producing works like those in the top 27, they do stand out and wow people and i guess to some degree this is to be embraced. It makes judging them easier in some ways as they are clearly skilled and also more ‘unique’ or not so mass produced.
The contention is always with how comfortable people feel seeing fish in scapes which seem to have very little resemblance to a natural setting. There will always be the ‘glass box’ arguement but I do wonder how many of these more diorama based scenes do have fish in them long term as they seem more biased towards creation and vision than keeping an aquarium. If the judging criteria have a bias towards recreating a natural environment for fish then this needs to be clarified and highlighted more. You mentioned Steven Chongs tank, this for me is a great work, but I get confused by some of the reflection details and question there necessity and even their creation.
I think this is also the beauty of competition, everybody has a viewpoint and fair arguement as to the relevance and place for all types within the contest. If they were all the same that could be seen as dull however I just like looking at quality na aquariums so will find most pleasure looking through the pages of my collection of Takashi Amano books. These set ups for me have the best blend of art and nurture, hardscape, fish and plants and blend the art of aquascaping and fishkeeping perfectly.
It could also be a generation thing, Amano was the creator of the na concept and really brought aquascaping to the forefront of the hobby. Nobody will forget that but nowadays there are so many top quality aquascapers and creators that we are spoiled and a new generation sees beauty in new ways.
Many thanks Melll
🙂
The iaplc always creates a buzz and conversation and that’s why we all like it so much. There are hundreds of top quality inspirational scapes, many contentious choices, lots of differing opinions and also most importantly more scapers enjoying the hobby. This is a good thing.
Cheerio,
Ady.
Here’s a few images that didn’t make the cut and a few during my photo shoot
😎🙌
