UKAPS Aquascaping Experience - Hardscape Challenge Results

[LondonDragon]

Do the Aquascapers all bring their own hardscape materials with them? Or do they get to select from a ton of stuff available to them on the day?

It was up to the scaper, some travelled from across Europe for this show, so they could not bring their own hardscape, so they used what was available to them.

 

[REDSTEVEO]

So the scape that came first. Did they just grab a load of rock and materials from what was available then.

It just strikes me as odd that whoever gets first dibs on what is available to choose from is at an advantage over the others.

 

[zozo]

If I remember correctly there must be a video taken from the event... Or I was dreaming...

Edit
I wasn't


But this is not the one I remember. It might have been a live stream...

 

[PARAGUAY]

So the scape that came first. Did they just grab a load of rock and materials from what was available then.

It just strikes me as odd that whoever gets first dibs on what is available to choose from is at an advantage over the others.

Don't this was a issue Steve there seem to be a mountain of sponsered hardscape available and equally mixed scapes some just rock only

 

[LondonDragon]

So the scape that came first. Did they just grab a load of rock and materials from what was available then.

Yep, he used what was available on the day, first come first served!

You can see the hardscape that was there on the day from these photos:

It just strikes me as odd that whoever gets first dibs on what is available to choose from is at an advantage over the others.

It's a competition there was a starting time, so everyone needed to be there for that start time and then you scamble for what you can see works for you! 😉

 

[REDSTEVEO]

Yep, he used what was available on the day, first come first served!

You can see the hardscape that was there on the day from these photos:

View attachment 182955
View attachment 182956


It's a competition there was a starting time, so everyone needed to be there for that start time and then you scamble for what you can see works for you! 😉

Haha, my OCD wouldn't like that. I don't do scrambling, I like to plan meticulously with the plan in my head and all the materials hardscape etc all to hand.

So because of that I probably couldn't compete in such a competition. Which just goes to reinforce my respect for those that do, and I take my hat off to the owner of the winning scape.

 

[LondonDragon]

Haha, my OCD wouldn't like that. I don't do scrambling, I like to plan meticulously with the plan in my head and all the materials hardscape etc all to hand.

So because of that I probably couldn't compete in such a competition. Which just goes to reinforce my respect for those that do, and I take my hat off to the owner of the winning scape.

Indeed, coming up with something on the day it's not something easy to do, the winner was struggling for a while also, and looked quite messy for most of the day and suddenly in the last couple of hours it transformed into that great hardscape! We were pretty stunned!

 

[REDSTEVEO]

Indeed, coming up with something on the day it's not something easy to do, the winner was struggling for a while also, and looked quite messy for most of the day and suddenly in the last couple of hours it transformed into that great hardscape! We were pretty stunned!

It does look stunning indeed. The scale belies the perspective. If you didn't know it was inside an Aquarium it could have easily been a mountain range from who knows where.

Regarding the previous comments from another poster regarding how it would be planted etc. As it looks in that photograph I agree it would indeed be difficult to plant up, because as soon as you do, the scale and the perspective would be lost.

So to try imagining it with plants is difficult, then of course what fish would look correct in there? Because although as a scape it looks fantastic, I don't believe there is a biotope attributable to any kind of fish for that kind of scape.

I think if it were me, I wouldn't fill it, I would have a small reservoir at the back out of sight with the water running down the centre like a river effect. A few bits of Fissidens, attached to tiny bits of wood, job done. But no fish.

 

[LondonDragon]

Regarding the previous comments from another poster regarding how it would be planted etc. As it looks in that photograph I agree it would indeed be difficult to plant up, because as soon as you do, the scale and the perspective would be lost.

Photos don't always do the scapes justice, they looked awesome in person. Also the perspective don't give you a top-down view in terms of spacing for planting. Some scapers actually do their hardscape with a camera connected to the TV in the frontal view so that they can actually see what the scape is going to look like when you photograph it from the frontal view 😉

 

[shangman]

Photos don't always do the scapes justice, they looked awesome in person. Also the perspective don't give you a top-down view in terms of spacing for planting. Some scapers actually do their hardscape with a camera connected to the TV in the frontal view so that they can actually see what the scape is going to look like when you photograph it from the frontal view 😉

omg that is such a good idea, I spend so much time adding in hardscape and then walking back to look at it front-on, would be so useful to just look over at a screen and see how it is there.

 

[REDSTEVEO]

Photos don't always do the scapes justice, they looked awesome in person. Also the perspective don't give you a top-down view in terms of spacing for planting. Some scapers actually do their hardscape with a camera connected to the TV in the frontal view so that they can actually see what the scape is going to look like when you photograph it from the frontal view 😉

That is a very clever idea. I wonder who came up with that. 😉😎

 

[LondonDragon]

That is a very clever idea. I wonder who came up with that. 😉😎

There has been a few people with that idea, but historically on UKAPS Mark Evans used it quite a lot a decade ago!!