AGA 2022 Aquascaping Contest: #560

Beautiful healthy luscious plants.

I just love the richness color vibrance.

The closeups and top-down shots show how healthy the plants are! The skill needed to win the Dutch aquascape competition is clearly present. But you have twice as many plants as a tank this size should.

It's an overkill of small-leaf stem plants. There are no large-leaf plants no moss no tall grass - contrast in leaf shape size and color are all key elements of a good Dutch scape.

Equipment needs to be removed for photography.

The right focal point area has a grouping of 5 or 6 red plants when one dominant red plant would have done the job better.

There is a rarely discussed part of Dutch scaping that I call 'Days-to-Peak.' Understanding this applying this knowledge would have greatly improved the ranking on this entry.

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PRO-TIP: there is a rarely discussed part of Dutch scaping that I call 'Days-to-Peak.' Understanding this and applying this knowledge would have greatly improved the ranking on this entry.

Days-to-Peak (DTP) is the number of days it takes for a species to grow to perfect height and volume after a trim. DTP is different for every species and every tank. Given your light CO2 and fertilizer dosing Ludwigia inclinata Pantanal may take only 5 days after a trim to reach peak appearance of perfect height and volume. Whereas Rotala may require 10 days. Knowing the number of days it takes for each of your species to reach its peak or best appearance after a trim is critical. Knowing this tells you when to trim each plant so they all reach the perfect height and volume when you are ready to photograph the tank for competition. Maintaining the same species for a few months without changing light ferts and CO2 and observing them daily while keeping excellent records will help you determine the DTP for every species. Experimenting with dosing or CO2 while getting ready for a competition means your DTP will keep changing. Without knowing DTPs for each plant entries will look too freshly trimmed or overgrown.

More scaping tips here: https://www.aquatic-gardeners.org/Articles/Vin-Dutch/

— Vin Kutty

Overall the plants look healthy. But for true Dutch Style the aquarium is lacking a true structure and clearly distinguishable groups of plants. In general too many different species and too much red/brown/orange.

— Marco Aukes

Plants look healthy but groups are many and too small. Dutch style recommands 1 specie of plants per 10 cmtr front glass. Reduce your number of species and make the groups larger. Your spraybar should be more hidden behind plants.

— Bart Laurens

#560: 240L Dutch Aquascape Abandoned Garden

Dyuzhev Andrey Alexandrovich Kanash, Russian Federation

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Aquascape Details

#560: 240L Dutch Aquascape Abandoned Garden

Dyuzhev Andrey Alexandrovich Kanash, Russian Federation

Comments

Aquascape Details

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