#756: 189.5L Dutch Aquascape Deen Amma Jeevitam

Saikumar Uckoo Hyderabad, India

Comments

My first impression of this aquarium is that it looks very restless. On closer inspection the plants are healthy.
I am missing a drawing with the plant groups and the numbers to which the plants in the list refer.
The Ludwigia brevipes and the Bacopa are too similar in color and therefore the Hygrophila polysperma and the Ludwigia should switch places.
The group of Nymphoides hydrophylla 'Taiwan' at the front right is so large that it obscures the view of the plants behind it.
There are again missing views to the back wall which could suggest depth.
Although there are of course differences the fish are quite similar and a bit boring in terms of color combination. Replacing one of the species with a completely different fish in terms of color and shape would have added value.
Technology well hidden and out of sight.
— Bart Laurens
I like the health of the plants. I remember being conservative when it came to trimming plants because I lacked the experience and more importantly the confidence to aggressively trim plants. Reduce the number of stems. Trim hard! Create lots of room between groups to create a sense of contrast. Film on water surface is distracting - camera angle could have prevented that. Overgrowth almost makes the tank look backlit. You can clearly grow plants. The next step is mastering contrast. More tips here: https://www.aquatic-gardeners.org/Articles/Vin-Dutch/
— Vin Kutty
This is more a jungle style tank than Dutch Style. THis category is all about structure.
— Marco Aukes

Aquascape Details

Dimensions 91 × 46 × 46 cm
Title Deen Amma Jeevitam
Volume 189.5L
Background Black chart paper
Lighting Surya LED Tube Lights
Cool White- 40W
Neutral white- 20W
Blue- 20W
Filtration Eheim 2217, Venus Aqua 2000lph internal power filter
Plants Cryptocoryne sivadasanii, Cryptocoryne axelrodi, Echinodorus rubin, Nymphoides hydrophylla 'Taiwan', Hygrophila polysperma, Ludwigia brevipes, Bacopa caroliniana, Echinodorus Parviflorus 'Tropica'
Animals Pethia phutunio, Puntius vittatus, Poecilia sphenops black, Neocaridina.sp black
Materials Plastic cups with substrate for elevation and some
Additional Information As always it was a great learning experience with this attempt, utilized EasyFertz All-in-one fertilizer on alternate days after lights ON. The lighting was quite vague between 7-12hours a day as I had to do it manually. This was my first attempt at few plants like the E.Rubin, N.hydrophylla and E.Parviflorus and really loved them. Due to these high appetite plants I had to extra dose nitrates and they had very luxurious growth. The ludwigia kept struggling and it has a peculiar growth in patches before finally settling down. The C.sivadasanii has proved to be an awesome plant compared to my previous experience with C.helferi, C.spiralis, C.retrospiralis, thin leaves, slow subtle growth with shades of brown and green.

The aquarium was built at home with my family members and it has been a delightful journey so far.

A big thanks to forums like PlantedTank.net and APC, without which I wouldn't have done this. Congratulations to the team AGA on pulling off another great Contest, Kudos!
People like Vin Kutty, Marian Sterian have been a great inspiration and the reason why I took up this challenge, and of course Tom Barr's scientific approach that makes this hobby logically exciting!

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