Further to a discussion on one of the Lad’s Xmas presents (a fishtank upgrade), meloukhia from this ain’t livin’ and FWD/Forward (Feminists with Disabilities) pointed me to this article on “aquatic gardening”: fishtanks that concentrate not so much on the fish, but on the landscaping. Aquascaping, that is.
LA Times: Underwater gardens: Award-winning planted aquariums
Who says an aquarium has to be all about fish? All over the world, planted aquarium enthusiasts practice the art of underwater gardening — creating lush, natural-looking landscapes that live in the confines of a tank. These hobbyists communicate via the Internet, trading plants and information. They also trade pictures of their tanks. Each year the Aquatic Gardeners Assn., a group of enthusiasts 1,300 strong, holds a contest to name the best tanks in the world.
A couple more of my favourites:
Anyone here got a fishtank or pond? What’s in your tank?
Categories: fun & hobbies
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I’d never thought of underwater gardening, but that’s an excellent idea! This is something I am putting on my “To Do Soonish” list.
That’s about as much commitment as I’m prepared to make to anything at the moment after a year of desperate over-commitment. 🙂
Some of the aquagardens with sticky/tendrilly things were just a big too kraken-like for my liking, but I was very taken by some of the grassier / greener looking ones. What a fascinating hobby.
When we had goldfish, I searched long and hard for a plastic model bicycle to put in the tank, but alas, I only ever found metal ones.
We’ve only recently re-set up our fish tanks, there are 3 in the house now, 2 40L tanks and one 200L tank. I do like having them well planted and I reckon I might be able to use a few ideas from this.
Here’s our large tank shortly after set-up:
Aw, Mimbles, that’s noice.
The Lad’s goldfish tank is packed with a sunken pirate ship, little archaeological-looking pottery urns, and a ruined castle-wall. I want to get more plants in, bit by bit.
Tom’s tank has a castle and a Finding Nemo statue of the puffer-fish and other characters…and maybe a mini-sunken ship too – I can’t remember. We have accumulated a fair number of fish-tank accessories over the years, they get swapped in and out of tanks as I get bored with the layout. I’m planning a bit of a tank maintenance spree tomorrow, might take some more photos too.
We had a fish stage and we took it pretty seriously and we were always trying to reach the lofty heights of these kinds of landscaped fish tanks. We were very strict and would only have native (mostly Rainbow) fish in our tanks so were always trying to recreate the look of little fresh water streams which was lots of fun, but you get one crafty fat gudgeon and it can merrily dig up all your plants.
A little off topic, but the tagline on this made me giggle:
Caption: Where Aquaman Goes To Change Into His Superhero Outfit