A
Anonymous
Guest
:lol: :lol: :lol:
A
Anonymous
Guest
i saw some underwater footage of the pantanal during rainy/wet season on pbs last week or so ago (it's the world's largest wetlands in between dry seasons 
)
amazing, simply amazing 8O
)amazing, simply amazing 8O
A
Anonymous
Guest
I've seen absolutely stunning freshwater tanks. Takashi Amano is famous for them. This doesn't fall in that category to my mind.
He did an absolutely stunning huge tank which I have in a Japanese magazine/book somewhere. Can't search for it at work, but it's worth tracking down.
He did an absolutely stunning huge tank which I have in a Japanese magazine/book somewhere. Can't search for it at work, but it's worth tracking down.
A
Anonymous
Guest
The Escaped Ape":24krlbl3 said:
I have 3 volumes of his "Nature Aquarium World' series. They are unbelievable eye candy. Some of his tanks are short term set up for a few weeks / months then taken down and others are installations at homes, resturants and shops - I'd like to see how some of those fare over the life of the system. I'd wager the beautiful compositions will change unless the owners are scupulous and meticulous as Mr. Amano is in tending the garden.
For freshwater I am more of the 'Fish Tank with Plants' rather than a planted aquarium person - the few forays I have made into it and they are as much or more work than any reef once things take off and you are pruning / clipping / rearranging twice a week.
A
Anonymous
Guest
i think amano is highly over-rated, and none of his 'scapes reflect nature in any way shape or form-i've yet to see ANY fw habitat that looks remotely like his tanks, and his judgings on the aquatic planted tanks competitions are ridiculous
i also think that his practices of setting up tanks for the purposes of just the shot are highly misleading to the aquarium keeping public
but for highly artificialy landscape 'zen' style underwater gardens, he ain't half bad
i also think that his practices of setting up tanks for the purposes of just the shot are highly misleading to the aquarium keeping public
but for highly artificialy landscape 'zen' style underwater gardens, he ain't half bad
Wow... how do you break it to the wife that the house needs a tear-down because the tank was a little too humid.... ouch!
I think this is Amano's personal tank you are referring to:
http://www.oscarfish.com/takashi-amano- ... 46172.html
Vitz, you are half right, Amano does not do many biotopes at all. The "art" in his aquariums is indeed closer to the art of Japanese gardens than real nature. But where he has wanted to replicate nature, he has done so with amazing results, if only you could look deeper to the right of that big tank of his you'd see his "backyard" turned into one of the most natural looking "pond/forest" environments one could ever hope to replicate. I have video of it, if I ever get around to transfering it to digital I'll post it on my site...
But contrary to what many think, his tanks are indeed there for the long haul. Most of his plants are slow-medium growing plants specifically chosen for the longevity of the design. His tanks take about 6 months to mature before they reach their goal and while they do undergo changes in the layout as most planted tanks do, many are up and running for several years before re-doing the whole setup, nothing out of the ordinary, specially when using the kinds of substrates he uses which have a limited lifespan. There is no such thing as a tank he sets up for "just the shot", that's something you'd read in People magazine :wink:
His personal tank above I believe is now in it's 4th or 5th year of life, I forget now, and I believe the current state is it's 3rd layout. There should be plenty of info on this and his pond in the 2004 AGA DVDs.
Here's a more updated pic of the tank:
Back to my <100g tanks... :roll:
I think this is Amano's personal tank you are referring to:
http://www.oscarfish.com/takashi-amano- ... 46172.html
Vitz, you are half right, Amano does not do many biotopes at all. The "art" in his aquariums is indeed closer to the art of Japanese gardens than real nature. But where he has wanted to replicate nature, he has done so with amazing results, if only you could look deeper to the right of that big tank of his you'd see his "backyard" turned into one of the most natural looking "pond/forest" environments one could ever hope to replicate. I have video of it, if I ever get around to transfering it to digital I'll post it on my site...
But contrary to what many think, his tanks are indeed there for the long haul. Most of his plants are slow-medium growing plants specifically chosen for the longevity of the design. His tanks take about 6 months to mature before they reach their goal and while they do undergo changes in the layout as most planted tanks do, many are up and running for several years before re-doing the whole setup, nothing out of the ordinary, specially when using the kinds of substrates he uses which have a limited lifespan. There is no such thing as a tank he sets up for "just the shot", that's something you'd read in People magazine :wink:
His personal tank above I believe is now in it's 4th or 5th year of life, I forget now, and I believe the current state is it's 3rd layout. There should be plenty of info on this and his pond in the 2004 AGA DVDs.
Here's a more updated pic of the tank:
Back to my <100g tanks... :roll:
anyone who judges a tank with "bunch plants should not be in the foreground" as a criterial evaluative statement is a tool
the bastidge makes all of these 'like nature' statements when judging competitions, and does a complete about face when actually judging-using his own VERY biased value system on what a tank should look like
the bastidge makes all of these 'like nature' statements when judging competitions, and does a complete about face when actually judging-using his own VERY biased value system on what a tank should look like
Wow you've really taken this to heart Vitz... did he say this about one of your tanks?
There are a lot of concepts behind these "zen" type of designs, I don't think they all make sense to everyone. But that's the style over there and those are the techniques and concepts that govern such style. The AGA and other contests are more open to a variety of different styles and therefore more "down to earth" in their judging criteria. The ADA contest is not a regular "fish tank contest", just like a biotope contest would be harsh against a non-biotope tank, you have to take it for what it is, nothing more. And Amano is quite a down to earth guy, he's actually a lot fun once you break out a bottle of good stuff!
But if you really want to stick to "nature-like" tanks, biotopes are the only ones that really come close. And even then, they only come "close". I mean how many tanks have you seen that truely look like nature?
Most of the aquatic plants we use are not normally found fully submerged in the wild. I personally feel that a lot of our planted tanks often resemble more of an emersed natural environment than an aquatic one. In the last picture above for example, you'd likely expect to see such a scenery in nature next to a running stream or waterfall than submerged. In fact, much of Amano's photographic work is strictly emersed, when he talks "nature", he's not necessarily talking about replicating a submerged environment, there is far more philosophy and form behind it than that. It certainly isn't everyone's cup of tea.
Cheers
There are a lot of concepts behind these "zen" type of designs, I don't think they all make sense to everyone. But that's the style over there and those are the techniques and concepts that govern such style. The AGA and other contests are more open to a variety of different styles and therefore more "down to earth" in their judging criteria. The ADA contest is not a regular "fish tank contest", just like a biotope contest would be harsh against a non-biotope tank, you have to take it for what it is, nothing more. And Amano is quite a down to earth guy, he's actually a lot fun once you break out a bottle of good stuff!
But if you really want to stick to "nature-like" tanks, biotopes are the only ones that really come close. And even then, they only come "close". I mean how many tanks have you seen that truely look like nature?
Most of the aquatic plants we use are not normally found fully submerged in the wild. I personally feel that a lot of our planted tanks often resemble more of an emersed natural environment than an aquatic one. In the last picture above for example, you'd likely expect to see such a scenery in nature next to a running stream or waterfall than submerged. In fact, much of Amano's photographic work is strictly emersed, when he talks "nature", he's not necessarily talking about replicating a submerged environment, there is far more philosophy and form behind it than that. It certainly isn't everyone's cup of tea.
Cheers
gpodio":1d8xua1m said:Wow you've really taken this to heart Vitz... did he say this about one of your tanks?
There are a lot of concepts behind these "zen" type of designs, I don't think they all make sense to everyone. But that's the style over there and those are the techniques and concepts that govern such style. The AGA and other contests are more open to a variety of different styles and therefore more "down to earth" in their judging criteria. The ADA contest is not a regular "fish tank contest", just like a biotope contest would be harsh against a non-biotope tank, you have to take it for what it is, nothing more. And Amano is quite a down to earth guy, he's actually a lot fun once you break out a bottle of good stuff!
But if you really want to stick to "nature-like" tanks, biotopes are the only ones that really come close. And even then, they only come "close". I mean how many tanks have you seen that truely look like nature?
Most of the aquatic plants we use are not normally found fully submerged in the wild. I personally feel that a lot of our planted tanks often resemble more of an emersed natural environment than an aquatic one. In the last picture above for example, you'd likely expect to see such a scenery in nature next to a running stream or waterfall than submerged. In fact, much of Amano's photographic work is strictly emersed, when he talks "nature", he's not necessarily talking about replicating a submerged environment, there is far more philosophy and form behind it than that. It certainly isn't everyone's cup of tea.
Cheers
i've never met, discoursed with, or come even remotely near the guy
when i see someone i think acts like a tool, i call them a tool-no sacred cows for me
and cows that think they themselves are sacred are my favorite targets
vitz":3ps1n238 said:i think it's very nice
beautiful, in fact
so, what's your point ? :?
None, I was just wondering. :lol:
Given your views on the guy and the fact I'm gobsmacked by that tank, I was kind of interested to know if I was missing something. :wink:
The Escaped Ape":3g0uk13m said:vitz":3g0uk13m said:i think it's very nice
beautiful, in fact
so, what's your point ? :?
None, I was just wondering. :lol:
Given your views on the guy and the fact I'm gobsmacked by that tank, I was kind of interested to know if I was missing something. :wink:
i never said his tanks are not beautiful, or ugly
most are simply not anywhere near natural looking, and the standards he forces on folk when judging are nothing but his personal bias, rather than an objective 'standard' of any sort
compare k.randall's and the other judges comments on the planted aga contest entries, and you'll see what i mean
vitz":v5ey2nk1 said:The Escaped Ape":v5ey2nk1 said:vitz":v5ey2nk1 said:i think it's very nice
beautiful, in fact
so, what's your point ? :?
None, I was just wondering. :lol:
Given your views on the guy and the fact I'm gobsmacked by that tank, I was kind of interested to know if I was missing something. :wink:
i never said his tanks are not beautiful, or ugly
most are simply not anywhere near natural looking, and the standards he forces on folk when judging are nothing but his personal bias, rather than an objective 'standard' of any sort
compare k.randall's and the other judges comments on the planted aga contest entries, and you'll see what i mean
OK. That makes sense. Do you have a link I can check out later? Partly as I'm toying with the idea of a freshwater tank and a slightly less involved and expensive way to get back into the hobby and I need inspiration.
Your comments about his attitude remind me of what I was told once about Ikebana (Japanese flower arranging). It apparently originally sprang up as a response to the overly formal style that prevailed centuries ago. The whole point of ikebana originally was that there were no rules and people should be inspired to produce something original. This being Japan however, before too long Ikebana was governed by even stricter rules and split into competing schools which rigidly enforced the rules of their own styles. This is a very typical Japanese attitude, which I've seen myself.
Yeah they can be quite picky in their evaluation criteria. Here is the official criteria by which the ADA contest is judged:
1- Artistic expression(maximum 100 points)
2- Originality(maximum 20 points)
3- Composition/Positioning of the plants(maximum 20 points)
4- Harmony of the fish and the layout(maximum 20 points)
5- Creation of one natural atmosphere(maximum 20 points)
6- Conditions of the plants and the temporal progress (maximum 20 points)
It's not that crazy really, but as with any kind of artistic contest, it comes down to the judge's personal tastes. We all have our own opinion on art and there is no clear cut right or wrong.
Here is a gallery of some of Amano's tanks:
http://www.takashiamano.kit.net/tanques1.html
For some inspiration, take a look at some of the links on my website, in particular under Galleries and Contests: http://www.gpodio.com/links.asp
Hope that helps
1- Artistic expression(maximum 100 points)
2- Originality(maximum 20 points)
3- Composition/Positioning of the plants(maximum 20 points)
4- Harmony of the fish and the layout(maximum 20 points)
5- Creation of one natural atmosphere(maximum 20 points)
6- Conditions of the plants and the temporal progress (maximum 20 points)
It's not that crazy really, but as with any kind of artistic contest, it comes down to the judge's personal tastes. We all have our own opinion on art and there is no clear cut right or wrong.
Here is a gallery of some of Amano's tanks:
http://www.takashiamano.kit.net/tanques1.html
For some inspiration, take a look at some of the links on my website, in particular under Galleries and Contests: http://www.gpodio.com/links.asp
Hope that helps
Sponsor Reefs
We're a FREE website, and we exist because of hobbyists like YOU who help us run this community.
Click here to sponsor $10:
