Aquatic

Gardener

The

Journal of the Aquatic Gardeners Association, Inc.

July Sept 2010

Volume 23 Number 3
www.aquatic-gardeners.org

Comparing Aquascaping Styles

All good aquascapes depend on the

same design principles as any other
good artwork. So which style is used
[Nature Aquarium, Dutch or Taiwan]
is of lesser importance. I do think that
for winning tanks, people should try to
avoid mimicking what they saw done
the year before. If you are mimicking
it, so will half of the other people in the
contest! I also think that each style has
learned and benefitted from the others
over the years. Of course, the Dutch
were by far the first. But if you look
at Dutch tanks now, many rely much
more on good hardscape than they did
before the Nature Aquarium movement. I think this makes them stronger
designs.

Importance of Photography Skills

It is important to get a good enough

photo that the judges can fairly evaluate
the aquascape. Photos that are blurry,
too dark, too light or with incorrect
colors can certainly negatively affect
judging. I am also always suspicious if
I cant see to the very edges of the tank.
Maybe the person just made a mistake
with the camera, but maybe they were
trying to hide something!
An average tank with an excellent photo should absolutely not place
higher than an excellent tank with an
average photo. Any judge who does

that does it in express disregard for the

rules of both contests and the directions
given to the judges.

Influence of Special Effects

Some lighting effects and backgrounds add to the total effect of a tank,
while others detract. I dont think Id
give a tank a lot of extra credit for a
lighting effect, but I would definitely
move it down if the lighting effect or an
artificial background detracts or pulls
the eye away from an otherwise solid
aquascape.

Enjoy Your Work

Judging aquascapes, like any other

art form, is very subjective. It is one
persons perspective, on that day, in the
context of that competition. What I like
might not be what another judge likes.
I think it is very important for aquarists to remember this. Dont aquascape
for judgescreate an aquascape that
makes your heart sing. You are the person who has to live with that tank day
in and day out!!!
The most important aspect of aquascaping is not winning a contest, but
how much you enjoy living and working with your aquascape. Do what you
love, and that will show through if your
basic technique is sound. No judges
opinion should count higher than your
own feelings about your work.

New Plants at InterZoo 2010

Ole Pedersen, Freshwater Biological Laboratory, University of Copenhagen

Photos by the author.
InterZoo in Nuremberg, Germany is
Europes largest aquarium exhibition. The
trade show is not open to the public, and
yet, it is able to attract more than 10,000
producers, wholesalers and shopkeepers
from all over the world. In May, I joined
Tropica Aquarium Plants to help set up
their stand and maintain the tanks during the show. We transported three 250
L grown-in tanks almost 1000 km from
Denmark to Germanya nerve-wracking
experience on the old bumpy German
autobahns. This article describes the new
plants that were revealed at InterZoo 2010
and there is hope that aquarists in the U.S.
soon will be able to buy Tropica plants as
the new 1-2-Grow tissue culture plants
that are free from algae and other pests are
now ready for market.

Preparations

Tropica Aquarium Plants was

founded 40 years ago and it was de-

cided that this required some kind of

celebration. Why not do something that
no one has done before? And then the
idea matured that the InterZoo show
should be the place to demonstrate that
the company still belongs among the
worlds top aquarium plant nurseries.
Hence, Oliver Knott was contracted
to set up a 250 L [66gal.] tank three
months before the show. He now has
his own studio in Germany, and he
agreed to do his best and to deliver
the tank at the show. That was easy
but one tank would not be enough to
impress the demanding audience at
InterZoo. Thus, the people behind the
fasting growing aquatic plant forum
in Europe (UKAPS; see article page
16) also came over to set up a tank and
so did the owner of Green Machine (a
UK high-end shop). Troels Andersen
of Tropica and I also volunteered to set
up a tank. We knew that we had to do

AGA is on Facebook!
Join us!
www.facebook.com/group.
php?gid=73549534693

or just search for AGA. Be sure to

post a picture of your tank!
6 The Aquatic Gardener

Oliver Knott, probably Europes best aquascaper, had created a tank for the Tropica stand.
Oliver set up the tank in his own showroom and delivered it to the venue three days before the show started to allow the fragile stem plants to recover from the transportation.
Olivers tank was the only to show all eight new plants in the same tank. As always, Olivers tank was the subject of much discussion; either you love his layouts or you dont.
Volume 23 Number 3 7

(driftwood and rocks) was fixed to the

bottom of the aquarium and sliding
substrate was avoided by molding in a
plastic mesh in the substrate.
The tanks grew well and all developed as expected over the next three
months, except for the tank set up by
Green Machine, where the dense carpet
of Marsilea hirsuta suddenly started
dying as the roots became infected by
a fungus. We pulled up all the dying
plants and tried to establish a carpet of
Glossostigma elatinoides.
The Moss bridge aquascape created by Troels Andersen of Tropica and the author. Please
note the dense carpet of Helanthium tenellum (previously Echinodorus tenellus). The plant
in the back (both left and right) is the new Myriophyllum mattogrossense.
our very best so as not to set an embarrassing example in this famous field of
internationally recognized aquascapers.
Some initial tests were performed
because we have always been told
that you cannot transport a grown-in

tank over such distances (it is nearly

1000 km [621 miles] from Tropica in
Denmark to Nuremberg in Germany
where the InterZoo show takes place).
Troels Andersen came up with a solid
solution where all decoration material

The tank created by the people behind the United Kingdom Aquatic Plant Society
(UKAPS), currently the fastest growing forum in Europe. George Farmer and Dan Crawford came to Tropica three months before the show and created the tank, which was then
transported as a grown-in aquascape nearly 1000 km to Nuremberg in Germany.

8 The Aquatic Gardener

fresh rolls and cheese in the car so we

felt invincible.
Whoops! After the first 100 km, we
realized that we had forgotten one
tankthe small grown-in tank with the
new 1-2-Grow plants that had turned
into a magnificent tank over the past
three months. We had to turn around.
We managed to sneak into the lab and
pick up the tank without anyone noticing. How embarrassingespecially for
someone who thinks he is normally
very well organized.

The Trip to Nuremberg

Unpacking the Tanks at the

Venue

The day came and it was time to

pack up all the tanks and leave for
InterZoo. Troels and I met at Tropica
at 5am. Sunday morning and a couple
of drowsy staff showed up to help us
get the tanks into the van. We worked
like mules for a couple of hours and
then we were ready to go. Off we
went! When we switched on the GPS,
we were disappointed that there were
almost 100 km more than expected but
Troels and I were excited and we had

The next day, we unpacked the

tanks at the venue. They all looked very
good indeed and both shrimps and fish
were still alive although we had removed most of the water and only kept
the aquascape wet with moist newspaper. We had brought with us 1000 L of
Tropica watera mixture of tap water
and reverse osmosis water. We wanted
to make sure that we would not cause

Volume 23 Number 3 9

any stress to the plants by providing

water of unknown chemical composition. Thus, all we had to do was to fill
the tanks and remove a few bad-looking leaves. What a fantastic feeling. We
had moved three 250 L tanks more than
1000 km along old bumpy highways
and we didnt even have to correct one
single piece of driftwood or rock; it all
looked exactly as when we emptied the
tanks 36 hours earlier.
Later the same day, Oliver Knott
arrived with his tank. He was much
more relaxed and asked us to fill it up
using plain tap water. The tap water in
Nuremberg is quite soft compared to
Danish tap water but Oliver had used
similar water so it should be okay. Monday night at 8pm all of the tanks were
ready and it looked very promising
given the fact that the tanks had two
more days to recover before the show
started.

The following day we set up an

additional two 250 L tanks with extra
large plants and plants on driftwood
and rocks. It was decided that these
tanks should be newly established to
demonstrate that it is possible to set up
a tank so that it looks nice from Day 1,
provided that you are willing to invest
a little extra in more mature plants or
plants on driftwood and rocks. Also,
the 300 L Malawi cichlid tank with
Anubias, Crinum and Vallisneria was set
up just prior to the show.
The new tanks proved to be a real
challenge. The water became milky the
day after; especially the Malawi tank
and the tank with XL plants looked
pretty sad the following morning. However, we had brought two custom built
diatom filters with a capacity of 3,500
L per hour and after just half an hour
of filtration, they looked like a million
bucks. But we had to filter those tanks

Hygrophila pinnatifida and Vesicularia ferriei Weeping in Oliver Knotts tank at the Tropica
stand. Hygrophila pinnatifida was perhaps the most popular plant at the show and it appeared in numerous aquascapes created by Jan Ole Pedersen and Oliver Knott.
10 The Aquatic Gardener

every morning before the show started,

as they continued to become milky
throughout the show. Troels is planning
an article for the new Tropica website
(www.tropica.com) to show how these
filters are constructed and how effective they are. Green or milky water is
history!

The New Plants

Tropica presented eight new plants

at InterZoo 2010. The most popular
was without any doubt Hygrophila pinnatifida. Both Tropica and the upcoming Italian aquarium plant nursery,
Anubias, showed this plant and it was
used in practically all major show tanks
at InterZoo. Hygrophila pinnatifida is
from Goa in India and was brought to
Germany in 2008 by Alfred Waser. The
plant is easy to culture and it spreads
almost too well once introduced to the
tank. It attaches to all sorts of surfaces

and can be used equally well growing

in the substrate as well as on driftwood
and rocks. Hygrophila pinnatifida is attractive because the leaf shape is different from all other plants in our hobby,
and it is my experience that it grows
well even in a tank without CO2.
Also Pogostemon erectus turned out
to be a real attraction. At first sight, it
may look like a species of Eriocaulon but
is in fact a Pogostemon. Pogostemon erectus comes from India and it forms compact groups of bright green, conifer-like
stems. It is suitable as a background
plant and creates a wonderful focal
point in both smaller and larger groups
(see the photo of the UKAPS tank). It
is more difficult than Hygrophila pinnatifida and needs intense light to stay
compact for a longer period.
Another new plant that presented
itself really well during the show is the
Polygonum sp. In Christel Kasselmanns

Hygrophila pinnatifida showing its epiphytic capabilities. The plant is fast-growing and
spreads all over the tank, and it is able to get a foothold on almost any kind of substrate.
Tropica as well as the Italian aquarium plant nursery, Anubias, are currently selling it.
Volume 23 Number 3 11

The new Aponogeton crispus Red (with beautiful floating leaves) and Pogostemon erectus
(to left behind the dense Eleocharis parvula).

Polygonum sp. with very beautiful red leaves. The leaves had not yet achieved the desired
intense red color when the tank was moved to Nuremberg, but during the show it developed into a magnificent plant. The plant in the foreground with the odd-looking leaves is
Hygrophila pinnatifida.
12 The Aquatic Gardener

A new Microsorum pteropus variety? The plant was shown in one of the Indonesian stands
but no one was able to supply us with a scientific name. It looks a little like the Microsorum
pteropus Trident but the filaments are much coarser.
new book [see TAG 232], she confirms
that the species has not yet been identified although it has flowered on several
occasions both in her aquarium and at
Tropica. The plant has relatively short
internodes and shows a much more
compact growth form than is common
within the genus Polygonum. The plant
developed in a magnificent color during the show; when we left Tropica, the
leaves were much less colored.
Myriophyllum mattogrossense from
Brazil is a new water milfoil with coarse
and strong filaments in the dissected
leaves. It survived the transportation
quite well and I believe it is an attractive plant both in Oliver Knotts layout
and in the Moss Bridge that Troels and
I created. Myriophyllum mattogrossense
is relatively easy to grow and is suitable for the background. It needs to be
pruned frequently to maintain its bushy
form. It is fast growing and requires a
good deal of nutrition.
Colored plants are always attrac-

tive, and Aponogeton crispus Red is no

exception. Aponogeton crispus Red is
an interesting culture with purple curly
leaves. Its moderate height makes this
Aponogeton eye-catching and the most
decorative effect is obtained with a
bright green background. It is moderate- to slow-growing and it creates relatively few leaves on the water surface
as compared to the common Aponogeton
crispus; the many floating leaves in the
photo are due to the relatively shallow tank (35 cm; 14 in.). To achieve the
desirable deep purple leaves it requires
high light and plenty of nutrients.
Tropica presented an additional
three new plants: Echinodorus Vesuvius, Lindernia rotundifolia and Vesicularia ferriei Weeping. I like the weeping
moss in particular as it is different from
most other mosses in our tanks; it is a
fleshy, hanging moss with teardrop-like
bright green shoots. It needs to be tied
onto driftwood or other decoration material as the rhizoids it develops do not
Volume 23 Number 3 13

The Tropica product 1-2-Grow. The plants are sold in small cups free from any pests such
as algae, snails, nematodes and fungi. The plants come directly from the tissue laboratory
and may thus be exported all over the world since pests and soils are no longer an issue.
The tank to the left shows 3 month old 1-2-Grow plants from only one cup each, whereas
the tank to the right shows how the tank looks just after set-up. The lights are 7 Watt
diode lamps from the Italian company CEAB.
attach very firmly to the either wood
or rock material. Weeping moss is believed to originate from China and has
previously been distributed by Oriental
Aquarium Plants.

1-2-Grow Tissue Culture

Plants Directly from the Lab

1-2-Grow was perhaps the attraction of the show at Tropicas stand.

1-2-Grow is tissue culture plants sold
directly in small plastic cups free from
algae, fungi, nematodes, snails and
other annoying pests. There is another player on the European market,
Anubias from Italy, who sells a similar
product. Their tissue culture plants are
sold under the name Linea Cup.
Tissue culture plants sold in this way
offer many advantages for the aquarist
as the plants are easily shipped all over
the world. The only thing that customs
14 The Aquatic Gardener

agents have to worry about is whether

the plant is on the invasive species list.
There is no soil nor pests of any sort.
We should also see a cheaper
product, as the production costs are
significantly lower; there is no need for
a space-consuming nursery anymore.
However, this product will probably
never replace the kind of plants we
know as they are small and often dont
look like the adult plant at all. But for
rarities, this product promises a new era.

Other News from InterZoo 2010

Plants were not the only news at InterZoo 2010. Lighting means LED these
days and things are developing fast.
The price is still high though and it will
probably be another year or two before
we see LED light completely replacing
metal halides and fluorescent light.
The Italian company CEAB had

The new 1-2-Grow product attracted much attention. Here, Troels Andersen of Tropica
explains the benefits of the new product to AquaNet TV (see the web site address below).
The feature is in German only but it is definitely still worth watching.
some great products to display. All their
lamps use high-output LEDs and they
come with and without reflectors with
various angles. The price is high but
the design is extremely attractive; take
a look at the companys website where
the complete product range is shown.
I cannot imagine a greater light source,
particularly if you are looking for light
for your nano aquarium.
Elos is another Italian company
that offers great LED lights. However,
their high-output LEDs produce a lot
heat and they use active cooling (a little
fan) instead passive cooling as used in
CEABs products and this makes them

less attractive. The fan is noisy and I

could not imagine using an Elos LED
lamp in my living room because of the
constant humming.
In summary, InterZoo 2010 was a
huge experience and it was great to see
that product development within our
hobby is as fast as ever and new technologies are constantly being implemented to the benefit of the aquarist.
Next years show at Aquarama in Singapore will probably reveal that LED
technology has already got a firm hold
in the market and then we can look forward to a much more carbon-friendly
way of illuminating our planted tanks.

Tropica Aquarium Plants www.tropica.com

Ole Pedersen www.aquatic-plants.dk
Olver Knott www.oliver-knott.com
Green Machine www.thegreenmachineonline.com
AquaNet TV INTERZOO 2010 - 40 Jahre Wasserpflanzen von Tropica aus Dnemark www.aquanet.tv
CEAB www.ceabacquari.it
Elos www.eloseurope.com/en
Aquarama www.aquarama.com.sg
Volume 23 Number 3 15