A stab at a definition...

["James Purchase" <jpurch@interlog.com>]

Aquascaping: The arrangement of decorative elements within an aquarium in an
eye-pleasing and appealing manner, satisfying to the owner/designer of the
aquarium.

In the context of our purpose here, do we extend that to be taken as - it
must include living plant material?

We have to be careful about our using the term "aquatic" plants because a
lot of what we use are really bog plants which can handle submersion. But I
guess this would have to include such things as "Princess Pines" and other
such things sold at Wal Mart...

I would NOT like to see us issue a list of prohibited "decorative elements".
That would _surely_ turn people off.

I've asked it before and I think that in conjunction with this current
discussion of goals and mission statement, I ask it again - what about
plastic plants? If my definition as stated is accurate, a plastic plant is
an element of an aquascape. And most shops around here definately sell more
plastic plants than they do real ones.

If we don't wish to exclude a LARGE percentage of our potential contestants,
we are going to have to give this serious thought. We could have separate
divisions for tanks containing only natural components (live plants, rocks
and driftwood, cork, bamboo, etc.) and those which contain man-made
decorative elements (plastic plants, bubblers, sunken plastic ships and
skulls, artificially coloured gravel, pre-printed fake backgrounds which
attempt to fool the eye into thinking that there are real plants there where
there are really not.)

To hold an Aquascaping Showcase and fail to acknowledge what a majority of
the hobby considers as acceptable threatens to cast us as a bunch of
"elitist snobs" who look down our patrician noses on anything that is not
living or acceptable in _our_ opinion.

I don't want _my_ personal ideas of what is approroiate colour our decision
and I ask that everyone else be as egalitarian on this issue.

And I wish that Karen was in town to give HER take on this. How would the
AGA, an organization devoted to the use of real, live, aquatic plants, feel
about supporting a show which could be open to such things????? Is the AGA
MC too elitist to be THIS inclusive???

James Purchase
Toronto

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