Natural vs Garden

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

Good question Erik...... I hope some other folks chime in on this as
well.... I'd like everyone to at least give it some thought.

As I recall our earlier discussions (I'm not willing to wade thru all of the
old posts either...), there was strong resistence (from Olga, I believe)
over the inclusion (or was it separation) of Biotope and Habitat type tanks
at all. I seem to remember that she and I had a furious fur fight over it.
She seemed to think that none of our tanks could ever be "natural" and that
we were all "gardeners", so we should not try to put up artificial barriers.

I _know_ that some people set up tanks with at least an idea that they are
trying to recreate something which _could_ represent a natural biotope and
that others just decide that they want the "English Perennial Border" type
of tank where its there if its pretty and out if it doesn't match the
wallpaper.

Both types are valid but I don't know how fair to either one it would be to
lump them together in the same category. For an example, a tank like the one
Olga won the last AGA contest with is a perfect example of an "aquatic
garden". Any hobbyist would be more than proud to have something that nice
in their living room as a central focal point. A strict biotope tank, or
even a habitat type tank (which in my view wouldn't be as rigid in its
contents as a true biotope tank) probably wouldn't stand a chance competing
against an "aquatic garden" done by a master (as Olga obviously is).
Visually, the "aquatic garden" is likely to just over take everything else.

If someone had a stated idea in mind when they aquascaped the tank, rather
than just "I'll put this pretty pink one in front of all these dark green
ones", then it is (in my opinion) a habitat tank of some sort at the very
least (at least it is if they say it is).

My vote would be to leave Jamie's tank in the Biotope/Habitat category (or
whatever we called it). It started life as a Cichlid tank with rock-work, I
believe, and the plants are almost afterthoughts. Hardly fair to put it up
against a tank which was conceived as a pretty garden right from the start.

It will be interesting to see how the judges react to it.

James


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