Re: [AGA Contest] Re:Biotopes

[Erik Olson <erik@thekrib.com>]

On Fri, 23 Apr 2004, Steven Pituch wrote:

> One thing  that is driving me to present this subject is the way I see the
> aquariums that people call biotopes.
> 
> 1)  Most of these tanks are theme tanks done by hobbyists who are of the
> aquascaping mindset.  Mostly these tanks are designed with aquascaping as
> the primary focus, and the biotope reference is often minimally accurate
> (not always).  Most of these tanks are planted and need to be entered in one
> of the planted aquaria categories.

I think the folks that created the contest disagree here.  The primary
purpose of ALL the categories is aquascaping.  All categories also have
minor purposes as well, as reflected in the scoring.  For instance,
"longterm sustainability", "appropriate fish and plants".  The goal of the
"biotope/natural" category is still aquascaping, with the added constraint
of trying to emulate a specific habitat or area, wheras the Aquatic Garden
categories (really should be "category", except that it's busted out by 
size because there are so many entries) have only the constraints that 
aquatic plants are to be used.

> 3) Biotope tanks as I see them, are those where people are trying to
> reproduce an environment.  The majority of these people collect their plants
> locally in ditches, lakes and streams. ...
...
> So instead of art, biotopers model realism.  That's why they need a category
> of their own.  These local biotopes are often lifetime learning projects.
> That's the enjoyment these people get out of the hobby.

I hear what you are saying, but I am in agreement with Roger: you are
proposing a different contest.  And that's great, but I don't want to meld
this with the AQUASCAPING contest.  I think it defocuses the purpose of 
the contest.

I would like to see more of tanks like the experimental wild rice
aquarium, but really something of this sort, with all the work gone into
it, makes more sense as an article (or series!) in TAG or multipage study
on the website.  It seems TOO good for the aquascaping contest.  It's
research!

Before I forget, I want to thank everyone for the input here, especially
Steve.  I apologize for not having enough time to participate fully
myself, with parenting & work intruding on most of my day now.  I'll be 
off tonight through Sunday at a Killi convention, so no responses until 
Sunday night.

  - Erik

-- 
Erik Olson
erik at thekrib dot com


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