[AGA Member] Biotopes

[Roger Miller <roger@spinn.net>]

I am interested in hearing what standards ya'll propose for biotopes.

Based on past experience, had I my druthers I would simply remove biotopes as 
a category in the contest.  It appears to me that they need to be judged on a 
basis that is substantially technical ("Is this a biotope?") and not 
aesthetic, as is the case in other categories.  Answering the technical 
question is not necessarily something that an aquascaping judge is qualified 
to do.

If a biotope is to be judged on an aesthetic basis then perhaps biotopes 
should be included with the various-sized gardens.  If they are to be judged 
on some other basis then they need an entirely different set of judging 
guidelines.  Setting up a different set of guidelines effectively creates a 
separate contest for biotopes.

I know that the year I judged our decision on the winning biotope was 
controversial.  Part of the problem being that the winning entry was not a 
planted tank.  I recall that last year's winning biotope was once again not a 
planted tank, so I imagine that the results were once again controversial.   
I suppose that we could define our way around that little controversy by 
insisting that the biotope entries must be planted.  That would eliminate 
tanks that represent most of the worlds aquatic biotopes.

Just can't win.


Roger Miller



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