Aquascape of the Month June 2009: "Bigor"

June 2009 Aquascape of the Month
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Bigor
by Óscar Pereiro

INTRODUCTION
My name is Óscar Pereiro. I have 36 years old and I am dentist. I live in a small city in Spain called Galician. I got my first aquarium about seven years ago. In that time, I have attempted to keep planted aquariums several times, but my plants would sooner or later die on me. I did not give up.

Everything changed four years ago when I began to investigate why my plants were dying by researching on the Internet and various online aquatic plant forums. Virtually everything I learned about the planted aquarium was thanks to the Internet. Over time, I learned the basics of aquatic plant keeping and aquascaping.

Currently, I have three planted aquariums (325, 250 and 170 liters) but I want to have eight! You can say that I am "hooked" to this wonderful hobby.


AQUASCAPING TECHNIQUES

Planning the Aquascape

Before designing the aquascape I spent days looking at photos of planted aquariums and consulting an encyclopedia on aquatic plants. From my research, I began to draw an idea of how I wanted my aquascape to develop. I wanted to keep the tank natural and simplistic and with plants that would be compatibile, visually, with each other.

This planted aquarium is titled "Bigor," which are the initials of biotopes “gorrion” (gorrion in spanish means “sparrow”) and it is also a nickname my friends call me.

Creating Depth through the Hardscape and Spacing

The hardscape consists of two large tree trunks that my friend gave me. I placed them in a connecting bridge to create the illusion of a "path" underneath. This would ultimately give depth to the completed landscape of aquatic plants and moss.

Behind these tree limbs I tied and positioned stem plants, anubias, and moss on them. As these plants grow out, it will provide additional height and depth to the aquascape, and connect the bridge to the landscape.

As I mentioned before, to give depth to the landscape I made a path under the arch formed by the two trunks. If you look at the photos, you'll notice the road is wider at the front and narrower in the back.

Lastly, I tried to keep a golden share (ratio 1:1.6) between the right and left sides of the aquascape.

GREATEST CHALLENGES

To be honest, I had almost no difficulty in developing this aquarium. The algae growth was limited, and never presented any problems. I was lucky and never had anything serious happen to this aquarium. However, as I look at the aquascape, perhaps the weak point is on the sides because the light fixture is shorter than the aquarium and the light does not reach this area with such intensity as in the rest of it. The stem plants on the sides may have not reached their full potential as a result.

FINAL THOUGHTS & ADVICE

I think the most important thing for a planted aquarium to become successful is to have a good plan of the layout before beginning. You want to have a good idea of how and where to put plants. Also, the fewer changes you make to your tank, the faster it will get to become balanced. If you are constantly changing the layout, plants species, and hardscape, it will become difficult for the tank to become balanced. So remember plan first, and plant second. Good luck!

Click here to view Tank Specifications
Click here to view Plant and Fauna List

[Anti-Pjerrot]

Congratulation Óscar. Your scape is stunningly

[DiogoHCMatias]

Wonderfull colors and harmony into the tank!
Congratulations!

[saintly]

an amazing collection of colours. quite inspirational

[Zerosimon]

I miss a bit a scape but the colours are fantastic!

[Ubaca]

Congratulation Óscar.
Saludos, Héctor Baca

[Pereiro]

Thank you very much

[darktower]

Congratulations neighbor
this is one of my favorite scapes

[Noriben]

owesome,
btw, how did you keep discus in your tank?
what temperature you got?

[KDahlin]

Impressive! Love all the color!