Why fresh water aquascape gets more attention?

[SR Reefing]

So, I was watching YouTube then I come across Green Aqua fresh water aquascaping video. Then realize that there is competition for fresh water aquascaping for 19 years already.

AGA Aquascaping Contest

View all 23+ years of entries to the AGA International Aquascaping Contest, and get the latest info on this year's contest.

showcase.aquatic-gardeners.org

Here is a guy showcasing aquascaping


Why don't we have that competition in our hobbie? Or why aquascaping in reefing doesn't get this much attention?

 

[Hendrix]

Good question
My guess is in freshwater your in control for the most part.

In a reef, we build the initial structure but then the corals encrust it. There are plenty of beautiful tanks that get highlighted as tanks of month etc...

 

[Wtyson254]

So, I was watching YouTube then I come across Green Aqua fresh water aquascaping video. Then realize that there is competition for fresh water aquascaping for 19 years already.

AGA Aquascaping Contest

View all 23+ years of entries to the AGA International Aquascaping Contest, and get the latest info on this year's contest.

showcase.aquatic-gardeners.org

Here is a guy showcasing aquascaping


Why we don't have that competition in our hobbie? Or why aquascaping in reefing doesn't get this much attention?

Plants grow quickly, are relatively cheap, and freshwater tank a (in general) are simpler. Thought high tech planted tanks can be just as hard as reef tanks....

Here is the one i just built.

 

[Hendrix]

Nice

 

[BullyBee]

I have two planted tanks. I am terrible at taking pictures.

 

[BullyBee]

OmG my pics suck let me go take new ones

 

[BullyBee]

Ok I just took more. These suck too but not as bad
The heater is all messed up and hanging there bc I am replacing one of my cobalts with an oase. I run two canister filters for my 90g. Anyway the oase has a built in heater and I’m also gonna run a hydor inline

It’s very overgrown I gotta trim it this week

 

[Wtyson254]

Ok I just took more. These suck too but not as bad
The heater is all messed up and hanging there bc I am replacing one of my cobalts with an oase. I run two canister filters for my 90g. Anyway the oase has a built in heater and I’m also gonna run a hydor inline

It’s very overgrown I gotta trim it this week

Very pretty

 

[jeffww]

Barrier of entry is lower although the ceiling is quite high for difficulty in FW. I would pin it similar to the most difficult SW set ups. There's also less infrastructure for automation in freshwater compared to saltwater.

 

[Reeffragger]

This was my 135g before i moved to salt. Still have a 92g and 27g hex with plants though

 

[Nami]

In freshwater, you can easily combine different plants to create the aquascape you want and it will last.

In saltwater, if you try the same thing with corals, they often slime, close up and sting each other. So I feel its not as flexible as freshwater. Also I found large colonies of coral often look better for scaping but hard to get the bigger colonies to play around with.

 

[Reeffragger]

Thats not true, maybe if you make them touch.. sure.. But my tank has so many mixed corals its crazy.. nothing is sliming or stinging anything except my anemone that moved

 

[Udest]

Would agree few gets more attention and has a lower entry barrier though that didnt stop me from weasling into salt from fresh.

 

[Reeffragger]

Would agree few gets more attention and has a lower entry barrier though that didnt stop me from weasling into salt from fresh.

So there is where my dogs toy went we lost it at the beach years ago.. same toy. The lottle ball thing

 

[Udest]

Lol well looks like I found your doggos toy now just who lost a human skull I wonder ? Though in all seriousness I thought it would be fun to try something different.

 

[BullyBee]

The other thing you have to realize is that they are two totally different style.

I think of freshwater tanks I think of fishing, hiking, hunting, all that scenery you’d see in the outdoors. It’s very easy to imagine a family going on vacation and grabbing a branch or stick or something to put in a family fishtank.

I personally did a terrarium with dart frogs on top as well.

That’s fog on top of the water. It’s a 4’ tank so I split the pics in 2. On the bottom in the water we’re guppies and shrimp and African dwarf frogs. Like I said on top were two poison dart frogs. People say you can’t have dart frogs near water. I did it fine

 

[ams_reef]

It’s just more dynamic doing freshwater aquascapes. Things grown fast, you can take down an entire aquascape and start fresh without a tank crash, you can trim plants easily to keep a desired look, nothing is set in stone in a nutshell.

That’s not to say it’s cheap or easy though. A high tech planted setup costs add up real quick. Tank chemistry is rather difficult too. Strong full spectrum lights, c02 injection and fertilizers are an algae breeding ground if things aren’t quickly adjusted and tended too.

 

[Wampatom]

The artist Amano had a major influence on freshwater aquariums.
Most reef tanks seem to concentrate on how many colorful corals can be packed in. We await our Amano.

 

[ZipAdeeZoa]

I''m having deja vu- I've seen a thread like this before... forget how long it go it was, long enough for me to forget the general consensus.

I might venture to guess it's because I haven't seen a reef equivalent to Takashi Amano. Someone who challenged the perception of what an aquarium could look like and that there is such a thing as living art. I'm not saying reef people haven't accomplished incredible things because they have, I'm just unaware of an equivalent influence. As others have mentioned planted tanks are generally less complex and less finicky, I've done things to my planted tanks that would make someone from the reef world pass out ;Hilarious

My planted tank may not be the prettiest thing but I like the over grown jungle vibe, more importantly my various catfish appreciate all the extra hiding spots.

 

[cvrle1]

Why is reef aquascaping so unexplored when compared to freshwater?

Really, why? I have seen a couple of times where people who are really good at creating nature/iwagumi aquascapes try their hand at a reef but the results were a bit underwhelming. There are a good number of competitions for freshwater aquascapes but none for saltwater. Why the heck???

www.reef2reef.com

In short, SW is very limited on what it can use aquascaping wise. Only certain types of rocks and sand, and thats it. In FW they can use a lot of other media, a lot more rock variations, plants, driftwood, etc. Also cost and time. It takes years for corals to grow.