2024 dutch category

#249 Air Not Meant For Us by Omid Niavarani, United States of America

AGAIAC Best of Show

Aquascape Details

Dimensions: 120 cm x 50 cm x 50 cm
Title: Air Not Meant For Us
Volume: 273 L
Lighting: WeekAqua P1200 x1
Filtration: Aquael 2000 x2
Plants: 1. Helanthium Bolivianum Angustifolia, 2. Limnophila helferi, 3. Barclaya longifolia, 4. Limnophila rugosa, 5. Hydrocotyle tripartita, 6. Limnophila wilsonii, 7. Staurogyne purple, 8. Hygrophila corymbosa, 9. Rotala macrandra red variegated, 10. aponogeton longiplumulosus, 11. Blyxa Japonica, 12. Cyperus helferi, 13. Syngonanthus madeira, 14. Hygrophila difformis
Livestock: Hasemania nana, Crossocheilus oblongus, Crossocheilus reticulatus, Corydoras sterbai, Planorbidae snails
Hardscape Materials: Spiderwood x1
Background: Lomariopsis Lineata
Substrate: ADA Amazonia aquasoil
Wowza – the macrandra variegated is arresting and as close to Las Vegas as an aquatic plant gets. Glad there isn’t too much red elsewhere besides the Barclaya. Thank you. Well-executed Hydrocotyle street. Flawless Limnophila helferi. There’s a pleasant feeling of warmth that is often lacking in other entries. Still, it’s busy. Crowded. Staurogyne Purple looks annoyed. Right end of tank is unfocused and would have been better without the Cyperus and with the Hygro difformis coming down closer to the Blyxa. Too many grasses on the right. Limnophila looks like it is done with its photoperiod is beginning to close for the night, still, I wish more people used L. wilsonii (and Aponogetons) in their scapes. The repeating and overgrown curtain plant is a miscalculation and causes an artificial symmetry and obscures things I wish to see.
— Vinny Kutty