Hallo,

man da schwillt mir aber die Brust,die haben mir echt 2 ganze Seiten im neuen Aqua Journal gewidmet ,unglaublich.
Publisher des Magazins Mr. Amano himself

Die Ausgabe war gerade im Briefkasten.
Das ganze kam zustande weil ich bester Deutscher im IAPLC 2008 war,eine nette Interview Anfrage kam schon im Feb.-März,nach regem Mail Kontakt konnte ich dann mit Eckis Übersetzungshilfe meinen Senf und ein paar Bilder nach Japan senden.
Der Artikel ist natürlich nur in Japanisch abgedruckt wie alles im Aqua Journal!

Da ich denke das doch den einen oder andern interessiert was ich so vonmir gegeben habe,stell ich euch mal den Text ein den ich in englisch versendet habe,ob dieser wirklich genauso abgedruckt wurde weiß ich allerdings nicht.







Hello,

my name is Thorsten Lampe, I'm 33 years old and have been working for the last ten years in a friend's company as a courier driver.

Since 15 years I have aquariums, for a long time with a focus on fishes. Since 3 years my focus is more on aquascaping.

At the moment I have 4 plant aquariums with 300 liters (120x50x50), 250 liters (100x50x50), 86 liters (60x38x38) and a small 20 Liter Nano Cube.

My favorite fish are otocinclus sp "Negro", Rasbora Vulcanus because of their incredibly tight swarm behavior, Rasbora heteromorpha and of course some beautiful shrimp.

My absolute favorite plant is Ludwigia inclinata "Cuba". I love this plant and I am very glad to have the whole family of Blyxas-japonica, -novoguineensis and -aubertii. I like Bolbitis heudelotii as well and mossese like Fissidens fontanus and riccardia.

Besides the aquariums, I go mountain biking and fishing. In both hobbies I am in nature, can relax and get inspirations for new layouts or even collect stones and roots for new scapes.

My third hobby is more for the cold season, I love to play and collect videogames.


1.How did you first hear of the IAPL Contest?

A few years ago, when my interest in water plants grew, I searched the internet for German forums focusing on aquarium plants. There I heard about the competition and found links to photos from previous competitions. Afterwards I wanted to create such an aquatic garden myself.


2. We guess that last year was first time when you had participated
in this contest. In the contest, the layout composition and your
maintenance skill were highly evaluated . How long have you been in the
aquarium hobby, and how did you acquire these techniques?

Aquariums have been my hooby since over 15 years and since 2-3 years I focus on plant layouts and aquascaping. I have read a lot of books and essays on the Internet and tested many techniques myself - try and error. Although there were some setbacks I discovered what works well for me. After I made the aquaintance with Ingrid Jung, who ran an internet forum focussing on aqautic plants, my progress accelerated.


3. What was your first reaction when you found out your contest
ranking 2008?

I found out about my placement in my preferred internet forum where some users congratulated me and informed me that I also had the best German placement. When I saw what fantastic layouts have been placed behind me, I was very proud. My personal goal was to be under the top 250.


4. Please tell us about your layout in 2008 year’s contest, such
as its concept, design, motif etc..

The basis of the layout is red stonewood that I saw for the first time in Germany a couple of months before. The driftwood was collected by a friend in his holidays. Around that time I received some Riccardia chamaedryfolia with some nice paddings in a trade.
I wanted use wood and stones in the layout together withmany larger contrast plants bright green tint ontrast plants. As the Stonewood already was reddish I did not think of colored plants.


5. Please tell us a story “behind-the-scenes”: did you experience
any difficulties or problems in the process of creating the layout?
What aspect of the layout are you most pleased with?

Yes, there were initial problems with the layout. I can laugh about it now, but it was a challenge back then.
The biggest problem was the green Rotala. The Rotala simply did not grow vertically upwards as I wanted, but always criss-cross in all directions, sometimes just on the ground.
I tried more light with different fertilization mixes. The solution to the problem was that the plant had to be trimmed and not replanted.

Another problem was to get the plants all at the same time in the right shape! The Glossostigma is growing very fast and after about three weeks already four or five layers were grown on top of each other. The Glossostigma had to be cut down at exactly the right time to be perfect at the time of the deadline. I am most pleased that I made each individual plant to really show their best side! All plants were in really great condition and health, without even a whisper of the a spoiled leaf, or even algae.


6. From your layout, we get an impression that you are really into
aquatic plants. Please tell us about your choice of plants, and how to
arrange and take care of them. How can you keep your plants in such a
good condition? Do you use any special techniques for that?

I always try to mix different leaf shapes but mainly it is just gut feeling. There are many river dams in the Harz mountains where I live and therefore my tap water is perfectly suited for aquatic plants. It has only 18 ppm CaCO3 and I change 50-70% every week. I only use liquid fertilizer and these days, where Estimative Index is quite popular, I still prefer very lean fertilization.

To prevent algae I always have a lot of CPOs (Atyaephyra desmaresti) - I catch them locally in one of the canals that crosses Germany. They are doing their job to eat algae efficiently in the background.


7. The arrangement of stones and driftwoods are dexterously done.
Could you tell us in details about the things you tried to create and
the things you had difficulty with at the stage of framing composition.

I like my layouts to remind me of my own experience and memories. For example the driftwood that a friend brought back from his holidays was from beautiful lake in the south of France (Lac de Salagou) that we visited together some time ago. Whenever I look into my tank it brings back nice memories. The country side around the lake is characterized by red sediments and red basalt - as a substitute I used red stonewood in the layout. And that also leads to the only flaw that I see in my layout - although I used over 60 lbs of stonewood it is barely visible due to the plants!


8. Do you have any favorite aquascapers? If any, please tell us in
what aspects you like about his/her layouts.

Oh, there are some marvelous aquascapers around. Of course, the masterful work of Takashi Amano comesto my mind and his success in making aquascaping popluar. Dave Chow und Cliff Hui from the Aquascape Union that create and present beautiful layouts that are one of a kind! I also like the work of
Lee Long Ki as well as Filipe Alves Oliveira with his trademark Syrah that is so often copied now.


9. Please tell us about a trend in the area of aquarium hobby in
your country.

I think aquascaping as a hobby is pretty new to Germany. There are some ambitious scrapers but compared to the worlds best we are just beginning. Sure there is potential but people first have to understand that its not only about growing plants nicely but creating an underwater world that takes the breath away.
There are advocates of aquascaping like Tobias Coring, the Logemann brothers and of course Oliver Knott that try to make our hobby more popular with shops, speaches and even with the new Aquatic Scapers Europe Contest !


10. Is there any difficulties or problems of aquarium hobby
particularly found in Germany? For example, it's very hard and costly to
maintain optimal water temperature inside aquariums, the number of
aquatic plants available for aquarium is very limited etc.....

There are no general problems. If you look around you will find good hardscape although prices may be a bit high for stones and driftwood. Exept for some exotic and rare plants I found it pretty easy to optain the plants that I was looking for. If anybody has some Elatine tiandra please get in contact with me. Only energy costs are pretty high these days and make this hobby more expensive.


11. Compared to the style of Japanese aquascapes, do you see any
differences or similarities in the aquarium layout styles practiced in
Germany?

Because our Japanese "collegues" are some years ahead it is pretty difficult to come up with new ideas. The Iwagumi Style is based on a tradition and culture that is a couple of hundret old - to create an Iwagumi is very difficult for a German as we lack this tradition. For most people the challenge is still to grow plants and now algae.


12. What makes you attracted to the Nature Aquarium? Do you see
any influence of the Nature Aquarium in your personal life?

This hobby has changed my life quite a bit. When I walk through some countryside I see different now. I try to view the harmony in nature and look for new impressions and ideas for layouts. Also the quest for nice hardscape has brought me to new and exciting places - and now I just don't walk through - I "take it in". Also, I spend more time on the internet to help people to discover aquascaping.


und noch einige Bilder vom Magazien.

Grüße Tutti

Hallo Tutti,

auch von mir die herzlichsten Glückwünsche !!!
Auf diese Seiten im Magazin kannst du Dir zu recht was einbilden.

Wobei Dein Becken auch wirklich eines der schönsten überhaupt war

Grüße aus dem Linsengericht
Jörg

Krasse Sache

Na da kann man aber echt auch Stolz sein!!!!

Wie kam es denn dazu? Ich mein, weil Deutschland ja nicht gerade die Aquascaping-Hochburg ist...

Hey, klasse Tutti
Ich habs ja schon immer gahnt, aber jetzt ist es raus
Wir haben wirklich eine "Very Importand Person" on Board.
Gratuliere zu der Bestätigung Deines Talentes und Deiner Wichtigkeit in der Aquascapingszene
Das hast Du Dir redlich verdient
Bin schon auf Dein neues Projekt gespannt

Viele Grüße Monika

Hi Tutti,

meine Fresse, das muss erstmal jemand schaffen, in Amanos Magazin selbst zu kommen. Da kannst du zu Recht superstolz drauf sein und mich freut es das du derjenige bist.

Also Glückwunsch, Tutti