The Dutch aquarium is aquascaped by George Farmer and is described in Practical Fish Keeping - an aquascape with an abundance of plants in rows and groups. Many stem plants with variations in structure and colour give a visual effect - and challenges! George's largest challenge in planning the aquascape was the choice of plants and placement, and making sure they complemented each other. George grouped plants in the foreground, middle ground and background with a colour sub-category, and chose a combination of classical Dutch plants (like Lobelia and Bacopa) as well as several new plants (like Staurogyne and Pogostemon). Ludwigia is the red plant in focus, and Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Brown' adds a play of colours to the green. The aquascape has plants in abundant measures - and many of them are quick-growing. That is very helpful in avoiding algae as the aquarium is quickly balanced, but there is also a more frequent need for maintenance with the scissors.
Tip! George started with 7 hours of light per day, and only from 2 T8-tubes the first 4 weeks in order to not accelerate the growth of the plants. After that, 4 T5-tubes and 10 hour lighting periods once the plants had started growing and the aquarium was balanced better.
