WORLD RANKING 0002

‘Storming’

Minh Toan Nguyen, Vietnam

Dimensions: 120x50x50cm

Plants: Micranthemum sp. ‘Monte Carlo’, Hemianthus callitrichoides ‘Cuba’, Hemianthus micranthemoides, Rotala rotundifolia ‘Green’, Rotala rotundifolia ‘Red’, Hottonia palustris, Cabomba caroliniana, Taxiphyllum alternans, Fissidens splachnobryoides, Fissidens sp. fontanus, Taxiphyllum barbieri, Vesicularia ferriei, Taxiphyllum sp. ‘Flame’, Riccardia sp. ‘Chamedryfolia’, Elatine hexandra, Eleocharis acicularis, Marsilea hirsute, Echinodorus tenellus, Eriocaulon sp. ‘Vietnam’, Anubias barteri var. ‘nana Petite’, Anubias barteri var. ‘nana Pinto’, Anubias barteri var. ‘glabra Minina’, Bolbitis heudelotii.

Fish: Nematobrycon palmeri, Hyphessobrycon amandae.

IAPLC notes: This year’s Gold Prize came in the form of a submerged forest design, strangely close to the Grand Prix aquascape.

For this work, what looks like the roots of a huge fallen tree have been created by arranging large pieces of driftwood, making for a powerful first impression. In general, one overall characteristic of aquascapes like this (layouts with many pieces of driftwood) tends to be darkness — there are shadows under the driftwood pieces. However, planting lots of the bright genus Hemianthus and not just mosses in this aquascape helps to keep it bright. This aquascape is well-finished in terms of composition and planting.

Nathan says: It’s surprising to see a tank with such heavy contrasts between light and dark take second place, but it is welcome. The Hemianthus has been used in something of a surrogate moss role, drooping from both high and middle points and revealing more of itself than we would usually see. It definitely helps lighten the tank.

The inclusion of subtly marked Emperor tetra is a wise move, as a more colourful fish would be too intense, and jarring against the relatively muted backdrop.