PLANTED TANK LEGENDS - IAPLC GRAND PRIZE WINNER DAVE CHOW 360 VIEW WORKSHOP

Welcome to the beautiful world of aquascape! Guys, today I present to you the greatest teacher I know alive and he is an IAPLC

winner

. He is the closest thing to an Aquarius spirit that I know of. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Dave Chow! I'm Dave Chow from Hong Kong. This is my first time in Hungary, at Green Aqua. Well, what are you going to do today? I will use stones to make a stone skeleton. In Japanese they are called Iwagumi. Where does your inspiration come from? I think it's most likely from previous work by ADA - Amano San.

So this time I will apply an oriental dragon style to this stone pier. This is the story behind the aquascape itself. How many sketches did you make? Easy for me, I only made one or two sketches. Do you always draw first or do stones sometimes inspire you? I'm basically just looking around and remembering what I see. This is a special

tank

, which is perforated in three places. You have two suction sides and you have a plug. Basically we have an external filter underneath. Mr. Adem, could you help me? Ladies and gentlemen, Adam Paszczela from Poland! Basically I think that in Europe this guy is one of the most experienced people in stone setting.

I think he will be able to help me a lot! Today's guard material is from Adam. The nickname is Poland Stone Keep. It is the famous Frodo stone. We are adding some ADA electrical sand to the bottom. This part will be made up mainly of sand. So you can add more height to the

tank

by laying down a very thin layer! - Yeah! Do you always add these additives? For customer tanks yes, but for my store, no. There is a technique to make the soil healthier. And what is that technique? Always change the water and use the suction tube to vacuum up dirt from the floor.

PowerSand Special already comes with many of these. Is it useful to add more besides PowerSand Special, or are we okay with just PowerSand Special? If you have a big house, you need more servants to help you. As you see, the more people you have, the cleaner the place will be. So it's... Not the money. Don't think about the money! Is Felipe here? What we wanted to teach you Filipe is that the greatest Aquatic Master I know is to get into the sand first. I didn't expect this from you. Sanding should come last. Look! They are mixing!

This is my personal style! I prefer to add the sand last. Haven't you seen my work before? I have some techniques there. Get back to your kitchen! If you need anything, just call! The idea comes from within. So my experience is that wherever you walk, when you travel, just look around you. Because the tank is not that high, we are simply adjusting the angle of placement of the stone. I've saved you money because Frodo's Stone is very... Is it expensive, Adam? No, it's really cheap. The last

workshop

at Green Aqua. Meanwhile you can see that Dave has introduced the second background stone.

I think most people would come to large rocks for support, but then overlook the size of the large rock, simply using a large rock, right next to it. The really cool thing about this dock is that it tries to support it with as small rocks as possible. Will you use some epiphytic plants, mosses? Or leave the text bare Mainly plants in the foreground. Some moss will be placed on the surface of the rock. The right corner will have some high growing spring plants. I'm just testing the durability of the stone. Do you like to test design with current devices?

When you put them in water, the soil gets wet and then they lean a little. Therefore, you must first moisten the soil. and then don't make any other moves. After that, you can fill it with water. This supports it! There are also some Seiryu stones hidden there that hold it up. I want to make a triangle design, so they should be much taller. Did you make the sketch after seeing the stones or before? Adam sent me some photos of his selection. On a palette. So I just referred to the image. I had some ideas and basically know a lot about stone.

Then I just create the sketches. So I thought I could recreate it here. This is a square, so it's a very good opportunity to make a more layered design. One layer there, the second layer is the big rock, the third layer is that and the fourth layer is down there. The fifth layer will be something else. When you enter the Gallery, you will see the tank from this corner. What Dave explained to us is that you want that side of the tank to be clearly visible from the entrance. This is designed to be the first so that the size of the plant is much larger.

So I'm going to use Monte Carlo and then we'll use some Cubas because their leaf size is much smaller. When you go to inspect the reservoir, it should be much deeper. The depth of this reservoir is truly amazing. Absolutely! So many angles and so many details already! So you change the water more often, you have stable and soft water, then, with these rocks? Or is it not a problem? They will be... Algae will cover your stones, so... Any... Calcium and other elements that harden water will not be distributed as regularly. For example, in this type of space we should place some small pebbles.

We'll just use the small pebbles and then squeeze some Riccia into this... Riccia or Riccia? We hate Riccia. I see you don't have… Do you use Riccia? No. Now the landscape is basically finished. I'll just finish the foreground and then create the background of the design. Can you tell us the name of the file? You can ask people what the correct name would be. Well, what do you think? You can shout any name. Name of the Dragon! Dragon Valley, Mordor. Our American friend from Seachem just said Mordor right there. We're all afraid to name it, Dave!

You must provide the name. I name the Great Wall. What about maintenance? So when you do maintenance, how do you feel? Searching! Fast! What is your favorite part of water sports? Is it planning? Plant? Your vision grows, the image? When we are making the skeleton, we take a photo with our phone. And then any changes are based solely on the phone. That's why I have many friends who, after water skiing, became photographers. Yes. What type of GH do you have in your aquarium water? Basically I will try to keep it around TDS 120 (GH 3). Yes, we have the same.

Because in my experience, if the tank gets worse, it will reach TDS 200. Then algae will appear. So I think this is a good release for Aqua Green Gallery because most of the designs are very peaceful and this has a very strong dynamic. What colors do you want? In Chinese there is a colloquial saying: When you draw a dragon, the last thing is to add the eye. I can see that you have left the base layer of fertilization visible, essentially PowerSand. It's easier to explain to your client that I used PowerSand. Okay, so you forgot. No! I forgot to tell you!

But this is for commercial reasons. I need help with planting. Maybe we can ask Philip? No, don't ask Felipe! What did I miss? We're just planting, don't worry! Do you have any favorite materials for making new fences? I just focus on the idea I created. Then I will decide if I want to use stone or wood, or combine them. We begin the Monte Carlo sowing. I have a lot of experience in using different types of tools. But above all... the ADA is the best. Do you want to plant the parent plants later? Yes, with full water it is easier to plant spring plants.

The dedication and patience you have towards things is absolutely something we must learn. I think this is not something that is learned, this is suffering. Yeah?! For me it is also suffering. Yeah?! I'm not doing the planting work. As you can see I am now in the cabinet. We have an Eheim 2080. It is light and next to it is the Master. I am also a light. To determine if everything is going as planned... This is the plan and this is the picture. Do you think it's the same? Microsorum Trident. So it looks like it's some kind of...

Hair. This dragon's hair. When you put water, the water level rises and also the soil particles will fall. If it is not wet enough, the soil will move. This will be dangerous for rock placement. Is there anything you can do if during the filling procedure the stones start to move? It has to be a matter of trial and error. I've made a lot of mistakes before, so you have to make your own. And after that, you can find your own solutions. We are selecting the plant now. Dave just told Victor what plants he likes. Ceratopteris and Green Rotala.

Water conditioner. So what do you use this for? In an hour, the tank will be crystal clear. Thank you very much Master, for being here with us and teaching us many things! In fact, I really admire him. I hope it has been useful to you! It absolutely is! Tank is the best tank in the gallery so far! Where is Felipe? Can I take it with me? Sure! This is for you! First of all, subscribe, if you haven't done this particular, hit the bell button to get notified, this is very important! Or hit the like button if you like this video and Dave Chow's work.

We'll show you what it looks like in a couple of days, so you'll be able to see some progress at the end of this video. Until next week, goodbye! Bye bye!