#1336 Paradise

About This Aquascape

The scape recreates a wild stream bed where large pieces of rocks have fallen and aged. This depicts nature reclaiming what fell. My inspiration for this scape is Natural randomness - how in nature stones, plants, wood, trees, etc are so randomly spread, but at the same time they come together and form a beautiful scape. I spent a lot of time studying underwater videos and biotopes, especially work by aquarists and explorers like Chris Lukhap, Rodrigo Silva, Betta Mahatvaraj (Meenkaran) and a couple of others. Their content helped me imagine a real, living underwater ecospace, which i have tried to create to the best of my ability. I have tried to bring out the following: 1. I have used dragon stones placed at various angles, i wanted to evoke the feeling that these rocks, which almost look like pieced of aged wood, have fallen and stuck in their positions due to the natural flow of water over time. 2. On top of these rocks i have grown Monte Carlo. This gives an aged look, as if these stones have fallen for a long time. Moss and other plants have slowly started to grow over them - meaning Nature is trying to take over. 3. I have used the top reflection - which reflects the stones. This effect create an immersive, wild underwater feel in the water column. 4. For planting - i have intentionally not kept them bunched together. For example, i have place foreground plants like HC cube surrounded by moss and Eriocaulon. So it feels like plants have naturally grown around these stones over time. 5. I have not let Monte Carlo grow dense like a lawn. This can look man-made. Instead, I have placed it randomly in patches, letting it fall over the rocks, to maintain the aged + natural randomness throughout.