Mr. Masashi Ono (Japan)

Title: Relaxed Time

Evaluation: The driftwood composition and plants arrangement are in high-quality finished forms. The layout and maintenance technique, using a limited number of species, and growing those species in good forms, and maintaining impeccably even the single leaf, is amazing. But it is unfortunate the layout lacks impact.

His Comment: I was very surprised to see the result. I thought my layout was too common, and I did not expect to receive such a high prize. I tried to express a scene of aging driftwood, and its surrounding newborn plants and slow moving time flow by driftwood combination, using open space in luxury. I think this is an orthodox aquarium layout, but I am very glad such a layout was highly scored.

Aquarium Tank: W114xD52xH52 (cm)

Aquatic Plants:
Vallisneria nana
Microsorum sp.
Eleocharis xingua
Fantinalis antipyretica

Fish & Invertebrates:
Puntius sp.cf.denisoni
Crossocheilus siamensis
Caridina multidentata

Source : Aquatic Gardeners

Mr. Chen Ze Xin (Taiwan)

Title: Old Tree

Evaluation: The use driftwood is distinctive and powerful. The texture is unique, and the way the moss covers the driftwood is natural. Not only is the impact of the driftwood good, but the balance of the open space and aquatic plants is well-organized, and the layout has an attractive finish, making use of the panoramic ratio aquarium tank.

His Comment: This time I considered the design of “God Tree Country” from last August, and started production from that layout. In order to find the best driftwood, I climbed a mountain several times. Even though I encountered the difficulty of sudden algae appearance, I finally realized the idealistic composition in my mind perfectly, by spending 8 months’ time. When I received the Contest results, it is very hard to describe my feelings in words. The ADA layout contest is now trusted by hobbyists, and I really appreciate the organizer, judges who made a difficult grading, and all the planted aquarium hobbyists around the world.

Aquarium Tank: W105xD58xH45 (cm)

Aquatic Plants:
Hemiantbus callitrichoides “Cuba”
Blyxa japonica
Cryptocoryne wendtii
Elatine triandra
Hottonia inflate
Lilaeopsis novae-zelandiae
Microsorum sp.
Vesicularia sp.
Riccia fluitans

Fish & Invertebrates:
Paracheirodon axelrodi
Hemigrammus erythrozonus
Pterophyllum altum
Pterophyllum scalare
Ancistrus temmincki
Apistogramma cacatuoides
Corydoras sterbai
Hemimyzon formosanus

Source : Aquatic Gardeners