In the post “ The Master School of Aquarium Design 2019: A Workshop With Six Experts “ our outline showing all 6 aquariums has already given you the basics about this popular event. Now, by popular request from the myJBL community, we would like to go into more detail about each of the six masters’ aquariums. We asked each master the same set of questions and have summarised their answers in the post here, along with the corresponding pictures. Use the comments function for your questions about the aquariums or for any further information you need.
JBL hosted this event together with the companies Tropica Aquarium Plants (provided the entire plant assortment) and Juwel Aquarium (provided the aquarium combination JUWEL RIO 125 LED white).
Let’s start with the aquarium created by Team Florian Junghans with his apprentices Franek Preußer and Marco Laupitz.
About Master Florian Junghans
Florian describes himself in his profile as follows: Hi, I am Flo and an aquascaper. There's not much to say about me except that I'm addicted to fish and my martial arts.
Instagram: @Flos_scaping
Scroll down to find an interview. We asked the master of each group a set of questions and received detailed insider information for you.
What is the basic idea of the layout and what does it represent?
The aquarium of the Aquarium Design Meisterschule was a Juwel Rio 125 with the usual standard dimensions. With this aquarium I wanted to show that you are not limited in height and can work beyond the frame.
Name of the layout
I think the name "Lost Forest" fits quite well, because behind all the plants you can only guess what is happening.
What material was used in the hardscape?
My criteria for picking this hardscape was to create a very appealing layout which is easy to replicate on a small budget. That's why I choose Talawa wood and mini landscapes for the hardscape. I used JBL PROSCAPE VOLCANO MINERAL und JBL PROSCAPE PLANT SOIL BROWN und JBL Sansibar COR DE LARANJA as a substrate. As additional help I integrated the JBL PROSCAPE PLANT START underneath to get an ideal start.
We got off to a fast start. A few days before the event I had prepared a base plate on which I glued the base roots with JBL AquaSil transparente and wove them together to prevent the roots from floating up. We could then get on with constructing the hardscape using the rest of the material. We all helped to attach the remaining root and fix it with cable ties.
Which plants were used?
For my plant selection I used simple plants that can manage without much CO2 and light, i.e:
- various species of Cryptocoryne,
- various species of Bucephalandra
- various species of Pogostemon helferi
- two different species of Hygrophila
- Microsorum pteropus
What are the special features of the layout?
The height of our layout for an aquarium with normal dimensions and the exceptionally light Talawa Wood
What difficulties did you have with the creation?
The challenge of our hardscape construction was that the high construction meant the lower levels of the aquarium lost a lot of light and there was no way we could insert ground-cover plants. Once we’d finished our hardscape we had to insert the plants from the back to the front and from the bottom to the top, so as not to damage the ones we’d just planted. During planting we kept everything nice and wet. For gluing we used JBL PROHARU UNIVERSAL , which has to be applied under water, but needs some time to dry.
What maintenance do you recommend for this layout in the start phase and as a routine afterwards? What needs to be considered?
In the starting phase I advise leaving the lighting time at 6 hours for the time being and to increase it by one hour after about 8 weeks. It is important to install a CO2 system right from the start. We used the JBL PROFLORA u504 . I would fertilise the tank with JBL PROSCAPE Fe +MICROELEMENTS and JBL PROSCAPE NPK MACROELEMENTS . In the first two weeks I would do 3 water changes with min. 40 %. I think it’s very useful to carry out regular water tests to adjust the fertilisation with the PROAQUATEST e RECARGA Especially pH, KH, Fe, NO3 and PO4 should be kept in mind.
Tell us some anecdotes about the event day with the apprentices - where did you see them making progress, how did you work together, and what was especially fun?
All in all it was a great day with friends old and new. Simply great fun to be a part of it.
