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I reviewed some of the planted specs on many of Amanos tanks and found other than co2 and light, he has low levels of everything.

<1mg/l no3
0.2 mg/l po4

Let's talk.

My Scapes

he *is* a planted tank expert after all...

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"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman

There isn't ONE correct way to do anything, especially planted tanks. I take it you are referring to low levels of nutrients in respect to the EI method. EI is just one method that seems to work well. I don't use either of those two methods and IMO have a thriving planted tank. You can see the levels of nutrients in my planted tank [link=here]http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/forums/Planted%20Aquaria/52902.html" style="COLOR: #FFD700[/link]. I only dose Nitrate (I test maybe twice a month) when I need it and I never dose for phosphate because there is always a small amount in the tank. I dose trace nutrients a couple times a week, and that's it. Anyone will tell you though, no matter what method you use, that it's all about what plants you choose for your tank.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

It depends on the tank and what works for you. Everyone has a slightly different method that has worked in their tanks.

As far as I know Amano tends to run the water column really lean and jam everything into the really rich substrate. It can work but the inherent problem is that the substrate will need replacing every so often, usually 6 months-a year (huge PITA). People have been doing this for years in an effort to control algae with mixed results. Also note that his books are kind of old, I'm not sure if he's using the same methods now especially with the increased availability of the ADA line. Step 2 of the ADA system adds N so NO3 may be higher in ADA style tanks. Also the substrate contains a bunch of peat (easy enough to DIY with $4 from a gardening centre) which will leech a lot of NO3 as it rots.

Personally, having looked at a lot of Amano's tanks in photos, I am not that impressed with his plants. I have seen healthier in hobbyist tanks. IMO Amano's greatest assets are his photography and marketing skills, not fertilizing.

ADA does offer an amazing line of products if you want everything packaged for convenience and aesthetics, you had also better be prepared to pay an arm and a leg for it.

That's a very insightful and probably "dead on" analysis of his tanks. I did notice that their is a lot of complexity to his substrate.

I'm currently using eco-complete as my substrate and am moving toward the EI way of doing things, but I am having trouble in my tank with a greyish slime and othre algae problems. My tank reads high in po4 and high in no3 most of the time and am trying to look into everything. Although my plants appear healthy I am currently vacumming this slime up on a daily basis, as well as other algae types.



Last edited by tetratech at 30-Aug-2005 21:07

My Scapes

There was a discussion on this subject recently on APC.

There's few things to bear in mind with regard to Amano sans methods.

Trys is right he uses very rich substrates and uses his own ferts for the water column.

The other thing to bear in mind is take any published Amano parameters should be taken with a very hefty dose of salt. He is very very vague when it comes to parameters and fert regimes. Add translation from Japanese to English into that and it's even more difficult. Understandable, I suppose, he's also a businessman with a very expensive line of products to push.

There may be other things. I've heard other well known Asian aquascapers (who use his products) and seen here that they will plant stem species let it grow and trim a couple of times until it looks it's best. When it's gone past that stage and the bottom starts to get a bit ragged they replace with a new plant. That's ok here in Asia where plants are easy enough to come by and relatively inexpensive, not an option for most hobbyists. Not saying Amano does that but who knows.

To be honest I don't think anybody can tell you for certain what his actual parameters are. Only he can do that, and he's not saying much.

His methods and products seem to work for others but are very expensive many $$$. He has issues like the rest of us , you can see algae in some tanks (very small quantities) and he always uses a lot of snails/shrimp/ottos.

Again as Trys said there's any number of methods that work. Location plays a part too. European 'scapers rarely add nitrate and phosphate to their tanks, they don't need to, a lot of European tap water has 30ppm of No3 and 5ppm of PO4 ! Frequent water changes take care of the macros.

Of all the methods EI is just the simplest, cheapest and most hassle free method. It seems to work at a much higher success rate too.

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

OK,

I want to put my 2 cents in as well, although I will leave out the entire ferts discussion as it has been detailed above so well.

IMHO, Amano did a little more that just create nice pictures and having the abilities of a successful businessman. He created a style. Sure, all his tank ingredients (plants, fish, wood, etc. minus his shrimp) have been used before, but (at least as I know) never to the extent that they identify his creator so clearly, over and over again.

Now, honestly, if any one of us would be able to crate (not copy) such a unique style, and people would show great interest in it, would we not consider making it a business?

I personally will probably never copy his style completely as I am sure it is a maintenance nightmare. All these tiny plants need pruning so often to preserve the astonishing look. But Amano is a reminder that the borders of common aquascaping are flexible and ever expanding.

Just my opinion,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Amano uses EI(see frequent dosing+ large weekly water changes), he and I can tell what a plant is suppose to look like and add just enough to get that response from the plant.

No test kits needed.

I know what he does more than those screwy test kits because I have plant health and growth precisely like his.

Yes, you can start off with a richer substrate.
I have found clay like substrates, local product virtually identical to ADA' soils for about 15-20$ for 50lbs.

I am comparing it to then ADA aqua soil mix in a chamber right now.

Tom's secret substrate sauce hahaha. Not quite..........but one heck of lot cheaper!!!
Cheaper than Onyx, about 1/2 or less.

I don't mind doing replacements and tear downs once a year at that cost and doing the types of scapes I do.

I get bored with the same old thing, Amano does also.

Regards,
Tom Barr

Thanks for the input plantbrain. I have one of his books and it gives tank parameters, ferts, etc.

I book is probably lacking much of the detail that you and me to a certain extent would look for.
I was just thrown but the levels of po4 and no3 in his tanks. Looked like alot of co2 rich soil and alot of water changes.


My Scapes

It's less work than you think if you stay on top of things.

Most do for a little while, months,a few years, then they slack.........

They forget why they were successful, then and expect not to do as much work to acheive the same results later.....

But Amano is not much on testing............those parameters were added after the fact I would argue, they do not match with the plant health and test everyone else does............

Plants need the same things to grow, so I would not put much faith in those numbers.

Regards,
Tom Barr

Just a little note, many of Amano's tank pictures are of recently set up tanks. Sure he does have his long term tanks, and he is quite successful at what he does, but there is a little trickery involved.

One way to check if the picture is of a new or established tank is looking at plants that need to be trimmed. Are they? If there are stems that are under the surface line, but obviously not cut, usually a new tank. However, he could have recently redone the plant, but when the whole tank looks like that, then you have a general idea that it is most likely new.

And if anyone says that new tanks look different than established tanks, I saw a video at work that featured him setting up a tank from scratch. When it was done, it was just as good as any of his other tanks.

Anyway, yes, he does have his own style, and he is good at what he does. I wouldn't say he is as good as his reputation (aquarium plant god ), but he is still good.

Rasco,

People have been saying that since day 1. They must be new plants, they can't grow like that, he must be sacrificing goats to the plant gods etc !

I've seen the pictures too and his newly set up tanks never look like the finished article.

I'd say the only "trickery" he uses is the abilirty to photograph tanks at that perfect sweet moment that us lesser mortals only get a couple of times a year. But that's our lack of attention to the finer details.

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

After studying more of Amano's photographs, etc. He also spends more money on his photographic equipment then on his tanks.

My Scapes

Bensaf, I've read about it. And like I said, I don't deny that he is exceptionally good at what he does, but to say that most of his photos are of old, well extablish, balanced tanks is just not right.

Amano, just like every other aquarist has his good and bad moments. His pictures, like most people photographing tanks, is when it is "at its best." And many times, Amano's tanks may be at their best when they are new.

And yes tetra, he does use HIGH END equipment for his photography.

Basically, walk into Amano's house at any random time without any notice, and his tanks will lool just as good as any other aquatic plant master's tank.