Almost forgot ... the legendary International Aquascaping Contest opened for entries' 2008 edition, entries that are closed September 15, 2008, so for those who wish to participate in the AGA contest a few days left, hurry!
I commend the ... glazed sweet aquariums Vosti (paludariums are accepted but not aquariums ... at least for now), clean picture and think, good lighting of the whole, no accessories visible in the tank, standing water (filter pump off), and maybe a schemino with plants in the layout, a kind of map of the aquarium, then top with view.

Joining costs only $ 5 and is generally friendly to deal with other hobbyists around the world. None of the readers, including this writer (Raffaele Galano), can battle for the podium for the first ... and I mean the first 200!
I hope to attend ... maybe with better pictures of them ... usually for these events because I always end up forgetting something ... a signature, a photo must have been of a certain size ... Deadline and find myself out of a contest ... classic.

Remember that you do not need huge aquariums to participate, there are 3 broad categories

• Aquatic Garden
• Biotope Aquascape
• Paludarium

and then 4 "size categories", ie those based on tank size in liters)

• Small (<= 25 U.S. Gal. / <= 100 L)
• Medium (25 ~ 50 U.S. Gal. / 100 ~ 200 L)
• Large (50 ~ 100 U.S. Gallons / 200 ~ 400 L)
• Very Large (> 100 Gallons /> 400 L)

You can also participate in a short nano freshwater aquarium, they are now prepared to hundreds in the Italian forum, so please do not hesitate and dive into the fray ... wishing you could also setting one up for the occasion. If you look at the aquarium of the previous editions will notice that some have clearly been prepared solely for the photos for the contest. I absolutely love it as a gimmick, too easy, but it is also clear how difficult it is to avoid it. Know that you be able to easily position yourself in the first place, not only for the fierce competition, but also because the judges are always very good, world-class aquarium, and then they too will recognize the penalizzerrano and in some way.

What is' aquascaping? = Aquatic landscape water landscape.
The technique to create aquariums pleasing to the eye because they recreate natural landscapes in the tank. The idea is to decorate the inside of the aquarium so that it is pleasing to the eye and not just a mess of fish and plants, as can be healthy. It means creating BEAUTIFUL aquariums, that strike the eye and can eventually become an item of furniture in any home, medical office, hotel or restaurant, where the fish live well and healthy.
I can not write a manual about it, because frankly I know too little, and I have little practice, however, some element I think I can give, as a starting point to explore or just to watch your aquarium, freshwater Salara, with eyes different.

Once, many years ago, there was talk of Dutch aquariums, that is chock-full of plants, often harbored even large fish (angelfish or discus, for example). They were very nice compared to the average of the aquarium that could be seen in magazines and shops in the street, rich in all shades of green, but today those pictures seem chaotic, too stressful for the eyes too full of different elements, plants, logs , rocks, fish. Today we seek, or at least some people try to create landscapes that make sense, respecting the proportions of nature, what we see in the most beautiful nature photos and the best documentaries.

Dutch Aquarium:

Natural aquarium:

And many more can be found, for example, inside the gallery of the famous AGA contest ( photo 2007, medium-sized aquariums )

Indeed, we can use the parts that used in any aquarium, that is, plants, driftwood, rocks or stones to create the landscape scale, that is, landscapes that are harmonious and proportionate. As a standard will imagine that the aquarium is positioned with the front glass in front of the observer, ie the glass longer. Aquariums with function of partitions or "peninsula", ie with 2 or 3 sides perfectly visible, are particularly difficult to "draw "and then decorate. You will find difficulty with layout tropical freshwater aquariums, marine aquariums as well, with more than one side offered as the main view to the observer.
Should be avoided absolutely positioned items of furniture in an unsafe manner, which can slip or fall over each other, materials or adhesives or dyes that can intoxicate fish. In short, the aesthetic function should NEVER endanger the lives of the inhabitants of the aquarium.

1. Imagination is the key to everything. Only by imagining a natural environment or watching from life or photograph a natural environment, we think of our layout in the aquarium. We must think of the elements that we use, we have or we can arrange easily and then "knead" to adapt the environment to recreate. It is said that it should be identical, we will also make one small part, but the important thing is that the design, make that, the "sense" the total is the same.
2. Proportions: Use objects, plants, fish and invertebrates that are "in proportion" to each other.
   This point is perhaps more difficult, but also very important. If you ever wondered why many of the finest aquariums you have ever seen in photos on the Internet that the fish are almost always small and in the bunch ... Proportions are the answer. In fact, a small fish makes everything look bigger: a rock like a mountain, a tree trunk, a root of a hill, so it's a little plant grass or thick brush.
   So also in the choice of plants, noting the size of the leaves. Better to have very small leaves near big as those of Echonodorus sheet, rather than 5 plants with leaves of all sizes.
3. Depth: because spaces filled and empty spaces, colors, lines and curves help to create different depths. The actual depth of the aquarium remains the same ... but is perceived in different ways.
   Can be used some or even all the elements listed below
   1. Background: Use a color that hides the rear glass of the aquarium and uniforms. Usually used black, blue and light blue, and even white, you can also find in the market of plastic gradient, for example, that go from deep blue at the bottom, the light blue at the top. This gradient increases the sense of depth and the similarity in the colors of the sky.
   2. forward tilt of the substrate (the bottom, fertile or less), that is to always have a higher background behind and lower in the front, preferably with non-uniform height from left to right, that is, which has the gradients, although mentioned. We can go from a minimum of 10 and 5 cm behind the front, stands with up to 30-40 cm in height back, if for example we have an aquarium at least 50 cm deep.
      The higher we can keep the bottom ... basically, the higher the sense of depth.
   3. diagonal curve, created with rocks (much better if all of the same type), with rocks, plants, or with empty spaces where you can see only the sandy substrate or of a light color, which detaches from the rest of the environment. The lines invite the eye to follow them ... is inevitable.
4. Points of interest
   1. Better to create only one, so that the gaze dwell there, without wandering everywhere, on many items.
      Even an aquarium with 5 rocks and an expanse of low plants, such as a lawn, can not distribute the attention of all five stones. These must have a "sense", an order, a hierarchy, a single point of attraction for the eye.
   2. red plants
      They are a powerful attraction for the eye, the most widely used and easier to maintain in the aquarium are probably: Alternanthera Reineckii, Rotala wallichii and the arcuate Ludwigia.
   3. rocks strange, colorful, isolated from the rest of the furniture

Digital Camera Mask: maybe you have put off the holidays in late August or early September ... or maybe you are planning a week in the Red Sea between October and November ... however you might be interested in a good diving mask with built-in camera.
I find it a brilliant idea, or rather an interesting product, because the idea is quite simple. The only flaw of this camera is not equipped with a flash and even has a connection to a torch applied to the mask, albeit small ...

Produced by Liquid Image has a resolution of 5 megapixels (2560 × 1920) and, with a USB port to transfer images to a PC, is used as a normal form and as a normal digital camera, which may also turn video with 640 × 480 and 18 to 25 frames per second, then calmly video suitable for use on the web but also watchable on TV.
It has 16 MB of internal memory but also a small slot that accepts microSD cards. It 's powered by 2 x "AA", namely AAA 1.5 volts and, although equipped with auto-off after 120 seconds of inactivity, I recommend using rechargeable batteries with good quality and at least 2000 mha.
Minimum Focusing Distance: 120 cm.
It is on sale at prices between 70 and 90 euros, several shops on the web, a very good price in my opinion, and is also found in electronics stores some airports ... many times you took a plane in this day.

2 years ago I tried a similar product, I wanted to buy the underwater case for my Canon powershot ... then I saw the price and I gave up.
In practice you can easily notice that there are hard cases for cameras less than 100 € and many of them are priced between 200 and 300 euros.
In practice cost as a good digital camera!
In the case of this diving mask with integrated digital camera talking about resistance up to 5 meters (on some sites it is also about 30 meters ... while on the official 15 FEET, which are actually about 5 mentri), then we are not level of 15-30 meters of hard cases on the market, but 5 meters is enough to snorkel the most people and especially beyond 5 meters is absolutely necessary to have auxiliary lights or powerful flashes of sunlight ... because it remains goose ...

I have no plans other holiday at the moment ... and I add UNFORTUNATELY, the limit on a skiing holiday and new years ... but I think of buying this product by next spring, or perhaps something even better if it were to hit the market in the meantime.

You like? On Fotodigit is for sale at 80 € !