Aquascapers and aquarium enthusiast around the world will know Karen Randall as the experienced author of Aquarium Fish Magazine and the only person that is judging 2 of the most prestigious Aquascaping contest the world – IAPLC and AGA. Little Green Corner is honored to be granted the opportunity to do an exclusive interview with Karen on various Aquascaping related topics.

LittleGreenConer: Hi Karen. Welcome to Little Green Corner. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Karen:  I am an aquarist by avocation, not by profession.  I am the mother of two sons, one now in college, the other still in high school.  In my professional life, I work as an educational advocate for families of children with special needs.

LittleGreenCorner: When and how did you get involve in aquarium and Aquascaping?
Karen:   I grew up with aquariums as a child, in fact, my father had aquariums when HE was a child.  My first conscious memory of our aquariums was being allowed to pick out a Black Moor Goldfish at the pet shop.  I remember carefully carrying him home in the little cardboard box commonly used for  transporting aquarium fish in those days. (I hate to date myself!!!<g>)

As I got older, I was allowed to get my OWN aquarium for my room.  The deal was that I had to earn the money for the tank, (no small feat for a 10 year old!!!) and then my parents would buy the other equipment for me.  Since I had no money other than my 25 cent per week allowance,  I helped out at a local pet shop, cleaning hamster cages and bagging fish.  In trade (since I was WAY under age to be a regular employee) the owner let me take pretty much anything I wanted in terms of fish and plants in trade.  There really were no plastic plants available, so I had to learn to use (easy) live plants to decorate my tanks, though I must admit I was also extremely proud of the sunken ship that was the centerpiece of my little tank!

As a young adult with my own home, I got more and more interested in terrestrial gardening, and my interest in serious aquatic gardening grew along with that.  It was a way to keep working with plants even through our cold New England winters.  I joined our local aquarium society, and started to learn as much as I could.  There was almost no American literature that was particularly helpful in terms of growing aquatic plants.  It wasn’t until 1985 that The Optimum Aquarium by Kaspar Horst and Horst Kipper was published in English, followed shortly by the magazine, Aquarium Heute being translated into English for a period of about 4 years. 

I soaked up this information, but still had no idea how to get or assemble the equipment needed to put CO2 on my tanks.  Fortunately, around the same time, I met a gentleman through our local club who was German by birth, spoke and read German well, and had access to German literature.  I saw his CO2 supplemented tanks and was totally amazed.  He was kind enough to guide me through installing CO2 on a tank for the first time.  This opened a whole new level of aquatic plant keeping to me. 

Of course, since then, things have changed rapidly in the planted aquarium world, due largely to two pivotal events.  First, the advent of the Internet, and the ability to exchange information so much faster, and second, Takashi Amano’s books, which brought the concept of aquascaping to the masses, and challenged all of us to move our work to a higher level.

LittleGreenCorner: Being the only common judge in IAPLC and AGA, what are the main differences in these 2 contests, in terms of judging criteria? Do you have 2 different mindsets when judging for both contests?
Karen:  The judging criteria are actually very similar.  The biggest difference is that in the AGA contest, (aside from the biotope and paludarium categories, which, of course are judged quite differently) tanks are separated by size, so that like-sized tanks are being judged against each other.  This makes it easier to do well with either an extremely small or extremely large (especially long) tank in the AGA contest as opposed to IAPLC. 

In terms of difficulty for judging, they both have their challenges, and both are a LOT of work.  In AGA, the categories help divide the entries, which is a help.  It can also be helpful that we have more than one photo of a tank to work from.  On the other time, it is extremely time-consuming to write comments for all the tanks.  Judges are not REQUIRED to write something for all tanks, but my feeling is that it is respectful to give everyone at least some feedback when they have gone to the effort of entering the contest.  I feel that the people who don’t place often need more guidance than those who do.  One thing that is very hard is to try to say something short and concise that is constructive without hurting people’s feelings.  What is very important for people to remember is that a short comment is just that.  It doesn’t address all that is good about a tank nor does it address everything that might be improved. 

What makes the IAPLC difficult is that we are expected to actually score and rank the top 100 tanks in order (of course, the rankings of all the judges are then consolidated by the ADA people).  In the AGA contest, we really only need to score and rank about our top 10 tanks in each category in order to calculate the top 3 winners per category.

Most importantly, it is one person’s perspective, on that day, in the context of that competition.  Judging aquascapes, like any other art form, is VERY subjective.  What I like might not be what another judge likes.  I think it is very important for aquarists to remember this.  Don’t aquascape for judges… create an aquascape that makes YOUR heart sings.  You are the person who has to live with that tank day in and day out!!!

LittleGreenCorner: Judging for IAPLC, after you received the 100+ short-listed tank photos, how do you process the photos leading to your final score/ranking?
Karen:  My personal method is to cut the photos apart so that I can lay them out in order of my favorites.  I first go through and look for those tanks with what I call the “Wow” factor; tanks that immediately draw my eye (in a positive way) and make me want to linger over them.  Then I start grading the tanks.  There may be a slightly more understated tank that is just so well done that it moves up into my top selections, while sometimes a “wow” tank may have flaws that cause me to drop it down.  Ideally the top placing tank(s) will be technically perfect, but ALSO have that unique character that draws the eye again and again.

LittleGreenCorner: Dutch (Garden) Vs Nature (Amano) Vs Taiwanese (mimic nature scenery) style, what’s your take? Any personal preference?
Karen:  I’m not exactly sure how to answer this.  All good aquascapes depend on the same design principles as any other good artwork.  So which of the above styles is used is of lesser importance.  I do think that for WINNING tanks, people try to avoid mimicking what they saw done the year before.  If you are mimicking it, so will half the other people in the contest!<g>  I also think that each of the above styles mentioned has learned and benefitted from the others over the years.  Of course, the Dutch were by far the first.  But if you look at Dutch tanks now, many rely much more on good hardscape than they did before the Nature Aquarium movement.  I think this makes them stronger designs.  Likewise, both the Taiwanese and Nature Aquarium styles borrow elements from each other.

As far as personal preference is concerned, I would say that when I am standing in front of a really excellent tank, no matter which style, I tend to think it is the most beautiful tank in the world!  I don’t think ANY tank can be fully appreciated through photographs!

LittleGreenCorner: Judging from the recent results of IAPLC and AGA, do you see any interesting trend? Do you think aquarium that mimic the nature have an edge over the more “abstract” style of aquarium? Why?
Karen:  I think the most obvious trend is that the level of aquascaping has increased to the extent that it’s hard to find a “bad” tank in the top 50 places in either contest.  This is wonderful for the hobby… it makes it VERY hard for us judges <g>. No, I definitely do NOT think that tanks that mimic nature have an advantage over other styles.  I do think that with current judging criteria, as well as the tastes of current judges, Dutch style tanks have the least chance of competing with the other styles at the very top of the field.   This is somewhat sad, considering that they are the “original” aquascape form.  I think they also often do not display as well in photographs as the bolder designs with more open space. 

LittleGreenCorner: Big tank (4ft and above) Vs Small tank (3ft and below)…..does it influence your judging?
Karen:  No.  It is hard to do a great job aquascaping tanks with unusual proportions; i.e. very long, very tall, bow front or other strange shapes.  But even in those cases, the SIZE of the aquarium wouldn’t influence my judging.  If someone did an outstanding job, where the shape of the tank was integral to the overall design, I would certainly look at it.  It is harder to create a top aquascape in a really huge or really tiny tank, but here I’m talking about very small nano tanks or the real monsters, 8 or more feet long.  In these cases the difficulty is to find and appropriately use aquascaping materials in scale to the tank.  That’s hard.  But again, I wouldn’t let it influence my judging.  I honestly don’t look at the sizes listed for the various tanks until well into the judging process.  It is the overall design and execution that matters.

LittleGreenCorner: do you have any preferred style or layout in Aquascaping, from competition point of view? What kind of layout would you like to see most in a contest?
Karen:  I think some of my previous answers have alluded to this.  I don’t really have a style preference.  In judging, I try very hard to approach each tank with a “fresh set of eyes”.  What I do want to see is a very well executed tank, with good design principles that ALSO has that special “spark” that sets it apart from the others.  Often this is an intangible quality.  I am NOT talking about “gimmicks”.  While there have been occasional, very well done tanks that include gimmicks that I have really loved, in my opinion, gimmicks more often detract from good work and do nothing to enhance poor work.

LittleGreenCorner: Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan are being regarded as 3 power house in today’s Aquascaping scene, with Vietnam emerging as the dark horse. Which other countries do you predict to join this elite group in the very near future?
Karen:  I’m not going to touch that one!<g>  There are really strong aquascape artists world-wide.  I prefer to let the work of individuals speak for themselves.

LittleGreenCorner: Do you see a clear difference in Aquascaping style between the “Eastern” and “Western” aquascapers?
Karen:  Less and less as time goes on.  The world is getting to be a smaller and smaller place.  We all learn from each other!

LittleGreenCorner: Most of the top ranking tanks in IAPLC and AGA are still monopolized by the Eastern/Asian aquascapers today; do you foresee the Western aquascapers making a breakthrough? How?
Karen:  There are a few Western aquascape artists who consistently do well year after year.  I am not sure why the hobby is so much stronger in Asia than it is in the west, but it is.  I live 30 miles from a big city (Boston) and there are NO shops that specialize in planted aquaria within 200 miles of where I live.  (probably further)  Even through mail-order, it is hard for us to get the tremendous variety of plants that you have available in the East. The hardscape materials we have available in shops are, for the most part, abysmal.  Until there are places for people to get the supplies and materials they need, AS WELL AS the access to good information, it will be very hard to get a large number of people working at the same level as many people in Asia.

LittleGreenCorner: How/What is the Aquascaping culture and trend in the States? What are the main obstacles or constraints for Aquascaping in the States in general?
Karen:  See above.  There is a core group of VERY enthusiastic aquatic gardeners in the U.S.  but the majority of the aquarium hobby is dominated by fish keepers/breeders.  The hobby culture is to have fish rooms with many tanks to breed various species of fish.  Plants, when kept, are often incidental; as spawning material or places for fry to hide.   It is hard to shift people with this mind-set to realize the joys of aquatic gardening!  On the other hand, I just returned from our regional aquarium conference, and the AGA meeting was standing room only.  The person who manned our AGA booth was busy all day talking to people about the tanks, answering questions and handing out literature.  So interest is growing!!!

LittleGreenCorner: As a photography enthusiast yourself, how important is photography skill in Aquascaping (for contest purpose)? Will an average layout in an excellent photo get higher score than an excellent layout in an average photo?
Karen:  It is important to get a good enough photo that the judges can fairly evaluate the aquascape.  Photos that are blurry, too dark, too light or with incorrect colors can certainly negatively affect judging.  I am also always suspicious if I can’t see to the very edges of the tank.  MAYBE the person just made a mistake with the camera, but maybe they were trying to hide something!

An average tank with an excellent photo should absolutely NOT place higher than an excellent tank with an average photo.  Any judge who does that does it in express disregard for the rules of both contests AND the directions given to the judges.

These days, any good modern, entry level DSLR on a tripod should be adequate for taking a good photo of an aquascape with sufficient light.  The person MAY have to use a greater amount of light than they typically do for growing the tank in order to photograph the tank and stop action in the fish.

LittleGreenCorner: Recently there is a debate over the use of “ultra wide angle” lens in the tank photography to create special visual effect, what is your view?
Karen:  When I have seen this done, I find the distortion unpleasant.  I do not think it enhances the look of the tank.

LittleGreenCorner: Special effect in tank photography process, like special lighting effect, background paper/lighting, “hair dryer” effect etc, how will it influence your judging?
Karen:  I think the “hair dryer effect” is way over-done.  Sometimes, a totally still, mirror-like surface can be extremely attractive.  Some lighting effects and backgrounds add to the total effect of a tank, while others detract.  I don’t think I’d give a tank a lot of extra credit for a lighting effect, but I would definitely move it down if the lighting effect or an artificial background detracts or pulls the eye away from an otherwise solid design.

LittleGreenCorner: Any general photography tips (dos and don’ts) for contest photo?
Karen:  Use a tripod and plenty of light.  You want a high enough F-stop to have good depth of field and a high enough shutter speed to stop fish motion.  While newer DSLR’s hold together quite well at higher ISO’s, a lower ISO will still give you the cleanest image.  So if possible improve the lighting.  If you just can’t get enough light, go to a higher ISO.  If possible, take photos several times in the development of a tank.  Sometimes I see a tank and think, “Oh, If the maker had just taken the photos one or two weeks earlier!”  sometimes it’s hard to know the BEST point for a tank except in hind-sight.

LittleGreenCorner: As someone who has in depth knowledge in aquarium fishes, what are the essential aspects of the fishes in a contest photo?
Karen:  It is important that the fish are appropriate to the tank.  Don’t put large fish (or fish that will attain a large size) in a small tank.  There are times when small fish can be effective in a large tank, but then you need really large numbers for a good display.  There are many fish that work well in aquascapes, but try to pick species that school well together for maximum effect.  Limit the number of species in any one tank. 

While there might be an aquascape that works really well with guppies or other man-made fish, I haven’t seen it yet.  While these fish are attractive in their own right, you would then want to build an aquascape that was a back-drop for THEM, rather than having them as an integral piece of aquascape design. 
Finally, I have a personal abhorrence for white/albino cultivars, no matter what the fish species.  I have never seen a tank with white angels that wouldn’t be more attractive with normally colored ones.  But then, I’d like the naturally colored angels better in a bare tank too!<g>

LittleGreenCorner: From the past 3 years IAPLC and AGA results, select 3 of your favorite tanks.
Karen:  Suffice it to say, I have not always strictly agreed with exact order of the collective choices, (I think that is probably true of most of the judges) but I do think that the tanks that are in probably the top 10 places or so in both contests deserve to be there.  When you get beyond that, it gets very subjective, and down to personal preferences.

LittleGreenCorner: Your advice for the aquascapers around the world who aim to participate (and do well) in the coming contest.
Karen:  That is very hard to say.  The most important thing, of course, is to have excellent basic skills, both in terms of plant and animal husbandry and in terms of design.  Then you need attention to detail, and the willingness to keep at it, day in and day out until the tank peaks.  ALL the top tanks in both contests will meet these criteria. 

Beyond that, it helps if there is something that sets your tank apart from the crowd.  But this is where people tread a fine line between being innovative (good) and gimmicky (bad)  Where that line lies is different for different judges. 

Please remember that the winners of these contests are essentially chosen by committee.  My first place choice or another judge’s first place choice may not end up as the winner.  It would be possible for a tank that was not ranked first by anyone, but was ranked high by many to end up winning a contest.  That’s what happens with group judging.  This is not to comment on whether it is right or wrong, I just want people to be aware of how it works.

In my opinion, the most IMPORTANT aspect of aquascaping is not winning a contest, but how much YOU enjoy living and working with your aquascape.  Do what YOU love, and that will show through if your basic technique is sound.  No judge’s opinion should count higher than your own feelings about your work. 

LittleGreenCorner: Last but not least, how does this hobby (Aquascaping/Aquarium) change your life?
Karen:  I love working with plants, I love working with animals and I love getting my hands wet.  Aquatic gardening and aquascaping allow me to do all of those things.  I do my best to try to give back by writing, judging and lecturing, at the beginner level as well as for advanced aquarists, and by setting up planted aquaria in schools and teaching the TEACHERS to maintain them.  In every one of these activities, I find that I learn as much from these experiences as I teach.

I have had the opportunity to travel to four continents to expand my understanding of ecosystems and to learn about plants and animals in their native environments.  But best of all has been the opportunity to meet so many wonderful people all over the world, both in person and over the internet.  I feel truly blessed for the many good friends I’ve made through this wonderful hobby of ours!  

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