PetsCareMart

Hey all,

Welcome to our first interview with avid aquascaper, Jack Fryer.

Firstly, thanks for joining us today Jack. It’s a pleasure. We’re a massive fan of your work so it’s an honour to have you.

When did you start aquascaping?

I started aquascaping with my first nano tank this was a 30 cube around March 2021 which was full of blue dream shrimp and some nano fish. And every algae under the sun! It was a low tech non co2 aquarium and I encountered problems after problems with using pretty cheap aquarium budget lights and poor filtration and soon decided I wanted more out of my aquarium so this is how my journey started..

So you haven’t been aquascaping for long at all, your scapes say otherwise. Well done. What actually got you into aquascaping?

I got into aquascaping when we all went into lockdown here in the UK, I was still working a lot but as lots of businesses started slowly shutting, I came across aquascaping via YouTube and seeing various different YouTube pages of different tank builds.

I also had a mutual friend who I reached out to on social media and asked about his tank and he gave me some pointers! I have been hooked ever since!

Yea it was a real strange and worrying time for all, but it’s great you managed to come across the hobby as you’re really creating magical underwater worlds and it’s inspirational to all. What’s your current set up?

I currently only have the one set up at the moment, even though I have a spare Ada 60P tank waiting to be scaped which I’m itching to scape

I only have the one running currently,

It is an aquascaper 900 tank! A mixture between a nature Aquarium and a diorama style layout… heavy rock and wood style tank.

Pretty high tech from where I first started! I’m running two oase biomaster 600 thermo filters and also running an in-line co2 system. Both with glass Lilly pipes either side and an inlet skimmer. Definitely not a cheap set up for a beginner but this has taken me two years or more to accumulate.

That’s great stuff mate! So, let’s get into your favourites. What’s your favourite plant?

my favourite plant : this is such a tricky question for me to answer as my previous tank had over 35 different species of plants and I’m obsessed! So I couldn’t possibly give you one so I can give you a couple of different ones.

If we have to break it down into different parts of the tank. I would say..

• Eleocharis acicularis ‘Mini’ For a carpeting plant

• bucephalandra for an epiphyte

• rotala H’RA or ludwigia super red for a stem background plant!

Some stunning plants you’ve chosen there, I’m a huge fan on buce and super reds! Ok, what’s your favourite fishy friend?

my favourite fish as of recently going back to an original classic would be the cardinal Tetra, classic and stylish

You can’t go wrong with Cardinals, a school surrounded by plants is stunning. Who would you say your favourite aquascaper is or who inspires you?

I couldn’t really say who my favourite aquascaper is if I had to pick one! I’m really rubbish at this! Lots of different people inspire me, one of my favourites to watch right now is Pavol Kulanda who’s from Northern Ireland, incredible aquascaper definitely go check out his work! And as for a female aquascaper I would say Tereza lazar…you will find her on Instagram, beautiful scapes! I would also recommend MJ aquascaping on YouTube, mark breaks everything down so simple for beginners to understand and learn and be inspired to create nature in their homes! Worth a watch!

Will definitely check those out and MJ has created some stunning scapes. His YouTube channel is definitely worth a sub. To wrap this interview up mate, what would you say to a newbie who’s looking to get into aquascaping?

As suggested on the previous question watch good like minded aquascapers and hobbyists on social media and also one thing to bare in mind, don’t believe everything you read on the internet, lots of misconceptions on google! as I found out the hard way multiple times… also don’t be afraid reach out to people in the community on Facebook pages, Instagram and other like minded forums!

I’m always happy to help. Shoot your message

Jack, thank you so much for the interview, we look forward to catching up again soon. Be sure to follow Jack on his instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/jackfryerscapes

Thanks all.