Thorsten Peetz is a German aquascaper who has been active in the aquarium hobby since childhood. His layouts are strongly oriented toward the original style of Takashi Amano, the founder of Nature Aquarium keeping. For this reason, this style is also called "NA Style", after the Nature Aquarium. But Thorsten is not averse to other aquascaping styles either, and he also works with very different aquarium sizes. In international aquascaping contests Thorsten has already scored several times and is a respected aquarium designer.
Aram Schneider (AS) had the opportunity to ask Thorsten Peetz (TP) a few questions for the Aquascaping Wiki. Enjoy the interview!

The interview

AS: "What are your influences, where do you get your inspiration and ideas? Which artists have influenced you?"

TP: "Influence and inspiration come for the most part, of course, from Mother Nature. Whether it is just a detail when "being outside", such as an old piece of wood or a striking stone overgrown with moss and smaller plants, or a larger section of terrain as a whole, such as a stream, valley, mountains or forests. Or also from pictures or nature photographs, of the kind you find in abundance online.
Of course, I have to mention Takashi Amano at this point. As a 12-year-old boy I held a book of his in my hands for the first time; back then I would not have thought it possible that about 20 years later I would design Nature Aquariums myself. Today I am inspired most by the works of Fukada, generally the layouts of TAU, Josh Sim, Juan Puchades."

AS: "In my assessment, you feel at home above all in the so-called "NA Style". What makes this aquascaping style particularly appealing to you?"

TP: "Yes, that's right. Well, as the name says, Nature Aquarium Style. I actually think that Amano's book at age 12 shaped me a lot back then. What I think burned itself in most strongly was the photo with the blue discus fish in the layout with the Glossostigma carpet and the minimally planted driftwood in the background. Although I am not a discus fan, it was precisely the interplay of a natural layout in combination with the fish that captivated me the most. And I think that is still the case today: I almost always want to try to create a layout that is as natural as possible and fits the inhabitants well, and then, where possible, bring drama, colors, light and shadow into play."

AS: "What is your fertilization concept?"

TP: "Clearly Estimative Index. Of course you have to turn a few screws here and there depending on the layout and plant choice, but that works very well with the individual components."

AS: "What is your favorite material, e.g. which types of stone and aquatic plants?"

TP: "Wood is clearly my favorite material; I love striking or beautifully curved wood. Wood alone already brings so much naturalness. Frodo Stones are my favorite stones, followed by the Sansui Stones from ADA. There are so many great aquatic plants. I like ferns and anubias very much, but also the colorful splendor of the various Rotala species; it is very difficult to commit to one."

AS: "How long have you been doing the hobby?"

TP: "Aquascaping since 2013; I have had aquariums since I was eight years old."

AS: "What is the story behind #FAS or #franconianaquascaper?"

TP: "I founded FAS together with my aquascaping buddy Sebastian Hopf, alias Aqua_buzzT , in 2019 on the occasion of "The Art of the planted Aquarium" in Magdeburg. Today it is a small group of currently seven Franconian aquascapers who keep achieving considerable successes in various national and international competitions. For the most part we communicate via a messenger group. We have also met up before to watch the IAPLC awards ceremony on a big screen ;-)."

AS: "What are your greatest successes in competitions?"

• IAPLC 2018 #112
• EAPLC 2021 #3 large #6 Nano
• AGA 2021 top 10 large
• AGA2020 #2 Nano
• EAEC 2021 #8 Overall #3 Medium
• WAC 2016 #1
• ENAC 2017 #1
• TAOTPA 2019 #4 XL

AS: "Wow, those are already some considerable successes. If you had to choose between a beautiful stone and a beautiful aquatic plant, which would you take?"

TP: "Manten Stone and Microsorum pteropus 'Orange Narrow'."

AS: "Thanks for the interview!"

Copyright for all photos in the article: Thorsten Peetz