Agroup of Hong Kong hobbyists are brightening up their fish tanks with creative landscaping.
The aquarium lovers have set up Creative Aquascape Union (CAU), which has weekly meetings and a bilingual website - cau-aqua.net - on which they share photos of their aquarium creations and exchange ideas about taking care of aquatic plants
Dave Chow Wai-sun, winner of the International Aquatic Plants Layout Contest in Japan last year, is one of the association's most active members. Mr Chow has turned his hobby into a business - he owns an aquarium shop in Tung Choi Street in Mong Kok.
He says beginners can start with basic fittings such as the aquarium tank, a filter, gravel and soil, along with UV lights, which altogether cost less than HK$500.
But in order to maintain a complex ecology in the tank, 'aquascapists' need to spend considerably more - up to HK$30,000 for an advanced set-up.
'You need to install good-quality equipment, such as a chiller, to maintain a complex ecology in the tank, and that costs a lot,' Mr Chow says.
The hobby also requires a large amount of effort.