What is Aquascaping?
© coffmancmu AdobeStock_270140080
aquascape is a trend in aquaristics that has its origins in natural aquaristics.
This in turn was born from the artworks of the nature photographer and founder of the company «Aqua Design Amano» Takashi Amano.
His style of designing aquariums has spread all over the world and has captivated aquarists. The trend is moving towards using aquariums no longer solely as community tanks for various fish species.
Instead, with aquascaping, entire underwater landscapes are faithfully recreated.
Aquascaping consists of aquatics and landscape and describes the art of reproducing nature in an aquarium.
while the nature aquaristicsas they founders Takashi Amano aquascaping with the realism to compare:
The recreated landscapes, with their variety of details and depth effect, give an almost exact picture of what one finds in nature. Lakes, rivers, rolling hills, steep coasts and deep craters can be reproduced in detail during aquascaping.
The aquarium becomes an absolute eye-catcher design object and stabs with his aesthetics out.
There are different styles of aquascaping:
- Iwagumi style: very minimalistic, the design reflects the Japanese gardens, mainly plants and stones are used
- Dutch style: colorful plants in orange, red and green are used. Only a few rocks and woods are used
- Natural style: attempts are made to replicate nature as closely as possible. Ground cover, grasses, mosses and ferns create zones of light and shade. The elements are arranged in different levels with foreground, middle and background.
Iwagumi Style / © Sani AdobeStock_381054624 Iwagumi Aquascping /© Sani AdobeStock_381055893
How is a harmonious aquascape structured?
When aquascaping is not only the attention to detail in the foreground, but also the aesthetics. Nature is characterized by many curves and asymmetries that are interlocked and create a unified picture. Even if the underwater landscapes in the aquarium are man-made, is on a few design rules to ensure that the aquascape does not look fake but authentic.
To plan the design of an aquascape, knowledge of the golden section recommended. It even occurs in nature and provides information about the harmonious division of individual levels and elements. The golden section describes the mathematical division ratio of a distance or other size and is also often found in nature. In order to bring the aquarium landscape closer to the natural conditions, it is advisable to use this when dividing up the decorative elements.
The eye-catcher of the golden section is not in the middle of the aquarium, but is enclosed 61.8% of the total length of the basin. The general formula for this is:
The aspect ratio of route A to route B is 61.8% to 38.2%.
For example, with a pelvis length of 60 cm, the 61.8% is 22.92 cm. The same calculation is applied to height and depth. Everything put together then results in the point at which the eye-catcher of the aquarium landscape should be set. This area may have a river or gorge meandering through it, or a hill traversing it, depending on what the theme of the aquascape is intended to be.
If the calculation of the golden section is too complicated or time-consuming, the aquarium can simply be divided into thirds. The center is then between two thirds. This type of division also makes the landscape look harmonious without appearing unnatural.
For even more naturalness, follow a few design rules. One of the biggest rookie mistakes in auqascaping is to build the landscape in absolute symmetry.
Rather use one of the three base shapesto make your underwater landscape varied, natural and authentic:
- Triangle: The decorative elements are arranged in such a way that they slope down to one side. The overall picture looks like a triangle.
- Central shape: The eye-catcher is in the middle of the pool. However, make sure that the design element is not 100% in the middle, otherwise it will appear too symmetrical and unnatural.
- U shape: The eye-catcher in the middle of the pool is an alley, for example a river or a ravine, while the other elements rise up the sides.
Which aquarium is suitable for aquascaping?
Of course, the preparations also include the Choice of aquarium. The size and shape ultimately determines how the underwater landscape will be constructed.
The classic size for nature aquariums has the dimensions W60xD30xH36 (cm). A total length of 60 cm offers a great deal of creative freedom, especially for beginners. Larger tanks with W90xD45xH45 (cm) are of particular interest to experienced aquascapers, as these tanks offer a lot of space and space for unusual constructions and layouts. Here are so-called panoramic pool recommended. They have a very large base, but only a small height.
If you don’t have much space in the house but don’t want to do without a green eye-catcher, you can go to the pool in the cube format To fall back on. These have a small footprint, but a pronounced height. Cube aquariums allow you to design with lush hardscapes and fast-growing stem plants, such as Iwagumi-style aquascapes.
Nano Cube Aquascape © ben AdobeStock_143444660
In order for the landscape to appear particularly realistic, the design elements are laid out in levels and dimensions that allow for a natural play of light and shadow. For a uniform interplay between the levels, the depth of the pool should be at least half of the total length. You will learn how to design the levels in an aquascape in the next section.
Once you have chosen the aquarium tank, you can start designing your own underwater landscape!
Guide to Aquascaping
Hardscape – Landscaping with stones
The hardscape forms the heart of the underwater landscape. Stones and roots are placed on a solid base and the landscape is formed with them. The hardscape forms the basic structure of the appearance. The way in which the individual elements are arranged is crucial to the aesthetics of the work as a whole and is precisely what draws the viewer’s attention.
Harscape with stones © coffmancmu AdobeStock_270140126
It is therefore important not only to think about the arrangement of the hardscape elements, but also which ones should be used in the pool. They form the basis on which the softscape, the aquatic plants, are finally placed.
When choosing roots, burls and stones for your underwater landscape, remember that you always use the same type of stones or roots. The reason for this is that some stones and roots can harden the water and thus harm the aquatic plants, but also the animal inhabitants.
Stones that do not harden the water and that you can use without any problems are:
Above all lava rocks are not only particularly cheap, they also look particularly original and give the landscape something bizarre.
A little hint: If you don’t want to limit yourself to the small selection of stones and still want to prevent the water from hardening, then sit soil floors one or reverse osmosis water. These counteract the phenomenon of water hardening.
There is not much to consider when using roots or root wood. When designing, however, keep in mind that these can float up at first if they have not been watered beforehand. This can be very annoying, especially after the meticulous work when, after adding the water, the elements float to the surface and destroy the landscape. Weigh down or fasten the roots for a few days, preferably weeks, until they become soaked with water.
Furthermore, you should note that the aquatic plants grow quickly and can overgrow the hardscape elements. Therefore, use massive elements that do not disappear in the underwater green, but remain visible and form the center.
The hardscape elements are placed on an active substrate. This is ideal soil at. Depending on the aquatic plants or fish used, the soil should be peppered with nutrient soil as required.
Softscape – Create levels with plants
The basis for the aquascape was laid with the hardscape.
Now it’s time to design the levels.
These will be through that softscape formed: the aquatic plants.
When choosing the right plants, it is important that the different levels interact and result in a uniform overall picture. In addition, the needs of the individual plants must be taken into account: What demands do they place on the light? The size determines whether the plants are used in the foreground, middle or background. The shape and color also play a role.
For a visually sonorous appearance in the natural or Iwagumi style, you should rather avoid red and orange-colored plants. They could disturb the naturalness of the landscape by drawing attention to themselves alone. However, if you pursue the design in the Dutch style, colorful water plants can definitely be the design element for your aquascape.
A little hint: Use many small-leaved plants in both light and dark shades of green. They give structure to the landscape and break up the picture, while still forming a unit. In addition, small leaves do not fill up the tank as quickly and make it appear larger overall. If you use plants with large leaves, it can happen that the area is used up very quickly and even the largest tank appears very small.
When inserting the softscape, start with the background, where there are particularly high stem plants offer. Then work your way forward, where eventually light-hungry ground cover and short-stemmed plants are recommended. mosses are particularly good for planting underwater hills and cliffs, but are also good for the Dry start method very popular. Don’t position the plants too close together as they will still grow and spread over time.
The most popular plants for aquascaping are:
- Glossostigma elatinoides (ground cover)
- Hemianthus callitrichoides (ground cover)
- Ricardia (Moss)
- Eleocharis parvula (Midground Grass Plant)
- Cryptocoryne parva (midground plant)
- Vallisneria nana (background plant)
So that you don’t get any pests into your aquarium, your choice should be based on…