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    * Planted guide
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 * Freshwater Aquascaping Basics

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    * A Guide to Aquascaping
    * The Lighting
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AQUASCAPING

A GUIDE TO ADVANCED AQUASCAPING


Aquascaping is a learned art form that allows you to create an underwater
landscape, inspiration for many works come from both underwater locations but
also natural scenes such as mountains, jungles, deserts, waterfalls and many
others.


Designing an aquascape can be challenging. Aquascaping involves using basic
principles of design and applying them to the aquarium. Browsing other
aquascapes can help you decide what style and layout you enjoy the most. To aid
in your designing process this page is filled with some stunning examples of
aquascaping.

> To know Mother Nature, is to love her smallest creations
> 
> Takashi Amano

Before we jump in and explore aquascaping there needs to be a functioning
aquarium environment. Aquascaping setups can differ significantly from standard
tropical setups. This is because some aquatic plants require higher lighting and
nutrient rich substrates to thrive. Each link below walks through an important
parameter to consider when setting up your aquascape. Low maintenance aquascapes
have since become popular in the hobby. These utilize minimal CO2, less
fertilizer supplementation and low wattage lighting. Lower lighting setups can
be just as stunning but are limited to a smaller variety of plants. These
usually include ferns, moss, crypts and anubias.


CLICK ON THESE LINKS FOR MORE INFORMATION

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 * The Lighting

 * The Substrate
 * Carbon Dioxide (CO2)

 * Liquid Fertilizers
 * Ornaments (Wood, Rock)




THE PROCESS

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Assuming you have put your substrate in, connected up your CO2 and turned your
lights on you are almost ready to go. So, design. I cannot give you your design
but i can give you some pointers that will help the design process.

Ok so now it’s time to aquascape. Before we start it’s important to remember
that the biggest factor in Aquascaping is imagination. The internet can only
tell you so much but with your sense of view and imagination it is not hard to
create something truly inspiring. Nothing is concrete, if you design something,
create it and dislike it, take it down! Destroy and rebuild it as many times as
you want until you are impressed.


THINGS TO AVOID

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 * Becoming frustrated – yes the tanks on the internet are beautiful but not
   impossible; they have nothing that you don’t have so go for it!
 * Using one type of plant – it may give a theme to the tank but can become
   boring – mix it up!
 * Using only large leaf plants, larger plants will make your aquascape look
   smaller and not as deep, the finer the leaves, the larger your scape!
 * Keep it simple stupid – yes it’s great to have the entire tank full of every
   type of plant that’s ever existed, but this doesn’t look good! Be sure to
   have as much open space as filled space, infact tanks with lots of open areas
   look great, fill them with a school of fish.


FIRST OF ALL LET’S LOOK AT SYMMETRY

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 * Symmetry is not wanted in planted tanks
 * Symmetry makes the take look too structured and neat, in the wild would you
   see a large rock directly in the centre of the river? Of course not, the
   central focus should not be in the middle but slightly off centre, for
   optimum focal point it should be around 1 : 1.62, it was calculated long ago
   that this point is most pleasing to the eye.
 * It will make the tank look like it is identical on either side, it would be
   better to have the tank sloping to one side, like a river bank maybe?


THE NEXT FACTOR IS SHAPE

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 * Having high plants in the background all the way along is a terrible
   misconception. People believe maybe the “hedge” type look will be
   attractive... NO! The best shapes are those that follow a smooth curve.
 * The convex shape is aesthetically nice, it can be produced with rocks to make
   a “mountain” looking scape, for more information on these scroll down the
   page.
   
 * The concavity shape is also great, the plants can easily be trimmed to be
   high on the edges and then lower in the middle making a dip, this will also
   give you open space in the middle and open space looks great.
 * The triangular setup or sometimes island setup also looks very neat, the off
   centre gradient seems to be somewhat attractive.


FOREGROUND MIDDLEGROUND AND BACKGROUND

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 * It is important to keep a clear distinguished line between the three
 * Having a low foreground then straight to a high background may give you more
   open space but looks terrible
   
 * Putting rocks and wood in the middle ground looks very nice, the background
   stems will complement them and the low foreground plants look like grass at
   the bottom of a mountain range or forest.
 * Wood that sticks out right to the surface can look so very amazing. This with
   moss on it can create another dimension within the tank and enhance the
   depth.


CREATING A MOUNTAIN STYLED SCAPE

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 * It is important to have lots of open space aswell as scaped space
 * Do not have the mountain in the EXACT centre of the tank, as stated above you
   want it to be slightly to the left or right.
   
 * Although you may feel like it would look better, try not to push your
   mountain into the corner, this will create more of a sloped tank and will not
   give you the defined lines of a mountain shape.
 * Use no or very low foreground plants, for the 'cliff' face of the mountain
   you do not want an 'intermission' plant. For the first third of the mountain
   you want the slope to be almost vertical to make sure you get the steep
   structure.
 * The rocks you place in will need to be covered in some sort of plant and
   possibly dug into the gravel a bit to provide a more natural setting
 * Only use one type of rock! and use 'sharp' edged rocks for that peak look
   
 * You may use the substrate to provide a higher base for the mountain
   
 * Make sure the edges of the mountain slope down toward the edge of the tank
   and are not flat, otherwise it looks like a rock formation and not the slope
   of a mountain.'


PLANTING THE TANK

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 * Begin with the background plants and work your way into the foreground
 * Logs and rocks can be taken out to make it much easier for attaching plants
 * When planting it is important to plant the stems quite densely, this will
   reduce the amount of time your tank needs to grow in
 * Place a few stems into the substrate about an inch apart or closer if desired
   using tweezers.
 * The moss and java/anubais will need to be tied to the rock or wood to give
   the best effect
 * Having blyxa along the middle to breakup the back/foreground is a very good
   idea
 * The moss should be put quite sparsely to begin, this will ensure the new
   shoots will grow onto the object it is placed on and if in the right
   conditions it will grow so fast you will believe it to be a weed.


PLANT COLORATIONS AND SIZES

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 * Red and orange plants give a nice touch to the aquascape
 * Be careful not to put in one single red plant such as a tiger lotus, this
   mistake will draw attention away from your central focus and cause uneasiness
   within the viewer as their eyes dart between both points of focus.
 * Different shades of green also provide a wider variety and make the tank look
   more natural and less structured.
   
 * The size of the leaves will change the look of the tank, large leaves will
   make the tank look smaller but smaller leaves will make the tank look much
   bigger than what it actually is.
   
 * Be careful not to clump all of each plant type together, this looks more like
   a store than an aquarium.


RECOMMENDED FISH

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 * Certainly the best types of fish are small and usually schooling
 * Good examples of these are Australian rainbow fish, such as threadfin’s,
   praecox and other dwarf varieties.
 * They have avid swimming habits, breed regularly. Around 50-100 in a larger
   aquarium will make the tank come to life
 * Other good choices are tetras because they are small and will often school
 * The most popular in aquascape’s are ember tetras due to their small size but
   bright colouration, neon tetra’s are great but maybe try something unusual,
   everyone has seen neon’s before, but people will be astounded by something
   different
 * Choosing smaller fish is recommended as it will cause the tank to seem much
   bigger than what it really is, this should be complemented by the use of
   small plants. E.g. the first picture on this page, that tank is little over a
   foot long, but it could easily be percieved to be at least 3ft in length.
 * Colourful fish are recommended but not essential, with lots of plants the
   fish are not the predominant feature and there colours will not show as well,
   but they are nice to have and will combine to create a peaceful retreat.
   Please leave your comments and added suggestions below!

Continue to Aquascape Maintainace

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