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aquaforest aquaium iaplc 2010 The Top 25 Ranked Freshwater Aquariums in the World and aquarium kit.
Since 2001, the International Aquatic Plant Layout Contest (IAPLC) has been the largest planted aquarium design competition in the world.
Hobbyists from all over the globe enter their aquariums in hopes of winning the grand prize of 1 million Yen (approx. $12K USD).
However, more important than the monetary reward is the global ranking granted to each contestant. With over 1,819 applications from 55 countries, the competition is fierce.
2010 marked the most successful year to date for total submissions as well as number of participating countries around the world and aquascaping for dummies.
Below you will find highlights of the top 25 ranks freshwater aquariums in 2010 along with an explanation about the judging criteria/process.
Every year the Sifter is completely blown-away by these living artworks. Maintaining the aesthetic (and sustainable) beauty of these aquariums requires incredible skill and dedication.
All of the ‘aquascapists’ deserve tremendous credit for their incredible work. The Sifter salutes you and your craft!
1. Grand-Prix winner – Paul Boutin (Russia)
Aquarium Aquascape size 150x50x50 cm “Forest Scent”
2. Gold Prize – Zhang Jian Feng (Macau)
Aquarium Aquascape size 90x45x45 cm “Loess plateau”
3. Silver Award – Xuan Thuy Nguen Thi (Vietnam)
Aquarium Aquascape size 120x45x40 “Colour of life”
4. Silver Award – Yutaka Kanno (Japan)
Aquarium Aquascape size 120x45x45 “The view”
5. Bronze Award – Zeng Qing Jun (China)
Aquarium Aquascape size 150x60x60 “Karst”
Freshwater Aquascape - JUDGING CRITERIA
– The highest score of grading is 200 points; judging criteria mainly consists of “Artistic Impression Point” (maximum 100 points) and “Technical Point” (maximum 100 points divided into 5 categories for 20 points)
– In 2010, the judging panel consisted of 18 esteemed experts from around the globe
– In this contest, aquascapist’s skill of a long-term maintenance of layout is also in judges’ great concern
– Since the planted aquarium hobby involves various forms of life, judges don’t just appreciate the beauty of a layout shown right after its completion, they also pay careful attention to observe how long the layout has been kept in a healthy condition
– In that context, the following aspects of layout were, especially, strictly screened by the judges: The use of emerged plants and house plants which hardly survive in the water becomes the subject of point deduction
– In order to avoid misuse of plants in a layout, one needs not only the composition skill but a good deal of correct knowledge about aquatic plants
– Moreover, it requires a higher level of technique to grow plants healthfully. These aspects of layout are judged under the criterion of “Creativity”
6. Bronze Award – Chen I Sheng (Taiwan)
Aquarium Aquascape size 210x60x60 “A day when walk on a jungle trail”
7. Bronze Award – Gregory Polishchuk (Ukraine)
Aquarium Aquascape size 120x50x50 cm “Forest silent”
8. Long Tran Hoang (Vietnam)
Aquarium Aquascape size 155x81x50 cm “Into the green”
9. KP Wong (Hong Kong)
Aquarium Aquascape size 120x45x45 cm “Infinite Wonder”
10. Li Da Wei (China)
Aquarium Aquascape size 120x50x50 cm “Whitehead Gap”
Freshwater Aquascape - JUDGING CRITERIA Continued supplies
– There was a debate over the use of very fine white cosmetic sand, such as Rio Negro sand
– Due to the nature of this type of sand, excretions of fish and shrimps become more recognizable. The color of the sand turns more easily to a unpleasant greenish or blackish color because of the growth of algae and the spread of anaerobic bacteria inside an aquarium
– It was pointed out that it’s hardly kept brightly clean for a long period of time
– Although the cosmetic sand used in the layout looks elegantly beautiful in the picture, the layout receives a tough evaluation from the judges
– The layouts were evaluated by 18 judges chosen internationally
– The grading process was conducted impartially by the judges and so was the counting of scores by the contest committee
– However, the evaluation of each judge primarily relies on his/her personal preference of the types of aquatic plant layout. It doesn’t necessary become an absolute account of the layout
11. Wang Chao (China)
Aquarium Aquascape size 120x55x50 cm “Drizzle”
12. May Kwan (Hong Kong)
Aquarium Aquascape size 150x50x55 cm “Shou Stone Ridge”
13. Chonladar Rattanawichien (Thailand)
Aquarium Aquascape size 200x40x40 cm “Mountain of Imagine”
14. Freshwater Aquascape - Zheng Ren Chao (China)
Aquarium Aquascape size 168x60x60 cm “Sado Story”
15. Quoc Hung Vu (Vietnam)
Aquarium Aquascape size 120x45x40 cm “Memory area”
Aquarium Design and Freshwater Aquascape Inspiration - JUDGING CRITERIA & GUIDELINES
ARTISTIC IMPRESSION POINT (Maximum 100 points)
Evaluate the beauty and sophistication as a piece of art.
TECHNICAL POINT (Maximum 100 points)
Creativity (Maximum 20 points)
The overall completeness of the layout and its originality are evaluated.
The use of house plants or emerged plants, which hardly survive under water, becomes a subject of point-deduction.
Composition / Arrangement of plants (Maximum 20 points)
Is the composition of the layout well developed?
Are the aquatic plants appropriately positioned within the aquascape?
Is there a balance within the layout in terms of the colors and shapes of aquatic plants?
Balance between the fish and the layout design (Maximum 20 points)
Creator’s choice of fish for his/her layout is evaluated.
Do the color, size, swimming method and ecology of the fish match the layout?
Natural atmosphere (Maximum 20 points)
Does the layout clearly tell you the creator’s idea of nature?
How is the methods and techniques that the creator uses to render a natural feel in his/her layout?
Aquatic plants’ conditions and Time Progress of layout (Maximum 20 points)
The condition of the aquatic plants in the layout is evaluated.
The time progress of the layout based on the types of plants used and their conditions are evaluated.
Is the layout maintainable over a long period of time?
16. Kazutaka Murase (Japan)
Aquarium Aquascape size 180x60x60 cm “After a long time”
17. Koji Nakamura (Japan)
Aquarium Aquascape size 180x80x60 cm “Rio Negro II – the inland of Igarape”
18. Chow Wai Sun (Hong Kong)
200x66x66 cm “Lofty spirit”
19. Lin Ting Quan (Taiwan)
Aquarium Aquascape size 127x60x50 cm “Whisper of Mountain – Rising to the Summit”
20. Gary Wu (Hong Kong)
Aquarium Aquascape size 152x51x58 cm “Vine”
Freshwater Aquascape Inspiration - SOURCES
– For more information on the IAPLC please visit their OFFICIAL SITE
– All pictures via AQUAJOURNAL.RU
21. Jiang Wei (China)
Aquarium Aquascape size 130x50x55 cm “Knot”
22. Michael GW Wong (Hong Kong)
Aquarium Aquascape size 120x60x60 cm “Enchanted Forest”
23. Hironori Handa (Japan)
Aquarium Aquascape size 120x45x45 cm “A sheer morning”
24. Freshwater Aquascape - Lee Do Jae (Korea)
Aquarium Aquascape size 100x50x50 cm “Profound”
25. Junichi Itakura (Japan)
Aquarium Aquascape size 120x45x45 cm “Green breeze in May”
Creating A 29 Gallon Compact Lush Freshwater Aquascape: Some Design Tips
Freshwater Aquascape - Do you dream of creating and preserving a stunning piece of Nature in a cozy corner of your home:
Something that lifts your spirit at the end of a hard day’s work, emanates a serene beauty that’s feast for the eyes and joy for the soul, something that helps you relax and feel reconnected to nature, something that adds a natural touch to your inanimate home decors.
A Lush Aquascape: is the answer. While it sounds complicated, if put together and maintained with the help of the right set of tools, such an aquascape can be a true joy to behold and cherish.
Also many aquarium enthusiasts, especially those who’ve space constraints at home, often wonder whether it would ever be a good idea to invest an entire corner, however small it is, for a hobby that seems so complex and time consuming.
Here’re some tips to design a compact lush green freshwater aquascape from scratch and marvel at your own creation once you’re done.
Freshwater Aquascape - Size and Shape
We made an underwater garden using a rimless 29 gallon cube (W=D=H=19.5″). Working with cubes can be very helpful
if you plan on designing something that spans equal in both lateral as well as vertical directions, and, aquascape aquarium supplies, and, cubes give a greater number of gallons for a smaller footprint because of their height.
Freshwater Aquascape - Substrate
We used Amazonia from ADA Freshwater Aquascape. Amazonia susbstrate contains ammonia which leaches out when you first set up your tank.
Hence, be careful not to release any fish until the tank is fully seasoned and the ammonia and nitrite levels have fallen to zero. Nitrate levels can be in the 5-10 ppm range.
If you’ve an existing stable aquarium then you can squeeze out some dirty water from its filter and add it to your new tank to facilitate fast colonization of nitrifying bacteria.
In this setup, the substrate was laid directly on glass with slight slope rising towards the back. Two pieces of driftwood were used to accent the space.
Plan was to grow Java Moss on the driftwood. While creating these aquascapes, focus should be on plants and their layout.
Once the setup comes together, plan on adding some selective fish to enhance the overall visual appeal. Given the multi textured look in this tank, we decided to add a few Guppies and Bleeding Heart Tetras for added color and contrast.
Plants
Variety is the spice of life !
Freshwater Aquascape - Variety is the spice of life; hence, when you get bored with the same look, you don’t have to tear down the whole setup. All you need is a little creativity. You can retain some key elements of your old setup and simply replace some plants with some new ones.
In the adjacent setup, we retained the driftwoods and allowed the Java Moss to grow and fill the space.
Only foreground plants were replaced with Staurogyne repens to create a stunning lush look.
To add contrast, we added some Neon Tetras and a couple of Trigonostigma Rasboras. The blue coloring of the Tetras complements the green and dark brown wood substrate well.
Freshwater Aquascape - Few Pointers
Balance is key. Don’t overwhelm the setup with too many fish. Plant layout is critical in this style of aquascaping.
Fish are used to accent the setup. The main idea here is to craft out a biotope where plant and fish can survive and flourish together without much intervention.
Overfeeding fish or adding too many fish will increase bioload in the ecosystem. This will invite algae to grow. We used to feed the fish once a day and limit the food to an amount that can be consumed by the fish within a 1-2 minute(s).
naddition to light and nitrates, plants need carbon dioxide source for a healthy growth. We injected compressed carbon dioxide from a bottle through a diffuser.
You can use liquid carbon supplements freshwater aquascape, but carbon dioxide gives a better control when synced with lights. You need to supplement the setup with trace minerals and iron.
Aquascaping for the freshwater aquarium keeper
Japanese aquascape
Aquascaping comes in many different forms. It is an artform in itself and just like any art there are many different genres.
You cannot compare high Renaissance paintings to post impressionism and you cannot compare a biotope aquarium to an Iwagumi. It all comes down to personal choice and preference.
Aquascaping began with simple community aquariums, where Joe Public would use whatever nicknacks were available to make a pleasing aquarium.
Those with a keen eye for design would apply the “rule of thirds” an archectural technique which creates a balance of full and empty and makes for an attractive piece of art. Or simply put – “don’t just put stuff in the middle.”
Freshwater Aquascape: Dutch style and Jungle style
Freshwater Aquascape - In the 1930s a new movement arose in aquascaping which was the Dutch style aquarium, developed as the name suggests, in the Netherlands.
Whereas previously, the staple décor of aquascaping was rocks and driftwood, this style introduced lush arrangements of plants with taller plants at the back and ‘Dutch streets’ of plants across the length of the aquarium.
Whereas the Dutch aquascaping can tend to look like your nan’s flowerbeds, an all-together different style is the Jungle design which uses wild looking plants with more exotic, broader coarse leaves like Echinodorus bleherae – which is available from Swell.
Freshwater Aquascape: Japanese style
Freshwater Aquascape - Twenty years ago another style took the aquascaping world by storm – the Nature Aquarium or Japanese style, introduced by Takashi Amano whose book series Nature Aquarium World became the Bible for many Japanese stylists.
The Japanese style draws on oriental gardening techniques which evoke a landscape in miniature – rather like a bonsai – and capturing the spirit of nature rather than something that is literally realistic.
Think of those Zen pebble gardens with a single rock – representative of the Japanese concept of Wabi-sabi which is beauty through simple, stark beauty that evokes a sense of modesty.
Among the Japanese aquascaping style is a further genre called Iwagumi. This style is heavily based on the aesthetic placement of rocks, often with a main rock placed off centre (thus conforming to the rule of thirds).
Rather than looking like an actual-size slice of a river or garden, the Iwagumi style looks like a landscape in miniature – perhaps a mountain range carpeted in moss and grass.
The key to producing these kinds of stunning aquascapes is using plenty of strong lighting, lots of CO2 and regular water changes.
Because of the high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus needed to fertilise the plants, if you’re not careful you could have an algae-scape on your hands, so you may need to do up to 50% water changes each week.
You also need a more heavy filtration system to keep up the flow of good clean water to your plants Freshwater Aquascape.
Another technique for keeping the algae down is to employ algae-munching shrimps, and of course these diminutive helpers are not just industrious workers, they are also little stunners in a range of colourful bumblebee patterns that can fetch thousands of pounds each.
One infamous sale a few years ago cost in the region of £21,000 for three shrimp… That’s the same as a Porsche for three shrimp, a second hand Porsche but a Porsche nonetheless.
Freshwater Aquascape: Biotopes
The final genre of aquascaping is the Biotope, whereby aquascapers aim to replicate the natural habitat of their fish as closely and faithfully as possible.
In years gone by fishkeepers would have no issue with bunging marine coral sand in a freshwater tank, mixing South American and African plants and topping it all off with a plastic castle, now however things have been taken to a whole ‘nother level.
For example if you keep Malawi cichlids, which are native to the East African Rift valley, you want to use the kind of large boulders that are found in the Rift Lakes (see biotope below).
If you’ve ever paddled in a river or lake you’ll have noticed the ground is never just one type of sand.
There’s a mixture of sand, gravel and pebbles so this is the kind of mixture you should go for.
But remember sands and gravels are usually of a similar colour to the pebbles since over the process of erosion they most likely came from the same source.
Freshwater Aquascape - In the Rift Lakes you won’t find a lot of greenery and plants except maybe a few reeds but these are quite tricky to keep in an aquarium so you could perhaps consider a Vallisneria gigantea (another plant in the Swell range).
These plants can grow to impressive sizes but then if you keep Malawis you ought to have a decent sized tank to keep the angry little fellas from going to war with each other anyway.
A cousin of the Malawi cichlid that lends itself to biotope aquascaping is the Lake Tanganyika cichlid, a breed also found in the Rift Lakes of Tanzania, Zambia and Congo.
These cichlids do well with a realistic artificial rock like Swell’s Okiishi Rock. Not only is the Okiishi as naturalistic as it gets, the rock is nice and light which means if the burrowing cichlids get overzealous with their furious excavating, a heavy rock won’t topple on them and kill them.
A Tanganyika biotope would look great with a nice pale quartz sand and pebbles and also some shells.
The female of these cichlids are quite large whereas the diminutive male guards the young from his outpost in a snail shell. A cheap and easy way of providing suitable shells is to go for the ones you get with escargot (remember to wipe off the garlic butter).
Freshwater Aquascape - Again this cichlid wouldn’t call plants home but likes a nice deep substrate to burrow and build nests.
A stunning and simple setup can be created using Swell aquascaping equipment. This is a South East Asian style biotope that would be ideal for the likes of Harlequin rasboras.
For this setup the aquascape uses a Swell Okiishi Replica Rock as the centre piece and then a bed of Swell Maui Coarse Sand.
The sand is topped with Nordic Gravel 4-6mm (don’t worry, you don’t only have to use it with Norwegian fish – the names have artistic license) and some Burmese Mixed Pebbles.
A Cyperus helferi is ideal to make the central grassy area and the plants on the left and right are Cryptocoryne. This aquascaping setup below can be recreated as all the pieces in it are available from Swell UK.
If you can’t afford the plane ticket to the People’s Republic of China, why not go for a wade in your local river to observe the way natural rock formations lie and the way pebbles cluster around them.
The result may not be as knock-your-socks off stunning as an Iwagumi, but you can create a real talking point and something that is very faithful to nature. After all your fish are pets, not just performing extras in your masterpiece.
Of course you can don your Indiana Jones hat and go and search out these habitats yourself. There is a small scene of UK biotope keepers who will go the ends of the Earth (literally) to track down items for their aquariums.
Heiko Bleher is one such intrepid fishkeeper who followed his mother into the adventurous side of the hobby.
Freshwater Aquascape - Amanda Flora Hilda Bleher set off from Germany for a life of death-defying aquatic expeditions in South America. She sailed up the Amazon, exported fish and plants from Brazil and Bolivia and rode ox carts across the rainforests.
The aforementioned Echinodorus bleherae (Bleher’s Amazon Sword) is named after her, although not actually from the Amazon.
But, hey, when you’ve fled post war Germany Freshwater Aquascape, encountered cannibals, faced imprisonment for espionage and dived over venomous snakes, we reckon the plants you discover deserve a dramatic sounding name.
aquaforest aquaium iaplc 2010 The Top 25 Ranked Freshwater Aquariums in the World and aquarium kit.
Since 2001, the International Aquatic Plant Layout Contest (IAPLC) has been the largest planted aquarium design competition in the world.
Hobbyists from all over the globe enter their aquariums in hopes of winning the grand prize of 1 million Yen (approx. $12K USD).
However, more important than the monetary reward is the global ranking granted to each contestant. With over 1,819 applications from 55 countries, the competition is fierce.
Freshwater Aquascape
2010 marked the most successful year to date for total submissions as well as number of participating countries around the world and aquascaping for dummies.
Below you will find highlights of the top 25 ranks freshwater aquariums in 2010 along with an explanation about the judging criteria/process.
Every year the Sifter is completely blown-away by these living artworks. Maintaining the aesthetic (and sustainable) beauty of these aquariums requires incredible skill and dedication.
All of the ‘aquascapists’ deserve tremendous credit for their incredible work. The Sifter salutes you and your craft!
1. Grand-Prix winner – Paul Boutin (Russia)
Aquarium Aquascape size 150x50x50 cm “Forest Scent”
2. Gold Prize – Zhang Jian Feng (Macau)
Aquarium Aquascape size 90x45x45 cm “Loess plateau”
3. Silver Award – Xuan Thuy Nguen Thi (Vietnam)
Aquarium Aquascape size 120x45x40 “Colour of life”
4. Silver Award – Yutaka Kanno (Japan)
Aquarium Aquascape size 120x45x45 “The view”
5. Bronze Award – Zeng Qing Jun (China)
Aquarium Aquascape size 150x60x60 “Karst”
Freshwater Aquascape - JUDGING CRITERIA
– The highest score of grading is 200 points; judging criteria mainly consists of “Artistic Impression Point” (maximum 100 points) and “Technical Point” (maximum 100 points divided into 5 categories for 20 points)
– In 2010, the judging panel consisted of 18 esteemed experts from around the globe
– In this contest, aquascapist’s skill of a long-term maintenance of layout is also in judges’ great concern
– Since the planted aquarium hobby involves various forms of life, judges don’t just appreciate the beauty of a layout shown right after its completion, they also pay careful attention to observe how long the layout has been kept in a healthy condition
– In that context, the following aspects of layout were, especially, strictly screened by the judges: The use of emerged plants and house plants which hardly survive in the water becomes the subject of point deduction
– In order to avoid misuse of plants in a layout, one needs not only the composition skill but a good deal of correct knowledge about aquatic plants
– Moreover, it requires a higher level of technique to grow plants healthfully. These aspects of layout are judged under the criterion of “Creativity”
6. Bronze Award – Chen I Sheng (Taiwan)
Aquarium Aquascape size 210x60x60 “A day when walk on a jungle trail”
7. Bronze Award – Gregory Polishchuk (Ukraine)
Aquarium Aquascape size 120x50x50 cm “Forest silent”
8. Long Tran Hoang (Vietnam)
Aquarium Aquascape size 155x81x50 cm “Into the green”
9. KP Wong (Hong Kong)
Aquarium Aquascape size 120x45x45 cm “Infinite Wonder”
10. Li Da Wei (China)
Aquarium Aquascape size 120x50x50 cm “Whitehead Gap”
Freshwater Aquascape - JUDGING CRITERIA Continued supplies
– There was a debate over the use of very fine white cosmetic sand, such as Rio Negro sand
– Due to the nature of this type of sand, excretions of fish and shrimps become more recognizable. The color of the sand turns more easily to a unpleasant greenish or blackish color because of the growth of algae and the spread of anaerobic bacteria inside an aquarium
– It was pointed out that it’s hardly kept brightly clean for a long period of time
– Although the cosmetic sand used in the layout looks elegantly beautiful in the picture, the layout receives a tough evaluation from the judges
– The layouts were evaluated by 18 judges chosen internationally
– The grading process was conducted impartially by the judges and so was the counting of scores by the contest committee
– However, the evaluation of each judge primarily relies on his/her personal preference of the types of aquatic plant layout. It doesn’t necessary become an absolute account of the layout
11. Wang Chao (China)
Aquarium Aquascape size 120x55x50 cm “Drizzle”
12. May Kwan (Hong Kong)
Aquarium Aquascape size 150x50x55 cm “Shou Stone Ridge”
13. Chonladar Rattanawichien (Thailand)
Aquarium Aquascape size 200x40x40 cm “Mountain of Imagine”
14. Freshwater Aquascape - Zheng Ren Chao (China)
Aquarium Aquascape size 168x60x60 cm “Sado Story”
15. Quoc Hung Vu (Vietnam)
Aquarium Aquascape size 120x45x40 cm “Memory area”
Aquarium Design and Freshwater Aquascape Inspiration - JUDGING CRITERIA & GUIDELINES
ARTISTIC IMPRESSION POINT (Maximum 100 points)
Evaluate the beauty and sophistication as a piece of art.
TECHNICAL POINT (Maximum 100 points)
Creativity (Maximum 20 points)
The overall completeness of the layout and its originality are evaluated.
The use of house plants or emerged plants, which hardly survive under water, becomes a subject of point-deduction.
Composition / Arrangement of plants (Maximum 20 points)
Is the composition of the layout well developed?
Are the aquatic plants appropriately positioned within the aquascape?
Is there a balance within the layout in terms of the colors and shapes of aquatic plants?
Balance between the fish and the layout design (Maximum 20 points)
Creator’s choice of fish for his/her layout is evaluated.
Do the color, size, swimming method and ecology of the fish match the layout?
Natural atmosphere (Maximum 20 points)
Does the layout clearly tell you the creator’s idea of nature?
How is the methods and techniques that the creator uses to render a natural feel in his/her layout?
Aquatic plants’ conditions and Time Progress of layout (Maximum 20 points)
The condition of the aquatic plants in the layout is evaluated.
The time progress of the layout based on the types of plants used and their conditions are evaluated.
Is the layout maintainable over a long period of time?
16. Kazutaka Murase (Japan)
Aquarium Aquascape size 180x60x60 cm “After a long time”
17. Koji Nakamura (Japan)
Aquarium Aquascape size 180x80x60 cm “Rio Negro II – the inland of Igarape”
18. Chow Wai Sun (Hong Kong)
200x66x66 cm “Lofty spirit”
19. Lin Ting Quan (Taiwan)
Aquarium Aquascape size 127x60x50 cm “Whisper of Mountain – Rising to the Summit”
20. Gary Wu (Hong Kong)
Aquarium Aquascape size 152x51x58 cm “Vine”
Freshwater Aquascape Inspiration - SOURCES
– For more information on the IAPLC please visit their OFFICIAL SITE
– All pictures via AQUAJOURNAL.RU
21. Jiang Wei (China)
Aquarium Aquascape size 130x50x55 cm “Knot”
22. Michael GW Wong (Hong Kong)
Aquarium Aquascape size 120x60x60 cm “Enchanted Forest”
23. Hironori Handa (Japan)
Aquarium Aquascape size 120x45x45 cm “A sheer morning”
24. Freshwater Aquascape - Lee Do Jae (Korea)
Aquarium Aquascape size 100x50x50 cm “Profound”
25. Junichi Itakura (Japan)
Aquarium Aquascape size 120x45x45 cm “Green breeze in May”
Creating A 29 Gallon Compact Lush Freshwater Aquascape: Some Design Tips
Freshwater Aquascape - Do you dream of creating and preserving a stunning piece of Nature in a cozy corner of your home:
Something that lifts your spirit at the end of a hard day’s work, emanates a serene beauty that’s feast for the eyes and joy for the soul, something that helps you relax and feel reconnected to nature, something that adds a natural touch to your inanimate home decors.
A Lush Aquascape: is the answer. While it sounds complicated, if put together and maintained with the help of the right set of tools, such an aquascape can be a true joy to behold and cherish.
Also many aquarium enthusiasts, especially those who’ve space constraints at home, often wonder whether it would ever be a good idea to invest an entire corner, however small it is, for a hobby that seems so complex and time consuming.
Here’re some tips to design a compact lush green freshwater aquascape from scratch and marvel at your own creation once you’re done.
Freshwater Aquascape - Size and Shape
We made an underwater garden using a rimless 29 gallon cube (W=D=H=19.5″). Working with cubes can be very helpful
if you plan on designing something that spans equal in both lateral as well as vertical directions, and, aquascape aquarium supplies, and, cubes give a greater number of gallons for a smaller footprint because of their height.
Freshwater Aquascape - Substrate
We used Amazonia from ADA Freshwater Aquascape. Amazonia susbstrate contains ammonia which leaches out when you first set up your tank.
Hence, be careful not to release any fish until the tank is fully seasoned and the ammonia and nitrite levels have fallen to zero. Nitrate levels can be in the 5-10 ppm range.
If you’ve an existing stable aquarium then you can squeeze out some dirty water from its filter and add it to your new tank to facilitate fast colonization of nitrifying bacteria.
In this setup, the substrate was laid directly on glass with slight slope rising towards the back. Two pieces of driftwood were used to accent the space.
Plan was to grow Java Moss on the driftwood. While creating these aquascapes, focus should be on plants and their layout.
Once the setup comes together, plan on adding some selective fish to enhance the overall visual appeal. Given the multi textured look in this tank, we decided to add a few Guppies and Bleeding Heart Tetras for added color and contrast.
Plants
- Heteranthera zosterifolia (right foreground)
- Cryptocoryne japonica (left foreground)
- Cryptocoryne lutea (center front)
- Cryptocoryne wendtii green (center midground)
- Cryptocoryne wendtii brown (center midground)
- Bacopa caroliniana (right midground)
- Rotala Wallichii (left midground)
- Hygrophila difformis (right background)
- Java moss (on driftwood branches)
- Mayaca fluviatilis (left and center background)
Aquascaping Basics - Supporting Hardware
- Eheim ECCO (model 2234) canister filter
- 300W Hydor inline heater
- 60W T5 lights with electronic times
- Compressed carbon dioxide bottle with diffuser synced with lightsTank temperature maintained at 75ºF
Variety is the spice of life !
Freshwater Aquascape - Variety is the spice of life; hence, when you get bored with the same look, you don’t have to tear down the whole setup. All you need is a little creativity. You can retain some key elements of your old setup and simply replace some plants with some new ones.
In the adjacent setup, we retained the driftwoods and allowed the Java Moss to grow and fill the space.
Only foreground plants were replaced with Staurogyne repens to create a stunning lush look.
To add contrast, we added some Neon Tetras and a couple of Trigonostigma Rasboras. The blue coloring of the Tetras complements the green and dark brown wood substrate well.
Freshwater Aquascape - Few Pointers
Balance is key. Don’t overwhelm the setup with too many fish. Plant layout is critical in this style of aquascaping.
Fish are used to accent the setup. The main idea here is to craft out a biotope where plant and fish can survive and flourish together without much intervention.
Overfeeding fish or adding too many fish will increase bioload in the ecosystem. This will invite algae to grow. We used to feed the fish once a day and limit the food to an amount that can be consumed by the fish within a 1-2 minute(s).
naddition to light and nitrates, plants need carbon dioxide source for a healthy growth. We injected compressed carbon dioxide from a bottle through a diffuser.
You can use liquid carbon supplements freshwater aquascape, but carbon dioxide gives a better control when synced with lights. You need to supplement the setup with trace minerals and iron.
Aquascaping for the freshwater aquarium keeper
Japanese aquascape
Aquascaping comes in many different forms. It is an artform in itself and just like any art there are many different genres.
You cannot compare high Renaissance paintings to post impressionism and you cannot compare a biotope aquarium to an Iwagumi. It all comes down to personal choice and preference.
Aquascaping began with simple community aquariums, where Joe Public would use whatever nicknacks were available to make a pleasing aquarium.
Those with a keen eye for design would apply the “rule of thirds” an archectural technique which creates a balance of full and empty and makes for an attractive piece of art. Or simply put – “don’t just put stuff in the middle.”
Freshwater Aquascape: Dutch style and Jungle style
Freshwater Aquascape - In the 1930s a new movement arose in aquascaping which was the Dutch style aquarium, developed as the name suggests, in the Netherlands.
Whereas previously, the staple décor of aquascaping was rocks and driftwood, this style introduced lush arrangements of plants with taller plants at the back and ‘Dutch streets’ of plants across the length of the aquarium.
Whereas the Dutch aquascaping can tend to look like your nan’s flowerbeds, an all-together different style is the Jungle design which uses wild looking plants with more exotic, broader coarse leaves like Echinodorus bleherae – which is available from Swell.
Freshwater Aquascape: Japanese style
Freshwater Aquascape - Twenty years ago another style took the aquascaping world by storm – the Nature Aquarium or Japanese style, introduced by Takashi Amano whose book series Nature Aquarium World became the Bible for many Japanese stylists.
The Japanese style draws on oriental gardening techniques which evoke a landscape in miniature – rather like a bonsai – and capturing the spirit of nature rather than something that is literally realistic.
Think of those Zen pebble gardens with a single rock – representative of the Japanese concept of Wabi-sabi which is beauty through simple, stark beauty that evokes a sense of modesty.
Among the Japanese aquascaping style is a further genre called Iwagumi. This style is heavily based on the aesthetic placement of rocks, often with a main rock placed off centre (thus conforming to the rule of thirds).
Rather than looking like an actual-size slice of a river or garden, the Iwagumi style looks like a landscape in miniature – perhaps a mountain range carpeted in moss and grass.
The key to producing these kinds of stunning aquascapes is using plenty of strong lighting, lots of CO2 and regular water changes.
Because of the high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus needed to fertilise the plants, if you’re not careful you could have an algae-scape on your hands, so you may need to do up to 50% water changes each week.
You also need a more heavy filtration system to keep up the flow of good clean water to your plants Freshwater Aquascape.
Another technique for keeping the algae down is to employ algae-munching shrimps, and of course these diminutive helpers are not just industrious workers, they are also little stunners in a range of colourful bumblebee patterns that can fetch thousands of pounds each.
One infamous sale a few years ago cost in the region of £21,000 for three shrimp… That’s the same as a Porsche for three shrimp, a second hand Porsche but a Porsche nonetheless.
Freshwater Aquascape: Biotopes
The final genre of aquascaping is the Biotope, whereby aquascapers aim to replicate the natural habitat of their fish as closely and faithfully as possible.
In years gone by fishkeepers would have no issue with bunging marine coral sand in a freshwater tank, mixing South American and African plants and topping it all off with a plastic castle, now however things have been taken to a whole ‘nother level.
For example if you keep Malawi cichlids, which are native to the East African Rift valley, you want to use the kind of large boulders that are found in the Rift Lakes (see biotope below).
If you’ve ever paddled in a river or lake you’ll have noticed the ground is never just one type of sand.
There’s a mixture of sand, gravel and pebbles so this is the kind of mixture you should go for.
But remember sands and gravels are usually of a similar colour to the pebbles since over the process of erosion they most likely came from the same source.
Freshwater Aquascape - In the Rift Lakes you won’t find a lot of greenery and plants except maybe a few reeds but these are quite tricky to keep in an aquarium so you could perhaps consider a Vallisneria gigantea (another plant in the Swell range).
These plants can grow to impressive sizes but then if you keep Malawis you ought to have a decent sized tank to keep the angry little fellas from going to war with each other anyway.
A cousin of the Malawi cichlid that lends itself to biotope aquascaping is the Lake Tanganyika cichlid, a breed also found in the Rift Lakes of Tanzania, Zambia and Congo.
These cichlids do well with a realistic artificial rock like Swell’s Okiishi Rock. Not only is the Okiishi as naturalistic as it gets, the rock is nice and light which means if the burrowing cichlids get overzealous with their furious excavating, a heavy rock won’t topple on them and kill them.
A Tanganyika biotope would look great with a nice pale quartz sand and pebbles and also some shells.
The female of these cichlids are quite large whereas the diminutive male guards the young from his outpost in a snail shell. A cheap and easy way of providing suitable shells is to go for the ones you get with escargot (remember to wipe off the garlic butter).
Freshwater Aquascape - Again this cichlid wouldn’t call plants home but likes a nice deep substrate to burrow and build nests.
A stunning and simple setup can be created using Swell aquascaping equipment. This is a South East Asian style biotope that would be ideal for the likes of Harlequin rasboras.
For this setup the aquascape uses a Swell Okiishi Replica Rock as the centre piece and then a bed of Swell Maui Coarse Sand.
The sand is topped with Nordic Gravel 4-6mm (don’t worry, you don’t only have to use it with Norwegian fish – the names have artistic license) and some Burmese Mixed Pebbles.
A Cyperus helferi is ideal to make the central grassy area and the plants on the left and right are Cryptocoryne. This aquascaping setup below can be recreated as all the pieces in it are available from Swell UK.
If you can’t afford the plane ticket to the People’s Republic of China, why not go for a wade in your local river to observe the way natural rock formations lie and the way pebbles cluster around them.
The result may not be as knock-your-socks off stunning as an Iwagumi, but you can create a real talking point and something that is very faithful to nature. After all your fish are pets, not just performing extras in your masterpiece.
Of course you can don your Indiana Jones hat and go and search out these habitats yourself. There is a small scene of UK biotope keepers who will go the ends of the Earth (literally) to track down items for their aquariums.
Heiko Bleher is one such intrepid fishkeeper who followed his mother into the adventurous side of the hobby.
Freshwater Aquascape - Amanda Flora Hilda Bleher set off from Germany for a life of death-defying aquatic expeditions in South America. She sailed up the Amazon, exported fish and plants from Brazil and Bolivia and rode ox carts across the rainforests.
The aforementioned Echinodorus bleherae (Bleher’s Amazon Sword) is named after her, although not actually from the Amazon.
But, hey, when you’ve fled post war Germany Freshwater Aquascape, encountered cannibals, faced imprisonment for espionage and dived over venomous snakes, we reckon the plants you discover deserve a dramatic sounding name.
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