The art of aquascaping opens up a world full of creative and artistic arrangements of plants and hardscape (rocks and driftwood) within a tank. There are endless possibilities regarding how one can design a planted aquarium, the only limit being each person’s creative potential.
With time, different types of layouts gave birth to a variety of styles and approaches. Three major styles emerged in modern aquascaping: Nature Aquarium style, Iwagumi and the Dutch Aquarium. Each style having unique features and characteristics, with one of them – the Nature Aquarium, employing a variety of themes and sub-styles.
The Nature Aquarium
The Nature Aquarium is most definitely the style dominating the world of aquascaping these days. The basic Nature style design concepts were introduced by Japanese aquarist Takashi Amano back in the 90s and have become widely popular over the years, influencing the future of young aquascapers.
So What is a Nature Aquarium?
This aquascaping style is characterized by attention to the alignment and grouping of hardscape. Rocks and driftwood are mixed with aquatic plants in order to create an underwater replica of a particular terrestrial landscape. Mountains, rainforests, lush green hillsides, valleys and even beaches are re-imagined inside the Nature Aquarium.
Elements of Japanese gardening are generally used when building a Nature aquarium, such as the implementation of the Golden ratio.
Even though the general appearance of the Nature style aquascape makes it seem unplanned, quite random and without design, the truth is accomplishing this type of layout requires a lot of complex work.
Most aquascapers plan their Nature Aquarium before even getting their hands wet. Pencil and paper work great when trying to visualise the design of your next aquascape.
Stones and driftwood are organized carefully alongside asymmetrical arrangements of groups of aquatic plants in order to create natural ambience and flow.
The Simple Nature Aquarium
It’s not very hard to accomplish an aesthetically pleasing Nature style composition for your aquarium. All you need to do is invest in some proper planting substrate and some quality hardscape materials like branched out pieces of wood and some unique looking rocks as well as some carefully selected plants.
Iwagumi – A Japanese-inspired Aquascaping Style
The Iwagumi layout is one of the most challenging aquascaping styles out there. While it looks simple to do at first glance, using only 1 or 2 types of slow-growing plants might generate algae problems right from the start.
Developed around 1985 by famous aquarist Takashi Amano, this type of aquascape represents not just a minimalist layout, but also reflects the Japanese culture, spirituality and love for beauty and simplicity.
Amano created his first Iwagumi Aquascape in a 60 cm aquarium, using Senmigawa stones. The whole layout was planted only with Echinodorus tenellus. Later a group of Cardinal Tetras was introduced into the tank. This practice was highly usual at that time.
He went on and created his second Iwagumi in a larger tank measuring W120 × D45 × H45 cm, using the same plants and fish as in his first one.
Nowadays some of his Iwagumi tanks are still present in the ADA Gallery in Japan, welcoming thousands of visitors each year.
Features of the Iwagumi Style Aquascape
The Iwagumi term itself comes from the Japanese ‘rock formation’ and it therefore refers to a layout where stones play the leading role. Rocks provide the ‘bony’ structure of the aquascape. The traditional geography is a design made of three main stones, out of which one large headstone and two small others.
The most difficult task when it comes to the Iwagumi aquascaping style is to obtain that harmony and unity through simplicity. The Iwagumi is not about just collecting a number of stones but about placing them in a fluent, natural and spacious way. So that in the end they are related both to each other and the rest of the scape.
The Dutch Aquarium: A style from the 1930s
The Dutch Aquarium Aquascape is the oldest style regarding planted tanks, becoming popular during the 1930’s in the Netherlands, with the implementation of the NBAT – the Dutch Society for Aquarists.
Special Features of the Dutch Aquarium
The Dutch Aquarium style does not imply the use of driftwood, rocks and other hardscape materials. The main focus is placed upon the growth and arrangement of aquatic plants.
Traditionally, Dutch planted aquariums are compared to underwater gardens. However, differentiating from the Nature style, Dutch aquascapes are not meant to resemble a specific scene from nature.
The intricate placement and grouping of plants help create in-depth perspective within the aquarium by complimenting each other in shape and color.
The most important requirement for aquascapers who want to approach the Dutch Aquarium style is to have extensive knowledge regarding aquatic plants. Since they represent the main materials used in Dutch aquascaping, it is very important to know how to plant, group and combine them so that the final arrangement would become aesthetically pleasing to the eye.
Most magnificent Dutch planted aquariums are characterized by high density, rich contrast and subtle use of color and texture.
Design and Layout Techniques Applied to the Dutch Aquarium Style
The most common technique used when building a Dutch Aquarium style is terracing, because it is the most optimal when it comes to conveying depth using plants.
Terracing is very efficient in creating and emphasizing the focal points with the help of the rule of thirds. With the Dutch Aquarium, the focal point is usually highlighted by using red or large plants.
Keeping a sense of harmony and simplicity is crucial, taking into account that Dutch planted aquariums are very dense. Make sure to plant more than 70% of the aquarium floor.
Contrast is a key element in the Dutch Aquarium style, as it is important when it comes to breaking this density. Plants are grown in groups and contrast is ensured by diligent use of color variation, leaf height and texture.
Spaces between plant groups should be used wisely as well, as this creates imaginary streets and pathways, helping out with the in-depth perspective.
The Dutch aquascape is anything but a chaos. At most, it is a controlled chaos. Each plant has its own characteristics and behaves in its own way.
As opposed to the Nature style aquascapes, Dutch style planted aquariums require frequent plant trimming, which can become tedious. But if done correctly and skilfully, it can definitely ensure a clean, organized, aesthetically pleasing foreground-background design.
On the downside, Dutch style aquascapes usually look better when viewed from a certain angle, ideally the front, but this is by no means discouraging.
Daily Dutch aquascape maintenance includes: adding liquid fertilizer, checking tank temperature and CO2 level, feeding fish and removing floating leaves and other debris.
On a weekly basis, the following actions are recommended: cleaning the aquarium glass, dislodging accumulated debris by hand waving around plants and substrate, cleaning the filters, pruning and replanting (if necessary), water changes (at least 50%).
