If you’re new to the world of planted aquariums, the concept of aquascaping can seem like a bewildering one. How do aquarists set up these amazing, natural-looking underwater landscapes? Luckily, creating your own basic aquascape is not actually as difficult as some fear.
Keep reading to find out how to get started on your first aquascape!
Aquascaping How-To Step 1: Your Plan
If you’ve been an aquarist for a while, you’ll probably have figured out that things usually work best in this hobby if you thoroughly think them through before you get started. This especially applies to something as precise as aquascaping!
Figure out what you want and how you’re going to do it:
Aquarium size
Will you be going nano (< 15 gallons), medium (15-40 gallons), or large? It can be tempting to want to set up a mini aquarium and save space, but if you’re an absolute beginner then medium can actually work out better. Slightly larger aquariums are easier to keep stable and more forgiving to small errors in nutrient dosing and maintenance upkeep.
On the downside, with a larger tank, you’ll be spending a little bit more on plants and hardscape, such as rocks and driftwood. Plus, if you’re looking for something desk-friendly, going big is usually not an option.
Don’t forget to also think about whether you’d like a long, square or tall tank! Fish mostly use horizontal swimming space, so tall set-ups limit you in your livestock options—but some aquarists like the effect.
High-tech or low-tech?
One of the most important decisions for any aquascape is whether you’d like to go “high-tech” (ie., powerful lighting and dosed with supplemental Co2) or “low-tech” (ie. gentle lighting without Co2 dosage). As one would expect, the former option gives you more freedom but is also more expensive and requires more specialized knowledge.
A high-tech set-up allows you to go all out when it comes to plants, growing even the most demanding species and achieving beautiful red coloration on the plants that have the capacity for it. Dosing Co2 is necessary to match the lighting; without it, the tank would quickly experience explosive algae growth.
Low-tech set-ups are the better option for first-timers, as well as those looking for a more hands-off experience. Without fancy lights, your options in terms of plants are more limited, but you won’t have to fuss with Co2. Given that there are technically still loads of plants to choose from, low-tech can be an attractive choice.
Aquascape type
A long tradition of scaping aquariums has led to various different styles popping up across the world. Looking at examples of these techniques and reading about how they’re achieved can really help in figuring out what you want to do with your own tank.
Hang tight: we’re working on an article explaining all the different aquascaping styles.
Lay-out
Once you’ve figured out roughly what aquascaping style you’d like to go for, it’s advisable to think about what you’d like your lay-out to look like before even buying anything. You won’t be able to find the perfect rocks and driftwood if you don’t know what you’re after in the first place!
The most common technique is to just draw things out. Even if you’re not an artist and your drawing looks like messy blobs and lines, it’ll help you visualize things more clearly. It can also help to look up photos of different landscapes, such as those below—how would you recreate these natural wonders in your fish tank?
Hardscape
The term “hardscape” refers to the rocks, driftwood, and other decorations you’ll be using in your aquascape. These form the skeleton you’ll be planting around, so the hardscape is very important! How will you achieve the lay-out you’re after?
In the aquarium world, driftwood isn’t just driftwood, and rocks aren’t just rocks. There are at least a dozen types of both, allowing you to create an incredibly wide range of looks. Will you go for gnarled mopani or whimsical spiderwood? Textured dragonstone or stern Seiryu rocks? Take a peek at the variety in your local aquarium store and see what attracts you.
Plants
If the hardscape choices dazzle you, you haven’t seen nothing yet! The list of plants out there that can grow underwater is almost endless, as are their hues, textures, shapes, and difficulty levels.
When choosing the right plants for your aquascape, the main points to keep in mind are light requirements and appearance. A specific high-light plant may be perfect for the aquascape you’ve got in mind, but if you’ve decided to go for a low-tech tank, trying to grow it will only result in disappointment. A classic Dutch-style aquascape, for example, would never work in low-tech mode—but a jungle-style tank definitely can.
The reverse is also true, though to a lesser degree: some low-light plants, like Java fern, can struggle and become covered in algae if you place them in the “spotlight”. This can usually be fixed by finding them a more shaded spot near the bottom of the tank.
Fish & invertebrates
If you’d like to keep some live critters in your aquascape, you’ll have to think about what species you’d like to go for beforehand. There are a lot of factors that influence your possible choices, after all, like aquarium size, tankmates, and how densely planted the tank is.
For most dedicated aquascapers, it’s all about the lay-out; the livestock is more of an afterthought, an accent only present to enhance the visual beauty of the tank. Most go for a single group of small schooling fish or maybe even just a few colorful shrimp.
Aquascaping How-To Step 2: Equipment
What you’ll need to successfully set up your aquascape depends largely on whether you’ve chosen to go high-tech or low-tech.
Your aquarium
There are many brands out there, ranging from relatively cheap to very pricey. Most aquascapers opt for a cube or long tank, but you could also opt for a tall design, a corner aquarium, bowfront, or even the uncommon cylinder. There are even special “scaper tanks” by brands like Fluval, which often come with accessories for plant maintenance.
Most aquascapers opt for rimless aquariums to keep the focus on their plants; we particularly like designs with slightly curved edges. Read reviews and check out different tanks at your local aquarium store to see if you like the look!
Tip: As mentioned in our full freshwater aquarium shopping list, tanks under 10 gallons are more difficult to keep stable. If this is your first aquarium, something between 10-20 gallons would probably work well for you.
Lighting
If you’re getting an aquarium kit it might come with a light, but be aware that kit lights are generally not very strong and will only work for a low-tech set-up. If you want something more powerful, there’s a world of LED and fluorescent lights for aquariums out there for you to explore.
Unsure about the exact light intensity of a lighting set you already have, and thus don’t know which plants would work best? Try to see if you can rent a PAR meter anywhere. This device, which is a bit expensive to buy outright, allows you to measure the Photosynthetically Active Radiation (the amount of light available for photosynthesizing organisms like plants to convert into energy) at different depths.
Manufacturers of many aquarium lights also publish tables for their products that allow you to interpret the PAR level in your tank, but in cases where it’s feasible, you’ll definitely have an easier time just measuring it yourself.
Tip: Low-light plants can grow at PAR levels as low as 20-30 μmol. Up to 50 μmol is considered medium, while 50+ μmol falls under high light. Aquascapes that feature a lot of red plants, which need a lot of light to show their best colors, may operate at up to 200 μmol. Want to know more? I explain PAR and lighting for planted tanks in more detail over at The Shrimp Farm.
Co2 set
High light without Co2 is a recipe for horrific algae growth, which is why you’ll have to get a Co2 injection set if you’re looking to go high-tech. Aquascaping without Co2 is possible in lower-light set-ups, but supplying this compound will really make it easier to get spectacular results.
Some aquarists like to use a homemade Co2 kit. However, since these can be quite unstable, it’s usually advisable to buy one, especially if you’re a beginner.
Nutrients and fertilizer
Even in low-tech aquariums, your plants are almost always going to need some nutrient supplementation. Fertilizers for aquatic plants come in liquid and tablet form, both as a complete solution or to supplement specific macronutrients (potassium, calcium) and micronutrients (iron, manganese).
Your water test kit (see next paragraph) will help you determine which nutrients are lacking. So will the appearance of your plants over time: pale or yellow leaves, spindly growth, pinholes, and rusty spots can all be indications that your plants are hungry.
Advanced aquarium test kit
Keeping an eye on your aquarium’s water values is always important, and even more so when you’re aquascaping. After all, you’ll be dosing nutrients, so it’s exceedingly handy to know the levels of at least the basics, such as phosphates, calcium, magnesium, and the like.
If you’ve only got a basic test kit containing only tests for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH, consider upgrading. Skip the cheap strip tests; the liquid versions give you far more accurate insight into what’s going on in your tank.
Equipment
includes a filter, most likely a heater and any accessories you think you require.
Aquascapers generally like to keep their filter and heater of out of the actual aquarium so as to not ruin the natural feel. If you’d like to do the same, go for a canister filter that has room for a heater and connect it to the tank using glass lily pipes.
In addition to your equipment, you’re obviously also going to need décor. Substrate, plants, and especially the hardscape (rocks and driftwood) are essential to the end result.
Aquascaping How-To Step 3: Set-up
Everyone likes to go about their aquascape set-up process differently. All in all though, starting your aquascape is not so different from starting any other aquarium:
- Hardscape. Place the substrate in the aquarium and play around with the hardscape until you find a lay-out you like. The hardscape is like your scape’s skeleton, so take your time to find something that works. Keep in mind that symmetry is not really visually desirable, so you can use the rule of thirds and the golden ratio to guide you.
- Planting time! It can be hard to see how something is going to end up growing in, because aquarium plants look rather sad and sparse before they establish. In any case, place tall plants at the back while keeping the foreground low. Play with textures, leaf sizes and even color to create a pleasant result.
- Filling. Once the plants are in place and well-anchored, you can ever so carefully flood the tank. After that, you can turn on the equipment and sit back. Once your test kit indicates the tank has cycled, you can add any fish or invertebrates you would like to inhabit your aquascape.
- Adjust. Your scape will change and grow once the plants settle in. There’s a good chance you’ll end up wanting to swap some things around once you see the end result, which is absolutely fine! You can use aquascaping equipment to easily and carefully move plants and small décor.
Aquascaping How-To Step 4: Maintenance
Although you’ll be able to lean back and relax for a bit after the initial planting and flooding of your aquascape, your peace and quiet won’t last long. All aquariums require regular maintenance, and aquascapes even more so due to the amount of plants they contain. In high-tech set-ups that promote fast growth, you can feel like the pruning never ends!
The basic maintenance of an aquascape is largely equal to that of a “normal” aquarium. You’ll have to do water changes, filter cleaning, gravel vacuuming and glass cleaning to keep things healthy and nice to look at.
The difference is in the aforementioned pruning, as well as nutrient dosing and more extensive testing to keep an eye on said nutrients. Don’t forget to also regularly check whether your Co2 injection set is still working as it should, and tweak things if you’re having problems with algae or nutrient imbalances.
You might be discouraged to see that your aquascape doesn’t always look like the inspiring photos you’ve seen online. This is entirely normal, as picture day is a special moment in any aquascape’s life cycle. Aquarists will generally give the scape a deep clean and maybe even temporarily remove equipment to be able to snap a good photo.
The rest of the time, there’s a good chance even a professional’s scape might contain a tuft of algae here and there and get a little overgrown. It’s all part of the process: nature is not always clean and perfect—but it’s beautiful.
Need Help?
Aquascaping is a wonderfully relaxing hobby that can result in a fantastic aquarium experience. That being said, it also requires practice, and can be very frustrating when problems pop up. If you want a beautiful aquascape in your home but would like to skip the hard part, contact us and we’ll get your dream tank set up.
