Aquascape styles

Aquascaping Styles

Article by Aquascapers on 

Since aquascaping is a form of art, naturally there will be many different styles associated with it. Presently, there are two major aquascaping styles that are widely known to aquascapers. They are the Dutch style aquarium and the nature style aquarium. There are many other aquascaping styles such as the Taiwan style aquarium and the biotope aquarium, but these are not as common as the Dutch and nature style aquarium. Below is an explanation of the two main styles.

Dutch style aquarium

Dutch style aquariums are probably the oldest aquascaping style there is in the world. This type of aquascape does not involve the use of driftwoods and hardscape materials. Dutch style aquariums use a wide variety of plants, usually using plants of many different colours and gradation. Terracing technique, or the division between the height of different plants, is heavily used in a Dutch aquarium. Creating a successful Dutch aquarium depends on the aquascapers knowledge of many different plants that will construct a coherent and beautiful aquascape. Plants are grouped together to produce a sense of unity throughout the aquascape.

Nature Style Aquarium

Nature style aquarium is an aquascape that attempts to recreate a piece of nature. This style is popularized by Takashi Amano from Japan in the 1990s. Nature aquariums use some hardscape materials, such as driftwood and rocks, to recreate a landscape often seen in nature inside an aquarium. This type of aquascape uses many advanced techniques such as soil mounding, creative plant arrangement, and Golden ratios. There are two main types of nature style aquariums: Iwagumi aquascape and Natural aquascape.

Iwagumi aquascapes utilize low-growing or carpet-forming foreground plants in order to create a lawn effect. This type of aquascape attempts to recreate a vast opening of land or to produce a slice of nature, such as mountain ranges and sceneries. Iwagumi aquascapes usually use only one or two types of small and low-growing aquatic plants. Despite its beautiful looks, creating this type of aquascape is very challenging due to the scarcity or absence of stem plants, which usually absorb organic wastes and prevent algae from taking over the aquarium.

The natural style uses more plants than the Iwagumi style. This type of aquascape uses a combination of carpet and stem plants in order to achieve a coherent aquascape. Through repeated trimmings of the plants, a lush growth of plants can be achieved to produce a beautiful underwater scenery.

There you go! A summary of some of the popular styles. Although there are many other styles and setup available, it is all up to your imagination and artistic sense.