Our aquascaping guides offer step-by-step tutorials and expert advice to help you create stunning aquascapes. Whether you’re new to aquascaping or looking to refine your skills, this category provides comprehensive resources on various techniques, styles, and design principles. From initial planning and layout to planting and maintenance, our guides cover every aspect of aquascaping. Learn how to achieve different styles, such as Iwagumi, Dutch, and Nature aquascapes, and discover tips for overcoming common challenges. With our detailed guides, you’ll be well-equipped to bring your aquascaping visions to life.
Last summer, I found myself belly-down in mud at the edge of the Florida Everglades, my camera just inches from the water’s surface, trying to capture the exact way sunlight filtered through the cypress knees. My hiking buddy—more sensibly situated on dry land—asked why I didn’t just “look at pictures online” for my next tank design. I tried explaining that pictures never capture the full sensory experience: the way different plants grow in relation to…
I’ll never forget the first time I tried to aquascape a 50cm tank. After years of working with larger systems,…
The most expensive item in my first “proper” aquascape wasn’t the tank, lighting, or even the rare plants I’d mail-ordered…
The first time I handled live rock, I was wearing swim trunks and snorkel gear, bobbing in the warm waters off the Florida Keys. I wasn’t supposed to be collecting it—that’s both illegal and environmentally irresponsible—but my marine biology professor had special permits for our educational dive. “This,” he said, lifting a chunk of porous calcium carbonate encrusted with colorful life from about four feet down, “is the cornerstone of reef aquarium keeping.” He passed…
Most people don’t realize they’re making aquascaping decisions based on water chemistry long before they’ve even purchased their first plant.…
I once made a betta so angry that it refused to come out from behind a piece of driftwood for…
The first time I set up a Walstad tank, I was skeptical. Coming from the high-tech, CO2-injected, meticulously aquascaped world, the idea of throwing some garden soil in a tank and calling it a day seemed…primitive. Like trading in a sports car for a horse and buggy. But I was broke, tired of the constant maintenance on my high-tech systems, and curious enough to try. That first little 5-gallon experiment changed everything I thought I…
I’ve always had a thing for cube tanks. There’s something uniquely satisfying about their perfect symmetry—like a little glass box…
The combination of art and nature gives us beautiful underwater landscapes, which is an example of a world called aquascaping.…
I’ve always been fascinated by the vibrant, underwater world of aquariums. But as I’ve delved deeper, I’ve realized it’s not just about creating a beautiful spectacle. It’s also about embracing eco-friendly practices that promote conservation and sustainability.
In today’s world, it’s more important than ever to ensure our hobbies aren’t harming our planet. And trust me, with a bit of knowledge an
I’ve spent years designing aquascapes that look perfect from exactly one angle – front and center, where the client stands…
I’ll admit it—I used to be a hardscape snob. The type who’d visibly wince when clients would ask about adding…
Last Tuesday, around midnight, a message pinged on my phone. It was from a client I’d helped set up a massive 200-gallon planted discus tank the year before—a dentist with more money than free time who’d wanted an impressive aquascape but lacked the hours to maintain it properly. (I’d been back to his house four times since the initial setup, each visit increasingly resembling aquatic resuscitation rather than routine maintenance.) “I’m downsizing,” his message read.…
In a panic, I scrubbed it with hydrogen peroxide while the clock ticked down, ultimately placing it anyway. The judges…
Let me tell you about my most embarrassing moment as a professional aquascaper. I was giving a workshop at a…
The first time I tried to incorporate mangrove roots into an aquascape, I flooded my apartment. Not a little “oops, grab a towel” spill, but a legitimate, call-the-downstairs-neighbor-to-apologize kind of flood. It happened because I’d failed to properly secure a massive piece of root system that decided—approximately three hours after I’d left for dinner—to shift position, knocking the glass lid into the water and displacing about fifteen gallons onto my hardwood floors. My downstairs neighbor…
The first time I killed an entire tank of fish, it wasn’t because I didn’t care. I cared too much—so…
It is mesmerizing how each aquascape is unique and intricately crafted. An aquascape tells the story of an entire ecosystem…
I hadn’t slept in nineteen hours, and the only thing fueling me was a long-neglected cup of coffee and manic energy from binge-watching Japanese aquascaping videos at 3am. My then-girlfriend (now, just a friend who constantly reminds me of my worst choices) had gone away for the weekend, giving me precisely 53 hours to construct an elaborate gift for her: transform our dull living room into a ‘workshop for crazy people’, to her later describe.…
An aquascape’s background is like a painting’s canvas: it is often overlooked and underestimated, but it is absolutely pivotal to…
My first encounter with a rimless tank was at an international aquascaping competition in Singapore. After a twenty-hour flight, jet…
The first time I encountered an underwater world was when I was seven years old. My interest was not piqued by the huge and mysterious ocean; that would happen later. Instead, my attention was captured by a perfect miniature mangrove ecosystem that was hidden in a corner of the Florida Aquarium. It fascinated me how I could wrap my arms around the tank and become submerged into this world less universe. While my peers pressed…
Only a week ago, I experienced the joy of seeing my prized Anubias bloom for the very first time in…
Every scar tells a story, I got one in my right palm from an incident my wife fondly calls, “The…
When I attempted my first “real” aquascaping project, it literally looked like a madman had taken a glass container filled with rocks and plants, then gave it a good shake. I was twenty-two, fresh out of college, and for some reason convinced that my biology degree entitled me to life-perpetually-inspiring-in-my-society level optimism and that I could spearhead the crafting of deep-sea masterpieces right off the bat. Everything was arranged symmetrically—mountain of lava rock dead center,…
I still remember the first time I saw an aquatic bonsai. Wow, it must’ve been…2016, or 2017? One of those…
What do you think happens in the background while some aquascape is being set up? Well, I photographed the absolute…
Once, I devoted an entire afternoon to the seemingly mundane task of rock searching, submerging myself in a river while my friends mocked my sanity from the shore. That’s right; the rock I was searching for was not ‘any ol’ rock,’ instead the glorious centerpiece to an elaborate competition aquascape I had been salivating over for months. While my friends boldly sipped beer on the shore, shouting insults my way, I was sure I would…
Have you ever found yourself daydreaming while watching your aquarium? This is about how my journey of constructing a water-based…
When I tried my hand at Dutch-style aquascaping, I ended up with an unmitigated disaster. Plant life was strewn across…
I have made a plethora of mistakes throughout the years of this hobby. For instance, I added a school of silver dollars to my carefully curated tank and woke up to what looked like an apocalyptic salad bar. Or the tranquil community tank that morphed into a water version of fight club after I added a “mellow” cichlid. Let’s not forget my most memorable blunder: setting up an exquisite nano tank with expensive rare micro-rasboras…
I will never forget how, about a year ago, I set up a Rio Negro blackwater tank in the waiting…
My garage resembles a murder scene… for rocks. The blue tarp on the floor is the specific color of cobalt,…
Let me shed some light on the Halloween tank catastrophe of 2019. Imagine this: I spent the all the way from September 30th to Halloween crafting what was supposedly show-stopping a “haunted shipwreck” aquarium themed setup. A food-grade resin pirate ship with custom features, arcs of purple and orange LEDs, perfectly synchronized black ghost knife fish and fog made with fine bubble curtains. I mean it, you could post this anywhere and it would make…
Knowing how to multiply a single plant into multiple plants makes designing an underwater forest easier. After aquascaping for years,…