Art of Aquascaping:
Which Style Fits You?
Posted on January 27, 2011 by Johnny Dinh
Continued from March Tank Talk
Nature Style Planted Aquarium
Takashi Amano introduced the nature or Japanese style to the planted aquarium hobby in the
1980?s. The principle for creating a nature style planted aquarium is based on the Japanese gardening concept, Wabi Sabi, and the attempt to mimic a vision that one would see in nature. Inspiration
for these visions usually come from viewing mountains, forests streams, grassy fields, or the
oceans. Unlike the Dutch aquarium, the use of driftwood and rocks play an important role in creating the structure and focal points of a nature style planted aquarium. Using a variety of shape and
sizes of the same type of driftwood and rocks, an aquascaper creates what is called a
“hardscape”. Placement of your hardscape materials should be asymmetrical to create flow and a
natural feel to your aquascape. Using schools of fish in this style is also recommended to create a
balance of life and nature.
In contrast with the Dutch style, a nature style planted aquarium should consist of only 3-5 species
of plants. However, more quantities of these plants can be used to fill in gaps, depending on your
vision of the aquascape. In the first few weeks of setting up your planted aquarium, you may run
into algae issues unless initial planting was heavily. One of the easiest solutions for the beginning
algae stages of your planted aquarium is to purchase algae eaters such as Amano shrimp (Caridina
multidentata/japonica) or Oto cats (Otocinclus affinis).
A typical nature style planted aquarium aquascape usually lasts anywhere between 4 to 6 months.
However, factors such as growth rate of plants, amount of plants used, and size of aquarium can
determine the lifetime of an aquascape. Most aquascapers today usually plan a nature style aquascape to last about 6 months at most, anything past the prime point and the vision of your aquascape may be lost.