Freshwater

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Part I: Aquarium Basics
Aquascaping Tips and Tricks
As you decorate more and more tanks, you will eventually learn to see what
looks good and what doesn’t. Practice makes perfect as they say.
Aquascaping can turn a bare tank into a real showpiece. Aquascaping will
provide a feeling of safety for your aquatic friends, help to cover up bare
spots and equipment, and will enrich the overall look of your aquarium.
Creating a beautiful tank will also help to educate family and visitors on
species and their natural environments, and provide your fish with a natural
looking habitat that they will flourish in.
Here are some tips that will help you understand the basics of good
aquascaping:
Keep it clean. Keep your water and aquarium glass clean so that your
aquascape will really shine. Nothing ruins a good scene quicker than
dirty water and particles floating all over the place.
Don’t make everything symmetrical. If you looked at the natural environment
of your fish, you would not find stones set exactly 2 inches
apart, or a lake with only one type of plant grouped in bunches of three
for miles.
Make rocks look natural. Pile a few small stones together and then put
one off to the side as if it had tumbled down from the pile over time. Use
stones that are similar in the extent that they have been worn over time
by water movement. For example, avoid putting one craggy looking rock
in the middle of a bunch of smooth stones.
Pay close attention to color. Not all rocks in nature are the same color,
because they have been bleached out by water and sunlight. Add a few
odd-colored stones to enhance the appearance of a grouping.
Plan, plan, plan. If needed, sketch out your overall layout before you
begin setting it up as mentioned previously, so that you have a good idea
where everything will look.
Add the water first. Don’t aquascape a tank without water, because
once it is added, plants will spread out and look different. Try filling the
tank halfway to aid in determining how something will really look.
Research. Check library books for pictures of your species’ geographical
environment to give you ideas on how a setup can be aquascaped to
look natural.