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In the world of planted aquariums and the art of aquascaping, there are quite a few styles that are commonly used among aquascapers. Each style has their own unique characteristics that bring beauty and creativity to a planted aquarium. Some may favor those who are beginning the planted aquarium hobby, where as others may be for the more skilled and experienced enthusiasts. With that being said, lets take a look at few aquascaping styles that are used when setting up an aquascape and find out which style you prefer.
Dutch Style Planted Aquarium
The Dutch style was the first style ever used and attempted for a planted aquarium. This style was developed in the Netherlands since the 1930’s, which have been around for quite some time and still exists and used among aquascapers today.
The principles behind the Dutch style technique consist of using many plants; specifically stem plants of no more than 10-12 species, to create a lush arrangement. The use of stem plants in the Dutch style are grouped and neatly planted in rows from back to front. Choosing a selection of plants with diverse sizes, leaf colors, textures, and growth rates are important when creating a Dutch style planted aquarium. These plants should be carefully organized so that there is a contrast in color, leaf size, and texture between each type of plant. Depending on what type of plants you use, the placement of your plants should also be at different heights to provide depth and create focal points. To create the lush look with your stem plants, you will need to heavily trim your plants periodically and provide them with a good amount of nutrients.
Due to heavily planting with this typical style, an algae bloom in the beginning stages will not likely occur You will also find that driftwood and rocks are not used in this type of style. Another great addition to the Dutch style planted aquarium is the use of fish. Having a school of fish will bring the whole aquascape together, creating a sense of completeness. Most tetra species would make a great choice when deciding what school of fish you want to use.
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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.
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Iwagumi Style Planted Aquarium
The Iwagumi style planted aquarium is another form of Japanese gardening, which set rules on rock placement. Takashi Amano has also used this aquascaping style in many of his planted aquariums. With the Iwagumi style, there are four type of stones that are used, Oyaishi, Fukuishi, Soeishi, and Suteishi. The first is Oyaishi, which is the main stone that creates the focal point, second is the Fukuishi, which is a secondary stone similar to the Oyaishi, then there’s Soeishi, which are a group of stones that surround the Oyaishi and Fukuishi, and lastly there is the Suteishi, which is a sacrificial stone that may eventually be covered by plant growth.In an Iwagumi style aquarium, one must use the same type of stone; doing so will create continuity and harmony in the aquascape. This style does not restrict to using any certain type of stone, however, there are stones such as yamaya, sieryu, ohko, ryuoh that are seen in many Iwagumi style aquascapes. As you can tell, this style emphasizes strictly on rock placement, and driftwood is not used in an Iwagumi style planted aquarium.
As stated above, the Iwagumi style specifically emphasizes on the placement of rocks, and thus they are the main focal points of an Iwagumi aquascape. To ensure that the rocks used in an Iwagumi aquascape are easily seen, many Iwagumi style planted aquariums avoid using stem and large plants. Plants with small and thin leaves such as Riccia fluitans, Hemianthus callitrichoides, Echinodorus tenellus, Glossostigma elatinoides, Eleocharis parvula, acicularis, belem, and mosses are commonly used in this aquascaping style.
One of the great things about an Iwagumi style planted aquarium is the amount of open space that it creates. To complete an Iwagumi aquascape, adding a school of fish will bring balance of harmony and beauty to the planted aquarium. Mainly tetra species are used in Iwagumi setups due to their vibrant colors and activeness when schooling.
Even though Iwagumi is an aquascaping style, there are certain styles within the Iwagumi style as well. See more information and pictures about these styles. This Introductory Guide to Iwagumi may also be helpful if you want to learn more.
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El Natural Style Planted Aquarium
If you have read the book, Ecology of the Planted Aquarium written by Diana Walstad, you may already know what the el natural style is about. The el natural style planted aquarium is probably one of the simplest, least expensive, and easy methods of creating a planted aquarium. The idea behind Diana’s method is that you can create a nice planted aquarium without having to spend a ton of money and time into maintaining it. Generally an el natural planted aquarium would consist of using potting soil and gravel as the substrate, plants and fish.
In typical el natural type setups, water changes are done every few months and the plants are used as biological filters to keep the water clean. Since there are no filters used in an el natural setup, a powerhead is needed to provide flow in the aquarium. Fish waste would provide the nutrients needed for the plants to grow and therefore no extra fertilization or CO2 is needed. The lighting for an el natural setup is typically low; a standard shop light giving 1-2 watts per gallon or direct sunlight is usually the source for lighting.
One of the drawbacks behind setting up an el natural style planted aquarium is that you are limited in terms of what types of plants and fish you want to use. Most stem plants that are used in planted aquariums require medium to high lighting and need a good amount of fertilization for optimum growth. On the other hand, certain fishes that you like may require cleaner water and plant biological filtration just may not be enough. Despite these drawbacks, one can still achieve a nice planted aquarium without having to spend a lot of money and time with maintaining the aquarium.
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Collectoritis Style Planted Aquarium
The collectoritis style planted aquarium has also become a common practice for aquarists in the hobby today. This style is very simple and does not require any aquascaping experience or effort. The main focus behind a collectoritis setup is to grow a large amount of different plants. In a typical collectoritis planted aquarium, one would have a large variety of plants ranging anywhere between 15 or more species. Despite the large variety of plants in this style planted aquarium, it is not to be confused with the Dutch style. As pointed out, a Dutch style consists of mainly stem plants that are neatly organized in groups whereas a collectoritis style planted aquarium can have all sorts of plants ranging from stems, ferns, Cryptocorynes, Anubias, moss, etc. and are not necessarily organized in a fashionable way.
Having a collectoritis style planted aquarium is a great practice for those who are still new to growing aquarium plants. Not only great for beginners, but also excellent for those who may have special “rare” plants that they are trying to grow out for an upcoming aquascape. Dedicating an aquarium to specifically grow a variety of plants allow one to learn more about the conditions needed for the plants to thrive and grow lushly.
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These are just the very few aquascaping styles and methods that are in the planted aquarium hobby today. There are certainly plenty of others, but may not have gain popularity or recognition as much as the ones mentioned above. Nevertheless, however you may decide to create your planted aquarium is totally up to you and these aquascaping styles are to just give you an idea of what is possible. As always, with whatever style you choose or no style at all, be creative and have fun with it!
(by http://www.aquascapist.com)
