The art of aquascaping is comprised of nature and creativity. It allows devoted hobbyists to create deeply captivating, even breathtaking, underwater worlds. While such worlds can be elaborate and tightly constructed, there’s something special about an aquascape with just a few elements planted softly into the substrate.
To me, such designs seem more “natural.” And that is my takeaway from Steven Fishfader’s instructive video series for creating minimal yet captivating freshwater palaces, yes, that’s what he calls them, that promote serene and peaceful coexistence between viewer and viewed aquarium.
The art of creating beautiful underwater worlds, known as aquascaping, takes cues from various artistic movements. One of the most fascinating of these is minimalism. Inspired by Japanese wabi-sabi, or “the beauty of imperfection,” this school of thought emphasizes what is not there, spaces and forms that define space and the few select elements that make up a composition. Following this path, I attempted my first (and second) minimalist aquascape(s). Using only a handful of carefully chosen rocks and plants, I sought to create spaces that are peaceful and harmonious spaces that become focal points in my home.
To make a minimalist aquascape, you need to have a clear idea of what you’re going after and put a lot of thought into the layout. You don’t want too many different things competing for your attention. The classic minimalism principle is that less is more. A smaller number of better-chosen elements makes for a much stronger composition.
In an aquarium, this usually means choosing just a few select plants and colors, but enough so there’s still some visual interest and never compromising on the appearance of any one feature. This level of underwater naturalism takes time to master, but it’s basically what all good minimalist aquascapes are going after.
For my next projects, I’ll pick out a few standout pieces of driftwood and rock for their unique shapes and textures. These will form the basis of my composition and serve to tie everything together, creating visual harmony that keeps the eye engaged on different elements as it moves through the tank. Thanks to Chris Flechtshoder for teaching me how not to be lazy with plants! In one of my tanks, you can see a base layer of sand spread across the substrate with just a few carefully placed small stones or “dragon stone” pebbles accenting it. The colors and slight texture in both the sand and by the stones show up well against the clear glass backing them and against each other to create what becomes an easy-to-maintain background for whatever plant life I put in front of them.
To design a beautiful aquascape, it is helpful to work out the kinks first using a rough layout or software. Many artists find that working from a simple base composition and then adding focal points helps them create visually stunning designs. Yet, what constitutes a good base composition? In art, as well as in nature, some basic principles can be applied for creating balance and harmony.
The first is an understanding of visual weight. Objects have visual weight; some have more than others, depending on their color, shape, size, and placement within your drawing or painting. If you put too much weight in one area and none in another particularly if none is placed at all elsewhere except right next to the object with the most visual weight you tend not only to lose balance but also to lose harmony or aesthetic appeal.
A second basic principle involving balance and harmony involves logic: Where you place elements within your base composition and how you connect (or don’t connect) those elements with each other has everything to do with creating either drama or duds.
Drama tends to happen when artistic decisions produce surprising connections between otherwise disconnected elements—an extended focal length achieved by breaking up intermediate space with unexpected shapes and forms of aquatic plants growing together above stronger shapes of hardscape pieces whose textures vary enough to imagine different “storylines” above an open space that frames any shape at all—much less a striking one situated off-center within your picture.
When creating a minimalist underwater world, it is essential to have plenty of open space among the elements. This allows each component to really shine and creates what I consider to be a truly peaceful aesthetic. Take my large driftwood focal piece, for instance: in my underwater aquarium, it rules the center of the tank with no other close neighbors save for an occasional small rock or even a handful of plants arranged tightly at its edges. The clear, open water surround lets that stand out as if hewn from pure ivory, it’s so white you can hardly see into its apparent interior; anything else would overstate its presence.
Right now, this phase simply requires patience. Once you’ve got your plants and their new home set up, you really just need to wait. Watch as your aquascape comes alive with the slow but dramatic flourish of the plants. When I look at older shots of my aquariums, I often marvel at how different they appear from the near-lifeless scenes depicted in more recent pictures, just a short time later, in some cases, by a few months.
Your path will likely follow a similar arc. Whether you’re going for a minimalist look or one that’s more adorned with various elements of an “aqua-world,” every plant demands attention to detail if it is to thrive within your new tank.
It is very important to guarantee that the plants’ roots are completely covered and the plant itself is firmly in place. Yet, it is just as crucial not to overcrowd the tank with too many plants: that would create a look that is messy instead of minimalist. In my experience, it is best to leave at least 2 inches between each plant to allow for what I call “breathing room.” This space between the various aquatic plants allows each one to stand out sufficiently and creates a clean, almost unfettered appearance that properly accentuates any focal points within the aquarium’s layout.
Plants require the suitable quantity of light to grow healthily. This can be achieved with adjustable LED lights, which alleviate any one-size-fits-all lighting issues associated with incandescent bulbs. My personal experience testifies to the effectiveness of such a setup: in various aquariums that I maintain, adjustable LED lights ensure optimal light levels for thriving plant communities.
Maintaining a minimalist aquascape is necessary for its overall health and visual appeal. The star of such an arrangement, the plants need to be kept trim to prevent overstory conditions that can lead to reduced growth and thereby diminished aesthetics. Trimming keeps the airy, open channels between plant species clean and free of debris. It also maintains instantly visible patterns in the foliage that elude my eyes with branching, delicate shapes.
Cleaning the tank itself is another job vital to maintaining conditions suitable for both the plants and me. Bacteria living on the inside surfaces of the tank, near the plants (and therefore directly in contact with them), help break down toxic materials that would otherwise poison my fish or mollusks. There’s no bacteria indoors except those found in our bodies; all other forms are missing elements essential to their survival since they exist in environments too hot or too wet (in some dangerous ways) for us.
I perform volumetric water changes weekly while adjusting small amounts of pH upward if it drifts downward excessively within a week after such change and I do not allow CO2 levels inside the unopened tank when it’s holding fish shipped from spawning-supply factories across America to vary much either way from 9 ppm because CO2 bubbles tend to explosively escape outside tanks when light shines on them at certain angles following eyebrow lengths away from top offsets, a safety hazard unrelated to any environmental benefit.
The fourth operation performed during routine aquarium maintenance in this order is lightly vacuuming up any sediment cpfellatio bacteria eating protists eat as part of decomposing dead plant parts or threads forming strands within submerged soil by cleaning new glass placed into freshly opened tanks along with raising freshly fertilized (by live daphnia cultures with a breeding container living inside my LFS) nitrifiers past their normal zero-survival temperatures during winter months by using an undergravel scraper attached via rubber bands anywhere near within unlocked nodes approximating nearest-neighbor chaining paths toward accessible corners where frequent shape-shifting occurs around pea-sized clumps a path followed after viewing these operations so far that one followed by performing similarly structured jobs leading me closer toward becoming associated with rather sustainable freshwater-aquatic-biomimicry interiorscaping-gig economy platforms though execution might differ significantly depending upon what state you’re based in.
Every week, I perform a 20-30% water change. To me, this seems essential to the maintenance of my aquascapes, especially the minimalist ones. While tapping into such unvarnished authority as Tyoniah Elam or Robert Mend (decisions), helping keep my space grocery-shopped and up-to-date.
And what do I do with all that old water once it’s been removed from your tank? Well, if you’ve seen my work and follow these very same steps at least, I hope you’re following some of them in “How to Keep Your Planted Aquarium Clean Without Voiding Its Warranty; My Mode of Operation”, then you’ll know that keeping things cleanish in favor of letting pathogen-killing chemicals take care of business instead.
When building an aquarium, selecting peaceful fish that don’t overcrowd the tank is key. I like using schooling fish, but avoid big schools. You want to see movement and color in the tank without it becoming too busy or overpowering and you definitely don’t want your fish swimming erratically or trying to escape from the “perch” you’ve provided. Many species of schooling fish work well in a community aquarium. Aerobic bacteria make ideal additions to an aquarium because they help maintain water clarity by preying on small insects and eggs; they’re also very peaceful.
It’s also important not to forget about hiding places for your fish; stress reduces when there are plenty of places to hide, and with inserts come many opportunities for cover. Cover helps keep territorial fishes from bothering one another: It’s easier for two nitrifying fishes (as they may be seen) both doing what comes naturally if they have some place to retreat to. On balance, then, choosing right-sized peaceful fishes makes a lot of sense, particularly when keeping an eye on snout length!
I have a tank where I only go for the essentials. It houses a group of neon tetras and some Amano shrimp. The former add pops of color and rapid movement, while the latter pick up after the tank’s inhabitants and contribute to its arrangement. Similarly, when setting up an aquascape in one of my other tanks, I try to use as few materials as possible while still maintaining balance and creating interesting forms that hold together visually. To me, keeping things simple and not over-accessorizing is more in line with minimalist principles, a subject dear to my heart given my love for Bob Ross.
What makes minimalist aquascaping so satisfying? It might seem counterintuitive, but focusing on the individual elements of an aquarium leads to a better appreciation of each component. Every plant and fish becomes its own little world. I talk a bit below about what makes plants and fish significant, but first and foremost, aquatic plants allow one to appreciate their shapes, textures, leaves (of course), shades of green (or whatever colors you’ve got growing), et al., in something very much like their natural state.
You can develop the necessary skills to build drop-dead-gorgeous aquascapes that are both simplistic and sophisticated with enough practice and dedication. And remember, the key ingredients are patience and a never-give-up attitude. Building an elegant underwater wonderland is quite possible, but it requires following some basic principles.
