The art of maintaining aquariums is carried to the next level with the design we do around water and plants, not just for what can be seen from one angle but also how the space looks from many different perspectives.
In this post, I’ll share my personal experiences along with some useful tips and insights about creating spaces that look amazing from all directions. From picking the right materials through to designing a layout that offers new views when observed from different angles and ensuring the proper functioning of an ecosystem within your tank, there are many techniques involved in helping 360-degree aquascaping become a space that’s both visually compelling and relatively easy to maintain.
Any successful 360-degree aquascape starts with good quality materials. But what makes a good material? When I look at an aquarium that has been set up as a three-dimensional space and revised as often as required during the establishment phase, I see harmony in each of its elements. Harmony is critical because it allows one’s eyes to travel naturally through the tank in any direction up and down, across from side to side, or around it altogether.
And those eyes need places to rest within the tubing of the loop that forms the visual path; otherwise, the whole thing collapses into nothingness. That setup is seemingly quite simple: A cylindrical or hexagonal tube serves as a base for visually linking all these features together into an apex structure; then every feature gets linked to and recall when we discussed semantic shallow water, the realm of “enough” and how serious hobbyists will sometimes say something like “There goes my $500 shrimp tank again!” What they mean is this: Their money buys harmony—that awkward combination of conditions necessary for a community (or near-community) of aquatic wildlife to thrive under its aesthetic aspect.
Choose a reliable heater suitable for the kinds of aquarium fish you’ve decided on and ensure that your tank’s temperature is stable. The kind of lighting plants need varies, but it’s safe to say that all photosynthetic organisms require light; indeed, most are just not viable without it. LEDs make great aquascaping lights because they’re environmentally friendly, hang easily (sometimes), emit very little heat unless improperly used, don’t contribute to CO2 levels when manufactured or disposed of, and best of all for us in this neighborhood—topicoid light fixtures shade my 360-degree view in an unfussy way.
It is crucial to pick rocks that look interesting from all directions. The reason? As soon as we start placing our rocks in the tank, they’ll be viewed from many different angles—some of which will be absolutely visible while others will have parts hidden behind layers of other decorative elements. And what we see from those unseen angles can make or break how compelling our aquascape looks. So far, I’ve gone with the appearance of a few coupled chunks of Seiryu stone and some spider wood whose twisting, turning forms give it plenty of visual interest from any angle I might present to my aquarium.
Assembling an eye-catching and balanced 360-degree aquascape takes thought and close attention to detail. There are many ways a diver could go wrong, without being led astray by too large or ill-fitting parts that would mar the appearance of what is otherwise an attractive tank. Yet some experienced aquascapers have a way of drawing the eye in, almost around the whole tank, with multiple “stops” along the way that serve as focal points. My personal experience with cylindrical tanks makes me understand why both tops and bottoms can serve as inexpensive focal points, for instance by using bigger pieces of rock or wood. That’s how I set up my Spider Wood piece as this columnar tank’s central focal point, which now serves as part of what I call its “composition.”
The hardscape elements, plants, and open spaces need to be well-proportioned to make for a peaceful coexistence. Overcrowding the tank with too many gazing eyes can create a space that feels chaotic. For my aquascaping arrangement, I used Seiryu stones in concert with red senator shrimp (Caridina prevostii) for what I think is a natural-looking flow and layering effect. After making arrangements with the rocks and the snails, I then place plants in various spots throughout the tank for the very necessary reason of creating hiding places for both my fish and myself. In all seriousness though, few.
To make a 360-degree aquascape, start by creating layers. This can be achieved with plants of different heights and textures or by using substrate topography to create ledges and even inclines. Experimenting with plants in various positions within the tank helped me visualize what would work best where; now, the arrangement mostly speaks for itself. To get a completed appearance to these layouts, I used a simple technique: raising the back of the layout slightly above the front gave visual depth without overwhelming my eye paths. Depth and dimension are just as important as height when it comes to creating an interesting 360-degree aquascape—hardly a secret, but one that’s easy to overlook in favor of discussing so-called “leading lines,” which you definitely find in this pool-table-straight arrangement of fancy fish swimming against glide patterns near the “ceiling” and “floor” of my nearly incandescent aquarium.
I have tried (and sometimes failed) at maintaining several freshwater indoor aquariums over the years, a rear-loading FOWLR setup, essentially an average-sized cuboid tank inches away from part of my living space, but only this current 55-gallon model has survived long enough for me not to replace too many fish (three thus far).
I replace about 20-30% of the water in my multi-angle tank every week. This keeps the water quality top-notch and ensures the health and stability of my tank’s inhabitants. I test a bunch of basic parameters (pH, ammonia, nitrite, etc.) using a reliable kit, which helps me spot any problems that might be brewing. So far, this combo of regular testing and replacement has paid off big time: My plants seem to thrive, not just surviving but looking pretty much as good as they did when I first set up the tank.
The only snafu I’ve hit so far is with algae growth. But even that seemed to resolve itself when I started performing more frequent water changes in response to decent-test-results suggestions from assorted online forums.
(Note: Since writing this post several years ago, I have moved on to other aquarium endeavors; specifically, larger freshwater setups featuring fish-only tanks and aquascapes built around artificial reefs made from stuff like grape Styrofoam.)
Keeping the carpet plants low and dense maintains a clean, tidy appearance. In my 360-degree tank, I trim the stem plants every couple of weeks to keep them in check, which induces healthy growth. Regular pruning of the carpet plants is what keeps my aquascape looking neat and well-maintained.
Plants are very accommodating when it comes to how they grow around other aquatic life, especially compared to how demanding certain fish can be! One could say that keeping an aquascape healthy and thriving borders on magic because many factors have to fall into place for it all to work out.
Introduce algae-eating fish and invertebrates, such as Amano shrimp and nerite snails, to keep the aquarium free from algae. I have had that experience, with my LED light setup by adjustable lights of different intensities and durations, so maybe I can contribute insight to your thesis. Working creatively together, you and I could design an as-yet-undreamt-of multi-angle aquascape that showcases beauty not just from one side but from every direction that the viewer might care to look.
