Imagine looking into a submerged landscape, meticulously crafted to mimic a rainforest floor. This captivating scene is the essence of the Nature aquascape, an underwater garden that brings a piece of nature into your living space.
By the time you’re done reading this article, you’ll be well on your way to using IntelliQuarium’s AI-powered aquascape generator to get started on your own one-of-a-kind, centerpiece-worthy aquarium.
Why Start a Nature Aquascape?
For beginners, the world of aquascaping might seem intimidating, filled with complex construction techniques and layouts only seasoned pros could make. However, the first-glance illusion complexity often betrays the inherent simplicity of Nature-style builds - organized chaos and a lack of hard-and-fast rules are what make this a great style to try. Probably the best thing about this style is that it can look complicated, but it doesn’t have to be complicated to plan or build. Make no mistake, one can absolutely make intricate, complex Nature scapes. And if you want, you can use your image as a foundation to build something much more complex than what you generated on the site.
In stark contrast to the primp-and-preen approach of Dutch aquascapes, Nature offers a deceptively simple, yet rewarding way to practice the hobby. Skeptical? The title aquascape can be turned into a real-world scape with just 5 species of plants, a few pieces of driftwood and some stones. And with your generated image in hand, making your own one-of-a-kind setup won’t be as hard as it may seem.
Understanding the Nature Aquascape and its Key Characteristics
The idea behind the Nature aquascape is to recreate a terrestrial (like a rainforest or other tropical location) environment underwater. Much like its cousins Jungle and Bonsai, the aesthetics of the Nature aquascape are anchored by well-placed driftwood and an abundance of green plants. The charms of this particular style are rooted in driftwood that is generally placed at the edge or center of the tank, extending outwards. A few well-placed rocks provide extra visual appeal, with Anubias and Bucephalandra plants being go-tos to complete the aesthetic.
Tips for Working with Driftwood
If you are venturing into this arena, you will almost inevitably end up working with driftwood at some point. The first step is to ensure your artwork doesn’t try to float away when submerged. There are three good ways to do this:
- Soaking: Simply leave the wood in a water-filled container until it sinks to the bottom. The simplest method, but also the slowest – it can take days to weeks to take effect, depending on the size of the wood.
- Boiling: Leave your driftwood in a pot of boiling water for at least 90 minutes. Using this method, you can have a piece ready to be used today, instead of days or weeks from now. The only drawback is that it is not as efficient at removing tannins as the pressure cooker technique below.
- Pressure cooker: If your piece is small enough, you can pressure cook it. If you have an Instant Pot, fill the pot with enough water to submerge the piece, run it on “pressure cook” for 15 minutes and allow it to cool on its own without venting (the “natural release” method.) This is the fastest way, reducing the time to sinkability to mere minutes from as long as weeks. As a bonus, this technique will squeeze out most of the tannins, leaving you with one less hassle to deal with. Performing additional cycles will remove even more tannins.
- Plastic canvas sheets: Cut a plastic canvas sheet to a shape that allows for proper placement and is sufficiently large enough to allow the substrate to weigh the piece down. Attach with nylon screws or fishing line. Put in place before adding the substrate. This method is especially useful because it allows the wood to be placed before it has been treated with any of the methods listed above. You can combine this method with any of those previously mentioned to speed up the treatment process.
- Autoclave: Just kidding. That’s total overkill for what we’re trying to do here. Besides, if you have one, I’m sure this idea has already occurred to you and you don’t need me to tell you how to use it.
Dealing with Tannins
Fresh driftwood will release tannins that will tint the water brown. While contact with tannin-stained water is harmless to humans, pets and aquarium flora and fauna, you may not like the look it gives your brand-new aquascape. There are two ways to take care of this:
- Water changes (NOT RECOMMENDED!): Performing water changes will indeed remove tannins. However, I don’t advocate this method, except as done at your regular interval. First, frequent water changes create an unstable environment, which is bad for everything in your aquarium. Secondly, they are laborious and time-consuming which means more time working on your aquascape and less time enjoying it. Not cool. It can take weeks, even months, for a piece of driftwood to stop releasing tannins. Please don’t torture yourself or your aquarium by doing extra water changes just to remove tannins.
- Purigen: Fill an appropriately-sized filter media pouch with an amount that you can fit into your filter. Consider making two so that you can always have one in the filter while the other one is out for cleaning - tannins can exhaust this stuff pretty quickly.
Re-Creating the Title Aquascape
Generate your own Nature aquascape here
1. Pearlweed is a good match for the wild-looking growth depicted
2. Eriocaulon Vietnam can be wedged in here
3. Cyperus Helferi matches the color and grassy shape of this plant
4. Anubias Nana is a popular go-to, and a good choice for this application
5. Flame moss’s vertical growth will make it fit right in here
Recommended background color, extracted directly from the image:
Check out the Duplicating the Background Color section of this article for a guide on how to use it on your own build.
RGB: 192, 198, 196
Hex: c0c6c4
Closest off-the-shelf paint match: Lowe’s Autumn Fog, 4007-1b / nv607c
Other plants often used in Nature scapes are:
- Background: Giant Hairgrass, Cyperus Helferi, Dwarf Sagittaria (which despite its name, can outgrow a 40-gallon breeder).
- Midground: Any species of Anubias can be used. The main factor to take into consideration when deciding which one is right for your scape is mature leaf size – aim for something that can be placed in bunches around the layout and won’t dominate the view with oversized growth. While it’s unlikely you’ll see anything resembling Bucephalandra in your generated scape, they are still equally suitable if you want to improvise.
- Foreground: Glossostigma, Hemianthus Callitrichoides, Dwarf Hairgrass ‘Mini’ and Micro Sword can be implemented.
For an extra splash of color and contrast, one can swap out grassy plants for, say, fiery stem plants like Ludwigia Senegalensis and Alternanthera Reineckii. The only limit is your imagination. Check out this article for more tips on how to improvise.
As you can see, a Nature-style scape doesn’t have to be complicated (even if it looks that way). It can be relatively inexpensive and easy to build, making it a good option for a new focal point for your living space or to try out a new facet of the hobby.
While the initial steps might seem daunting, the process of planning, making and maintaining your underwater world can lead to a very rewarding result. Remember, the journey of aquascaping is ultimately a personal one and IntelliQuarium is here to help you on your way. Embrace the learning process, experiment with your design, and do it in a way that allows you to enjoy the experience. With dedication and a touch of creativity, you can unlock the world of Nature aquascaping and experience the joy of bringing a vibrant and thriving ecosystem to life.