# The Do's and Don'ts of Aquascaping



## Dollface

1. Always follow the golden ratio for everything
2. Never mix rock and wood, ever
3. Ignore any do's and don'ts lists.


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## Coltonorr

Dollface said:


> 1. Always follow the golden ratio for everything
> 2. Never mix rock and wood, ever
> 3. Ignore any do's and don'ts lists.


:icon_lol: histerical. 

I was going to say if you like your scape, then who cares what others think.
I would say just don't center anything. 
I like tanks with rocks and wood...


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## jreich

what exactly is this golden ratio you speek of? i probably know what it is... just having a brain fart.


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## macclellan

1. Use the search function for past discussions.
2. Realize that you can successfully break just about every rule in some situations.


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## jreich

macclellan said:


> 1. Use the search function for past discussions.
> 2. Realize that you can successfully break just about every rule in some situations.


i did search by threads, not posts and came up with zip. all i can find is the actual numbers "1.6 : 1." but not what those figures are actually in refrence to.


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## Church

Do a google search for "aquascaping principles" and you'll find something. There was a write-up on this topic at aquatic-eden.com, among many other places as well.

The golden ratio is not specific to aquascaping. It's used in all forms of art. It is talked about in Art 101 textbooks. The simplest way of looking at it is it means not placing things in the center of the tank, or dividing the scape up in symmetry.

Rocks and wood are used together successfully all the time. For _iwagumi_ style tanks it is not correct to mix wood with rocks.

Just have fun, and let the art form come to you. Don't be afraid to rearrange your tanks around and keep trying new things.

Don't try mixing substrates or being creative with them until you know your aquascaping principles, because uprooting plants to rearrange them will cause much frustration otherwise.


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## jreich

thanks for the info church! its nothing i didnt really know already, just never heard it in refrence to an aquarium! now that you mention art i do remember hearing about the "golden rule" in highschool art. makes sense now...


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## Nate McFin

In photography its called the rule of thirds.


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## Coltonorr

basically, don't plant your monster amazon sword dead center under the center brace.


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## Francis Xavier

This question has as many answers as there are styles - but some very general principles for aquascaping in no particular order:

1. Less is More, don't over do it, you aren't trying to cause 'anxiety' in the viewer by them not knowing where to look. Iwagumi is the epitome of 'minimalist' aquascape design, but even if you aren't doing Iwagumi, you want a very clearly defined focal point, and supporting points to 'prop up' the focal.

2. Utilize the Golden Ratio

3. Rules can be broken, but as a beginner STICK to the rules. You can break almost any rule, but you can only really do it successfully if you know how the rules work and 'how to break them' so to speak. 

4. Decide what kind of aquascape you want to make and stick to it - do you want it to be impressionistic/emotional (Iwagumi again, is the best example of this, but it's not limited to this), or 'natural' in set up (i.e. emulating something you might see strolling by a stream or the like). These two design styles have vastly different approaches in creation.

5. You CANNOT use wood in an Iwagumi aquascape. Using wood means it is NOT an Iwagumi. You can utilize wood and stone in an aquascape but my advice is for the first aquascape use one or the other - the reason is that stone and driftwood have two entirely different design theories and principles to being utilized, and without some experience with one or the other fusing the two doesn't work out too well, since they will appear awkward.

6. Odd numbers are your friend - regardless of what kind of style, use odd numbers. Odd numbers are both more 'natural' appearing in the literal and figurative sense. Use odd numbers of both hardscape materials AND plants - even in Iwagumi, two plants are a bad idea, use one or three. The reason for this is you absolutely need a transition point plant to act as an accent between plants A and C. This is perhaps one of the biggest common flaws for beginners. Going from say, HC to stem or hair grass plant is an abrupt change that causes tension.

7. It's all in the details - choose a main focal point, and stack on the tiny details, these add a dynamic feel to the aquascape as well as providing subtlety. Tiny details are things such as accent plants, slope variation in substrate, smaller rocks, etc, that add key little details and transitions.

And finally, again, keep it simple (not boring, simple. Big difference), there will be frustrations, you will get algae, you will want to throw your hands up in disgust at the project - don't make it harder than it needs to be for your first attempt. Make it pleasing, and easy for maintenance, and focus on learning and practicing the general rules so that you know how to break them and get even more creative with your designs.

P.S. If you do Iwagumi, please for the love of all that is good in this world, read the article titled "Iwagumi Design" in my signature. Even if you don't do Iwagumi, it can provide you with some good insights.


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## jreich

well put Francis. thank you for all the info.


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## Dollface

the golden ratio is 1 to 1.618. 

It's basically the only rule that's applicable to all aquascapes, you should learn a general sense of it, but don't abide by it absolutely. In general you want the focal point of the aquascape to fall on the line of the golden ratio, and not just a part of the focal point, the main mass of the focal point. (ex: tip of a rock =/= focal point.)


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## elihanover

Coltonorr said:


> basically, don't plant your monster amazon sword dead center under the center brace.


 
This!


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## J.B.

I did my 75g with the Golden Ratio a while back...the Echinodorus (sp) is the focal point.

Keep in mind that the focal point doesn't have to be a plant, a grouping of plants or piece of wood, it could be a void in the plants.


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## seds

If one is a beginner;

If a plant isn't growing for you and you have killed it several times, stop trying to grow it until you have more experience.

If a plant IS growing well, use it as a main plant in the aquascape.

If a plant is growing very fast and taking over, trim it a lot and use it as the main attraction.

Floating plants *generally* aren't as useful in an aquascape as rooted ones.


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## Hobbes1911

Best rule I found is to take your time and never rush anything. If it takes you several days to figure out a good hard scape so be it. Rushing will make everything look like crap!

Also unless you really wanto to do otherwise, I'd say go from light in the middle of the tank to dark at the edges in terms of plant colors. And you can use green plants amply, while red plants are always attention grabbers so use them sparingly in strategic locations.


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## Dollface

The bottom line is that unless you get into specific styles like Dutch and Iwagumi, there are no concrete rules to aquascaping, so it's nearly impossible to compose a list of dos and don'ts. The vast majority of information you get is usually contradictory, or one items will only work for this tank, and one item will only work for another tank. Most of it is just common sense and a good eye, and do's and don'ts list don't really help with either.


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## Centromochlus

I think these are all great tips - but personally, i don't think there are any Do's or Don'ts. If you're happy with it, then no need to change it. But i do agree with Dollface. If you're trying to create an iwagumi, wood definitely doesn't work.


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## Church

Just, for what it's worth, the _reason_ why wood doesn't work in an iwagumi is because the literal translation of iwagumi is "collection of rocks."


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## Francis Xavier

Well, you are right in that regard Church, but it's a very very very surface-level reason of why. Iwagumi is an ancient art-form that makes up the composition of 'Zen-rock gardens,' and the rules that comprise composing an Iwagumi aquarium are more or less the same or based off of rules that comprise the ancient art form of zen-rock gardens, even the planting rules. So the same reason you don't see wood in an Iwagumi aquascape is the same reason why you don't see wood in an Ishigumi (ishi/iwa are the same kanji, different pronunciations) rock garden.


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## flyjsh

I knew a guy who had a 55 with dual HOB filters, no plants, no fish, and every bubble activated treasure chest, deep sea diver, etc, ever made. 

He loved it. I thought it looked ridiculous.

If you like it and everything is healthy, you did it right.


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## talontsiawd

I would say I am one who doesn't tend to follow rules but I also don't have exactly what I want.

Mine are simple. Use the golden rule. It does help, even if you have no idea what you really want, it is more visually appealing.

If you are going to use 1-2 species of plants, your hardscape needs to be very interesting.

You can alway rescape but it is impossible to be perfect. Get close and have fun.

Healthy plants look better in a mediocure scape than struggling ones do in a great scape.

Do your best to follow all the rules when trying to achieve a specific style of tank. It could be Iwagumi, Dutch, or just a general nature style. Rules are best broke after understood.


Aquascaping to me is very similar to learning/playing music. You can just pick up an instrument and have fun with it, nobody else has to like what you do to have fun. If you follow all the rules and theory, you may become very impressive, but may or may not have fun. When you really gain skill and know the rules, you can begin to to break them and come out with a better result than when you follow them. Only really skilled people pull this off (I am not one lol).

I want to say just have fun and the rules are what you make. But, the more you follow them, the more impressive your tank will seem to others. I half way follow rules and I am half way to where I want my tank. I plan to have a better plan when I decide to redo my tank. That is the beauty though, you can alway redo your tank.


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## tbonedeluxe

Might be a useful tip:
http://www.freshwateraquariumplants.com/aquascapingprinc/aquascaping101.html


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## Frogmanx82

If anyone has wondered about the calculation of the golden number it can be derived by a continual progression of numbers. Pick any two numbers say 3 and 8. add 3 to 8 and you have 11, 8 plus 11 is 19 and so on. 

Now use these to create a series of fractions. 3/8, 8/11, 11/19, 19/30, 30/49, 49/79....

If you divide those fractions out you will see that the number is converging on .618 which is actually not exact but is correct to three decimal places. I don't think there is an exact number for this, sort of like pi.

So 0.618 equals 1/1.618 equals 1.618/2.618, well like I said, not exactly, but very close. You could take the number out to many more decimal places.

The ratio is not only pleasing to the eye, but is said to be a common ratio for relative bone lengths in your arms, legs feet and hands as well as many places in nature.


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## Kittysnax

tbonedeluxe said:


> Might be a useful tip:
> http://www.freshwateraquariumplants.com/aquascapingprinc/aquascaping101.html


Thanks much tbone, this has helped answer a few of my n00blet questions, and from my imagination, I was on the right track ^_^


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## mistergreen

Frogmanx82 said:


> If anyone has wondered about the calculation of the golden number it can be derived by a continual progression of numbers. Pick any two numbers say 3 and 8. add 3 to 8 and you have 11, 8 plus 11 is 19 and so on.
> 
> Now use these to create a series of fractions. 3/8, 8/11, 11/19, 19/30, 30/49, 49/79....
> 
> If you divide those fractions out you will see that the number is converging on .618 which is actually not exact but is correct to three decimal places. I don't think there is an exact number for this, sort of like pi.
> 
> So 0.618 equals 1/1.618 equals 1.618/2.618, well like I said, not exactly, but very close. You could take the number out to many more decimal places.
> 
> The ratio is not only pleasing to the eye, but is said to be a common ratio for relative bone lengths in your arms, legs feet and hands as well as many places in nature.


you're describing something like the fibonacci sequence. But you can't pick any 2 numbers. It has to follow the series
1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,....etc...

It's a good way to estimate the golden section without doing too much math like finding the the square root of 5.


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## Church

All this sequence is is adding numbers to the previous ones. Since there's no integer smaller than 1, you would start with 1, and add it with the previous number (which is 0, or nothing) to get 1. Then you add that to the previous number (which is 1) and you get 2. Then you add that to the previous number (which is 1) and you get 3. Then you add that to the previous number (which is 2) and you get 5.

And so on...


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## Frogmanx82

mistergreen said:


> you're describing something like the fibonacci sequence. But you can't pick any 2 numbers. It has to follow the series
> 1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,....etc...
> 
> It's a good way to estimate the golden section without doing too much math like finding the the square root of 5.


Do the math, you can pick any two numbers. The sequence will always converge on .618. The fibonacci sequence just starts with 1.


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## Farmboy

Allright, my 46G bow is thirtysix inches across so I place my focal point 13.74 inches from the left side. Good! Looks like that is where it belongs. Does the golden rule apply to front to back placement also?


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## Frogmanx82

I don't think front to back is the same. You really don't have much room to work with and depth perception isn't going to be as noticeable. You just need to decide how you want to layer your front to back design


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## Grundy

I figured that this was as good of a place to ask as any:

Why do so many aquascapes look terrestrial? It looks like someone has taken a landscape miniturized it and then added fish or shrimp.

I think that many of these tanks are works of art that I could never reach that level but I am just curious as to the trend. Is it because people copy what they see and rarely get to see below the water such as with biotype aquaria?

Thanks.


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## Church

Why is the sky blue? Why is water wet?

Seriously, though, I agree that lately there has been a trend of recreating terrestrial landscapes, so it's pretty common. I think it really went into full swing when Filipe Olivera did his infamous moss tree aquascape. But nonetheless, there are still tons of aquascapes out there that are meant to recreate an underwater scene rather than a terrestrial one. You just wouldn't be able to tell that from looking at all the AGA and IAPLC contest entries. :icon_roll


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## Grundy

Church,
Thank you for the background and timeframe. I was looking at the contest entries and when I saw actual trees being made (not moss on a tree trunk) but a forest or grassland scape I really did not understand how this was natural aquascaping.

I also remember a finals question of why the sky is blue during the day and when it is red at dawn and dusk.


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## Church

Grundy said:


> Church,
> Thank you for the background and timeframe. I was looking at the contest entries and when I saw actual trees being made (not moss on a tree trunk) but a forest or grassland scape I really did not understand how this was natural aquascaping.
> 
> I also remember a finals question of why the sky is blue during the day and when it is red at dawn and dusk.


LOL, yeah it has to do with the electromagnetic spectrum from the sun getting filtered out and reflecting back into space. When the sun is directly overhead, and passing through the smallest amount of atmosphere, most of the colors of the spectrum get reflected back into space except for blue. And during sunrise/sunset, when the light is coming through at a steep angle, going through more atmosphere, more blue tends to get reflected back out, while the reds/oranges make it through.

Not that that has anything to do with planted tanks, but...

:biggrin:


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## D9VIN

talontsiawd said:


> I plan to have a better plan when I decide to redo my tank.


Best. Quote. Ever.

+1


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## plantbrain

AzFishKid said:


> I think these are all great tips - but personally, i don't think there are any Do's or Don'ts. If you're happy with it, then no need to change it. But i do agree with Dollface. If you're trying to create an iwagumi, wood definitely doesn't work.


Err why?

The type of Wood, just like the type of Rock, wood(pun intended) make quite the difference.

Just because it is not common done, does not imply the same style cannot be done with the same effect. Unlike rock, wood is easily cut and flat edges, etc can be used.


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## plantbrain

Francis Xavier said:


> Well, you are right in that regard Church, but it's a very very very surface-level reason of why. Iwagumi is an ancient art-form that makes up the composition of 'Zen-rock gardens,' and the rules that comprise composing an Iwagumi aquarium are more or less the same or based off of rules that comprise the ancient art form of zen-rock gardens, even the planting rules. So the same reason you don't see wood in an Iwagumi aquascape is the same reason why you don't see wood in an Ishigumi (ishi/iwa are the same kanji, different pronunciations) rock garden.


If the wood has a similar look to the rock, then the rules should be the same, even if the media is different.

I see no reason why this could not be done with the right wood. Wood is an easier media to work with. I like rock also, but I see the so called Zen Rock garden is a dry scape, lacking water in general. In the strict sense, that rule was obviously broken for the style ADA promoted with aquariums.
I see no good reason NOT to break it with wood as a media.

Maybe I am missing something.


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