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photo by Frode roe, Norway The Basics The greatest secret to a lavishly arranged Dutch aquarium is perspective and depth. this is achieved by the use of raised substrates, lines, and focal points. The plants in view get taller and taller as you look toward the rear, and lines are created that draw your eye to a central focal point. the focal point may be a large solitary plant, or a group of plants with a striking contrast in color, or a large rock or piece of wood surrounded by smaller plants or moss. The larger the tank the more focal points can be utilized. What is terracing? Terracing is the art of layering the substrate to varying heights by using supporting materials such as wood, rock, or walls, and support levels attached directly to the aquarium walls. The greatest challenge in terracing is the fact that eventually the substrate settles, shifts, and falls forward. The process is accelerated each time the substrate is disturbed by cleaning or re-planting. This should be minimized by solid construction rather than haphazard placement of slate or wood. A strong foreground The foreground can make or break the entire look or desired affect of the Dutch aquascape. Your gravel should be as low as possible against the front glass. Ideally, no visible gravel line is best. Two or three inch decorative tape can be used to cover visible gravel, but just be sure the gravel line is of equal height to the tape, not below it, or above it. Plants, rocks, or wood should not be pushed up against the glass. The foreground should look neat, well groomed, and not overgrown or cluttered. Avoiding the commonplace The design of your aquascape is only limited by your own imagination. Never use large solitary plants in the foreground for the obvious reason you can not see what's behind it! Putting large plants dead center for a "centerpiece" becomes boring because the eye is always drawn to it. In a layered substrate large plants do not always have to be in the far rear, but instead left or right center, or mid rear ends with open areas going around to a higher terrace. Along the same vein small plants need not only be in the foreground. This combination creates a wonderful sense of depth perception. Frodes' picture above is actually a simple design when you look at it closely, just a few well defined groups of plants. But it is visually powerful. The foreground is low and neat, good lines draw your eye to a focal point and the groups have excellent contrast. What to do with those glass walls In a Dutch aquarium great care is given to conceal
all equipment, tubing, and anything that detracts from the visual beauty. This may include covering the glass walls with plants and terraces. Either cork,
Styrofoam, wood. or bark can be used to cover the glass and support plants
and shelves.
Terraces
In making a terrace, banks of sand are built up and kept in place with barriers of some more stable material, Many different materials may be used for these barriers, but most natural effect is achieved by using pieces of bogwood, natural rock or lava stone.
Bogwood is the name given to pieces of trunk or root which have been preserved by organic acids in peat bogs: this makes bogwood very different from drift wood, or dead wood found in a forest. Bogwood can be bought in aquarium shops or sometimes obtained from people who have found it themselves in its natural environment. Before any piece of bogwood is used in a tank it should be thoroughly soaked so that it becomes completely waterlogged: this prevents its rising or floating in the aquarium. The soft parts of the wood should be removed and the hard core thoroughly scrubbed and cleaned before being put in the aquarium. If terraces are made of cork bark, the cork should be treated as it is suggested cork be treated when used for walls. Stones are usually used for the walls and terraces of a species tank for Cichlids (a species tank, as opposed to a community tank is one specially designed for a particular spices or group of species which for one reason or another should not be kept with other kinds of fish in the conventional community tank.) Walls and terraces of stones should be built with extra care and on the floor of the tank and not on sand, otherwise they may be undermined by the fish and collapse. The accompanying illustration shows how it is possible to build high terraces and create the hiding places or retreats so beloved by many species. You must decide for yourself the position and height of the terraces but should always remember that terraces which run parallel to the front of the tank give no illusion of depth. That can be achieve far more effective by placing them at an angle, of say 45 degrees. In addition, the terraces should be at different levels and built up in steps, beginning at the bottom and working up, starting at the front of the tank and working backwards. A symmetrical arrangement should be avoided: terraces on the left and right of the tank should not be of the same height and shape. There should also be a clear view through to the back of the tank somewhere, through not in dead center at that point the terraces should be kept very low. Using cork Cork tiles or sheets can usually
be found at hardware stores, home improvement stores, or hobby stores.
It can be easily attached to sheets of safe, non water soluble plastic
or acrylic, which can then be siliconed to the aquarium glass. Plants
such as Anubias, Java fern, Bolbitis fern, Borneo fern, Java moss, and
Willow moss can then be attached directly to the wall. Wood branches can
be siliconed into a dugout hole in the cork to create shelves and overhangs.
Small lightweight pots can also be siliconed to the cork, or pots can be
made from scraps of cork. the fairly dark colored cork blends into the
shadows and can even be covered with broken shale, gravel, sand, or bark.
CORKBARK AS WALLS by Frode roe A fine way to decorate back and side walls in a aquarium, is to use corkbark. Here you can learn a method that I have used several times, which seems to be cheap and effective. For more beautiful looks, its possible to attack different spec, of plants to it. Corkbark can be bought in most local aqua shops around. Remember that corkbark will float and soaking it will not solve the problem, it will float anyway. An aquastabil aquarium or a similar tank have an aluminum edge at the top. Then the corkbark fits nicely under this edge, and will stay there. If you have an all glass tank, a good way is to attach the corkbark with the use of silicone. Next step is to attach plants. Species like Vesicularia dubyana, Micrsorum pteropus, Anubias spec, Bolbitis heudelotii and even Riccia fluitans can be used. You simply use thin fishing line (0,10 mm) to attach plants with the corkbark. Remember its easier to attach them before putting the corkbark in place. If you already have siliconed the cork in the wall, you can also use small needles to attach plant with. Its even possible to take the piece of fishing line, put it around the plant and fasten the line in each side of the cork. The corkbark is now soaked and is rather soft, and this allows the fishing line to be pressed down into the soft cork. After a month or two the fishing line can be removed, but is not necessarily because your plants by now have grown over and hides it. Corkbark can also be used in a corner of the aquarium, here it can hide filter, heating meter and so on. Remember that the corkbark must be cleaned before use. It does not do any harm to your water quality. Try it, it could be worth it. |
