Intro to Aquascaping

Aquascaping is a type of gardening that is done underwater, often in aquariums. Aquascaping has many different challenges when compared to normal gardening because plants must compete more for resources such as space, nutrients, and light. In aquascaping there are two main aspects – hardscape and softscape. Hardscape consists of the various rocks, substrate, driftwood, and other unchanging decor of the aquarium. Softscape, on the other hand, refers to the plants.

Careful consideration must be taken when choosing hardscape. Anything that is placed into the aquarium must be safe as to not leak chemicals or minerals that could harm the plants and fish that live in it. Popular substrates are gravel and sand. For planted aquariums, it is recommended to use nutrient rich substrates. Some aquascapers even make their own substrate. One popular method of keeping aquarium plants, known as walstad method, uses a mixture of gravel or sand above a layer of soil without fertilizer.

Light is important to all plants, especially ones underwater. Some plants, especially beginner ones such as anubias and java ferns, do not require high lighting. Most aquarium plants prefer lights that can replicate full sun. However, lighting must also be restricted to prevent algae growth.

Most aquariums that are large enough for plants, the softscape part of aquascaping, usually only have one or a few square feet of space. This means that plant placement needs be strategic. Plants are placed to create a foreground, midground, background, and floating plants to promote a sense of depth. The bigger the aquarium size, the easier it is to keep plants and animals healthy.

Some aquarium plants, such as anubias and java ferns, act more like air plants since they prefer to be attached to rocks or driftwood as opposed to planted in the substrate. In the second picture, you can see the wide leafed plant, anubia, is attached to the driftwood with its roots growing freely in the water. The anubia is also one of the few plants that will flower underwater. Its beautiful white flower can be seen in the third picture.

Some aquarium plants are closely related to plants that grow above the water. Hydrocotyle refers to many aquatic plants with round leaves or leaves that look similar to clover. These underwater plants are closely related to dollarweed, also known as pennywort.

Underwater gardening has many differences from traditional gardening. Much like traditional gardening however, the results can be very beautiful and rewarding.