Amazing Forest Aquascape Ideas

Aquascaping is one of the dark arts of fishkeeping. Very few books talk about the subject at all, and what information is published is based around the 'Nature Aquarium' theme popularised by Japanese aquarist.

While his approach can work incredibly well, it is geared for tanks containing only a few small fish and lots of plants. In terms of hardware, high-intensity lighting systems and carbon dioxide fertilisation for the plants are pretty well mandatory. As a result, the Nature Aquarium system isn't really suitable for busy community tanks set up on a budget or tanks containing disruptive or herbivorous species such as cichlids and plecs.

Moreover, since the focus of the Nature Aquarium is on plants, it doesn't really provide much help for aquarists keeping tanks where plants are either difficult or impossible to grow, such as tanks for Malawi cichlids or brackish water fishes.

Keep it simple
Natural habitats tend to be much less diverse, per square foot, than fish tanks. In nature, only a single type of rock will be seen, surrounded perhaps by a bit of mud or sand. It is very improbable that slate,

Balance life and death
As aquarists, we're drawn to healthy-looking fish and plants, but death and decay are natural parts of aquatic ecosystems.