Water Landscape Composition.
An obvious aspect taken into account when creating a landscape is the fact that since the substrate placement method and lighting type vary depending on the underwater composition type, the design concept must be clearly defined at the very initial stage of the process. For example, it should be decided whether rocks or driftwood will be used as the main decorative material for building the landscape. Perhaps the idea is to create an open aquarium with branch ends emerging to the surface when using driftwood. An open-top aquarium will require the use of hanging-type light fixtures.
The choice of substrate material and its placement method depends on whether aquatic plants or decorative sand will be used in the foreground. To make the aquarium look truly natural, you need to put a lot of effort into its decoration. Aquarium design is a whole science. Here we can only give a few useful tips; everything else depends on your taste and your vision of a beautiful aquarium.
First of all, you need to imagine what kind of underwater world you want to create. Creating this enclosed underwater world can be likened to putting together a puzzle picture. You know what the final picture should look like, but to create a single whole, you first need to examine and fit many separate pieces together. It makes no sense to start with a certain piece and move forward in a predetermined sequence, as there are very many variable components in this process.
Take a sheet of paper, preferably the same size as the bottom of the intended aquarium, but scale is also fine. And sketch out a rough layout plan for all equipment, decorations, and plants. At the same time, take into account both your desires and the needs of the fish you plan to keep. That is, provide shelters, zone dividers, etc. It is advisable to make a plan clearly showing where each piece of internal aquarium equipment should be located. There must be enough free space left so that the fish have the opportunity to swim freely. And the larger the size of these fish, the more space they need for swimming. Then, in accordance with this plan, you should draft an aquarium setup project.
For most people, fish are of the greatest interest in the aquarium, so most often the correct choice of fish is the factor that determines the success of the aquarium as a whole. Ideally, it should be like this: first, you need to decide which specific fish you would like to keep, and then take care of where to place them. Some prefer to keep large fish, 15-20 cm long, while small ones seem uninteresting and boring.
Large fish need swimming space, so the tank shouldn’t be cluttered with decorative elements, even plant ones. Large specimens usually do not get along well with plants — they break them, tear leaves, and dig them up. Other aquarists, on the contrary, prefer small, bright fish. Large ones seem too aggressive, devoid of refinement to them, and watching them brings no pleasure. Temperament is equally important. There are sluggish, slow individuals (Discus, catfishes, Pterophyllum), as well as fast and very swiftly swimming ones — Barbus, Leporinus, Balantiocheilos melanopterus.
For the chosen option, you can pick decoration elements that will help you create the desired underwater landscape as a whole. When aquascaping, try to pursue a single concept. Identify areas of the aquarium suitable for the role of a “center of attention” and arrange them accordingly. It is advisable to hide all technical devices using substrate, plants, rocks, or driftwood. But the main task of aquarium design is to reproduce the most plausible scenery in the aquarium. The interior design of the aquarium must be both beautiful and natural. Be prepared to abandon any idea if it, while pleasing to the eye, may cause physical or psychological discomfort to the aquarium inhabitants.
External design is necessary so that the complex consisting of the aquarium, stand, and light fixture harmoniously fits into the room interior. Modern technologies and aquarium equipment allow it to be executed in such a way that it matches the surrounding space as much as possible. The curvature of silicate glass can repeat or complement the curves of walls and furniture, and acrylic glass has virtually no limitations other than the laws of physics and common sense. The finish of light fixtures and stands makes the aquarium part of the decor or highlights it as a visual center around which the room composition will be built. Simply put, what you see in the aquarium every day should at least please you.
Out of the many aquarium shape options, decoration naturally plays the main role. It is aquarium design that will determine the “place” of the aquarium in your home. A properly decorated aquarium knows how to influence mood; it can tone or relax. A beautifully and tastefully decorated body of water harmoniously integrated into the surrounding space can easily turn out to be the right accent and dominant of the entire architectural space. The aquarium should bring you joy and aesthetic pleasure.
Water Landscape Composition. When we come to “composition” in art history reference books, we find many confusing geometric shapes and meanings that intimidate the reader. But composition is not that difficult to understand. Everything conforms to a simple ratio called the “Golden Ratio”. For example, we need to place a stone in a 120 cm aquarium. Most people will not put it in the middle. They will place it to the right or left of the center, and this, paradoxically, will be more balanced. The best position in terms of human perception as the most balanced has been known since the ancient Greeks. This is a ratio of 1 : 1.618, or the “Golden Ratio”. This is a ratio where the smaller part relates to the larger as the larger to the entire line. This can be calculated as 3/5.
Decoration elements must be of natural origin. Rounded stones are used to create a river landscape, while flat stones of irregular shape are used to simulate rocks. Various driftwood (roots, tree branches) also look great. To create an underwater scenery on the back wall, a special background is used. The pattern can be chosen according to the internal layout of the aquarium. If the aquarium is densely planted with plants, then the background can be chosen with a plant pattern. And if you have a rocky terrain, then the pattern should be chosen accordingly. In addition, there are back walls with a convex rock image that are installed in the aquarium near the back glass. Aquarium substrate arranged in steps looks beautiful, and plants are also planted in steps near the back wall of the aquarium — tall plants along the wall and low-growing plants in front of them.
A planted aquarium is not so static — every day or every few days new leaves grow, new twigs or young plants appear. When placing plants in the aquarium, you should remember about lighting conditions. In the part of the tank that is illuminated best, the most light-requiring plants should be placed. Those places in the aquarium that, due to shade created by large plants or decoration elements, are not exposed to such obvious light irradiation should be planted with plants less demanding of light.
Plants with delicate feathery leaves almost always require a lot of light and do not tolerate water pollution. The more plants per fish, the cleaner the water will be. For open-water inhabitants needing swimming space, only the far corners should be densely planted, and plants should be placed in separate groups near the side walls and at the back of the aquarium. If fish dig in the substrate or undermine roots, plants are best placed in pots. In this case, plants with thin feathery leaves should also be abandoned, as they easily get soiled. A number of fish species that do not disdain delicate greenery cannot be placed in the same aquarium with delicate plants — unless, of course, you are going to provide them with such an expensive diet!
Needless to say, the foundation of interior design is the ability of the biological system to thrive in conditions created by specialists. This is facilitated by rules for the selection, installation, and setup of equipment, selection of hydrobionts (fish, invertebrates, and plants), aquarium startup, and its timely maintenance. Do not wish for too much from the very beginning. Stock the aquarium only to half its potential level and gradually add fish — this is a safe way. And besides, you will allow time for its setup according to the growing population.
Aquarium design implies both decorating the tank walls and filling the aquarium with various decorative elements, one of the main functions of which is not just to attract the attention of others, but first of all to create excellent conditions for aquarium fish to spawn and reproduce. The second step is the selection of decor elements: rocks, driftwood, ceramics, plastic products, and much more — and each of them may also have its own impact on water properties; for example, driftwood acidify the water and release certain amounts of humic acids. At the same time, decor elements must fit into the general aquarium styling, being part of the aquarium design. In some cases, design elements can be skeletons of living corals, mollusk shells, artificial plants, willow roots, and various non-traditional items.
When you design your aquarium, you must immediately think about the fact that all these decorations, rocks, and driftwood will have to be removed to clean them from algae and ingrained dirt. Over time, some algae always settle in the aquarium; they form fouling on glass, rocks, ceramics, living and artificial plants. All limestone rocks have a light color: from white to grayish-yellow. Because of this, they rather quickly become overgrown with algae, from which they have to be cleaned. And considering that limestone is a soft stone, rough handling and cleaning noticeably destroy it. Magnificent grottoes are obtained from lava rock. Foamy hardened lava is relatively light.
Interrelations between Composition Elements. Proportionality. 
