Iwagumi Style and Layout

The objective is to evoke a landscape in miniature, rather than a colorful garden. This style draws particularly from the Japanese aesthetic concepts of Wabi-sabi (侘寂), which focuses on transience and minimalism as sources of beauty, and Iwagumi (岩組),which sets rules governing rock placement. In the Iwagumi system, the Oyaishi (親石), or main stone, is placed slightly off-center in the tank, and Soeishi (添石), or accompanying stones, are grouped near it, while Fukuseki (副石), or secondary stones, are arranged in subordinate positions.

The location of the focal point of the display, determined largely by the asymmetric placement of the Oyaishi, is considered important, and follows ratios that reflect Pythagorean tuning. Plants with small leaves, such as Eleocharis acicularis, Glossostigma elatinoides, Hemianthus callitrichoides, Riccia fluitans, small aquatic ferns, and Java moss (Versicularia dubyana or Taxiphyllum barbieri) are usually emphasized, with more limited colors than in the Dutch style, and the hardscape is not completely covered.

Dutch Style and Layout

The Dutch aquarium employs a lush arrangement in which multiple types of plants having diverse leaf colors, sizes, and textures are displayed much as terrestrial plants are shown in a flower garden. This style was developed in the Netherlands starting in the 1930s, as freshwater aquarium equipment became commercially available. It emphasizes plants located on terraces of different heights, and frequently omits rocks and driftwood. Linear rows of plants running left-to-right are referred to as "Dutch streets".

Although many plant types are used, one typically sees neatly trimmed groupings of plants with fine, feathery foliage, such as Limnophila aquatica and various types of Hygrophila, along with the use of red-leaved Alternanthera reineckii, Ammania gracilis, and assorted Rotala for color highlights. More than 80% of the aquarium floor is covered with plants, and little or no substrate is left visible.

Natural Style and Layout

Biotope Style and Hardscape Layout

The styles above often combine plant and animal species based on the desired visual impact, without regard to geographic origin. Biotope aquascapes are designed instead to replicate exactly a particular aquatic habitat at a particular geographic location, and not necessarily to provide a gardenlike display.

Plants and fish need not be present at all, but if they are, they must match what would be found in nature in the habitat being represented, as must any gravel and hardscape, and even the chemical composition of the water.

This style is characterized by attention to the alignment and grouping of rocks, driftwood and aquatic plants in order to create an underwater miniature representation of particular terrestrial landscapes. In the majority of cases, the Nature Aquarium aquascapes depict scaled-down versions of rainforests, mountains, hillsides or valleys. Elements of Japanese gardening are generally used when building a Nature aquarium, such as the implementation of the Golden ratio.

Even though the general appearance of the Nature style aquascape makes it seem unplanned, quite random and without design, the truth is accomplishing this type of layout requires a lot of intricate work. Stones and driftwood are organized carefully alongside asymmetrical arrangements of groups of relatively few species of plants in order to create natural ambience and flow. Nature aquarium aquascapes usually have only one focal point positioned according to the Golden Rule.