Consider the landscape. A picture painted in a frame, with mountains, rivers, trees and grass. Or it could be a living landscape, changing all the time as animals move in and out of the frame, lightening strikes and fells trees. Both are, nonetheless, a landscape.

An aquascape can be considered in the same way. Whether it is a still-frame, underwater picture of a reef in Hawaii, complete with fish and coral, or a living view of that reef, both are, in a similar way to our view of the landscape, aquascapes.

In todays world of aquarium management, the aquascape has become a popular way to bring a truer picture of sea life into the home or office.

Gone are the artificial plants and fake diving bells and sunken chests. Today, the saltwater aquarist - otherwise known as a marine or reef aquarist- strives to recreate the environment of the exotic fish and indigenous creatures of the sea.

Plants, coral, invertebrate life - like shrimp, crabs, and snails - all live together in a carefully controlled environment that mimics the ocean floor as closely as possible.

Though temperature, mineral content and lighting are, as always, important in this aquarium mix, even more important is the understanding of sea life as a community affair.

An aquascape must take into consideration which fish will thrive together and which will kill or harm each other. It must look at natural enemies, food sources and the cycle of survival.

Taking a page from the science museums and city aquariums, the hobbyist now has the tools, equipment and supplies to build his or her own version of the giant fish tank at the Boston Aquarium, or the beautiful Reef Tanks in Australia.

Though on a much smaller scale, the aquarist must still assess how the plants and other items will live together, whether the light will be sufficient, how fast the plants will outgrow the tank and how much pruning and maintenance is required.

After all of that, he will look at all the wonderful colors and shapes in the sea and choose the ones he likes the best to paint his living picture.

Fish today are much luckier than in the days of the fake sunken chest.

They get to swim, play and nap in an environment that is very much like the one in which they were spawned.

And we, as aquarists are also lucky! Because we have the chance to watch the miracle of natural growth and the cycle of life, as if we were living under the sea with the ancestors and family of those beautiful fish in the aquarium.

An aquascape is perhaps only a virtual picture of the sea. Yet it is ecologically correct!

And, it is a more beautiful and realistic environment than any ever conceived by the hands that placed that little replica of Davy Jones next to the plastic fern at the bottom of our old fish tank!

However, if you want your aquascaped aquarium to look like a real work of art you need help in selecting the right plants, fish and accessories. Our new step-by-step guide has a free preview. Just visit the link below.

George Cuthbert is a freelance author specialising in popular scientific and zoological subjects.

Question:

I recently purchased an aquarium from somebody that was using it as a saltwater aquarium. It is very dirty and has salt caked all over it. I need to clean off all the algae and salt. Do I just use water and a scrubber or is there more to it? I read somewhere to use vinegar, anyone ever heard of this? Also what is a protein skimmer? The tank came with all types of stuff that I’m not familiar with. Can I keep any of the decor that was in the tank if I rinse it off? Thanks for any advice you can give.

I already have 5 fancy tailed goldfish and 2 small catfish in my other tank that I plan on transferring into this tank. The decor is mostly rocks and fake plants. I removed all of the old gravel because I want to use the rocks that I had in my old tank.

It came with 2 filters a dual bio-wheel and the the one that uses rocks with charcoal. I was planning on keeping the filters and replacing what I can with new stuff. Or can I clean the pads and wheels as well as the casing?

Answer:

Vinegar and water will be fine to scrub off the inside of the tank. Don’t use your regular algae scrubber though. Use something disposable so you can just toss all the germs and grime away. Soak all decor in a diluted bleach solution for a while to get rid of the diseases that may be present. A protein skimmer removes organic materials from saltwater aquariums and are not needed to create a freshwater environment for your fish. Good move not using the old gravel, you don’t want bacteria in your newly set up tank from the old fish. I’m actually surprised that there was any gravel as sand is a more popular substrate for saltwater tanks. What type of filter did your new tank come with. You need to do some research on this filter because it may not be compatible with your freshwater tank. If it is just a standard power filter, throw away the pad and set it up in a empty container and turn it on and let it run to clean it out. Also, scrub the insides really good to get rid of old algae, debris, and bacteria. Pipe cleaners work well to clean the tubing. Be sure to clean everything as well as possible.

Question:
I have a freshwater aquarium (10 gallon), and it’s nice and all, but I’d like to try an aquarium with some really beautiful fish. A lot of the colorful ones are saltwater. I take care of my tank, and it’s not a big hassle. I change the water, add some chemicals, feed them, make sure everything is ok every day, and that’s about it. Is a saltwater tank significantly harder to maintain? And besides for what I just mentioned I do to take care of my freshwater tank, what additional things do I need to do to support a healthy saltwater tank?

Or would you recommend just buying a bigger tank and purchasing aggressive fish? Those seem to be really nice too. I was thinking cichlids and some others, maybe an eel too. Can peaceful fish such as my australian rainbow be put in with fish like those? Thanks, any ideas/help/comments would be appreciated.

I don’t want to spend too much, but I don’t have a set limit. I want to make sure I get good equipment. The size I’m planning for is 55 gal. Is that a good size that will allow me some diverse fish, or is that too small? Also, please tell me about the lighting.

Answer:
-Fill a tank with salt water ( specific garvity should be around 1.021 - 1.025 and a new filter (you need somthing that moves at least 10 gallons/hour for every gallon of salt water. Use only Reverse Osmosis cleaned water, regular water (even dechlorinated) will cause huge slime and algae blooms.
-Add a few inches of crushed aragonite, shells or sand
-Add at least 10 pounds of live rock (cured is best, you can tell if it isn’t if it has a stong smell) for about a 40 gallon tank
- You will need to have floescent lights (one floescent and one actinic tube is better and you channge one every six months so that niether is ever more then one year old)
- A heater is probably a good idea depending on what fish you have
- Test the water daily, Like a freshwater tank the ammonia nitrite and nitrate levels will all take a turn at rising, then subside to normal levels. When the levels are no longer spiking, it is time to start slowly adding fish. This can take a few months to a year - depending on how lucky you are.
- Maintaining a fish-only tank isn’t too hard once it is started. You do weekly salt-water changes of about 10% of the water, and replace evaporated water with water only (salt doesn’t evaporate). Feed whatever is appropriate to the fish in the tank. Other then mixing the salt water, it is as much work for me as my tropical tanks.
- Corals are what makes it a huge expense and challenge as they need metal halide lights, skimmers, refugiums, chillers etc. not too mention the supplements and feeds.