Tips for the most beautifully decorated tanks

[dpatte]

I'm wondering if people have special hints they give themselves when decorating beautiful natural-looking tanks.

I certainly have a few hints I give myself. But I have never put any of these ideas into words - till now.

So I'd like to start this thread with some ideas that I think about when decorating.... and ask people to add their own hints.

1) Hide as much of the equipment as possible.

When looking at a great tank, i really hate being distracted by a flicking heater light, or a filter intake tube.

2) Depth and Depth.

Some people decorate just the back of the tank. Why not put some interest in the front as well? Also, I see a lot of tanks that have the bottom 1/3 decorated, and the top 2/3 empty (except water). Decorate right to the water surface, if you dare!

3) Depth Again

I always have the substrate generally deeper in the back than in the front. It seems to make the tank look larger, and its related to Depth-2 above as well.

4) Avoid even numbers and pure symmetry.

Unless you want to make it look like a formal royal maze, symmetry simply looks unnatural. Nature is often symmetrical but never perfect, so make the symmetry cues off-centre, one side higher than the other, or redder than the other. This adds interest. As for even numbers... many land gardeners know that 1 tulip or 3 tulips always look better than two tulips. I don't know why. Follow the same rule. Have 1 centrepiece plant, or 3, or 5, but never 2 or 4.

5) Avoid too many fish, or too many kinds of fishes.

Look at all the beautiful aquarium pictures, and those with fish have only a few fish! Give a chance for the viewer to try to find a fish occasionally, it adds mystery.

And a few different schools of similiar fish are more exciting than 25 fish, all different. Same goes for plants, or the colours of your rocks!

6) When figuring out the fish for your tank, try to balance the weight of the species.

If you have two kinds of fish in your tank, and one is larger than the other; put less of the larger fish, and more of the smaller fish, so each species has the same total weight. Works if you have 6 species as well.  

7) Mimic something in nature

Many of the prizewinning tanks look like a forest. Some even have 'rivers' in the tank. I like rock-cliffs decors myself. Avoid anything 'fake' or 'corny'.

Drama

The rock that looks like it is ALMOST going to fall over and sticks out half-way across the tank! We don't like boring movies, or boring books, why would we like boring tanks?

9) FINALLY - Mystery.

Mystery or intrigue; a part of the tank you can't quite see, that may have a fish in it. A cave, a dark portion of the tank. A thicket of plants you cannot see through. All these add mystery and will captivate the viewer.


Now, I'm not saying I'm good at following these rules I make up for myself, but my tanks are getting better...

What tips do others have for making beautiful decorated tanks?

   

[Fishnut]

Regular Maintenance!

Without regular trimming of dead and dying leaves, trimming the stem plants and some of the unsigtly roots from others, a beautifully aquascaped tank can quickly turn into an unsightly Jungle.

Water Changes

Water changes help keep everything in check.  The plants and fish appreciate a well kept water change regime.

Not too much food

Fish don't need to eat that much.  What they don't eat or what their body doesn't absorb will just contaminate the tank.  Plants will use up some of this waste but so will algae.  By keeping the waste to a minimum by not over-feeding and doing regular water changes, you will have less algae and hopefully none of the nasty algae that negatively affects the aquascape and health of the plants.

I also have trouble following my tips at times

[dpatte]

Those are good maintenance rules, but do you have some decorating tips when first setting up a tank?

[Fishnut]

Hmmm...

The plant gurus never plant a tank full of water.  They always place the rocks and wood in to the dry substrate, fill it just to the top of the gravel, stick the plants in with the planting tweezers (which I thought were a waste of money but turns out that they're amazing!) then fill it up.

Also, when they fill it, they do everything they can not to disturb the substrate.  Try letting the water fall onto an upside down saucer.

[Greatwhite]

You forgot number 10... Be salt water. 

[blueknight0303]

finish designing the tank first before deciding what kind of fish to put in. any kind of sea creature will look good on a well designed tank. ofcourse if its planted, avoid the ones who would literally destroy your plants.

[blueknight0303]

Hmmm...

The plant gurus never plant a tank full of water.  They always place the rocks and wood in to the dry substrate, fill it just to the top of the gravel, stick the plants in with the planting tweezers (which I thought were a waste of money but turns out that they're amazing!) then fill it up.

Also, when they fill it, they do everything they can not to disturb the substrate.  Try letting the water fall onto an upside down saucer.

as what he said... when doing a planted tank. plan for a long term commitment before you buy plants.. make sure you will have time to commit on trimming/removing dead leaves/replanting the plants. most plants will out grow the whole tank thats why make sure to do maintenance once in a while. plant tweezers are AMAZING! investing for one is worth it and when starting a planted tank, always start dry. its the best or should i say the most efficient way to do it.

[blueknight0303]

You forgot number 10... Be salt water. 

We are on the Freshwater General Discussions BTW. 

[Greatwhite]

We are on the Freshwater General Discussions BTW. 

Oh, I know. I'm just teasing!  The tips are very good, though - and apply to fresh AND salt, in my opinion.

[blueknight0303]

Oh, I know. I'm just teasing!  The tips are very good, though - and apply to fresh AND salt, in my opinion.

true

[Roland]

The design of freshwater tanks tends to be horizontal, or front to back and side to side, where as salt water the landscaping flows vertical.

[Greatwhite]

The design of freshwater tanks tends to be horizontal, or front to back and side to side, where as salt water the landscaping flows vertical.

Not sure if that's always the case with salt.. I've seen both ways, in salt and in fresh.  Plus, #2 says to design upwards too.

I guess if you have a nice piece of driftwood, the tendency would be to orient it horizontally while a nice coral typically points up.

[exv152]

Look up iwagumi principles of aquascaping.  They recommend starting your layout by placing the largest focal point first (rock or wood), and then the secondary smaller pieces. The key is to use odd numbers of anything, even numbers lends to the human tendency to symmetrize which doesn't look as nice. A high-tech, well planted, well aquascaped tank cannot be beat.

[charlie]

Don`t much to offer in terms of tips since all the tips i follow are already stated, but i personally use those tips a general guide line & don`t conform to it as a hard & fast rule - what i`m saying is i scape the tank to suit my fancy, since i`m the one who looks at it the most & maintain it 

[Hookup]

rule of thirds would often apply, it's how I did my tank (or tired to)... but in 3D, (rule of 3rds is often photography/painting based i think?)

anyhow, saying looking at the tank flat, you have left, middle, right 1/3rds each should offer something interesting and unique without being jaring...

looking from front to back, same applies... front 1/3rd, middle 1/3rd, back 1/3rd... and then top to bottom 1/3rds as well... (man that's like 9 thirds)


Also the golden rectangle (not sure what it's called exactly, but it traces the nautulis shell shape out when you join all the line-segments at their mid-points...    I believe the 75gal tank is the closest approximation to this desired ration of length and height...  This has a nice affect when looking at proportions within your tank..   I was very disappointed I could not use this effectively in my tank...

[Hookup]

follow these for some links that I like;

Rule of Thirds  - Some good examples of photos that leverage this rule.  The basic rule is none of the 1/3rds should match/look the same and to leverage the natual focus points created by the intersecting 1/3rd lines.

Golden Ratio/Rectangle - A great guide for proportion... having everything big or everything small is boring... using this is a fantastic way to create interesting proportion between elements in your tank.

Rule of Three (3) - Well this is an example of the rule of Odds... which I always found funny because as humans we like to categorize and organize, which works better with even numbers (no leftovers) but creatively, we love odd numbers... here are some exmples of using 3 items/elements to create impact.

Leading Lines - Due to the very small depth of our tanks (front to back) this can be very hard to encorporate... but not impossible.  I blieve Charlie has a good example of this in one of his tanks where the "tree structure" flows out from the right into the left side of the tank... causing your eye to lead from the tips of the "Tree" into the detail of the tree itself on the right... the leading line is left to right on this example.

[zoom111]

Are all these rules and tips fun for you guys ? How does the hobby progress if everyone does the same thing, scape to your hearts desire !!

[Hookup]

Are all these rules and tips fun for you guys ? How does the hobby progress if everyone does the same thing, scape to your hearts desire !!

Though I'm assuming your comment was mostly tongue-in-cheek, the rules for artistic design are pretty well established.  The point of the thread (as it appeared to me anyhow) was to take a look at what the general rules and guidelines are for aquascaping and making a good looking tank.

Most people would think there is a difference between:


and



or between


and this one


All of the rules in this thread are deduced from the analysis of what the general population appreciates as a good looking tank... But individual perspective may vary...  Nor is there a "Aqua-Squad" who's are going to bust anyone for not following the rules (LOL)   

These are just general rules... which really is the point of the thread, isnt it?

[Greatwhite]

The rules of thirds apply in ALL design, because symmetry is boring.  Like Hookup mentioned, you want to draw peoples' eyes all around the tank, and not just to one focal point.

When you are laying things out, look at it from different angles, and see how things look and where your eye is drawn.  I've been sitting with a kitchen designer for HOURS, and he is constantly moving his perspective in the 3d renderings around to make sure that the design is interesting from all angles.

I love some of the planted tank aquascaping I've seen...  The last picture in Hookup's previous post is a great example.

[zoom111]

Why you make fun of my tank 



The 3rd one isn't horrid; and I agree with general guidelines for designing, just want to stress that people should design their tank the way they enjoy it. Some hobbyist will take lots of time planning and executing their aqua-plan while others simply throw it together to have a tank. Big difference when you compare the hardcore hobbyist (who spends a lot of time in/around his tank) with a non-hobbyist.