When you see other people’s beautiful aquariums, you can’t help but admire them, but when you look back at your own tank, you can only sigh. How can you build your own perfect marine aquarium? Then follow the action!

In fact, looking at various beautiful aquariums around the world, they all have a common feature, that is, the balance between live rocks and organisms. When the objects in the aquarium are placed at a balance point, you will find that everything seems to be just right, and the originally abrupt shape becomes more harmonious.

Landscape category

In marine aquarium landscape, it is mainly divided into the following two types:

Reef rock landscape: It is mainly based on about 40% of the foundation stone (live rock, dead stone, artificial stone, etc.) with “appropriate” corals, anemones, fish and other biological landscape styles. Because reef rock landscapes have more bacterial culture foundation stones, most of them use the Berlin system.

Coral landscaping: It is mainly a style of landscape with a very small amount of foundation stones (live rocks, dead rocks, artificial rocks, etc.) and a large amount of corals. In aquatic plant landscaping, we call it Dutch landscape. Because coral landscaping has less bacterial foundation stones, it uses more ZEO systems (zeolite systems). Of course, adding a large amount of bacterial foundation stones to the bottom filter can also achieve the Berlin system.

Composition

After we are ready in the early stage, we must first think carefully about where you plan to place the live rocks and creatures in the sea tank?

The entire sea tank is a photo. We can use the rule of thirds, which is often used in photography, to make the various objects in the sea tank more balanced, the picture more harmonious, and highlight the key points to catch the viewer’s eye.

Color matching

In color matching, you only need to remember one thing, that is, don’t appear in the same color system in a block, because this will make the sea tank look very monotonous.

Corals of the same color system can be staggered, and then other colored creatures can be placed around and interspersed with each other. For example, placing red in the middle, and surrounded by blue and green corals, is very eye-catching.

Of course, you can also adjust it according to your own coral species and colors. In short, it doesn’t look too abrupt. Finally, fish lovers can adjust it according to the color of the color plate.

Landscaping skills

01. Avoid symmetry and golden ratio

In our subconscious mind, we always pursue symmetrical patterns. In our sea tanks, we should avoid using symmetrical landscaping patterns to avoid excessive artificial traces.

Any two landscaping units, if set according to the golden ratio, will be natural and harmonious. It has been proven in gardens, architecture and photography that people usually use 5 and 3 in the number series to simply describe the golden ratio, and the ratio is about 1.6.

02. Leave blank space

From a visual point of view, landscapes with rich structure and depth of field are closer to coral reefs than live rock piles. To achieve this effect, add as little live rock as possible to increase the contrast and visual impact between landscapes. Keep the back wall and side walls clean, without calcareous algae, obvious flow, overflow, etc., and keep the bottom sand free of small stones, shells, dead coral bones and other garbage.

This is one of the commonly used techniques in photography and landscaping. In addition to the visual impact brought by leaving blank space, this structure has other benefits. Fish have more space to swim, the water flow is smoother, and the nutrients are lower due to the reduction of garbage accumulation.

03. Reduce the lens effect

Many people encounter another problem when landscaping – light refraction. Simply put, the light is bent and changed after leaving the fish tank and entering the eye, making the distance of the landscaping in the sea tank appear closer. Refraction will compress about one-third of the depth of field. In fact, the bending of light only changes the depth of field and has no effect on the width and height. This means that any slope you build will be compressed from front to back.

If you build a good landscape outside the tank and then put it into the sea tank, the slope in front will be compressed by 30%. That is to say, a 45-degree forward slope will become a 60-degree slope. Similarly, a 60-degree slope may become a wall. After understanding this rule, your landscape design can save a lot of time. Simply put, try to make a gentle slope from front to back.

Use some tiny corals to show details on the cracks of the rocks

04. How to choose live rocks?

Remember a formula: smell, weigh, and observe. Fresh live rocks smell like a faint fishy smell of the ocean, while stale live rocks emit a foul smell. For live rocks of the same size, we choose lighter ones because there are more pores inside this kind of live rock, which is conducive to the colonization of bacteria.

In addition, observe the state of the calcium algae. The brighter and more purple the color, the fresher the live rock. If the calcium algae on the surface has begun to turn white, it means that the live rock may have experienced long-term dehydration or high temperature. The calcium algae have begun to die, and the bacteria have also died together.

05 Construction

Some people will buy a large piece of live rock and put it directly in the sea tank. Although this is easy, it lacks the fun of conception and creation. Even if you break them afterwards, it is very troublesome. It is better to buy some smaller live rocks of various shapes.

This will facilitate our secondary processing and creation, build peaks (high light areas) and valleys (low light areas), so that different types of corals can have fixed positions, show a variety of shapes and layers, and restore the original appearance of the ocean as much as possible.

Of course, you need a pair of gloves (to prevent injuries to your hands), several brackets (to fix live rocks), and a bucket of landscaping mud (to assemble and fix live rocks). Of course, some professional players will also use electric drills and PVC pipes to fix live rocks.

06 How to avoid the traces of glue?

First wrap the glued position with beauty tape, then apply special glue for aquariums, wait for the glue to dry perfectly, and then remove the beauty tape, so that the traces of glue will not be easily seen.

In fact, the landscaping technique of the sea tank is to present live rocks and corals of various colors and shapes, anemones, fish and other creatures in different spaces of the sea tank, with clear layers and staggered layout, forming a miniature marine environment, which is magnificent and beautiful.

This landscaping is so beautiful! I also have these creatures, why can’t I display them? “A beautiful sea tank is created based on scientific and reasonable landscaping, and then according to personal preferences and aesthetics. Let’s create a beautiful underwater world in the square meter room at home.

1. The right size of the landscaping stone, reserve space for the growth of cute pets

The landscaping stone is the skeleton, not the main scenery, and space should be reserved for the placement and growth of organisms. – The distance on both sides is reserved for cleaning the tank wall. – The front side reserves space for fish to play and interact. – The top of the landscaping stone reserves the distance from the water surface according to the length of the coral placed, so that the coral can grow taller and avoid too strong light to sun and remove algae. – It is better to have gaps and caves at the bottom of the landscaping stone for the creatures that need to hide to live.

2. Choose a good shape, the water is smooth and the light is more comprehensive

The volume of the landscaping stone should not be too large, not more than 1/10 of the water body. The landscaping stone maintains a sense of transparency, It is conducive to keeping the water flowing smoothly.

The floating platforms for placing corals are staggered to avoid symmetry and rigidity. The floating platforms can reach different lighting areas to ensure the lighting needs of different corals.

3. Super easy-to-use composition method to create a high-value sea tank

For front visual viewing, the tic-tac-toe composition method is used to place the corals that are highlighted on the golden section point and occupy 2-3 key points. The secret to creating a high-value landscaping lies here!

The larger the light-receiving area of ​​the coral, the better! From the side, it is close to a triangle. The landscape stone floating platform is on the hypotenuse of the triangle, and the light-receiving area is larger. The corals can be placed from bottom to top according to the low, medium and high light requirements.

The fish playground is in the front! The water flow near the backboard is weak, and the landscape stones can be stacked to maintain transparency; the water flow of the front glass wall is guaranteed, and as much space as possible is left , so that the fish can play and frolic here, which is more convenient for viewing.

4. There are main and secondary colors, and some contrasting colors make it more beautiful

The color matching of organisms is mainly based on coral colors, and then fish and other organisms are selected to embellish and increase the sense of agility. Choose a main color + an auxiliary color + an embellishment color for the color matching of organisms, so that it will not appear messy. You can boldly try contrasting colors, and strong contrasting colors can bring wonderful effects.

The corals in the jazz black tank are mainly pink, with different shades of green as auxiliary, and the fish are embellished with orange, white and red. The colors are harmonious and layered.

The corals in the pearl white tank are mainly pink and brown, with green as auxiliary, and the fish use contrasting colors, yellow, cyan, red, and purple, which are more colorful.

5. Different shapes, a combination of movement and stillness, are pleasing to the eye

In addition to color, corals are mainly pink and brown, with green as auxiliary, and fish use contrasting colors, yellow, cyan, red, and purple, which are more colorful. The shape of coral also has a great influence on the beauty of landscaping. Elegant and dynamic corals (such as flashing thousand hands, star flowers, leather, etc.) are placed in the upper part, and static corals (such as mushrooms, buttons, etc.) are placed in the middle and lower parts, combining movement and stillness, matching size, and full of beauty.

6. Full shape/appropriate white space, all are different beauties

Create an underwater world that belongs to you. Some people like rich and full shapes, while others like appropriate white space. As long as the composition is coordinated, they are all good-looking.

There are not many creatures in this tank, but the composition proportions are coordinated, with appropriate white space, and the shape also has a sense of extension of lines, creating a pleasant and relaxed sense of space, and the fish also swim happily.

The landscaping of the sea tank creates a strong visual effect and stimulates a pleasant aesthetic experience through the combination of volume, composition, color, morphology, etc. Of course, the formation of a beautiful tank still requires the biological state to be well maintained first.

Build a good landscaping, decorate our home with acrylic ecological tanks, and put the colorful beauty of the sea into a square meter room. This is the life we ​​yearn for.