10 Styles of Tropical Aquariums

Setting up tropical aquariums can be quite tricky if you don’t know how.  There are many designs and components to choose from.  Aside from thinking of what fish or water animals to put inside, tropical aquariums need to be taken care of, other things to consider besides the fish is making sure the aquarium receives proper lighting and direct exposure to sunlight.  Tropical aquariums should be placed away from direct sunlight to prevent algae problems. They should also be situated near a power outlet. Tropical aquariums need water replacement every fortnight but not all the water needs to be replaced.  Only about 20%-30% of the water should be taken out.  It is important to keep tropical aquariums, clean which you can do by installing a reliable filter.

After you have obtained the necessary tank materials, assemble them and place a Styrofoam board underneath it to even out the weight of the tank.  Be sure to level the tank and make sure there are no leaks.  It is highly recommended that you install a 9-watts lighting.  Once your tropical aquarium is set up, you can take care of the aesthetics.  A good-looking tank will fit perfectly well in your place.  Before you even begin, you must choose the specific style you are looking for, there are many ready-made tropical aquariums available which can make your setup much faster.

Here are some of the most popular styles that you can obtain:

1. Planted Tanks

Planted tropical aquariums are typically the preferred tanks especially for first time aquarium owners.  You need to take care of all the plants as much as you would take care of the fish for they are also living beings.  Make sure that you have adequate lighting and an adequate CO2 supply for the plants, CO2 is required for the plants to undergo photosynthesis.  You also need to put the right amount of aquarium fertilizers that contain nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium but should only contain a high concentration of potassium to prevent algae growth and fish intoxication.  You can put a variety of decorations like rocks, treasure chests, and many others that would go nicely with the plants and fish.

2. Shrimp Tanks

Many tropical aquariums look nice with a Malayan or Cherry Shrimp.  You can get them from your pet store and obtain the appropriate food for them.  Before you put the shrimp into your tank, you might want to acclimatize the shrimp by putting some water from the tank into a bag where the shrimp is being held.  After 15-20 minutes, you can release all the shrimps into the aquarium.

Your Shrimp tank will look adorable with a nice piece of wood.  However, there are pieces of wood that do not sink immediately and you need to work around it by boiling it a few times or tie some rocks to keep it at the bottom of your aquarium.  The color of the shrimps will be a good contrast to the moss-covered wood.  To add more decorations in your tank, you can put more round rocks of various shapes and sizes.

3. Dutch Style

Dutch style tropical aquariums contain diverse aquatic plants with different colors, texture and sizes which would make it look like a regular flower garden.  As the name suggests, this style was developed in The Netherlands.  This style makes use of neatly trimmed groupings of aquatic plants with most of them having feathery, fine foliage particularly Limnophila aquatica and different types of Hygrophila.  Color highlights are obtained with the use of red-leaved aquatic plants such as Rotala, Ammania gracilis and Alternanthera reinickii.  The aquarium floors are mostly covered with various plants, and tall and thick aquatic plants are used to hide the back side of the aquarium.

4. Nature Style

Nature style tropical aquariums are also called Japanese style aquariums as it was introduced in the 1990s by Takashi Amano, as you might have guessed, a Japanese national.  Amano’s style is centered on copying natural landscapes.  It is a basic Japanese gardening technique.  Most notably, you will notice a miniature landscape having more green as opposed to seeing lots of colors.  The use of driftwood and rocks helps in achieving this desired natural look.  Nature style is based largely on Wabi-sabi - a Japanese aesthetic concept that focuses on minimalism and transience for beauty, and Iwagumi – a set of rules used by Japanese in the proper rock placement.  You will find plenty of leaves including small aquatic ferns, Elocharis acicularis, Hemianthus callitrichoides, Glossostigma elatinoides, Riccia fluitans and Java moss to emphasize the beauty of the style.

5. Biotopes

Tropical aquariums having biotope style often combine the animal and plant species to achieve the desired look.  This style is used when replicating a certain aquatic habitat from a particular geographic region not necessarily employing a garden-style display.  Fish and plant in this type of aquarium must represent the geographic region being depicted in the biotope aquascape.  Often, this style contains lots of gravel and follows the chemical composition of the water of the geographical region being copied.

6. Paludariums

You will find tropical aquariums with parts of it submersed under the water and some parts above the water.  This type of aquatic tank is referred to as a paludarium where the tank is filled with water only halfway or land regions which are raised above the waterline to achieve the look of the style.  Aquatic plants such as Anubias, bromeliads, Cyperus alternifolius and some Spathiphyllum wallisii have their roots immersed in the water and their tips in the air.  Paludariums are well-suited for keeping amphibians inside tropical aquariums.

7. Saltwater Reefs

Most aquascapes traditionally use fresh water like the Dutch and Nature styles.  Saltwater reefs are made by arranging live rock formations that are used as main structures with corals and plenty of marine invertebrates including coralline algae that serve as the freshwater plant while providing aesthetics.  Tropical aquariums that use this style need appropriate lighting as many corals contain symbiotic fluorescent protozoa also called zooxanthellae.  Intense lighting in these tropical aquariums provides an environment that allows the invertebrates to emit bright colors causing the aquarium to look very colourful and pleasant.

8. Acrylic Aquariums

Tropical aquariums can be given design upgrades using acrylic materials.  Over the last few years, acrylic aquariums have been given spherical, triangular, tubular, L-shaped and even convex shapes.  There are no limits to the shapes and design with acrylic tropical aquariums.  These lightweight tanks have seamless glass designs which can be viewed at all angles.  They are relatively stronger and many use acrylic as it can be patterned into any kind of shape.  Although much more expensive and the surface is more likely to have scratches, this type of tropical aquarium can accentuate the style of your home.

9. Portrait Aquariums

Tropical aquariums made to look like a real portrait are very convenient to have especially when your household has little children running around.  Portrait aquariums are hung on a wall and are generally between 4 feet to 6 feet wide.  They provide live scenic designs in your place and the fish can easily be fed through a feeding hole on top of it.  Since most portrait tropical aquariums are very thin, you can only put a small number of fish inside.

10. In The Wall Tanks

These are tropical aquariums mounted on walls and are generally thin but are thicker than portrait aquariums.  They are typically installed on the wall for more support and reinforcement.  Maintaining these types of tanks is relatively easy with an easy access flap for cleaning and feeding the fish.