# How is it considered a nature aquarium???



## shawnme (Aug 13, 2004)

dear bros,

first of all, pardon me for my lack of knowledge towards planted setups...please do be patient with me if what i asked is a silly question...

i'm a newbie in planted tanks and i really admire setups from bros here...but one thing i'm very not sure of is, when does a setup is considered a nature aquarium??...or just another lousy setup...

i''m really trying my best to get hold of the concept...by analysing different setups, contours, selection of plants and fishes to suit the setup..


this is what i currently have ...as far as i know, i'm no where close to any bros in here as it has only been a few months i started out planted tanks...i hope i could stay in the forum that i may learn more from experts here...



thank you for your patience...i would try my best to improve in time to come...

-shawnme-


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

First of all I don't think your tank is lousy, to me it looks very nice, it has healthy plants and the water is clear. It takes time to get a tank looking the way you want it to. Most people change thier planted tanks on a regular basis by removing plants, adding plants and moving stuff/plants to different areas of the tank; I know that I do. Just have fun and enjoy.


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

Welcome Shawn

Thats a nice looking tank you have there. First I must say that I like it but I feel you could improve a few things. The palnt health looks very good and th eAnubias leaves are very algae free. Good job. I personally thing you need a little more contrast in this scape. Its all very uniform in color and texture.You might try adding a natural looking sand forground "beach" (see pics of Louis Navarro's tanks for examples of this. You cna find a write up about doing sand in the Articles section) Maybe some crypts to add some color or different texture. 

I am assuming that you have alow light non-CO2 tank. These plants will all do fine. Can you tell us more about your tank and its parameters?

The wood with Java on it is nice looking but a little to centered to me and th ebackground is pretty flat. You might try placing the plants more by how high they grow to add some more depth to the small tank. You can also do this by adding avenues and bare "trails" to create the illusion of depth and horizions.

very, very nice though. Keep up the good work. BTW Nature aqauriums are basically little slices of nature. They are usually much nice than nature, contain more species and have better conditions than nature but they areinfluenced by nature. Basically a nature aquarium "could" be found in nature. Takashi Amano's tanks are the original Nature Aquarium. A Dutch style aquarium would not be a nature aquarium.


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