15.4. Types of Planted Tanks – Aquarium Science

Many of the successful planted aquariums in the world are very simple affairs without carbon dioxide additions and pretty much ANY combination of substrates, plants, aeration and filtration. And as long as they follow one "guideline" they can do well.

This one “guideline” is:

Heb maar een paar kleine vissen in het beplante aquarium

Adding a sizable number of sizable fish to a planted aquarium is possible, but challenging.

There are several general methods used by hobbyists to give beautiful planted tanks free of algae. We will look at those methods in this article.

Specialized Planted Aquariums

There are several basic types of specialized planted aquariums as to the technology used. Each of the several types has an infinite number of possibilities, all of which can be made to work well.

“Natural” planted tanks are low tech affairs with little in the way of fertilization and no CO₂ injection. The following chart summarizes those several types of planted aquariums for what are called “natural” Planted Tanks:

	Low tech	Walstad	Father fish
Planten	Alleen heel gemakkelijk	Alleen gemakkelijke	Alleen gemakkelijke
Bemesting	Visafval	Overvloedig visvoer	Visafval
Onderste substraat	Meestal zand	1 inch (2,5cm) stikstofarme organische grond	1 inch (2,5 cm) stikstofrijke organische grond
Afdekkende substraat	Geen	0,5 inch (1,2cm) grind	3 inch (7,5 cm) zand
Kooldioxide	Geen	Van bodem en voedsel	Van bodem en voedsel
Verlichting	Matig 16 uit - 8 aan	Matig 5 aan - 4 uit - 5 aan - 10 uit	Hoog 14 uit - 10 aan
Filter	Klein	Klein	Diep zandbed
Beluchting	Lucht stenen	Geen	Sommige
Waterbeweging	Sommige	Heel licht	Sommige
Aantal vissen	Licht	Licht	Licht tot matig
Inoculeren	Geen	Grond	Vijver modder
Moeilijkheid	Eenvoudig	Eenvoudig	Eenvoudig

Then there are the various “High Tech” or “Chemical” methods for running a planted aquarium. These use fertilization and typically some sort of CO₂ generation, The three general methods are:

	Hau method	Hybrid	High Tech
Planten	Elke	Elke	Elke
Bemesting	Alleen visvoer en wortel tabletten	Lichte bemesting	Zware bemesting
Onderste substraat	3 inch (7,5 cm) grind	1 inch (2,5 cm) houtpellets	2 inch (5 cm) commerciële grond voor beplant aquarium
Afdekkende substraat	Geen	1 inch (2,5 cm) grof zand	Geen
Kooldioxide	Low tech flessen	Van de pellets	Zware injectie
Verlichting	Licht 8 aan - 16 uit	Matig 4-4-4-4-4-4	Zeer hoog 14 aan - 10 uit
Filter	Klein	Groot	Varieert
Beluchting	Beetje	Geen	Varieert
Waterbeweging	Beetje	Beetje laag in de tank	Varieert
Aantal vissen	Gematigd	Licht	Licht
Inoculeren	Planten	Vijver modder	Geen
Moeilijkheid	Eenvoudig	Matig	Matig

We go into each of these several types of specialized planted aquariums in these links:

15.8. Walstad aquarium

15.9. Hightech beplant aquarium

15.10. Hybride beplante aquaria

15.11. Veel vissen, veel planten

15.13. Hau-aquaria

15.14. Low tech beplante aquaria

Trimming Plants

There are two basic types of planted aquariums: the wild, untrimmed look and the formal trimmed look. There is a very good analogy that can be used here. With terrestrial front yards that are planted there are two types seen: the informal bushy look and the formal very trimmed look with hedges and poodle plants. Aquarium plants are much like terrestrial plants in that they will stretch out and get leggy if allowed. Trim them and aquatic plants become thick and bushy, just like terrestrial landscaping plants.

So there develops two distinct classes of planted aquariums: the wild untrimmed look and the bushy “formal” look. Which you have just depends on your aesthetic sense.

Aquascaping the Planted Aquarium

Another aspect of the planted aquarium is something called “aquascaping”. This is an art form much like gardening. There are all sorts of styles and preferences. There are even competitions at various aquarium shows as to who can do the best aquascape of a new tank. A typical “mixed style”, high tech, untrimmed, planted aquarium aquascape looks like this:

Note the small school of harlequin rasboras which are the only fish in the aquarium.

“Dutch” Planted Aquariums

Then there is a school of aquascaping called the “Dutch” method. Linear rows of plants running left to right are referred to as “Dutch streets.” This style was
developed and started in Netherlands in the 1930s.

The Dutch aquarium follows an orderly, often symmetrical arrangement, in which multiple types of plants having diverse leaf color, sizes and textures are displayed in much the same way as terrestrial plants are shown in a flower garden. It displays plants located on terraces of different heights, but these displays often omit rocks and driftwood. There is even a society which crafts standards for these aquariums.

“Japanese” Planted Aquarium Styles

The Japanese make their planted aquariums much like their terrestrial “Japanese” gardens, They emphasize artistic form and rocks over plants. Often they use only one type of plant. Many aspects of religion, namely Zen Buddhism are incorporated into fresh water plant arrangement and placement. For instance, large stones that are used in the aquarium should always be in odd numbers, i.e. 1, 3, 5 and so on. Zen itself draws a lot from nature, so it is no surprise that Zen has an influence on aquascaping.

There are several Japanese aquascaping artists who set up beautiful planted aquariums

Freestyle Aquascaping

Personally I like a more free style aquascaping. Not completely natural but also not closely manicured. Rachel O’Leary (great YouTube channel) visited Melo Salazar’s 500-gallon (1890 liter) aquarium in Mexico. This aquarium is a stunning example of this approach. Rachel has a five-minute video on the aquarium and I’ve watched it five times, drooling more with every view. Rachel is a superb videographer.

Melo Salazar's Planted Aquarium — Melo Salazar’s Planted Aquarium

Again, Mr. Salazar probably had 300 very small fish in this large aquarium, which is very light stocking.

The “Natural” Look

Then finally these is the good old natural look. The objective is to duplicate Mother Nature rather than make a garden. This often uses Diana Walstad’s soiled tank method.