Diana Walstad's "el Natural" Approach to Planted Tanks

I've covered two other major schools of aquascaping for planted tanks before, but both of those are relatively high-tech, and high maintenance. For those of you who either don't have the time, patience, or just the wallet for a high-tech Dutch or Nature style tank, or for those of you who have been burned out by one, there is a third school.

This third school, often referred to as "el Natural," and sometimes Natural Planted Tanks (NPTs), is based on a low maintenance, low-tech approach pioneered by Diana Walstad. Outlined in her book, Ecology of the Planted Aquarium: A Practical Manual and Scientific Treatise for the Home Aquarist, the approach has several basic tenets:

• Regular potting soil, capped by small gravel is used as substrate
• No filtration is needed, aside from a powerhead for water movement
• Lighting is low, 1-2 watts per gallon, and is often supplemented by sunlight from a window
• No fertilization or CO2 is used, only liberal fish feeding
• Water changes are done only ever 6 months or so
• Plants will act as filters and fish will act as fertilizers, creating a balanced ecosystem
  

The end result is a tank that looks very different from any Dutch or Nature style aquarium, but that requires almost no maintenance, while maintaining a lush planted look. The types of plants available to someone starting an "el Natural" fish tank are somewhat limited, since lots of plants require high light and fertilization, but algae is rarely a problem. Unlike Dutch and Nature style aquariums, there is no set school for plant placement or composition of hardscape. This approach is also not designed for someone who likes to rescape their tank every few months, as moving plants around is difficult to do without disturbing the potting soil underneath the gravel. The natural soil substrate is probably the most volatile part of an "el Natural" style fish tank, and there are lots of do's and don'ts explained in Diana's book. However, once you get it set up, an "el Natural" style tank can be perfect for someone who is tired of dosing, testing, and re-dosing every day or for someone who just doesn't have the time for a high-tech aquarium.

For step by step pictures to setting up an "el Natural" style tank, check out Step by Step: Setting Up a Walstead Natural Planted Tank by Betty Harris. For more of Diana Walstad's tanks, check out her gallery.

Iwagumi Rock Placement Animations

Sorry about the broken links, the website (www.aquasaigon.org) seems to have disappeared. I'm trying to find the images elsewhere but not having much luck. Hopefully the website will be back up soon.

Sorry it's been a while since the last post, it's been a combination of a hectic personal life and running out of post ideas for the most part. I'm still looking for another worthy tank to analyze for an Aquascape Analysis so that should be up sometime before the end of the month.

For now, take a look at these animated images found on http://www.aquasaigon.org. They detail the different layers of rock used in an iwagumi aquascape:


You'll also notice that the first stone placed is placed according to the Golden Rule of Aquascaping.

Iwagumi and Sanzon Iwagumi Aquariums

Iwagumi aquascapes are a subset of the Nature Aquarium style, pioneered by Takashi Amano. Based of Japanese gardening principles, iwagumi literally means "rock formation." Rocks form the structure of Japanese gardens, and so in an iwagumi aquascape, rocks play a major role. Also, how these rocks are placed and how many of them there are is also very important. Many different styles of iwagumi have been adapted to the aquarium, but the overall theme is that of tranquility and simplicity.



The most common iwagumi style is called sanzon iwagumi. Sanzon means "three pillar" in Japanese and these aquascapes make use of three rocks, with two smaller rocks and one larger rock. According to JAANUS, this term was first used in the 11th century Japanese garden treatise "Sakuteiki." The grouping of stones comes from Buddhism; the central stone is called the chuusonskei (or the big Buddha) and the smaller flanking stones are called kyoujiseki (or attendant stones). The kyoujiseki are often tilted or pointed towards the chuusonskei as if bowing down to it. The chuusonskei is almost always positioned according to the Golden Rule.



Other styles are less frequent, but always make use of an odd number of stones of varying sizes. In the aquascaping community, iwagumi has taken on additional traits as well. Iwagumi aquascaped aquariums often have one single type of carpeting plant (often glosso, hair grass, or hemianthus callitrichoides) and one single species of schooling fish (most commonly rummynose tetras, cardinal tetras, or harlequin rasboras). This adds to the feeling of simplicity in the aquascape.



Many assume that caring for and maintaining an iwagumi aquascaped aquarium is easier than other styles. It is in fact much harder due to the restrictions in terms of a single plant species and the high light levels. Carpeting plants are often rather slow growers and don't absorb much in the way of nutrients. Therefore, starting an iwagumi aquascaped aquarium and getting it balanced is by far one of the most challenging aspects of the hobby. Algal blooms are common and stem plants are not available to help cycle the tank and achieve a balance. Instead, it is a lot of trial and error trying to get rid of algae and determine the correct fertlizer levels. Most use Amano shrimp or other types of shrimp to help control aglae. Iwagumi aquascaped aquariums are definitely not for beginners, but can be some of the most beautiful and peaceful aquascapes imaginable.

Dutch Vs. Nature Style Aquariums

In the world of aquascaping and planted tanks, there are two major schools of thought: the Dutch style and the Nature style (also called Japanese style, but not to be confused with the el Natural style which is not a style of aquascaping but an entirely separate approach to keeping a planted aquarium). Both are popular styles that are based on the arrangement of plants in the aquarium and the way it is aquascaped and are by no means the only way to aquascape a tank. Most hobbyists choose to loosely follow one school based on their own personal preference of what they think looks better.



Dutch aquariums are an older style of aquascaping, dating back to early 20th century Holland. The style focuses on neat rows of plants radiating out from a central focal point, with lower plants in front and taller plants in the back (creating depth). You'll often see this described as "streets" or "avenues" using plants.



Dutch aquascapes also feature more colorful aquatic plants. They can be likened to a well kept garden, where all the plants are arranged with a purpose and kept well trimmed and defined. It may not be the most natural looking, but it is extremely beautiful and visually interesting. A significant hardscape (rock and/or driftwood) is usually not present or visible. Color, contrast, and the beauty of the individual plants is paramount.



The Nature aquarium style was pioneered by Takashi Amano in the last decade. The style of this type of aquascape is very much focused on nature and imitating both natural landscapes and snapshots of natural environments. This means that a Nature style aquascape can look like a miniature version of a mountain range with tree lined slopes, or like a scene under the surface of a small river.


Hardscape usually plays a role in framing the aquascape or helps to create flow. Nature style aquascapes are often also one of three shapes: concave shaped, convex shaped, or triangular. Concave means that the height of the plants decreases to some central low point, then slopes back up. Convex is the opposite of concave, and is often called an "island" shape since the plants are low on either side but high in the middle. Finally, triangular shaped aquascapes are shaped like a right triangle, and the height of the plants slopes gradually from high on one side of the tank to low on the other. In most Nature style aquascapes, there is only one main focal point and it is almost always positioned according to the Golden Rule. Natural appearance, flow, and other Japanese gardening principles are most important

Within each of these styles there are further sub-styles that I'll explore a little further in another article.

Aquascape Analysis Delayed

I just wanted to let you all know that I do have an Aquascape Analysis prepared for this week, however it may be delayed until next week while I finish up an article on aquascaping styles. The Aquascape Analysis is based on a sanzon iwagumi style and I thought it best to explain the style in detail first before delving into analysis. I've finished a summary of the two main styles, Dutch aquascaping and Nature Aquarium aquascaping which I will be posting soon, but I just wanted to write one examining the iwagumi style. Look for these articles soon, and after them, a brand new Aquascape Analysis!