This picture of my 140 gallon was taken in November 1999, and was the first picture I took of my tanks.

This shows a rather easy setup of the Dutch-style.

Picture taken February 2000. Here you can see a more complicated layout of the Dutch-style, more plants are added and they make a good contrast to each other. Look at the corkbark at picture 1, they are now totally covered with javamoss. In this picture the aquascaping is almost finished, very difficult plants as Myriophyllum tuberculatum and Rotala Wallichii is growing very nice. Hygrophila difformis makes a good foreground plants, because it is growing sideways in the strong blue light.

Dutch-Style, The Layout.

As a first advice, use enough time to figure out how you would like the construction of walls, bed and terraces. What kind of plants do you like?, how big do they get, do they compare to each other and so on.. You must select plants who makes good contrast, large leaves against small leaves, oval leaves against lanche-shaped, red against green and so on. Remember, the tallest plants must be put at the back or the sides, small plants in the front, or build up with terraces in the middle layer. What is The Dutch-style without one or more plants rows? Plant rows does always give a positive visual effect. A row that goes from the right back to left foreground is my favorite. Good plants for plants rows are Lobelia cardinalis, Limnophila sessiflora and aquaticum, most Ludwigia species, Michrantemum michrantemoides and Umbrosum. Javaferns and javamoss can also be a good choice if they are build up with terraces.

.A plant must never grow taller then a plant behind it. Always avoid symmetry, avoid putting large solitaire plants in the dead center, your eyes will always focus on this. The asymmetrical layout should give the impression of varying depth, terraces should be build up of unequal height and size. The Dutch-style is famous for using many difficult plants. Its important that you avoid using to many easy fast growing types, so you don`t need to cut and trim to often, this will only disturb the aquascaping. Of course you should not`t avoid using them in the early stage of the setup.

Corkbark as walls.

A fine way to decorate an aquarium is to use corkbark as walls, both back and sides. Corkbark can usually be bought in local aquarium shops. Remember that they MUST BE CLEANED BEFORE USE. First step is to cut the cork to the same height as the aquarium. If you have a aquastabil aquarium or a similar tank they do have a aluminum edge at the top, your corkbark should fit nicely under this edge and stay there without any difficulties. If you have an all glass aquarium the answer could be to use silicone to attach the corkbark to the wall. Next step is to attach plants to the corkbark if wanted to.

around the plant and attach it at both sides of the cork, because after soaking the cork it gets soft, and this allows the fishing line to go deep in the cork and stay there. Plants that are perfect for planting on cork is; Anubias, Bolbtis, Javaferns, Javamoss and even Riccia species.

Vesiculariana dubyana as foreground plant

To do this you need a flat stone or a piece of bogwood. Use a clump of Javamoss and cover the stone completely, press the moss into the rock, so it forms a thin layer. Next step is to attach the javamoss to the rock with a thin fishing line, lay the fishing line around the hole rock several times, so you can be sure that the javamoss will not fall off when you put it in the aquarium.

Picture of my Rotala Wallichii from above the water surface.

I think its one of the most beautiful plants I have ever seen. If grown in good conditions it is light pink in color and looks like fireworks shooting up.

Styrofoam walls

Do you want to create a beautiful background with the look of a natural rockwall? If so, styrofoam can be used with great results. All you need is styrofoam, silicone, a knife and some epoxy painting. Its wise to use thick styrofoam(20 cm+) if your planning to create some caves as well.

The aquarium should be empty when filling the walls with the styrofoam. Cut the styrofoam so it will fit to the wall nicely and then use silicone used for aquariums to attach it to the back and side walls.

Now its time to cut the styrofoam to arrange caves. By doing this you will be able to get the walls to look like a true rockwall, this is also the most time demanding job. All the sharp edges of the styrofoam must be cut away, they will only make a negative impression of the wall, it will look more unnatural. A razor blade or a very thin knife can be used to make the cutting easier. Be shore to have a plan before cutting, or else you can easily destroy the hole wall. The more caves the better, try to keep them as small as possible.

Tip: You can easily make a filter in one of the tank`s back corners, if you don't fill them with styrofoam, cut a hole in the bottom of the styrofoam and fill it with a filter sponge to make a inlet for the filter. Now you can fill

the empty space behind the styrofoam with different kinds of filter material, peat can also be used. Use a power filter to draw the water from the filter into the main tank with a hose. A spray bar can be used for the outlet.