Add wonder and vitality to any space with a mini aquascape. Creating a natural, low-maintenance aquarium makes use of the biological processes of underwater clarifying plants to keep your water clear, without the use of electric filtration systems. This micro ecosystem is perfect for a betta fish or a few platies or guppies (three is a good number) and can be pleasing to the senses on a rainy day. Observing these vessels over time can also open a dialogue about the interconnectedness of a balanced ecosystem. Setting up a mini- aquascape is a great way to come to know the ways in which water, light, plants, and fish coexist together harmoniously.
Make it self-sustaining
The trick is to keep the ecosystem self-sustaining as much as possible by finding the right balance of plants, and light. Being sure not to overload your ecosystem with too much nitrogen, is also a major factor to keeping it balanced. Too much nitrogen from overfeeding fish can result in algae growth, sacrificing water clarity. Keep it minimal and follow these steps to make your very own mini aquascape.
Location: Think bright, indirect sun
Finding the right location is key. Find a place that is bright without direct sun. Avoiding direct sun will make it much easier to regulate the clarity, temperature, and plant growth.
If you place your mini aquascape indoors, you will need to feed your fish (depending on the variety of fish). Platies and guppies, for example will only need to be fed once a week, or less in a perfectly balanced ecosystem.
If you place the aquascape outdoors (on a covered lanai with no direct sun, for example) you do not need to feed platies or guppies as they will become accustomed to eating mosquito larvae and algae. Bettas, however, have different dietary needs.
Gather your supplies:
- Glass bowl or vessel
- A few rocks
- Dirt or topsoil straight out of the ground
- Strata or gravel
- Underwater clarifying plants such as tape grass, hornwort, and anacharis
- Fish such as platies, guppies, or a betta (Ponderer’s pro tip: the water that comes with the fish is one of the most important building blocks for a balanced ecosystem since the microbiome has already been established.)
- Optional: Decorative items such as crystals, figurines, driftwood, stones.
Directions:
- Put a 1-inch layer of plain dirt on the bottom of your container.
- Add a layer of strata or pea sized rock/gravel on top of the dirt, at least 1 inch
- Pick a small bundle of underwater clarifying plants and anchor them to the bottom with a rock. Tape grass has roots that will need to be covered, and anacharis and hornwort technically do not need dirt to grow, but it looks good if you anchor to the bottom with a rock.
- Slowly fill the vessel with water, being careful not to disturb the bottom layer of dirt. Any dirt that gets disturbed will settle within a day or two.
- Important: Let the water sit for 24 hours so that the chlorine can dissipate before adding fish and ideally, two ramshorn snails.
- Place in a bright location without direct sun. For example, a bright desk near a window, or a covered lanai. Aim for ‘ambient’ light.
- You may include rocks or small figures to add character.
Care:
- Prune back dead or overgrown plants, as needed. Re-anchor plants if they float up, or trim ‘runners’ as needed.
- If you need to start again, for whatever reason, be sure to let the new water sit for 24 hours before putting the fish and snails back in.
- Don’t replace more than 50 percent of the water volume at a time.
At Garden Ponds Nursery, we have a nice stock of unique, one-of-a-kind driftwood and hand-blown glass sculptures that are an ideal foundation for a mini aquascape, terrarium, air plant display, succulent garden, or a place to root plant cuttings. These pieces are stunningly beautiful as a stand-alone art piece, made from driftwood and recycled glass that has been melted and blown to custom-fit on the driftwood base by Balinese artisans. We are proud to offer a beautiful selection, and we encourage you to find your own ways to find vitality and wonder in your daily life. Let us know if we can help, as we have all the supplies you might need at our water garden nursery, including fish, snails, strata, clarifying plants, ceramic pots, bog plants, water lilies, rain chains and statuary.
Garden Ponds is located in Kilauea, next to the Kauai Mini Golf. We are open Wednesday through Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. (Saturdays we open at 10 am). Give us a call at 808-828-6400 or visit our websites www.gardenpondskauai.com(nursery website) or www.indopacificemporium.com (online store).
Once you create a balanced ecosystem, you can play with adding other decorative plants such as this indigenous sedge (maka loa), decorative kalo and native bacopa. We propagate a large variety of decorative bog plants here at Garden Ponds.
