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What is an Aquascape and Why is it Important?
By George Cuthbert
Consider the landscape. A picture painted in a frame, with mountains, rivers, trees and grass. Or it could be a living landscape, changing all the time as animals move in and out of the frame, lightening strikes and fells trees. Both are, nonetheless, a 'landscape'.
An aquascape can be considered in the same way. Whether it is a still-frame, underwater picture of a reef in Hawaii, complete with fish and coral, or a living view of that reef, both are, in a similar way to our view of the landscape, aquascapes.
In today's world of aquarium management, the aquascape has become a popular way to bring a truer picture of sea life into the home or office.
Gone are the artificial plants and fake diving bells and sunken chests. Today, the saltwater aquarist – otherwise known as a marine or reef aquarist- strives to recreate the environment of the exotic fish and indigenous creatures of the sea.
Plants, coral, invertebrate life – like shrimp, crabs, and snails – all live together in a carefully controlled environment that mimics the ocean floor as closely as possible.
Though temperature, mineral content and lighting are, as always, important in this aquarium mix, even more important is the understanding of sea life as a community affair.
An aquascape must take into consideration which fish will thrive together and which will kill or harm each other. It must look at natural enemies, food sources and the cycle of survival.
Taking a page from the science museums and city aquariums, the hobbyist now has the tools, equipment and supplies to build his or her own version of the giant fish tank at the Boston Aquarium, or the beautiful Reef Tanks in Australia.
Though on a much smaller scale, the aquarist must still assess how the plants and other items will live together, whether the light will be sufficient, how fast the plants will outgrow the tank and how much pruning and maintenance is required.
After all of that, he will look at all the wonderful colors and shapes in the sea and choose the ones he likes the best to paint his living picture.
Fish today are much luckier than in the days of the fake sunken chest.
They get to swim, play and nap in an environment that is very much like the one in which they were spawned.
And we, as aquarists are also lucky! Because we have the chance to watch the miracle of natural growth and the cycle of life, as if we were living under the sea with the ancestors and family of those beautiful fish in the aquarium.
An aquascape is perhaps only a virtual picture of the sea. Yet it is ecologically correct!
And, it is a more beautiful and realistic environment than any ever conceived by the hands that placed that little replica of Davy Jones next to the plastic fern at the bottom of our old fish tank!
About the Author
George Cuthbert, B.Sc.
http://www.The-Aquarium-Guide.com
Article Source: http://www.simplysearch4it.com/article/30021.html
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