Below you will find our portfolio of some aquarium designs we’ve done over the years. For all of our aquariums, the first consideration is functionality. If an aquarium doesn’t, “function,” well as a suitable habitat for its inhabitants, what good is it?
Secondly, we consider the appearance and the “look” we’re going for. An aquarium can be a living piece of art. And we want to showcase that in our designs.
Thirdly, we want to communicate our expertise. As you will be able to tell from our setups, we are extremely well-versed at creating aquatic habitats, even habitats with live aquatic plants.
We hope these designs inspire you! And we hope that if you are need of consultation on creating a spectacular aquatic environment or environments, that you will Contact Us! Enjoy this showcase!
1. 29-Gallon CO2-Injected Planted Aquarium
This aquarium was created to showcase some of our planted-habitat loving native-fish species. We had killifish in there, along with a few species of minnows and Iowa and Johnny Darters. Plants selected for this aquarium included: Sagittaria virginiana, Ludwigia repens, Cryptocoryne wendtii ‘Brown’, Echinodorus tenellus (Pygmy Chain Sword) and Eleocharis montevidensis (Giant Hair grass).
Hardscape included: Manzanita driftwood, inert and nutritive plant substrate (Seachem Flourite), and a false rock background by Universal Rocks. The water column was fertilized with an injection of gaseous CO2, to encourage lush plant growth. You can see in the image that the pygmy chain sword was really ‘liking’ this, as evidenced by its ‘chaining.’ Filtration was accomplished with a Marineland 360 canister filter. For the purposes of taking this picture, the intake and outlet pipes were removed from the tank.
2. 55-Gallon Dual-View Planted Aquarium
This aquarium was created to be viewable on both of the long axes. It is difficult to tell from the picture, but there is a full-length window on the far side of the aquarium. Native fish species placed in this aquarium included our High-Color Rainbow Darters, Blackside Darters, Johnny Darters, Common Shiners, Blackstripe Topminnows and Rosyface Shiners.
Hardscape in the tank included: Manzanita driftwood, inert and nutritive plant substrate (Seachem Flourite), shale, gravel and river rocks. As you can see from the picture, the layout was designed to slope down from the left to right. The darters generally hung out in the deepest portion of the tank, over the gravel. The Blackstripe Topminnows hung out at the surface of the tank among the plants. And the shiners swam in the middle-levels of the water column throughout the tank.
Because of the quantity of darters that the customer wanted in the aquarium, many airstones and a few circulation pumps were added. This made it impossible to maintain acceptable levels of CO2 for lush plant growth. As such, we dosed the aquarium with liquid Seachem Flourish Excel, a CO2 substitute. However, please note that we dosed no more frequently than every OTHER day. This was critical, as sensitive fishes and plants cannot handle daily dosages of Excel. They do just fine with every other day dosages, and the plants still receive the benefits of the liquid CO2 substitute.
Live plants grown in this tank included: Java Fern, Vallisneria americana and Sagittaria virginiana. However, if we had to do this aquarium again, we would have eliminated the Vallisneria or Sagittaria. This was due to the fact that we discovered that Vallisneria and Sagittaria have an allelopathic relationship with each other. This means that they both produce chemicals in the water column to try to kill each other. In nature, this generally inhibits the growth of one plant in the presence of the other. In the aquarium, this makes obtaining lush plant growth almost impossible. I think we had some success because we were dosing the Flourish Excel. But, like I said, if we had to do it again, we would have eliminated one of those two plant species. Filtration was accomplished with a Marineland 360 canister filter.
3. 29-Gallon Venturi-Aerated Planted Aquarium
This aquarium was designed with water flow and aeration in mind. Kept in it were several species of darters, several species of minnows and, in the slackwater areas, Brook Sticklebacks. Again, the volume of the tank was 29 gallons, and it was filtered with a Marineland 360 canister filter, as well as the filtration provided by the live plants. Plant species present were Purple Mudwort (Limnophila heterophylla) and Wisteria. I do not recall the make and model of the venturi powerhead.
Hardscape included Manzanita driftwood, large river stones, small river stones and Seachem Flourite nutritive aquarium substrate. No heater was used in the aquarium, as it was stocked with native fish species. This did not impact the fish health, or the plant growth. Both did just fine. To enhance the plant growth, Seachem Flourish Excel was used. Importantly, please note that it was dosed at the recommended volume, but no more frequently than every OTHER day. As has been our experience over the years, this dosing no more frequently than every other day provides optimum plant growth, without negatively impacting sensitive fish and plants.
4. 29-Gallon Slow-Growth Plant Planted Aquarium
This aquarium was designed to showcase our fishes and some slower-growing aquarium plants. As you can see from the photo, we did also have some Sagittaria virginiana in there, which is not slow-growing. But, the bulk of the plants were slow-growing. Other species of plants present were Java Fern and Anubias. Fishes that went in this aquarium were Johnny Darters, Blackside Darters, Fantail Darters, Sooty Blackbanded Darters, Iowa Darters, Western Blacknose Dace, Northern Pearl Dace, Blackstripe Topminnows and several other species of minnows.
Hardscape in this aquarium consisted of Manzanita driftwood, large river stones, Seachem Flourite nutritive plant substrate and black sand. The Flourite was confined to the back area of the aquarium, behind the black sand and rocks. Fertilization of the plants was accomplished through the nutritive substrate and dosing with Flourish Excel every OTHER day. Filtration in this aquarium was done through the use of the live plants and with a Fluval 207 canister filter. Aeration was accomplished with the use of airstones, not shown in this picture.
5. 10-Gallon Heavily Planted Killifish Aquarium
This aquarium was designed to be a breeding enclosure for our Banded Killifish. It was heavily planted with Sagittaria virginiana and fertilized with Seachem Flourite nutritive substrate, as well as Seachem Flouish Excel CO2 substitute. As with the other aquariums listed here the Excel was dosed no more often than every OTHER day.
Filtration was accomplished with a ZooMed Turtle Clean 15 canister filter. Supplemental aeration was provided via airline and airstones. This aquarium was open-topped, as these killifish were not really “jumpers.”
As can be seen in this picture, a Lee’s Feeding Cone was used to feed live blackworms at a slow rate to the killifish.
The hardscape was simple. It just consisted of the Flourite, topped with a thin layer of mixed black-and-white sand. Indian Almond Leaf sections were added to the tank for appearance and to soften the water.
The green yarn visible in the right rear of the aquarium was a spawning “mop” that the killifish laid their eggs in. Every few days, the eggs were harvested by hand and transferred to rearing containers. The killifish really enjoyed this aquarium and spawned well for us. When the killifish were “spawned out”, we added some Savannah Darters to the aquarium. They seemed to enjoy the aquarium, as well.
6. 5-Gallon Finnex Planted Killifish Aquarium
This aquarium was received as a “kit”. It included the tank, light and filter. We set it up as a planted aquarium for our Bluefin Killifish. Plants grown in it included Cryptocoryne balansae, Cryptocoryne wendtii and Pygmy Chain Sword (Echinodorus tenellus). We included Seachem Flourite under the decorative black gravel, and fertilized every OTHER day with Seachem Flourish Excel to promote incredible plant growth. As you can see, we succeeded!
Unlike most of our other tanks, we included a heater in this aquarium. That is because the Bluefin Killifish come from a warmer climate and do better when their tank water is heated.
Hardscape included a large piece of driftwood, as well as the substrates mentioned earlier. The Bluefin Killies really seemed to enjoy this tank, and did spawn for us!
7. 20-Gallon Curved Glass, False Background Planted Killifish Aquarium
This aquarium came with a false rock and wood background feature in it. We are not sure of the manufacturer. We bought the aquarium used and really liked the look of it. So, we set it up as a display aquarium and spawning aquarium for our Banded Killifish.
Hardscape include the false features and some Seachem Flourite nutritive plant substrate. No other feature materials were used.
Plants grown included Sagittaria virginiana and an Amazon Sword plant (Echinodorus sp.). Good plant growth was maintained because of the nutritive substrate and dosing the aquarium every OTHER day with Seachem Flourish Excel.
Filtration was accomplished via a Zoo Med Turtle Clean 15 filter. Additional aeration was provided via an airline and airstone. The fish that were selected for this aquarium were our Banded Killifish. They really enjoyed the aquarium, and spawned for us on a number of occasions. Even though we harvested all of the eggs we could find, the killifish were so prolific that some eggs evaded harvesting. Those eggs hatched in the aquarium and the young grew up in the tank, alongside their parents.
A view of the aquarium with the room lights off.
Female Banded Killie hanging out in the Sagittaria.
8. 3-Gallon Glofish Themed Aquarium
This aquarium was very special to us. Yes, we are a native-fishes retailer. But, we appreciate other beautiful fishes, too. We set up this Deep Blue Professional 3-gallon aquarium as a “glowing theme” aquarium. Most noticeably, we adorned the outer rims of the aquarium with a proprietary glowing material that is powered by LED’s. Lighting on the aquarium included some blacklight LED’s.
Within the aquarium, we decorated with neon fake plants, black basalt river stones and black sand. All of these were an effort to showcase the Glofish.
Filtration and aeration were accomplished with a Fluval Nano Aquarium Filter with the spraybar attachment. Once-weekly water changes of 50% were used to keep the water in pristine condition.
The Glofish really seemed to enjoy this aquarium, and we had it set up for a long time. As you may notice from the picture, we did sneak a native fish in there, too! It was a Blackstripe Topminnow. What can we say??? 🙂
