Ideas of aquarium decoration can be very different, but there are some basic, the most popular ones. Each style has its own characteristics, advantages and disadvantages. And to decide how to decorate the aquarium is very difficult.
Pseudo-natural
This style is suitable for those who have a minimum budget for the decoration of a water reservoir. There’s no pretentiousness, uniqueness, and capriciousness, unpretentious fish and plants, conventional primers, which also serve as filters are used. Scattered sunlight or fluorescent light, but poor lighting is used.
Natural (collection, species, biotope or geographical)
The principle of design of the aquarium in one of these styles requires maximum approximation of the interior to the natural environment. In the biotope aquarium the part of the certain body water seen is recreated almost literally, sometimes from memory or even a photo. Here, every detail matters. The collector tank made selection of fauna, flora and landscape, based on the living conditions of certain family or genus of fish. The aim is gathering of collection of all types of fish or plants of the same genus and observing their behavior and reproduction from a professional point of view. Aquarium decoration which is made on a geographical basis, is capable of showing to the viewer a color of underwater ecosystem of a region, for example, it may be the African Lakes Malawi and Tanganyika, or at the mouth of the South American Amazon. Geographic type of aquarium can be simultaneously biotope. All of these approaches to the design require deep knowledge of aquarium, ichthyology, underwater crop. Natural aquariums are not cheap.
Maritime and pseudo-maritime
Feature of marine style is that the tank is filled with sea water and marine life inhabit it. And not only fish, but also other kinds of invertebrates — anemones, corals and crustaceans. Due to the vividness of color in the color of animal forms and plant «marine» aquariums look more impressive than freshwater ones. Subspecies of marine aquarium are:
• tanks, inhabited only with saltwater fish, the scenery is made of artificial materials;
• reefs, feature of their design is that beside the fish soft corals, anemones, zooantus, crustaceans, mollusks and algae inhabit them.
In recent years pseudo-maritime style is very popular. This option involves filling the tank with fresh water and freshwater animals. Its landscape only simulates the sea one. When decorating one use seashells, rocks, coral skeletons, light soil. One of the key rules of the decor in this style: bright colors of design elements (algae, corals) and fish. You can enhance the effect of the «sea» by the cold blue illumination. It should be noted that such aquariums are much easier to care of then sea ones.