Aquarium aquascaping can be a creative process, which can also relieve stress. You can build artificial caves, bridges, slopes, hills, or other landscapes in the tank. So, if you’re ready to dive deeper into the aquatic world of aquascaping and learn more about aquarium stones, then let’s begin.
Hardscape aquarium stones
In this segment, we will share some hardscape aquarium stones and adjunctive aquascaping material.
1. Hardscape aquarium stones
Aquarium stones with diverse textures, colors, and sizes can be used to build various appealing aquarium landscapes. There are so many available aquarium stones, such as pine bark stone, seiryu stone, and unzan stone.
It is feasible to put a pile of stones together and shape the stone into a hill in the tank. Also, you can build a bridge by bonding the aquarium stones. Besides, stone caves are another option, which provide hiding places for fish. By the way, you can also decorate the bridge or cave with aquatic plants, like moss.
2. Substrate
Substrate plays a crucial role in aquariums, some are beneficial for plants’ growth. You can choose from sand, gravel, aquarium soil, etc. For example, some fish prefer digging into the substrate, like corydoras. In this case, sand can be an excellent alternative. On the other side, for tanks with aquatic plants, aquarium soil is better. Because soil can provide nutrients for plants’ growth.
3. Aquarium Decor
Aside from aquarium stones, there are other aquarium decors, like wood. Decorate the wood with aquatic plants. By doing so, you can build trees in aquariums. In addition, you can add aquarium stickers to improve the ornamental value of aquariums.
4. Aquatic plants
Adding aquatic plants makes the aquarium full of vigor and vitality. There are a lot of aquatic plants for you to choose from, including low-light, medium-light, and high-light plants. For example, you can build a planted tank with aquarium soil, wood, and plants. Or it is feasible to use them to build an underwater world in your tank.
Top seven aquarium stones
1. Seiryu stone
Seiryu stones come in cyan with white veins, and it shaped like peaks. The textures on the stones are uniform in the same directions. Exactly, seiryu stones can be a great choice for building seiryu stone aquascape, including the Chinese aquascaping style and Japanese aquascaping styles. However, seiryu stones would improve the levels of pH and water hardness in the aquarium. But you can deal with it by changing water regularly.
2. Pine bark stone
Featuring gray, yellow, or brown colors, pine bark stones look like pine cones or the bark of pine trees. The stones are uneven, convex, and concave, which makes them beneficial for planting aquatic plants. Then how to use pine bark stones for aquascaping? You can use them to build an aquarium of the terraqueous plants’ aquascaping style or the hardscape aquascaping style. Alternatively, a Paludarium tank. Tap to the full Pine bark stone aquascape video for the appealing aquascape.
3. Unzan stone
Unzan stones are commonly used to build fish and planted tanks. They possess the structure of lava. And the pockets on unzan stones are beneficial for the growth of aquatic plants. Actually, unzan stones are applicable to aquariums of the marsh and plants aquascaping style.
4. Lava stone
Some lava stones are lightweight and porous, like black lava. Usually, lava stones are black or red. Furthermore, lava stones can be used to set up planted tanks or tanks with fish and plants. For instance, put the lava stones on both sides of a tank, then decorate the lava stone with small plants, like Water Banyan or Saxifraga stolonifera. After that, plant some tall aquatic plants on the back of the tank, such as Amazon sword, Water wisteria, and Hornwort.
5. Fossil wood
Fossil wood is formed by the trees buried hundreds of millions of years ago. It retains the texture of trees. And it can be used to build an aquarium of the African aquascaping style.
6. Stream stone
Stream stones are always rounded in diverse sizes. You can apply stream stones to build a riverbed effect in aquariums. And stream stones are excellent choices to set up aquariums of the nature aquascaping style or the stream aquascaping style.
7. Riverstone
Riverstone features attractive colors and patterns. Commonly, riverstone comes in yellow, red, green, or white colors and irregular oval shapes. Plus, they can be applied to build aquariums of the reptilian pet’s aquascaping style.
How the aquascape stone affects the water
| Aquascape stone | Effects on the water | Available fish species |
| Seiryu stone | 1. Increase the pH level 2. Increase the water hardness level |
Rift Lake cichlids /Guppy fish /Molly fish /Platy fish /Congo tetra /Odessa barbs |
| Pine bark stone | 1. The pH level remains unchanged 2. Slightly increase the water hardness level |
Cardinal tetra /Pearl gourami /Harlequin rasboras /Ember tetra /Angel fish |
| Unzan stone | 1. Increase the pH level 2. Increase the water hardness level |
Guppy fish /Swordtail fish /Red rainbowfish /Dwarf puffer fish /Molly fish |
| Lava stone | 1. Increase the pH level 2. Increase the water hardness level |
Glass catfish /Bumblebee goby /Peacock cichlid /Orange chromide /Platy fish |
| Fossil wood | 1. Slightly increase the pH level 2. Slightly increase the water hardness level |
Zebra danio /Sparkling gourami /Pictus catfish /Otocinclus /Killifish /Bristlenose pleco |
| Stream stone | 1. Slightly increase the pH level 2. Slightly increase the water hardness level |
Harlequin rasbora /Goldfish /Clown loach /Cory catfish /Oscar /Rainbow shark |
| Riverstone | 1. Slightly increase the pH level 2. The water hardness level remains unchanged |
Arowana fish /Betta fish /Zebra fish /Costae tetras /Half-black angelfish |
The bottom line
In short, you can choose the aquarium stones according to the aquarium aquascape styles or the fish species kept in the tank. In general, seiryu stones and pine bark stones are commonly used in aquarium aquascaping.
That’s all for today. For additional information about aquarium stones for aquascaping, welcome to share with us in the comment. We’re happy to receive your sharing. Finally, thanks for reading and we hope this article helps.
Related topics about aquarium aquascaping:
- Aquascape Aquarium and the Golden Ratio Part One
- Aquascape Aquarium and the Golden Ratio Part Two
- How to Use Pine Bark Stones for Aquascaping
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