My name is Jeff Louie and I have been in the aquarium and "aquascaping" business for 10 years. By trade I am a Chemical Engineer. This engineering background in combination with my aquascaping experience allow me to create stunning and beautiful displays of "living art".  I specialize in freshwater aquariums, specifically Nature Aquariums which are Freshwater Live Planted water features. However, I do have experience in saltwater systems as well. My aquascape products function as artistic pieces of work that can be displayed anywhere like living spaces in your home, public spaces, lobbies, offices, or outdoor gardens. These custom designed systems will bring an aesthetic unimaginable. Tetrascape Designs can provide design, construction, and maintenance for new projects or for your currently running aquarium systems.

What is an Aquascape? 

Aquscaping is a method of creating underwater displays typically using components such as aquatic plants, driftwood, stones, and arranging them in an eye-catching or aesthetically pleasing way. These pieces of art, in a sense, go beyond how merely an aquascape can be beautifully created, but how it is sustained.

The Cycles in Life

These aquatic displays created by Tetrascape Designs are closed systems that consist of a variety of different components which are often overlooked in an average fish tank. Years of engineering and experience have been put into not only creating this living art, but also in sustaining it as well. In designing these beautiful displays, Tetrascape Designs considers lighting, filtration, substrate, hardscape, nutrients, plants, and inhabitants. All of these components greatly affect each other, requiring a certain balance that can vary from system to system.

Lighting

Light is one of the most important components in creating a beautiful display, just as it is important for life on Earth. Lighting is important, whether ambient light in a given space or adding supplemental lighting. Living art displays require light for photosynthesis in freshwater plants or the zooxanthellae in reef corals. It is crucial to balance the correct amount of lighting with the specific types of plants. While some plants or corals require more or less light, light also feeds unwanted algae. Thinking through the amount of light and the amount and type of plants will go a long way in fighting that unwanted algae that can take away the aesthetics from these displays. 

Substrate

Substrate is the material used at the bottom of your display. Depending on a freshwater or saltwater system this substrate will serve different purposes. The substrate in a freshwater planted aquarium can serve purely in an aesthetic way ranging from fine white sand to more large granules of rocks. The substrate can also serve as a nutrient rich bed for your aquatic plants, providing the essential micro and macro elements that living plants need. Another purpose substrate can serve is to act as buffer for your water and serve as host for beneficial bacteria. 

With ample light and the right substrate working together, your display will thrive. The substrate can also serve as a nutrient rich bed for your aquatic plants, providing the essential micro and macro elements that living plants need. Another purpose substrate can serve is to act as buffer for your water and serve as host for beneficial bacteria. With ample light and the right substrate working together, your display will thrive.

Filtration

Filtration is another very important component that your display or aquarium depends highly upon. Not only will this affect the clarity of your water, but will also create a healthy environment for your plants and inhabitants. Depending on the size and volume of water in your system, the filter should be sized accordingly. There are many ways to filter your water whether that be through mechanical filtration or biological filtration. Mechanical filtration is a method of using materials to separate or absorb particles or chemicals from your water.

Biological filtration is centered around growing beneficial bacteria to help aid in the nitrification cycle. Usually in a closed system there tends to be a buildup of ammonia which is toxic to its inhabitants. And simply, nitrification is the process of converting that ammonia into nitrite and then into less toxic nitrates through oxidation. Selecting and designing the right filtration can be tricky because efficiency needs to be balanced with the amount of water, plants, and fish.

Completing the Cycles

Light is essential for the plants to perform photosynthesis. The photosynthesis encourages the intake of nutrients from the substrate or the water column. The plants produce oxygen in the system for the fish as well as for the beneficial bacteria. The fish produce waste that the plants intake as nutrients while the beneficial bacteria encourages nitrification. With thriving plants, ideally the unwanted algae is starved and kept at a minimum. 

The proper balance between lighting, substrate, filtration, fish, and plants, all contribute to what lies behind the scenes of what goes on in these beautiful displays of living art. With thriving plants, ideally the unwanted algae is starved and kept at a minimum. The proper balance between lighting, substrate, filtration, fish, and plants, all contribute to what lies behind the scenes of what goes on in these beautiful displays of living art.