How the art of aquascaping and the biophilia hypothesis can help lower blood pressure and anxiety
Charlie Brookman’s first words were not mother or father. The Kingsville resident says it’s “fish.”
As a toddler, Brookman developed a fascination with marine biology; he was often drawn to fish tanks and obsessed with the underwater world. “I was falling into ponds everywhere I went trying to look after the fish,” says the now 17-year-old.
Living just around the corner from the local aquarium, he would visit every other week to survey the staff for information on how they built and designed their tanks; This marked his entry into the world of aquascape.
“When I first leveled up to a big tank of my own, I was constantly watching videos, learning about it, and talking about it with people at the aquarium,” he says.
Today, Brookman works at an aquarium and has two aquariums at home, one freshwater and one saltwater, which he takes great care of.
Aquarium landscaping, sometimes called “underwater gardening,” refers to the activity of artfully arranging plants, rocks, stones, and driftwood in an aquarium or fish tank environment.
This began with the increasing availability of mass-produced freshwater fishing gear in the Netherlands in the 1930s. Dutch-style aquascaping was developed, emphasizing a variety of plants and mostly omitting rocks and driftwood to create a flower garden.
Today, aquascaping has evolved into a globally recognized hobby with multiple styles, such as Iwagumi (prioritizing stones as the main feature) and Diorama (inspired by a physical or fantastical landscape), but still quite niche.
There are numerous online communities where thousands of hobbyists eagerly share their elaborate aquascapes, often devoting entire rooms to them or turning garages into personal aquariums, as well as sharing design and construction tips. The “Aquariums and Aquascapes Australia” Facebook group has more than 25,000 members.
The hobby attracts people for many reasons.
For Brookman, it was initially an opportunity to blend his interest in marine biology with creative expression. “A big part of it is how beautiful it is to look at and enjoy it as a true art form,” he says. “But it has definitely evolved into designing something that future organisms, plants or corals, will interact with and imagining where they will go and how they will interact with them.”
Aquascaping also provides a feeling of calm. 29-year-old architect Kevin Chuang first encountered the hobby on YouTube while completing his master’s degree at university. “It felt very calming and very natural,” she says. “In that moment, the stress of graduate school was relieved and the environment was very, very peaceful.”
The sedative effect may also explain why Saturday Night Live boss Lorne Michaels famously has a 200-gallon aquarium in his 30 Rock office, where he runs one of the most stressful and stressful shows on television.
He took part in the documentary about his life. Lorneand old SNL Bowen Yang, one of the actors, talked about the company’s fame. a new video for New Yorker.
“The first time Kristen Wiig met Lorne Michaels, the only thing she remembers from that meeting was, ‘Wow, that’s a huge aquarium,’” Yang said. “Lorne’s aquarium is pretty special.”
Larry Liberstein has been designing and maintaining this aquarium for more than 40 years through his New York-based Aquarius Aquariums, which also handles high-profile clients such as Robert De Niro.
“[Michaels’] “The staff feeds the fish and he enjoys them,” says Liberstein. “He sits back and watches them. The tank is actually just a few feet away from his desk, so he has the perfect location for this.”
Michaels’ fish tank proved so effective that Jimmy Fallon bought one of his own. The Tonight Show The office where Liberstein also serves. “Jimmy is actually very similar to Lorne in many ways. I can’t confirm this, but it may have been intentional.”
While research on the exact effects of fish tanks on our health is limited, early literature suggests they reduce stress and anxiety, says Danielle Graber, clinical psychologist and director of 12 Point Psychology. That’s why you see them in doctors’, dentists’ or psychologists’ offices; Including Graber’s practice, which has multiple tanks.
“There’s enough evidence to say that we see an autonomic shift in most people exposed to aquariums, and there are a lot of different hypotheses as to why that might be. Most of them go back to the human-animal bond and the biophilia hypothesis, which is one of the biggest theories about animal-assisted therapy in general,” Graber says.
Animal-assisted therapy refers to an approach that incorporates animals into mental health treatment. Aquascaping is not technically classified as animal-assisted therapy, but it can be considered an animal-assisted activity, which has many parallels with the biophilia hypothesis. First proposed by American biologist EO Wilson, the biophilia hypothesis suggests that being around animals, nature, and natural environments helps calm our brains and nervous systems.
A 2016 study published in Environment and Behavior It examined the physical and mental effects of increasing the number of fish in aquariums on 116 randomly selected participants.
Researchers found that monitoring fish tanks, even when they’re empty, helps people relax. As the tanks filled with more fish, participants’ moods improved, as did their interest. Meanwhile, their heart rate and blood pressure dropped.
Graber says there has been a noticeable change in clients’ response to tanks as staff in his office began taking aquascaping more seriously and taking a more natural approach to their designs. “Fish tanks suddenly seemed much more natural, and people were more drawn to them,” he explains, noting that they became so attached to the fish that many patients mourned when the clinical axotl died.
The nature aquarium concept was made famous in the 1990s by designer, photographer and aquarist Takashi Amano. Amano drew on the Japanese aesthetic concept of “Wabi-Sabi,” which sees beauty in imperfection and impermanence, to create the nature style of the aquascape. It mimics natural landscapes rather than creating a colorful garden like the Dutch style.
This is one of the designs favored by Chuang, who also won the Australian Aquatics Competition in 2023, came second in 2024 and placed 187th in the 2024 world championships.
“The idea is that you take inspiration from nature. You don’t copy it, you bring ideas from nature into the aquarium,” explains Chuang, a resident of Sydney’s Edmonson Park, whose home includes an “aquascape gallery” of seven tanks of different sizes and designs.
He estimates he spends about $2,000 a month maintaining his aquascapes, but emphasizes that cost shouldn’t deter people from getting into the business.
“It all depends on one’s budget and what they want to get out of it,” he says.
“Some people like the really minimal style, so you just need three rocks and one type of plant and that can look really cool. Others may want a very complex style that requires lots of different materials, lots of different plants. The nice thing is that it’s for everyone.”
Brookman invests most of his earnings from his aquarium business into underwater designs. “Although I try to convince my parents to give me money for it, it can get expensive,” he admits.
But being able to sit there proudly and occupied with your own personal aquarium is worth it.
“You can watch it endlessly,” says Brookman, who calls it “fish TV.”
“My favorite thing is watching the corals move because… the salt water mimics the flow of waves and you can sit there and look at the corals flowing around.”
Chuang agrees. “It’s a place where I can think about ideas and create art. I see it as a collaboration with nature,” he says.
“Unexpected things happen in the process that are just as beautiful as the finished product.”
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