Dimensions 120 × 45 × 45 cm

Title 天野河 (Amano’s River / Milky Way Galaxy)

Volume 243L

Lighting Maxilite Professional x2

Filtration Eheim Pro 3E, Pumps from Hydor

Plants Hair Grass, Short Hair Grass, Riccia, Potamogeton gayi, Potamogeton maackianus, Hydrilla sp., Monosolenium tenerum, Taxiphyllum sp. various

Animals Barilius bakeri, Siamese Algae Eater, Amano Shrimp

Materials Japanese Black Plate Lava

Additional Information The title is a play on words— “Amano-Gawa” means “Heaven’s River” (Milky Way Galaxy) in Japanese, but I’ve changed the characters from the typical spelling to instead read as “Amano’s River”. Pearling Riccia sparkles like stars in the flow. By focusing on Japanese native plants, and in particular featuring the Riccia + Hair Grass combination popularized by Amano-San, I wanted to create a layout pursuing his ideal of recreating an actual river. The fish choice, while not a Japanese species (most of which eat plants) was chosen for its resemblance to Japanese river species like Oikawa or Ugui. Siamese Algae Eaters closely resemble the native Mugitsuku, and Amano Shrimp are another one of the master’s legacies in the hobby.


This is a georama layout with modern techniques, including a design that allows for the filter and hidden water pumps to remain in the tank even during the photoshoot— pushing over the water plants with real flow as they would be in nature— but with the goal of paying homage to the traditional style of Amano Takashi’s “Nature Aquarium World.”