Takashi Amano Planted Tanks



amanotank.jpg
Amano – For those who have been in this hobby for only a short time to those who have years of experience, the name Takashi Amano represents natural aquariums at their finest. Most can only say they’ve seen pictures of his tanks. The lucky ones have had the opportunity to see them in person. I was one of the lucky ones. After college, I went backpacking in Japan. Being in this hobby for only a few months, I knew already that I couldn’t pass up the chance to see Takashi Amano’s tanks in person. So I took the 2 1/2 hour BulletTrain ride from Tokyo to Niigata to see them in person. Here are the pictures I took….

Natural Aquarium World
This is the first book of a series from Amano. The pictures of his tanks are simply amazing. With each picture he includes a detailed description of each tank.
Click Here To See More..

Natural Aquarium World 2
With this 2nd book, he continues where he left off – with more amazing pictures of natural aquariums and detailed descriptions. It’s a must-have!
Click Here To See More..

Natural Aquarium World 3
You can’t just own one Amano book. The 3rd book from Amano is just as incredible as the last two. Every tank is completely different. You have to see it for yourself! It’s totally worth it.
Click Here To See More..

UPDATE: Yes..Unfortunately this is not the official Takashi Amano store but keep in mind I went in 2000 and this was before there was Wikipedia or Youtube or anything about it online in English….or maybe his official store didn’t exist yet. I am not sure. But it was still a cool experience and the pictures are still really interesting and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. One day I will go back and find the real store. 🙂 – Johnny

The store is located in the most random area. The area is very rural. There are no other stores and the bus only comes around every hour and a half.

The closest thing in the store to a reptile were these HUGE turtles. Thought they were giant stones at first.
The store is divided into two sections; one for the fish/plants and one for his products. This is a picture of the other side of the store. All the tanks on the walls looked like lil’ natural aquariums. Imagine going to your LFS and all the tanks are amano-style. neat.

This is the from across the street. As you can see, it’s not a very big building nor a very modern one.

The following pictures are pictures I took at the fish store. These are unfinished tanks in the store that were mostly I think used for storage or minor display tanks. Click on the picture below and it’ll open up in a new window.


{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }

Pure April 10, 2007 at 6:06 am

You have no idea just how much I’m envying this.

Sara April 10, 2007 at 6:17 am

WOW! This is totally making me miss having freshwater tanks!

Panther28 April 10, 2007 at 3:04 pm

WOW!!! Thats one awesome tank!!

Saltwater Fish May 6, 2007 at 11:26 pm

See if every freshwater tank looked like these they might be worth having 😛

No but seriously…they look awesome!

Devilfisch August 27, 2007 at 2:37 am

Damn! I feel envious! If I get to visit Japan, I won’t let go of the chance to check out that store! His style is amazing! If only… if only!

roffi August 28, 2007 at 12:36 am

cool store!

Brian September 12, 2007 at 6:33 pm

These are beautiful pictures. What is the long grass he has in the background of so many of his tanks? I’m having a hard time identifying it.

saldie July 1, 2008 at 4:37 am

hello. i hope mr amano gets to see this.
can i ask you to teach me on planted aquarium.
i would be willing to go to japan.
please send me a message at saldie_tan@yahoo.com.

hope to hear from you.

jac October 1, 2008 at 12:40 pm

anyone know what type of fish that is in the pic? The blue ones?

Johnny October 1, 2008 at 1:27 pm

the blue ones are discus freshwater fish. 🙂

Cédric October 20, 2008 at 2:05 pm

Hello,

I’m really sorry to be not as positive as you are on the tanks presented here.

It looks a bit like an Amano design, but really does not have the same quality! It doesn’t look natural; especially the stones are really badly placed…

So, is it then the Shop of Amano?? In fact, it is not! It is a shop selling ADA products but not the HQ of Amano in Niigata… The HQ, were you can see the tanks done by Amano is in a very modern building, not in the cheap construction on the picture. You have simply visited the wrong place… Sorry for you… :-((

Malc February 8, 2009 at 8:24 am

The blue fish, if the ones in the top pic are Discus my friend.
best in small shoals a little more demanding than some to keep but very rewarding

Josh Horan October 11, 2009 at 11:38 am

Can anyone donate a 200 gallon fish tank to my college science department for undergraduate research? We do presentations on Takashi Amano’s tanks and we are in the process of creating our own natural environment but we are in need of a bigger tank which would enable us to expand our research. Any information will be helpful. Please email me. I am very busy with school and email is the best way to get in touch with me. Thank you very much.
jhoran@ferrum.edu

tom April 1, 2010 at 1:27 pm

actual place you wanted to check out is this….

http://www.adana.co.jp/_e_gallery/

fish April 13, 2010 at 10:08 pm

I’m so incredibly jealous right now. They are all gorgeous. Your very lucky

fishank April 30, 2010 at 2:45 am

I’ve never been to either place but it seems you went to the wrong one! And I know those bullet trains arent cheap… maybe another trip to Japan is on the cards for you?

サイモン June 7, 2011 at 8:38 pm

That is not the Amano store. Oh dear.

gunawan June 27, 2011 at 12:08 am

Takashi Amano,….u are the great aquascaper i ever see.
good job, really good good job,
where i can buy your books in indonesia?
i want it…..

Amit Sawant October 12, 2011 at 10:20 am

Its really aw-some… I am just a beginner in this.. but really enjoyed watching your planted tank…

keep it up…

Jer February 29, 2012 at 3:11 pm

Traveling all the way over there, without doing some research upfront was just stupid! You visited the wrong place!
Just checking Youtube alone, would have given you hints about the “real” house of Amano.

Johnny March 21, 2012 at 8:53 pm

yea…wish there was youtube though back in 2000. 😛

Servc August 7, 2012 at 2:08 pm

Jer you’re a twat. The modern building that people are posting about wasn’t open until 03. Pictures look amazing btw.

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