chennai it s a in your living leagues under sea in two fish tank you might it the escape but these hobbyists call it the aquascape the art and really of underwater landscaping and with chennaiites to it like to water appears to be the new hobby town it takes a lot time and investment but once you get started it is it says raghu ram a software engineer for raghu as an but switched aquascaped or planted tanks a couple of years ago it s more interesting than just owning an aquarium he adds in fact like raghu most aquascape enthusiasts admit to having graduated to these planted tanks as up owning aquariums you feel like you working a piece of art says arjun dogra another avid aquascaper you really work at it you create anything from a meadow to mountains a forest he says hobbyists say are two styles the dutch style popular in the netherlands is more about diversity of and texture while the nature style from which is inspired by is more about creating a natural landscape in miniature while some aquarists prefer to set up their own gardens from thanks to the increasing popularity of the hobby more and more stores have been sprouting in the that give you readymade scapes ve had a of in the last six says m of kolathur based aquadesigns one of the older stores we create custom made aquascapes cave rock gardens you name it we make it for you prakash who owns several planted tanks says that three ago the hobby was out of reach of the middle class because of the high costs involved now the hobby gaining popularity costs have down and more working professionals are buying i ve sold around 100 planted tanks in the last few months prices ranges rs 25000 rs 75000 says prakash i ve sold around 100 planted tanks costing from 25000 to rs 75000 the last few months says prakash buying a readymade tank may get you but maintaining still difficult says arjun who spends several hours a week nurturing his underwatergarden it s all about the right balance of light and nutrients a little here and there and you can end up with algae says that apparently the part tricky and a expensive depending on the of plants you want you might have to invest in carbon dioxide cylinders as well as water filters and that need to be running all and night also your water needs be