Meet the Creator: Jay from Hooked Aquatics

ByrkleyAquatics
10 hours ago
2 min read

At Byrkley Aquatics, we’re continuing to work closely with creators in the aquascaping space supporting builds and sharing the process from start to finish.

Next up is Jay, from Hooked Aquatics, who brings a strong passion for natural-style aquascaping and a clear focus on developing his skills with every new project.

Jay’s journey is a great example of how quickly this hobby can grow once you discover the aquascaping side of things.

Getting Into Aquascaping

Like many hobbyists, Jay started out as a general fish keeper without much exposure to aquascaping.

That changed after being introduced to it by a friend who previously ran their own aquatic shop. From that point, things moved quickly with Jay diving into research and becoming heavily inspired by the work of Takashi Amano and the principles behind the Nature Aquarium style.

What started as simple fishkeeping soon evolved into a much deeper interest in layout, plant choice, and overall design.

Style & Approach

Jay is particularly drawn to the Nature Aquarium style, focusing on layouts that feel natural, balanced and true to real-world environments.

At the same time, he also enjoys jungle-style aquascapes, which allow for a slightly wilder, more organic look with dense planting and varied textures.

When it comes to plants, Jay makes strong use of epiphytes to add detail and character to his hardscape.Favourites include:

Bucephalandra
Java Fern species

These are often combined with taller background plants such as:

Cyperus helferi
Cryptocoryne spiralis ‘Red’

This mix allows him to create depth, contrast, and visual interest across the whole tank.

The Next Projects

Jay currently has a number of new scapes in the pipeline, all focused on trying something different from his previous builds.

Whether that’s experimenting with new layouts, techniques, or plant combinations, the goal is to keep pushing forward and developing his style.

We’ll be supporting these upcoming projects and sharing the progress along the way.

Continuing to Learn

Like any good aquascaper, Jay is always looking to improve.

One of his current focuses is expanding the range of plants he works with particularly exploring new and more demanding species that he hasn’t used before.

This willingness to experiment and learn is a big part of what makes following a creator’s journey interesting, especially as each new scape builds on the last.