What are your pet peeves about aquarium 'scaping?

[hollyfish2000]

I do love looking at pictures of other's aquariums. I get to be impressed and get good ideas (like for my Chi from mini tanks at Aquamania).

But sometimes I see aquarium set ups that make me lose my mind! I have to restrain myself from chiming in my unasked for two cents! So here are some of my pet peeves. What are yours?

No background! Really, dude, we need to see all the wires hanging down the back of your tank???

No effort to hide equipment. Sometimes, you can't help it, but if you've got a planted tank, put some plants in front of your sponge filter! Or hide your heater behind that rock pile.

Too symetrical. Wood and rocks should be a bit haphazard and not perfectly balanced to look more natural IMHO.

Bright pink gravel, skulls, "Gone Fishing" signs. This needs no explanation.

Man-made "caves" or flowerpots. I know these have a use, but hide them a bit! Glue an anubias on top or put some rocks or wood over them people!!

OK. I'm done now. Maybe I should go get another cup of coffee!!

 

[mchambers]

I think you need to put some whiskey in that coffee!

I try to hide equipment, but it's not always easy.

On the caves or flowerpots, I agree, which is why I prefer coconut shells, but when you run out of those, a small flowerpot sure is handy.

 

[Tony]

No effort to hide equipment. Sometimes, you can't help it, but if you've got a planted tank, put some plants in front of your sponge filter! Or hide your heater behind that rock pile.

GUILTY

Too symetrical. Wood and rocks should be a bit haphazard and not perfectly balanced to look more natural IMHO.

Ok on this one.

Bright pink gravel, skulls, "Gone Fishing" signs. This needs no explanation.

Only at AquaMania... after all, who doesn't love a ceramic mermaid (they're topless!!!)

Man-made "caves" or flowerpots. I know these have a use, but hide them a bit! Glue an anubias on top or put some rocks or wood over them people!!

QUITE GUILTY.

:blush:


The biggest thing that gets me is the background thing. Tape a piece of construction paper up on the back for Pete's sake!

 

[Owens]

While most of my tanks dont look as natural as they could be, it does erk me when people uses skulls, fake buildings, man-made structures ect.

I also dont like fruity pebble gravel...

 

[chriscoli]

Funny thing is....although I do like to have backgrounds on my tanks, seeing the equipment doesn't bug me at all.

What does bug me is mix-and-match rockwork. When I see a rockpile with one piece of slate, one piece of lava, one piece of lace rock, one piece of fieldstone....

But, that's just what irks me. I know it looks gorgeous to others, so I don't comment.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. In the end....if you like the way it looks, that's awesome, go for it!

 

[jonclark96]

For me, a tank is all about making the fish as happy as I can. For the most part, my show tanks are a mix between aesthetics and utility. Most of the fish I keep are larger Central Americans and they really have no regard for my desires to have a tank "look" a certain way. More often than not, if an object in a tank is movable, it will be moved. Pits in the sand are made where ever they want to make them. Plants (unless they are plastic) will end up floating within hours of being put in a tank. I don't care for rainbow colored gravel or bubbling skulls, so I don't put them in my tanks, but I don't think the fish really care too much.

 

[YSS]

I actually like no background although wires do bug me. I like how back of the tank reflects the paint on the wall (but I do have nice colored walls painted with nice paint ). What I don't like is very neatly stacked flat rocks for African tanks. Can't stand it. Don't know why.

 

[gravel_digger]

With the brutes I like "nicely decorated" is not a high priority. I will say i dont like seeing all the wires on that back side thats why I paint the backs of all my tanks... What maybe my issue I go with black paint on the back and either a black gravel or sand..... I do use all similiar rocks plus driftwood though. Can I get some points for that????

 

[neut]

Cool-- pet peeve time.

Some of those on my list already mentioned, and not that I'm the world's best aquascaper, but in my estimation--

Worst:
Painted and weird colored gravel

Huge, practically boulder sized 'gravel' that never gets vacuumed

All cheesy trinkets, treasure chests, signs, mansions, diver dan's, etc. etc. etc.

Virtual factory farm conditions for a breeding tank, especially by a hobbyist and not a high volume commercial breeder-- prime example is totally bare 29 gal discus pair breeding tank, overfed with beef heart, massive water changes required to maintain water quality in these conditions, fish medicated regularly to control parasites or keep them alive. Do some reading on factory farming conditions for livestock to see the correlation. I kept discus successfully for years and none of this is necessary.

Bad:
Actinic lights on fw tanks, giving sand and everything else an obviously bluish glow, with a photo posted saying look how good/how blue my fish look

Bare tanks-- I never do a totally bare tank, not for discus, not for fry. Kills me how sometimes the same person who thinks their fish need a variety of foods or they get bored or thinks they need to hunt feeder fish to satisfy their natural instincts also thinks it's ok keeping their 12 inch oscar (or whatever) in a bare, 13 inch deep 55 gal tank.
Also, fry need some structure to develop naturally: bare tank = stupid fish

Mildly to moderately irritating:
Tank decor way off for species, like no open area for open water species, example-- front tank scaped like a mbuna tank

Overly contrived looking or overly symmetrical aquascape. One big rock (or rock pile) at one end and one at the other, each side same size, height, etc. Stack of rocks that couldn't possibly be stacked like that in nature or comprised of an oddball mish-mash of rocks that don't go together.

Tank photos of tank that looks like it hasn't been cleaned or maintained in months-- algae out of control and all over glass, smudges, water spots all over glass, deep sand or gravel with obvious waste and discoloration pockets visible, etc.

Other:
Pots for breeding-- don't like them myself, much prefer using rocks, driftwood, etc. to create caves if needed, but I get why some people use them, especially for certain species that need pretty specific cave configurations for spawning.

No background-- except for tank set up to properly display this way as a room divider, etc. or tank intentionally set up for the wall treatment to be the background if electrical cords, filters, filter tubes, etc. are hidden.

No effort to hide equipment... agree up to a point. Depends somewhat on intended biotope (for example, front habitat is basically sandy bottom, few rocks, lot of open area), type of equipment (sump, overflows, hang on filters, inline or in tank heaters, etc.) and purpose of tank. (display? quarantine? simply a fry growout tank?) Not always easy to hide everything, but agree some effort should be made to do what you can.

Sorry for the long list, and understand some is just my personal opinion, but that's my list. :wub:

 

[dogofwar]

Keep all of this in mind as you plan your entries (and voting) for next years' AquaMania Aquarium Beautiful Competition.

All of my tanks are in my fishroom (and not my living room) and given a pretty busy schedule (work, kids, etc.), I have to admit that meticulous aquascaping isn't my focus (nor was it before work, kids, etc...truth be told). I've been a member of the randomly strewn flowerpots (whole and broken), PVC cave, plastic plant, Java Moss, box filter sticking out aquarium club for a long time. Although I have a second place plaque for an Aquarium Beautiful Home Show (Greater Dayton Aquarium Society) circa 1987, somewhere

Fish like clean water and some cover. After that, it's pretty much personal preference!

So my pet peeves:
- colored gravel...or too much gravel. Less is more.
- Symmetry there's nothing more unnatural than order
- Meticulously cut flower pots. Just smash the end off...the fish don't care.
- Too small rocks and other decorations. A couple of big rocks or pieces of driftwood > too small ones
- Backgrounds other than a uniform color

...and (last but not least):

- Imaginary Biotopes. The idealized depictions of nature that folks try to create in their tanks are about as authentic to nature as my randomly strewn piles of broken flowerpots and rocks.

Natural waterways are full of piles of rotting leaves. Black tea-colored water. Tangles of branches. Lots of detritus and silt. Mud. Emersed plants. Algae.

In the end, the fish really don't care

Matt

 

[Becca]

My husband refuses to put a background on the back of the 150. I've begged - just simple black or blue - to no avail. He thinks they're "cheesy." This from the guy with an empty bottle from "crystal skull" vodka (seriously, glass skull vodka bottle) in the tank. Actually, the thing has grown algae in such an odd way that it is legitimately a little creepy...

I actually like flower pots - I think they're cute in the right setting and the red color looks nice against black gravel, plus it compliments green plants.

Can't stand colored gravel, fake plants, fake wood, cheesy decs, etc. I did cheese it up a little for the bowls in Isaac's room and his little shrimp tank, but he's a baby - if I want him to look at something it needs to be bright and obnoxious.

Mostly I just try to keep the fish happy and the tanks in such a way that they are more relaxing than stressful.

 

[neut]

Fish like clean water and some cover. After that, it's pretty much personal preference!
Matt

Hard to argue with that, though some things make more sense than others. And basically agree on the imaginary biotopes. For the most part the best we can do is an idealized or scaled down version of what we think looks 'natural'. Nature's not generally so tidy as an idealized display tank.

Still, for display purposes, and sometimes for the benefit of the fish and their breeding or behavior, some attempt at natural can have its points. Also, an aquarium as a creative expression or aquarium as art has its place imo.

 

[Pat Kelly]

LOL
I love it.
Some of you would not like my fish room.
clay pots, bare tanks, pvc pipes, sponges all over the tanks, filters hanging on the front of some tanks, LOL

 

[Tony]

LOL
I love it.
Some of you would not like my fish room.
clay pots, bare tanks, pvc pipes, sponges all over the tanks, filters hanging on the front of some tanks, LOL

I'm thinking the same thing.

Short of our (somewhat mad) friend Avatar, I don't know of anyone with 20+ scaped tanks in their house.




(Take that as a compliment, Sam)

 

[Becca]

I'm thinking the same thing.

Short of our (somewhat mad) friend Avatar, I don't know of anyone with 20+ scaped tanks in their house.




(Take that as a compliment, Sam)

Well, if all of Sam's tanks count as aquascaped, then maybe the 150 isn't so bad...

 

[zackcrack00]

No background! Really, dude, we need to see all the wires hanging down the back of your tank???

GUILTY

No effort to hide equipment. Sometimes, you can't help it, but if you've got a planted tank, put some plants in front of your sponge filter! Or hide your heater behind that rock pile.

GUILTY

Too symetrical. Wood and rocks should be a bit haphazard and not perfectly balanced to look more natural IMHO.

Bright pink gravel, skulls, "Gone Fishing" signs. This needs no explanation.

I have red and black gravel, but I HATE the stupid signs and stuff.

I hate it when I get gravel in the sand in my 5 gallon planted! I also hate the little sights, cars, etc!

 

[daninmd]

biggest pet peaves for me are:

- gravel in mbuna tanks - give them some sand to play in!
- flat rocks stacked up like scaffolding. drives me nuts
- in saltwater - bare bottom aquariums

 

[mscichlid]

The two things that bother me the most are the decorations in the like of Spongebob, nemo, chests, castles and all that other crap.

Plastic plants are okay if they resemble an actual aquatic species.

But the worst is clown puke colored gravel.

 

[spazmattik]

if only all scapes were as well done as this..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6W46526DF_w&NR=1&feature=fvwp

this is a motivating post for me as all my tanks are for display but not quite where I want them to be. I need to pick up rocks and backgrounds.

 

[Avatar]

Each to thine own

Well, if all of Sam's tanks count as aquascaped, then maybe the 150 isn't so bad...

Geez, and I thought we were friends.

I don't know about "aqua-scaped so much as maybe "bio-scaped", that is to say, all my 40 tanks have enough established driftwood, leaf-litter, growing plants and the bacterial colonization so imparted that I'd wager even money they could withstand a 24-hour power outage without loss of life to any of the fish therein. I scape more my fish than for myself because for me it's all about finding a balance between inducing spawning (for the fish) and aesthetics (por moi). Am quite happy if the fish are, and especially if that means that my tanks look like what one might conceivably get were one to "grab" a few cubic feet of natural habitat and transplant it directly into an aquarium (soda cans and such excluded). If I had a dedicated fish room as opposed to tanks scattered throughout my apartment I might be slightly more inclined to set up a few "industrial" spawning arrangements just for the sake of producing fry, but even at that when I look at a tank I like for it to look back so to speak.

With respect to the original question: plastic. Yo odio plastico.