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Aquascaping regrets?

lazybones51

lazybones51

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Joined
18 May 2017
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259
Location
Northamptonshire
I'm curious to hear if any of you have any aquascpaing regrets? Wether it's a piece of hardware you regret buying, or a type of fish/plant you regret adding, or another aquascaping related decision you made.

My biggest regret was adding fissidens moss when I setup my tank. No matter how hard I try, it always ends up in the carpeting plants!
 
I regret starting out with a planted discus tank. We all know why, but I didn't know 24 years ago. It was a massive PITA whilst it was working well, about the first year, then depressing when it wasn't until it was stripped down.
 
Probably giving away my Black Ghost Knifefish! Such an intriguing fish and mine was very peaceful, I had it since it was tiny.

Whilst I wouldn't change anything as I've had fun keeping lots of different fish I otherwise wouldn't have been able to, I often imagine how great it would be having the BGK in the type of scapes I keep now. It's a combo I've never seen before.
 
Hmmm …. my largest “regret” forced me to learn a whole of great stuff … though if I wasn’t keen on learning it may have left me upset.

1) poor tank dimensions - 65 gallons 2 feet deep, 18inches wide, 3 feet long. Plus it was not rimless and had a black bar down the centre.

Absolutely terrible for flow pattern and light distribution.

Well here’s two more:

2) putting the tank too close to the wall - terrible for maintenance and setting up equipment

3) only having one tank <— no where to rehome fish or store fish while you adjust co2 and fine tune it or to rescape. With 2 tanks you can rescape one while the fish hang out in the other and vice versa.
 
Similar to @seedoubleyou, rushing into things, not planning spending loads on stuff i didnt need. My Discus tank for example, i just thought hey it needs some plants, so i went out and bought a load of plants that were suitable for a Discus tank and just planted them willy nilly, no planning, no foresight, no nothing. then i find out my sand isnt deep enough, plants just keep floating up, so had to buy some more to put in, Its got no hardscape to speak of, just lots of plants, which although it looks nice to me, it really could have been better if i had thought it through and planned.
My next project will be planned right down to the last drop of water.
 
Most regrets are a learning phase..
Not fixing wood good enough that makes maintenance harder is one I won't make next scapes.
Not buying a bigger tank 😂
And buying Krobia Xingu, well not really a regret I love the fish but they are very hungry type and likes to eat tetras as snacks and even bigger ones as advised as companion fish. Plus they get bigger as I aspected. thinking of ditching them with my upcoming scape but i'm so attached to them now.
 
My aquascaping regrets
1) not having co2 from the start
2) buying zebra danios and a dwarf gourami for my community tank. They are bullies and chase my other fish around especially when feeding. To date my danios have caused the death of two of their own kind and 2 tetras. The dwarf gourami has caused countless shrimp deaths and the death of my other gourami. Will never buy theses ever again.
3) not having enough hardscape at the start.

but its all learning curves and good experience for the future investments.
 
Going overboard with the lighting. It’s easy to get sucked into the more is better mantra. I have tanks with no CO2, lots of ‘easy’ plants and lights that are way too powerful. They are now running at 50% of full power, and I have had to mask off portions of the tanks to keep the really slow growers happy.
 
Moss, it looks great and grows like a weed….my good it gets everywhere when trimming and you end up constantly having to pull it out
 
I wish I'd known to use a compost mix under my sand, John Innes, clay, zeolite, etc. I have it in my small tank and the plants seem much happier. I've learnt to see aquarium keeping as more like gardening, and it feels more natural to have soil. I also wished I'd known to use a plastic divider, to stop pieces of ugly aqua clay coming up into the sand. You can change almost anything in a tank, but once the substrate is down it's so much harder – unless you can afford multiple tanks. My dark secret is that I never liked the look of tanks that just use small lumps of clay, and I wish I hadn't started with Fluvial Stratum. The sand on top I love, but better earth below.
 
Sort of no real regrets as@Aqua360 but felt bad about this . Years back a pub mate moved into a apartment and decided to set up a fish tank. Something wasn't right with the fish and one was bullying the others he asked me to take a look and l kept putting it off ,by the time l went a huge chiclid had taken a huge chunk out of a fancy goldfish still alive! Of course we euthanasiad it. The shop had wrongly told him the Mexican chiclid would be fine with his fancy goldfish . Felt bad for not visiting earlier still regret that
 
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