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Fishkeeper or aquascaper?

Ajm200

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Don’t know how to post a poll on here or if it is even possible. I’ve been here on and off for a long time and always wondered how the membership is split

How many of you are:

aquascapers who keep fish to complement your scape?

fishkeepers who keep plants to benefit/complement your fish?

My background.

I kept adding tanks and space was limited. I had a tax refund and decided to buy a big tank to accommodate all the fish. I kept a few plants but nothing serious. Just somewhere for fish to graze and hide. The tank was custom build so took a while to arrive. I dud some research and discovered aquascaping. Decided the new tank would be planted.

The tank wasn’t practical. I’m 5ft. The tank was 5x2x2 on a 2.5ft cabinet. Planting it involved balancing on a laddet and really could have benefited from a snorkel.

Didn’t let it deter me. Almost bankrupted us buying lights that could reach the substrate in t8/early t5 days and a ridiculous number of potted plants (If only in-vitro had existed back them). Ridiculously expensive aquatic substrate too and a CO2 system that churned through 2 pub canisters at a time and still didn’t make the tester go green. I grew fabulous algae and crappy plants. Every Sunday was lost to ‘the tank’ that really didn’t thrive.
I upped CO2 until fish suffered and still grew algae only to be told more flow! More CO2!


Hubby capped the budget that would have us otherwise.

I decided I was a fish keeper who like plants not an aquascaper. I went with the low light, low tech, low ferts approach. So
Some sort of enriched soil with root tabs, ancient manado and easy plants and neglect. Water changes for fish not plants. Filter maintenance when they showed signs of slowing and enjoyed tne hobby. We have no TV as we listen to music, read, chat and watch the tank. Just stripped it down as changing the wood floir with a 1/2 tonne tank is impractical and miss it already

Apologies for any typos. My vision is poor
 
I would identify myself as a fishkeeper. I have about 15 years in the hobby at this point and only in recent years have I gotten deeply into the requirements of plants. Lately I am focusing more on plants, partly because I find them highly rewarding, but also more forgiving than fish. I get very upset if my fish are sick for some reason, but if a plant has a nutrient deficiency it does not impact me the same way. Also you cannot cram 45 species of fish into a tank, but you can totally do that for plants! :D

It is possible to make a poll on the forum, when you create a new post, under the field to enter your thread title, there are three tabs, the rightmost one being the option for a poll. I dont know if the admins can convert this existing thread into a poll or not. @LondonDragon ?

Please see attached images if they help, I assume you use the light theme, if not I will be happy to retake pictures in the theme of your choice.

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On my iphone I only see discussion or question. My vision isn’t great so maybe I missed something. If an admin can make this a poll I’d be very grateful 😊
 
Cannot convert the question to a poll! you will need to create the thread again as a poll and then ask for this one to be removed! cheers
 
Hi all
I am a plant enthusiast.
I have no problem to run tanks without live stock.
If I stock them tho I will never abuse the inhabitants for the sake of the plants.Thats one of the reasons I went lowctech ;)
Regards Konstantin
 
Fishkeeper. Or snail keeper as I have more of those at the moment. I can appreciate an aquascape made by someone but making one myself? Wouldn't know where to start and when to finish.
 
Mainly Fishkeeping but just started aquascaping in a recent year.
I started with fishkeeping in 2018 and I loss almost a hundred fish in that year as I believe in everything fish store and another forum said. (I also preserved them all in a formalin bottle to remember them, I have a bad time handle the stress of my mistake and make my ocd worse :() Until 2020, I found Egeria densa in a creek near my house and after I put them in a tank, I haven’t had problem with water quality and fish jumping since. Never thought plants can cure the stress of losing fish.
 
plant keeper, (not a very good one) that keeps fish. definitely not an aquascaper though LOL.
 
I think I am bang on 50/50, I don't think I could separate the two from eachother, I guess more of a "whole ecosystem" kinda person as @JoshP12 said. I like to create little gardens of eden for my fish to frolic in and enjoy.

I was told once by a big aquascaper that aquascapers make a scene however they want first with hardscape and plants and the fish come second to compliment it and I'm not into that at all. I first think about what fish I want to keep/already have, and I design the aquarium around what their natural habitat is like + what structures and areas I think they'll need - for example when working out my big tank I knew my fish needed a big sand area, good shadow/hiding areas with hardscape, caves/piles of rocks, a big pile of botanicals, floating plants at the top, planted corners for hiding and a feeling of safety, etc. So in that way not an aquascaper at all. For me the scape is there to serve the fish and ensure they live a really nice life, it's not there just to look pretty, I guess that's the trained designer in me lol, always need a client! But then I take those requirements and try to make a scene that covers them all and looks beautiful and balanced too, and usually use hardscape that takes up the full height and width of the aquarium so makes lots of habitat and a lot of interesting places for plants to grow.

I love plants, and I'm constantly thinking about what new plants would grow best where and how that enhances the aquarium and the experience for the fish, and how it'll look when they grow bigger. I like to keep a lot of plants together in a tank - I think of it a more like a garden rather than a natural scene - and then I try to place them in a way that gives it some ~feeling~ of nature and balance, placing big plants strategically to enhance the hardcape structure. And of course the fish really love living in an aquarium with lots of plants, lots of hiding spaces and things to pick through for shrimps and interact with. I am particularly interested in the waterline and the plants that grow just above and below it, these plants look really beautiful, and my fish seem to respond well to having this extra habitat and safety so I've been focusing more on it as a feature of all my tanks, once again the fish inspire me to design my tanks after their needs and behaviours.

I also love adding dead leaves to add to the ecosystem effect, the fish love it and I think it looks really natural but still artful and beautiful. I don't think aquascapes need to be fully "clean" to look good (personally I don't like aquascapes that are very clean and minimal). And I like adding live food that survives and thrives, blackworms, etc all those things that make a tank more of an ecosystem. It all reminds me of <this article about Great Dixter> and how gardens mixed with nature can be more biodiverse and help wildlife thrive, I know it's not the same but this is how I treat my aquarium. It's the same method of gardening that my parents have always done, focusing on creating a beautiful garden with structure for wildlife, encouraging even more wildlife than a more traditional wildlife garden might.

This hobby is like the perfect combination of gardening and pet keeping, and I love that they enhance eachother and always keep it interesting!
 
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