Continuation post #160 & #161 ------>
Inherent Predisposition to Destruction / Circumventing Failure
Failure
definition
2 ...
an unsuccessful person, enterprise, or thing.
plural noun: failures
Let's talk about what it is to fail for a moment. Although I 've never searched for failure, I can imagine if we did run a search we likely wouldn't be surprised at how few, or obvious results, of people who have (by definition)
failed at Aquascaping -the hobby itself for that matter - because true failure means throwing in the towel, tearing down tanks, uprooting them from your life and pitching the whole works into a dumpster. Failure and the measure of success is interpretational. What one person sees as failure, I may see as a strong learning curve. A tool for teaching.
Every unsuccessful attempt brings us a step closer to success so long as we are able to take away more knowledge at the end of an attempt than we had at the beginning. In other words:
If you were able to diagnose an issue that became apparent over the course of an Aquascape's life-span, make a mental note of the diagnosis for remedy in the future, thereby finding a better understanding of what works and maybe what does not, then it should be safe to say that regardless of how we feel about the final product it wasn't unsuccessful because we take away more than we put in. What exactly we are able to take away from it could take any number of different directions from experience to a better understanding and appreciation at how different aquatic plants can behave from terrestrial.
Learning the
What-to's and identifying the
What-not-to-do's is always an ever-evolving game of careful observations, logical hypothesis, deductive reasoning, trial, and then taking corrective measures. When issues occur they can often be categorized into the endless, yet vague, column of unbalanced levels of light/Co2/Nutrients. While finding balance can become an ongoing struggle, it's not always the definitive, underlying problem. Sometimes problems surface as the tank ages, sometimes they're not immediate concerns, but sometimes these problems were incorporated into the design layout (the Aquascape itself) from the very beginning.
In Part 1 of 2 I wrote on [our] inherent predisposition to destruction, and in brief summary destructive predisposition is forcing our presence, often our will, into our designs or on the growth and behavior of plant-life, sometimes the life of our pets, instead of providing an Aquascape with a good idea, strong footing, good balance, and then sitting back and letting nature decide what happens next. I've said this very phrase a dozen times, but it's one I think needs constant repeating:
Nothing good ever comes from being elbow-deep in our tanks, stirring constant panic in our critters and harassing plants. Ever. Yes, as owners we are capable of good when we meddle, like when we remove waste/filth/decaying organic matter,
water changes especially. Being capable of good however will never mean that every time we roll up our sleeves and dip into the depths that we are
doing good by our pets and fish tanks. Constant planting, replanting, uprooting, re-rooting, hack-and-slash grooming, chasing fish that are zooming, can sometimes be more harmful even when our intentions are to help. All forms of aquatic life, both stocking and plants, can feel stress. If you've ever purchased a bag of
Neon Tetras or other brightly colored critters and dumped them into a tank after
acclimating then we can assume you may have been a little dismayed that the bright coloration that caught your eye has been lost during transport and relocation, a very visual indication of stress. Is it a surprise then that plants can, and often times do, go through similar stress when relocating? Sometimes their level of stress is obvious, other times not so much.
Much of the prior issues can be categorized as issues we cannot always address easily or immediately, if at all. Sometimes issues just are, and the process is much the same for almost everyone yet there are odd habits, debilitating handicaps we as individuals, are capable of identifying and rectifying. Problems and issues only we can resolve because we're regrettably the cause, yet also the solution. Let's take a moment, before I write on into a handful of predispositions to destruction, and go ahead and get the one and only real truth every single person can agree on when it comes to Aquascaping. That truth is the only way someone can get better at Aquascaping is by - wait for it...3...2...1...)
Aquascaping. Not just throwing a few pieces of hardscape into a fish tank and then leaving it just long enough for the detritus to settle -
no! You can practice seating rocks and driftwood in substrate all day by setting up a mock tank made out of a cardboard box, or make one from wood if we're fancy. You can even solidify your artistic eye by detailing a grid into the mock tank, or marking points of interest as dictated by the Golden Rule of 1/3rds. You'll find yourself better with every layout, or drive yourself all levels of insane trying to make the angle of a stone or an intersecting point too perfect, but it won't make you better at Aquascaping as a whole unless you follow through with it. Set it up in a tank, plant it, correct it, grow it out, finally stocking it when the time is right, and then letting it reach some measurable level of success as it matures, identify and correct algae outbreaks if they occur, and enjoy it when it's grown out to your liking before snapping a number of photos, then rip it apart and start over. Riding it the whole way, even if for most of it's life the only thing that inhabits it is mats of algae, is important. Even uninteresting layouts with little or no hardscape becomes unimportant as the plants fill in and the tank matures.
I think I've been Aquascaping for maybe 3 years in November, so while not necessarily a long time, I've done quite a bit, resolved a lot of nasty habits I developed in the beginning and corrected those along with developing better technique, which helps me circumvent the failure of future projects. I'm not even sure I can list all the terrible habits I've learned or taught myself only to have to force myself to unlearn them, but I still know the more detrimental bad-habits. Habits that maybe you or someone else share in common with me, or at the very least will be able to watch out for in your own process. Avoidance of most, if not all of these, circumvents failure in future works.
1.)
What kind of fish to stock? ALL OF THEM!!!
Haha! Okay, I'll admit to never personally recognizing my stocking habits as being a free-for-all of community frenzy of every species on the first two rows of tanks at the pet store. In fact, I've always felt like i'm incredibly boring when it comes to stocking, but there's a reason why this is at the #1 bad-habit. Community tanks aren't bad, they're just distracting in Aquascaping. Stocking in general is what
a lot of people will contemplate before ever forming an idea as to what the tank should look like, or what the heck would even be right for the design, water temp, water levels. I mean, do we even have a stand, what kind of substrate, dragon-stone or the garden variety commonly found outside places of business and are best left for purchase when its dark and no one is looking... etc... Was that over the top? I seriously disagree if you say, yes. Seriously. I'm not immune to the giddy feels when it comes to stocking a tank. I'm just more patient than some, and more deliberate in my decision when it comes down to what would look the best versus what will
work the best. We all work for a good looking tank, but it's never wise to be the only one that works to keep it nice. Way, way, waaaay, far down the timeline after the tank is set up and everything is stable and growing I think of stocking, but not with schools or peacock-colored what's-their-names. Before anything else I've already allotted a fair chunk of the remaining water volume available for stocking (because the volume of a tank prior to aquascaping is very different to what it as after) to algae eating stocking.
Ottos,
cherry shrimp, Amano, other... almost %50 (more? Sure!) of the available volume that can be inhabited is already reserved for species that are going to work with me to keep everything clean and neat. Algae eaters are more important than any other stocking idea that may have caught our interest. If I don't have to. be the only one cleaning hardscape, scraping glass, getting rid of detritus, it saves me time and that's more precious than other species because now I have time to appreciate the ones I am able to stock in the remaking volume after the algae eaters have readily established themselves.
2.)
Poor planning, usually resulting from inexperience
There are so many reasons why detailing a plan on paper, or even mentally detailing the plan, is important in the hobby because of the lengthy investment of time it takes to see an idea to completion. I'm great at planning, but very bad at times when it comes to planning for an aquascape. I've gotten better at mentally laying out a plan, but I'm also very prone to tossing it into the mental trash and just wingin' it when the time comes.
The closest I've ever came to a solid game plan is a doodle of a tank I wanted to try -
Exhibit A.)
Which in over a year became -
Exhibit B.)
Hardscape: Malaysian & other driftwood, Locally sourced granite from river.
All things considered, such as not having any of the hardscape, most plants, fish, even the tank itself when the drawing was doodled down I'm okay with the results. 6 out of 11 on my own meter of success.
Prior to the drawing I made for this tank, I was exclusively a wingin' it type of person with mixed results overall. Sometimes it was bad from the start, sometimes it was better than bad, but every single time I was able to identify, reason, correct and fix ideas or techniques that weren't very good until each tank was able to be measured with some level of success.
Exhibit C.)
Winged it so hard the original Wingin' it layout is almost 100% altered from what I decided on spur of the moment. It's unrecognizable when the original is compared to the last photo, which may look okay, I guess. The problem is it took countless hours of redo and fiddling to correct my mistakes because of no planning.
I've come to appreciate a solid plan, but at the same time I probably will always be prone to just doing it instead of thinking it through far enough to see if it's a good idea. There's a benefit to all the mistakes I could have, or did make, as a result of poorly planned layouts, and that's becoming pretty good at fixing and adapting everything as it feels or looks right. At the end of a long day, however, a good plan that's been carefully thought out, plotted, and then double-checked for accuracy, will always save money, and most important of all,
time.
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Will be continued ----->)
