Does Anyone Else Have This Problem?

Does anyone else have an issue with always feeling like your tank could be better/is never quite finished? I just always feel like I could add something, slightly move something, change 1 little thing to make it better. Practically, this turns into me purchasing things I might not need because I see things and think I could use them. I see myself micromanaging every little square inch of the tank and sometimes I don't think it's healthy , for me or the tank.

Any sage wisdom on how to curb this feeling and allowing my tank to just be an ecosystem for a while (with normal WC and maintenance still obviously)?

 

I have a huge rubbermaid tote and an entire pie safe filled with aquarium stuff, most of it is techincially useless to me. I love Fishlore but I also blame forum participation for my problem. The most peaceful time in my life as an aquarist was when I was on 0 forums. Nobody to compare to, nobody telling me that my way couldn't possibly work and that the way they always did it was better, not staring at others tanks thinking theirs was better when in reality they were thinking the same of mine. I think, like with most hobbies, your truest enjoyment comes when the only one you are competing with is yourself, yesterday.

 

I gave up trying to make one of my aquariums look posh and neat and tidy....the Cories undo everything I do, so they have quite literally made their teenager's bed a mess, so they shall live with it......I still do the weekly maintenance though - even if they don't appear to appreciate my efforts to tidy their mess up

My number two aquarium is as neat and tidy as the day I first put it all together.....that doesn't mean that occasional wrestlemania sessions don't happen......Vettel & Hamilton (my Kissing Gourami pair) live there with a handful of other fish and things can get a little steamy when V & H are "getting jiggy with it".....on the whole, things stay put despite the frenetic lovey dovinesses...and again I do the maitenance as normal each week

I am not satisfied with my number three aquarium that houses Murf, the Betta, Bouncer, the female Cory and Squeak, the undersized White Cloud....the filtration is naff, the light too bright and the heater too insipid.....so tomorrow afternoon after my special delivery of new bits and pieces, there will be a new light, new filtration and a new heater....Murf will possibly chuck a tantrum, but these things need to be done if I am ever going to see through the aquarium water and get rid of the misty water effect (I also want to repatriate Bouncer & Squeak to the untidy teenager's bedroom aquarium too) Needless to say Murf has absolutely no idea what's happening....yet

 

If you are voicing discontent about your aquascape, join the club. Every few months I get bored with my scapes and scramble them up.
Make sure when you purchase decor, avoid the pet shop. Items are far to expensive. Learn to buy things on the cheap & unique. Shop Rockyards, landscape companies, Big Box home improvement stores, and of course free stuff from nature.
No ecosystem remains completely constant, not even the oceans. Maybe you don't really have a problem, just don't know how to deal with it economically.

 

I think its natural to want to make your tank perfect [to you]. It also keeps the hobby interesting. Perfection is hard to obtain so it may take years to achieve want you want then your tastes may change and process repeats. This has always driven me to bigger tanks to create a more 'natural' enviornment. At one point I had a 240 gal [8' long] salt water tank, a 150gal freshwater tank and a 135 gallon pond [in living room]. My dream tanks used to be in public aquariums but now more from internet sites like this.

 

I'm in the same club, I hate my small tank but its just a quarantine with blue gravel and cheap plastic plants with some hornwort and duckweed. My 75gal isn't too bad but not the way I want it. I don't have the time or money right now since I have 2 toddlers, a needy dog and a nutty cat but my fish are thriving. I don't even have the fish I want, got suckered into taking 15 baby platies who are all grown up now except the new babies they keep popping out...one day ill take them to the lfs and get what I want...one day. I'm in no hurry tho, I just do the regular maintenance and let it b. I don't even have time to battle the staghorn and string algae, or maybe I do I just don't feel like going to war right now. Non fish people like my tank tho lol I just enjoy watching the fish and ignore the "issues" that I don't like.