Likes And Dislikes

De gustibus non est disputandum, “There's no accounting for tastes.” Different people obviously have different opinions on what looks good in an aquarium, and everyone is entitled to set up their tank exactly as they wish, providing always that the health of the fish is the first priority. However, I'm sure that, admit it or not, we all look at some tanks and say “that looks wonderful” or “that looks 'orrible” even though we might be too polite to say so in the latter case. So I thought I'd start off with some things that I like and some I dislike.

My aim is to simulate a slice of nature, not an actual "biotope" because I mix plants and fish from different habitats and parts of the world, but that at least resembles nature and looks as little like a fish tank as possible.

I've said at several points that I like densely planted tanks, so won't go into that again. I also like other natural décor, i.e. bogwood, plain rocks, real gravel or sand. Not surprisingly, what I dislike are coloured gravel, “ornaments” and plastic plants! I do have a few artificial rocks and “caves”, which came with second hand tanks, but I've planted java moss all over them hoping they will be covered and look natural with time.

Another dislike – visible hardware, mainly filters and heaters. If these can be seen then it shouts “aquarium” rather than “nature”, even more so if one can also see the wires through the clear back of the tank. And that brings me to another dislike, a transparent back (especially) and sides (less so) of the tank. I find it very off-putting to see wall paper or whatever behind the tank. Those painted backgrounds can be OK, if they actually look like an underwater scene, but ones showing a desert scene or even pseudo-ancient ruins are a definite no. Actually I have painted the back and sides (outside of course) of most of my tanks black. Once my plants grow, the back and sides of the tank are only visible in small patches. Plants, and most fish, also look more colourful against a dark background, while a black plastic filter virtually disappears. I also feel that fish are more relaxed and feel safer when only the front of the tank is transparent.

One last observation, what I call the “horizon”, i.e. the line where the back wall of the tank meets the gravel/sand. This is something I hadn't thought about, but read in an article introducing aquascaping. Hiding this line, with rocks, bogwood, plants etc., combined with some sort of background, really does add considerably to the natural effect. In a newly planted tank I look every few days and I'm never really happy with the appearance until that line disappears.

I'll mention fish only briefly. I don't really dislike any fish as obviously they can't help how they look or behave. However, I would never choose any fish that has been so modified that it is obvious  it could never exist in nature, so that excludes practically all live-bearers, for example. I feel really sorry for the most genetically deformed fish, such as those weird goldfish that look like they have come from the cooling pond at Chernobyl, and wonder why anybody would deliberately select them for breeding.

Those are my thoughts, people may disagree with my preferences, but I think many would be happier with the overall look of their tanks if they thought about the effect they want to achieve before pondering on what fish they want.