Some fishes get the label of “difficult” or “challenging.” Are they really? Or, could it be that they simply task us to meet THEIR needs instead of ours? Let’s look at how to deal with “difficult” fishes in our work and prove that THERE ARE NO DIFFICULT FISHES!😎

An aquarium is an ecosystem. This is something we have known for a century or more. That’s not new. Yet, the idea of embracing the processes which occurs to build our little ecosystems- to facilitate all of this stuff... is.

Where does aesthetics fit in with the botanical-style aquarium approach? What does it mean, and why are we only now, as a hobby, starting to embrace the idea of truly natural aquariums?

There is something compelling, alluring, and utterly beautiful about the temporary nature of botanical materials when they’re exposed to water. And there is something equally as alluring about ephemeral aquatic habitats. There is so much to learn, embrace, and enjoy about things that are ephemeral in aquatic ecosystems.

Seems like it’s common practice in the hobby to include some Otocinculus or other catfishes and snails as “scavengers” or “cleanup crews”, right? It seems like a cool idea.. but it actually belies a sort of “dark side” that we need to consider...

The idea of embracing the development of food webs within our aquariums to provide supplemental nutrition for our fishes is an integral part of the botanical-style aquarium methodology. It’s an amazing gift from Nature that we as aquarists are only now starting to appreciate!

You know what? Botanical-style aquariums, although not entirely “set and forget” systems, are remarkably forgiving of occasional bouts of “beg in neglect”- assuming you’ve set them up for success in the first place...

We’re getting pretty good at a lot of things in the aquarium hobby... yet, we still spend scant little effort providing fishes environmental conditions which more realistically represent those found in their natural habitats. We seem to make them adapt to what’s easiest for us instead. I think we can and should reverse this trend.

Wouldn’t it be amazing if there was a perfect go to resource for everything aquarium related? If you could get every answer to every obscure question instantly? Well, there isn’t. You have to go deeper. You should want to. It’ll make you a better hobbyist, trust me.

Adding terrestrial botanical materials in our aquariums is more than just an aesthetic thing. It’s a way of creating specialized ecological conditions for our fishes, and facilitating natural behaviors and processes in the aquarium.