The Tint

In the aquarium hobby, we need to compromise, accommodate- to be flexible. And that’s not always a bad thing. In Nature, fishes need to be flexible to adapt to a changing environment.. we should, too. Because when we’re open to being flexible, all kinds of good stuff can happen!

The idea of keeping substrate intact as we “remodel” our tanks shouldn’t be seen as “weird.” When you view the substrate as a living, breathing entity, it makes a ton of sense you preserve it and continue with it, right?

Yeah, it sounds a bit “Star Trek-y”, but it’s an important thing to discuss: The idea of truly trying stuff in aquariums that hasn’t been tried before. Questioning “them” and your reasons for ever hesitating. Questioning “conventions” of aquarium practice...not just to be rebellious- but to push the state of the art in aquarium keeping for the benefit of the hobby, our passions- and our fishes!

The idea of “operating” our tanks via environmental manipulation and other practices is not new to fish breeders. However, to the biotope-inspired aquarist, these practices go beyond just recreating a “look”- they’re perhaps the ultimate expression of an aquarium which functions like Nature does...

Fungi. Reviled. Feared. Hated by anyone who’s ever cured a piece of driftwood for their aquarium. We need to change our thinking on these absurdly important and beneficial organisms. We need to get beyond their “looks” and understand them for the elegant and valuable organisms that they are!

We’ve been talking about the “Urban Igapo”- recreating seasonal inundation that occurs to forests and grasslands in South America- for years now. And the idea is catching on- lots of you are playing with this! Amd of course, there are a lot of questions as we explore this fun and fascinating approach to aquariums! Today, in the first of what will likely be many podcasts on the topic- we’ll address some of your questions!

Natural aquatic ecosystems provide an enormous diversity of foods for our fishes. Their diets adapt to seasonal abundance, and include a wide variety of stuff that we can provide them in our botanical-style aquariums!

We’ve talked about and shared some very different ideas over the years. We’ve talked about mental shifts, unusual aesthetics, and executions. Let’s share a few of our faves here that YOU should run with!

The funniest thing in the aquarium hobby, in my opinion, is that we constantly talk about how we treasure Nature- yet try to “edit” her processes and products at every opportunity. We need to understand, study, and observe.. we need to have more faith in Nature. Because Nature’s got our back

“How do YOU” use botanicals in YOUR tanks, Scott?” Well, good question! Let’s tackle this in part 2 of our series “This is How I do it!”