[Keck]

Of course you don’t. Natural Aquarium is an oxymoron, there is hardly anything natural about it.

What got me thinking of the topic are many remarks I and others have made about peoples setups. I know I have been real bad about teasing my buddy when he shows me a tank that looks like Disneyland with all the lights and castles. If there was a rollercoaster, and he could teach the fish to ride it, he admits he would put it in the tank.

But just how judgmental can I really be? Granted, I could make a good argument about how a planted tank would be a healthier environment than a theme park, but the fact is that my planted tank isn’t “natural” either.

This goes further to comments that have been made to me about my setups. Some come out kind of snooty like mixing fish from different areas. One person who made such a remark has a Discus only tank with plants that are from the same region (as far as I know they are), but wait a second. First, his water is crystal clear. From my understanding the natural waters of the Discus are yellow to brow. And wait another second…they are all powder blue in color, which is something “natural selection” would not allow in nature.

This is something I will have to remember before teasing folks with “clown puke” gravel and bubbling treasure chests as I am sure I come across just as snooty. Obviously we can make a tank “more natural” but never completely.

 

[endparenthesis]

It's like the whole "the map vs. the territory" thing. In order for the map to be absolutely accurate, it and the territory have to be one and the same.

If our aquariums were a hundred percent natural, they wouldn't be aquariums anymore.

 

[crayfish]

I have to agree Keck. I do have a few comments on this subject. I have often wondered "Why on earth (or under the sea) would someone want that motly colored mini-castle in thier aquarium?" or "What's that...is that a... 'SpongeBob SquarePants Bikini Bottom Aqua Figure' in your tank?" I still don't have an answer for these questions. :icon_roll

Its seems natural, to me, to want an actual living sponge for my aquarium over 'spongebob'. But apparently not everyone thinks that way. One thing real rocks, plants, ect. have over rainbow colored collercosters is that they are actual size --- and not to scale.

And even though those discus are powder blue, that are still a real swimming fish. I think that what counts most in the aquarium is the possibility of reality. A usable 7.5" "SpongeBob SquarePants Pineapple House Aqua-Ornament" is not a fesable house. However, it does seem more plausible that the disgusting practice of 'painting fish' to create "Painted Glassfish" would occure naturally.

So I suppose... it all depends on what you view as "natural" (Of course thats not counting the completely 100% unnatural replacement of filter cartrages ect... lol)

 

[Wasserpest]

To me, natural (in terms of tanks/aquascaping) means to arrange plants in a well thoughtout way, and then let them grow without interfering all the time.

Pruning, yes. Rescaping every four weeks, no.

I get a kick out of sequences of tanks developing. For me, the natural approach is to watch mosses and ferns take over a rock, or groundcover spreading out into new territory without getting whacked weekly.

I guess it is like a garden that grows over 30 or 50 years, vs a styled landscaped exact pruned thing that has been thrown together with a lot of money and digging in a week.

 

[Hoppy]

We are all practioners of an unnatural obsessive activity, involving capturing wild creatures, forcing them into unnatural breeding activities with arranged mates, selling the offspring into captivity with people who will force them to spend their entire lives cooped up in a small glass box, where there is no privacy for even the most private of activities,.........
Some days it's hard to look in that mirror.

 

[mrbelvedere]

Wow Hoppy. Now I'm borderline feeling bad.

 

[RoseHawke]

It's about as "natural" as a garden.

I don't have gnomes in my garden either.

Well, except for this one . . .