Aquascaping with OCD: Knowing when to say when

gunguy05 · Nov 1, 2013

I swear, the #1 thing that I like about his hobby is aquascaping my tank. You get new corals in, and on the drive home all you can think about is..."where do I put that acan"? What about over here.... and it goes on to infinity.

THEN I GET HOME!!!

I move some rocks, I place the new babies where I THOUGHT they would look best.. then I move them some more, rearrange some rocks.. move them some more.. And 2 hours later I still am not happy! Mind you, I ONLY have a 29 gallon tank.!!!

SO, I think I can say that the #1 thing that gets under my skin the most... is also aquascaping!! I just don't know when to say "when"!! The more I move things around, the more I just wish I had thrown the new corals on the sand and left them there.

Am I the only one that has this problem? It is seriously driving me crazy!!

Brian

Vmacisback · Nov 1, 2013

i even moved stuff that was zip tied and epoxy'ed i think a lot of people are in that boat. People always have a vision but sometimes its just about being happy with what you have.

racer14j · Nov 1, 2013

I was the same way with my 29 gal bio cube. I would redo everything 2 or 3 times and wishing I just left it alone when I was done. With the new tank I spent a day building and tweaking the rock then epoxied it. currently I am 3 months with out touching the rock.

Tahoe61 · Nov 1, 2013

It takes me a lot of restraint not to start moving new corals around. Over the years I have gotten much better at leaving them be for at least a days to a week before I decide they might need a change in placement. All corals do so much better if you leave them in one spot and keep your hands out of the tank, easier said than done. Plus sometimes you start the domino effect, move one piece or rock and now you have to move another to make it right, its a viscious cycle I tell you.

Martyd · Nov 1, 2013

I have a long screwdriver with a thin blade, just to pry epoxied corals off of rocks. I thought everyone did this

TJ's Reef · Nov 1, 2013

You're not alone my friend, I couldn't even guess as to how many times I've re-aquascaped my tanks over past 30+ years. I am very OCD about it looking NATURAL and no signs of any manmade anything visable what so ever. Really wish that I could go without powerheads but don't have the room to do a surge bucket system to replace them.

Cheers, Todd

Martyd · Nov 1, 2013

TJ's Reef said:
You're not alone my friend, I couldn't even guess as to how many times I've re-aquascaped my tanks over past 30+ years. I am very OCD about it looking NATURAL and no signs of any manmade anything visable what so ever. Really wish that I could go without powerheads but don't have the room to do a surge bucket system to replace them.

Cheers, Todd

Amen to that. I hate those zoa and acan gardens with plugs stuck everywhere.

gunguy05 · Nov 2, 2013

Martyd said:
Amen to that. I hate those zoa and acan gardens with plugs stuck everywhere.

I agree completely. My only issue there is that if I cut them off and glue them down, or allow them to attach themselves. Then I am thinking, "what if i need to move that rock"? Then I can move the attached corals to fit the area, turn the rock a different way etc.