July 13, 2018

Changes, comfort zones, and iterations...

One of the funny things in aquarium keeping- and life, of course- is that there is a "counterpoint" to every idea we discuss.

And of course, my little mini-dissertation on patience and evolution the other day struck a real chord, and I'm thrilled about that. But fish geeks being fish geeks, we also have our little quirks...

Like this one, which I have been grappling with:

Ever wake up one morning and...it just..hits you? That urge to change up your aquarium; it's look, theme- whatever?

Yeah.

It's part of being a fish geek, I think.

We look at our existing aquarium and say, "I really love it, but...."

We reach for some towels, grab a bucket, and it's on!

I think it's part of the mental makeup- the fabric, if you will- of the fish geek.

We're sort of almost "programmed" to want to switch stuff up after a while, right? It's like we want to create, modify, renew...or just try something different.

For many hobbyists, their one aquarium is the only one they can have- at least for now, but possibly forever. Space, economics, time, etc, all come into play, and there really isn't much you can do except work with the one you've got. I mean, it's a blessing to have even one...but to the serious fish geek, that desire to move on to a greener pasture (or should we say, "bluer river?")-to just taste some new stuff- seldom retreats.

I just went through such a moment. I was like, "Scott, it's been a while since you've changed up the look of your BWBS tank...Maybe we need to do something different!"

Can you relate?

I think- think- that it's often augmented by my desire as the Tannin "mothership" and a need to showcase new ideas and botanicals. Well, maybe that's an excuse. But hey, we love to try new stuff, right?

I know that I do.

And it's funny, because I think that even though I fancy myself as this restless "conceptual 'scaper" guy who is constantly evolving his ideas, the reality is that my "makeovers" are seldom that radical- rather, their little iterations that represent incremental changes or improvements over previous designs.

I tend to "stay in my lane", and not stray all that far from it.

I almost envy those of you who can make radical changes at the spur of the moment without regret or a whole lot of consideration.

I often wonder why I play with such a tight set of characteristics- you know, certain wood arrangements, use of specific textures, colors, etc. Although I'm definitely prone to "over-analyzing" stuff at times, it's fun now and then to step out of my own mind and look at stuff as if I'm a "third party" of sorts.

Maybe I have that sort of "comfort zone" that I tend not to push myself out too far from. I mean, I operate in a pretty radical "sector" already- the blackwater, botanical-style. It's not everyone's cup of tea, being pretty different from the conventional, "clear water" aquariums we all know so well. I realized a long term ago that, when I make changes to my tanks, I realize that they are always more like "iterations" of the existing design.

Yeah, the "next steps" are often subtle in nature.

And I think that it's sort of "baked into" the idea of botanical-style aquariums: We set the stage for what nature does. Rather than trying to create a "finished product", I think those who operate in our arena tend to set the stage and let nature do the rest of the work over time.

And, as we've mentioned- Evolution, patience, and effort go hand-in-hand. Like many of you- I make changes, but I'm willing to wait a long, long term to let my systems evolve into it's ultimate form.

Disjointed thoughts...but it's kind of what I was thinking about today! Hope you can relate?

Stay bold. Stay restless. Stay creative. Stay motivated...

And Stay Wet.

Scott Fellman

Tannin Aquatics