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Let's start here.... ...and all I want to do is share the headline and just mention it if you've ever had a tank struggle like I have. *deep breath, exhale slow* I woke up this morning and it wasn't anything special that caught my eye. Those that know me know that I follow certain aquascaping channels and my goal is to get towards having a nice tank again. Seeing something like gjcarew's or Mmiller2001's or Seattle_Aquarist or the countless other amazing plant minds on the forums has been inspiring and it's been one of the motivations for me as I did enter back into the hobby, struggled, and wanted to really learn some things I didn't know or understand about my own failures. Without knowing it, this is one of the more profound and subtle notions and it was ringing clear because of the time and the place of everything around me in the moment. Imagine a world of chaos and outside of the walls you see volcano erupting or storms surrounding. You see the trees being tossed by the wind or the ocean waves crashing against the rocks and spraying high into the sky, but you're safe inside the walls and you are focused on this little pod of nature that you and entwined with. I can mention George Farmer and his meditative approach towards tank maintenance or I can mention this clip above and the subtle notion that.... "2023 was full of new and exciting adventures and as the challenges presented themselves, we faced them all together with a unique persistence of an aquascaper." [There is definitely more to the quote above and so I encourage everyone to watch at least the introduction on the Green Aqua video above.] It is one of those phrases that has a lot of gravity to it and it's something that you really don't understand unless you've truly experienced it. I think a lot of people have seen the movie Rudy and been inspired to persevere. Maybe you've seen Miracle and been inspired to face some overwhelming obstacles and scars from the past. There is a lot of ways that we can find energy, momentum, and inspiration in this world thanks to things like youtube videos, movies, forum posts, and conversations with friends. ....and with all that being said I wanted to share a bit about my own vulnerable persistence. I was watching an old video and then I looked up at the wall and I saw this extreme shift in my tank. It wasn't subtle, but it was a moment where I cherished everything that happened for me to get to the moment that I was in. It honestly started here, with this tank and the first time I've ever purchased a single piece of hardscape with the intent of aquascaping something. Even then, USPS lost the package of the piece of wood that I had hand selected. This piece was sent as a replacement and it didn't fit the tank I had. I had to cut the piece of wood and then I had to wait for the opportunity to really scape something with it. I had a piece of wood and I had some plants, but it wasn't an aquascape. It wasn't meant to be, but it was a holding place for a future self. This led me down this path, which was my first attempt at an aquascape. It was my first real attempt at a carpeting plant and my first real attempt at something using a "planted tank substrate" in lieu of sand. All it needed to do was to grow and to work. I failed with how I planted the plants. I failed in how I cared for the plants. I failed in my analysis of necessary water chemistry, lighting settings, and that substrate I used has turned out to be another failure point. That tank quickly regressed back towards chaos. I tried continuously to make things works by adding "more plants." Some things works and some things failed. It was not about giving up, but it was consistently a journey about learning why. Why something worked, why something failed. There is always things out of your control and there is always going to be something where you might just have to start over. Try again to create something beautiful. But again, chaos ensues at times... and all of your moss dies off. ....and sometimes you get a lifeboat from a friend (or two, or three). Brown tinge is from blackwater extract being added! Stepping out of your comfort zone can be enlightening and focusing on the things going wrong isn't as impactful as dwelling on the reasons why things went wrong. There is an eternal hope if you have the perspective and the patience for it... new things will happen and that changes the parameters of everything. The point is that every single tank can be a journey if you frame it as such. Enjoy the journey as much as the perspective that can give you. Sometimes you start in one place, find yourself in another, and just need to follow your feet towards the direction you wish to go. Starting point when the goal was to have a planted tank, discovering aquarium co-op and wanting to grow plants for the first time. This was my 55G and it was just planted with a second or third plant order. There were some failures and I changed to a 75G with an active substrate with a cap.... in a tank mostly filled with anubias. And this is where we are now. Time will tell how myself and the tank grows. Thank you to everyone who has helped me along this journey and know that there is sincere gratitude for your help along my own journey, big or small, it's all valuable for me and being put towards this goal I have for myself. I'd love to hear about your own tank journeys below.