Where are the American aquascapes

[Ohad]

Hi there,

I am addicted to aquascaping videos on YouTube.

All of the channels I am watching are from Europe. The UK, Holland, France, Hungary, you know, the ones.

These YouTubers keep saying that most of their audience is from the US. 

Where are the American aquascapes?

Also, how come md fishtanks or MJ aquascaping and so on. can go down the road where they live and find a vast aquascaping store that will have all of the rocks, all of the wood, all of the lights, and co2 and then another room will have all of the hundreds of plants from Tropica fresh and ready 

 

Most American YouTubers are fish keepers who sometimes like to put some plants in the background to clean the water.  

I live in NYC. We have everything here, but we don't have that vast aquascape store. I still don't know if the water I have here is ideal (though I have had some success )

Where are the local experts? 

MD fish tank recently bought a Porche of his aqua escaping channel; just saying ... If someone wants to lift the glove .

 

East coast please too! 

 

 

[Theplatymaster]

On 2/5/2023 at 10:43 AM, Ohad said:

 

Also, how come md fishtanks or MJ aquascaping and so on. can go down the road where they live and find a vast aquascaping store that will have all of the rocks, all of the wood, all of the lights, and co2 and then another room will have all of the hundreds of plants from Tropica fresh and ready 

just to add to this, George Farmer does this too. I just think the hobby is in different phases in europe compared to the US.

[JoeQ]

South Jersey here (the true South, not Central Jersey but saying south...) My take is its just cultural differences, I don't think America has the market for a brick and mortar aquascapeing store. We typically do stuff to hurry up and get it done, where as Oriental cultures are stepped in beautiful gardens and KOI ponds,  Europe too but to a lesser extent. 

Edited February 5, 2023 by JoeQ
Spaces.

[Ohad]

On 2/5/2023 at 11:00 AM, JoeQ said:

South Jersey here (the true South, not Central Jersey but saying south...) My take is its just cultural differences, I don't think America has the market for a brick and mortar aquascapeing store. We typically do stuff to hurry up and get it done, where as Oriental cultures are stepped in beautiful gardens and KOI ponds,  Europe too but to a lesser extent. 

True, patient and enjoying the process more than the goal is why I love this hobby .

We work hard in America, running non stop that hobby is such a break from that 

@JoeQ in jersey, do you mostly get your plants online? 

[JoeQ]

On 2/5/2023 at 11:10 AM, Ohad said:

True, patient and enjoying the process more than the goal is why I love this hobby .

We work hard in America, running non stop that hobby is such a break from that 

The process is a necessary evil in my book. My philosophy is, jam it wherever it fits and grows best, then sit back, drink coffee and see what happens.! 😂

Edited February 5, 2023 by JoeQ

[JoeQ]

On 2/5/2023 at 11:10 AM, Ohad said:

do you mostly get your plants online? 

Yes, but every now and then I'll take a trip to Aquarium Center, they are mainly a fish store but they do have a nice selection of plants, hardscape and other plant necessities 

[Tommy Vercetti]

Las vegas NV, here. We have one fish store that caters to aquascapers, but nothing like they have in Europe. 

Here is my novice, high tech, aqua scape:

Edited February 5, 2023 by Tommy Vercetti

[Ohad]

On 2/5/2023 at 11:26 AM, Tommy Vercetti said:

Las vegas NV, here. We have one fish store that caters to aquascapers, but nothing like they have in Europe. 

Here is my novice, high tech, aqua scape:

Wow!!

[MattyM]

As others have said I think the market and culture is just different here. My LFS is awesome, great fish, decent plant selection, and a small hardscape selection. It's very close to me, I often bike there - I'm lucky to have it and I gladly pay their higher prices for the quality of items they do have (they also quarantine their fish before selling). 

One time I was there and a family came in, bought a really expensive UNS tank, and just wanted to toss fish in it right away to appease their child. Best of luck to them, but that's all too often the culture here - immediate satisfaction. That's why the big box stores can get away with how they do things - I can barely bring myself to look at the fish in those places. 

Contrast that to a video the co-op did of a european store (germany?), it was like stepping into paradise. Stunning displays with everything you could possible want. 

[knee]

I’m from Los Angeles and there’s only one store here that specifically caters to aquascaping and it’s called Nature Aquarium. Other LFS has a planted section but not like Nature Aquarium. The owner is very skilled in aquascaping too and will always chat with you about your tanks. 
 

I was thinking of starting my own channel so I could also keep track of the progress of my tanks and share what I know to others. But that’s just an idea 😂

[MattyM]

On 2/5/2023 at 11:17 AM, MattyM said:

Contrast that to a video the co-op did of a european store (germany?), it was like stepping into paradise. Stunning displays with everything you could possible want. 

This is the vid I was thinking of, found it!

 

[Ohad]

On 2/5/2023 at 12:17 PM, MattyM said:

As others ha d I think the market and culture is just different here. My LFS is awesome, great fish, decent plant selection, and a small hardscape selection. It's very close to me, I often bike there - I'm lucky to have it and I gladly pay their higher prices for the quality of items they do have (they also quarantine their fish before selling). 

One time I was there and a family came in, bought a really expensive UNS tank, and just wanted to toss fish in it right away to appease their child. Best of luck to them, but that's all too often the culture here - immediate satisfaction. That's why the big box stores can get away with how they do things - I can barely bring myself tGermanyat the fish in those places. 

Contrast that to a video the co-op did of a european store (germany?); it was like stepping into paradise. Stunning displays with everything you could want. 

I think that most of these European YouTubers will say  that most of their audience is American. So I would assume that the culture exist here and the more knowledge is spreading online the more people will join . 

I am only in my second tank and first time trying to use wood in scaping ( love it so far) .  I already know that my hard scape is not strong enough but I am focusing on the plants now and try to do a jungle style with what I got. Part of the reason my hard scape is not as strong is because I did not have material available. I had to order things online not knowing what I will get .

[Ohad]

As for chain stores...

Let's hope that aquarium co op will become that huge cross America store and will open flagship stores other then in Seattle 

The flagship Petco in union sq in Manhattan is not bad as chain stores goes, but they don't carry aquascaping thing if you want a fancy snake or a guinea pig they will have it haha

[Expectorating_Aubergine]

I can only speak for myself, but personally, I find the amount of work, tech, etc that needs to go into  a nicely aquascaped tank.... overwhelming. It reminds me of bonsai in this and many other respects. I like to watch those youtubers do their thing, because it's relaxing to watch. Kinda like all those woodworking vids. Never gonna do that either (and I have a shopsmith).

[Scapexghost]

It comes to housing sizes. Europeans have smaller homes, so have fewer and smaller tanks. So they spend more time on each tank. Americans want big tanks and big fish and more tanks and more fish. Im sure there are monster fish keepers or african cichlid keepers in europe who envy the US's market of those.

[Ohad]

On 2/5/2023 at 6:23 PM, Scapexghost said:

It comes to housing sizes. Europeans have smaller homes, so have fewer and smaller tanks. So they spend more time on each tank. Americans want big tanks and big fish and more tanks and more fish. Im sure there are monster fish keepers or african cichlid keepers in europe who envy the US's market of those.

I can agree with that and me living in New York city in a smaller apartment even than the European ones haha 

Edited February 6, 2023 by Ohad

[Tam]

I think a contributing factor here could also be the sheer size of the US, we're a very large country with much less population density, so in any given place there are going to be fewer people in general in the hobby on that level and thus probably couldn't support a store that is specific to aquascaping, outside of very large and dense cities like New York and Los Angeles. I have a great LFS in Portland that has plants/tanks/hardscape etc, but the fish themselves are the focus of the store and not aquascaping.

[Expectorating_Aubergine]

You should look into swedish prison cells. They're a dead ringer for a NY apartment, and a nice one at that!

[gjcarew]

Seattle has two aquascaping focused stores. Houston has Aquarium Design Group, which I would consider the center of US aquascaping. Chicago has SR Aquaristik, Denver has Aqua Rocks Colorado... They're just all spread out.

True, there aren't aquascaping YouTubers. But I would say that that's an indication of the health of the YouTube hobby rather than the health of the aquascaping hobby.

[nabokovfan87]

On 2/5/2023 at 8:00 AM, JoeQ said:

South Jersey here (the true South, not Central Jersey but saying south...) My take is its just cultural differences, I don't think America has the market for a brick and mortar aquascapeing store. We typically do stuff to hurry up and get it done, where as Oriental cultures are stepped in beautiful gardens and KOI ponds,  Europe too but to a lesser extent.

If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend the movie: Jiro Dreams of Sushi

It demonstrates the culture difference and the background of someone like Takashi Amano as well as everyone who followed in his footsteps.

[Sleepy]

This has been a big issue for me moving back to Michigan from Ohio so I know exactly what you mean and I hate it lol! It doesn't even need to be "Aquascaping" proper but these places barely have any hardscape whatsoever it really boggles my mind. And don't get me wrong it wasnt like that in Ohio but all the LFS at least had a good choice of different rocks and wood and really dislike having to order online sight unseen.

[jwcarlson]

On 2/5/2023 at 5:23 PM, Scapexghost said:

It comes to housing sizes. Europeans have smaller homes, so have fewer and smaller tanks. So they spend more time on each tank. Americans want big tanks and big fish and more tanks and more fish. Im sure there are monster fish keepers or african cichlid keepers in europe who envy the US's market of those.

That's a very interesting way to think about it and makes a lot of sense.  Just my (unfinished) basement would fit between France and Greece on this list and I could basically fill it with fish tanks if I really wanted to.

I enjoy watching these people do their thing, but the impression I get is that they're constantly setting up and tearing down setups.  Maybe that's just my impression and not reality.  Also some possible questionable livestock decision making going on in some of these.  One guy had a beautiful aquascape, put discus in and at least two or three of them jumped to their deaths.  Same guy just put 60 female bettas in a tank.  I guess if it goes well long term, that's great.  I've never had a sorority tank and have no desire to.  I think I've heard enough horror stories.  I donate blood and about a year ago the lady taking my donation and I were talking, she also kept fish.  Had a sorority tank and it was setup for some pretty extended period of time and all was good.  I don't know size, but she had like 8 bettas in there.  Had been going something like a year and then the bottom dropped out seemingly randomly and all but two were dead and she had separated those.  Basically, just came home one day and it was a war zone.

These people have a great eye for the art, no doubt.  But I think there's some more going on behind the surface as well.  

 

Long way of saying why this particular American doesn't care to "aquascape". 😄

Edited February 10, 2023 by jwcarlson

[Scapexghost]

On 2/10/2023 at 10:11 AM, jwcarlson said:

That's a very interesting way to think about it and makes a lot of sense.  Just my (unfinished) basement would fit between France and Greece on this list and I could basically fill it with fish tanks if I really wanted to.

I enjoy watching these people do their thing, but the impression I get is that they're constantly setting up and tearing down setups.  Maybe that's just my impression and not reality.  Also some possible questionable livestock decision making going on in some of these.  One guy had a beautiful aquascape, put discus in and at least two or three of them jumped to their deaths.  Same guy just put 60 female bettas in a tank.  I guess if it goes well long term, that's great.  I've never had a sorority tank and have no desire to.  I think I've heard enough horror stories.  I donate blood and about a year ago the lady taking my donation and I were talking, she also kept fish.  Had a sorority tank and it was setup for some pretty extended period of time and all was good.  I don't know size, but she had like 8 bettas in there.  Had been going something like a year and then the bottom dropped out seemingly randomly and all but two were dead and she had separated those.  Basically, just came home one day and it was a war zone.

These people have a great eye for the art, no doubt.  But I think there's some more going on behind the surface as well.  

 

Long way of saying why this particular American doesn't care to "aquascape". 😄

I think i know who your talking about lol. If terms of why they tear down tanks often is for content. If he left tanks for years, he'd only be able to make a new video every month or so at lost. Another thing about them is they are a rather new fiah keeper, so at the time of the discus tank they were keeping fish for less than two years i believe. Their later discus tanks had lids, so they are learning. The sorority debate is always a contentious one, but i do imagine 60 in a heavily planted 4 foot tank has the best chance of working. Like you said, more sororities are 5-10 bettas. Far easier for it to devolve into bloodshed.

[PlaneFishGuy]

On 2/5/2023 at 7:36 PM, Tam said:

I think a contributing factor here could also be the sheer size of the US, we're a very large country with much less population density, so in any given place there are going to be fewer people in general in the hobby on that level and thus probably couldn't support a store that is specific to aquascaping, outside of very large and dense cities like New York and Los Angeles. I have a great LFS in Portland that has plants/tanks/hardscape etc, but the fish themselves are the focus of the store and not aquascaping.

I agree and would also add this is the direction the US has been trending in almost every market for the last 30 years, not just in aquascaping and pets stores. Almost across the board specialty shops have been overcome by big box stores and eCommerce. When i was a kid (in the 80's) you could find baseball card shops, coin shops, skateboard shops, any hobby you could think of no matter how small the town had these kind of stores. I think hands on hobbies, and collecting in general is dying out.

Also I think the vast amount of knowledge available on the internet has made people less appreciative of seeing something in person. I remember riding my bike to the card shop to stare at a Nolan Ryan rookie I could never afford and thought I might never see one in person ever again....then I grew up and looked on ebay and learned there were thousands of them out there and it killed the mystique. I can see the same phenomenon happening in the fish hobby....I remember seeing my first freshwater puffer at an aquarium shop in the early 2000s and was blown away thinking it was really rare - when i returned to the hobby to see them available by mail it kind of cheapened the experience in a way. All that being said the vast access to stuff is not something I think I would trade. 

So endeth my rant!  

[neitherman]

I am lucky enough to live near a few LFS that have large selections of hardscape and substrate to choose from. For whatever reason in the Phoenix area people really enjoy this hobby. Maybe because we're all stuck inside for half the year and dipping a hand in the tank feels nice in triple digit weather.