How many versions of this hobby are there?

[GaryE]

I have a friend with a large tank he constantly remodels, creating world class aquascapes in an apartment with no space for a second tank.
I met a guy my age returning to the hobby the other day, and he asked where all the mbuna had gone. They were all people seemed to keep when he was last into fishkeeping.
I know people who linebreed fancy guppies. People who maintain endangered species. People who have kept the same species for decades. People who want to see new things all the time. People who don't care about fish, and want plants. People for whom shrimp are everything. People who like snails. People who are artists with tank design.
A lot of experienced people I know would be aghast if I put an Asian fish in the same tank as a South American - they'd probably dislike seeing plants from one continent with fish from another. They're geographical or biotope purists. Other good fishkeepers keep communities with fish from all over the world.

I'm a mess - I put whatever plant grows in with my fish. Plants are green things to me. But I don't mix fish from different continents, and try to have fish from the same regions. I'm an impure geography purist.
I keep South Americans and West/Central Africans apart, but I love keeping both. I like my killies, my dwarf Cichlids and my corys most of all, but I'll always have South American tetras.

So what kind of fishkeeper are you? Specialized? A sampler? Trying things as they catch your fancy? Working with a goal? Mad about plants? Mad about fish?

And, considering the near collapse of the East African Cichlid group's once dominant popularity, what do you see as the incoming trends?

 

[BanjoFish]

Amateur beginner here.

As long as everything is in harmony that's all that matters.

 

[Magnum Man]

I like fish from all over the world, but like the OP, I separate them by tank, and prefer a lot of terrestrial plants growing out of my tanks, but also have a pretty good variety of aquatic plants, easy ones, mostly rhizome plants, and my "herbery" doesn't follow any specific region... I've had fish for half of 60 years, with a 30 year break in the middle, I've always had a lot of tanks, in my earlier days they were single species tanks, many of them specimen tanks ( like I had a foot long electric cat fish back in the day ) having been that route, most of my tanks are community tanks, when I got back into them.... I have just begun to dabble with breeding, with 3 of 4 different shrimp tanks are prolific right now, as are several tanks of small live bearers, but I haven't yet put much time or effort into breeding yet...

 

[TwoTankAmin]

That is what makes this hobby so great. There are so many different ways to approach it. Yo me, what matter is that out fish get proper care. I think is is OK to put fish which could never meet in the real world into the same tank as long as they live in similar parameters. The potential versions are almost limitless.

When ever we take on any animal we are responsible for it. This especially includes fish.

My weakness is for the B&W plecos I just had to have them. But I also like planted communities and I have them as well.

 

[MattW]

Plant cult here however I’m starting to enjoy biotopes, the more I read and watch online

 

[Uberhoust]

The fish are the most important to me. I don't care for overly sensitive fish, I like them to interact with me, so you won't see any fish like glass cats in my tank. Over the years I have moved my interest away from keeping a number of different types of fish in multiple tanks to keeping the fish I like to interact with in a single tank in the main living area of my tank. I do like the tank to be presentable, everyone who enters the house sees it, and it does need to be planted. I also assess how long I will need to keep a fish before I purchase one, much like I do with my dogs, it seems like most fish live at least 10 years so I am not buying a lot of fish anymore. I would be the one who keeps to a drainage for both plants and the fish but I have had to adapt, making the tank fit with what my wife likes too.

 

[fishorama]

I'm a loach nut & also like catfish & plants for my favorites. I don't do biotopes for fish vs plants that need extreme (for me) conditions. No co2, not futzing around with water parameters; root tabs are as far as I go for plants.

I belong to a plant club but I've probably killed as many as I can grow well. Try it you might like it seems to be a plant club motto, lol. It's fun & free although I have "adopted" fish I wouldn't buy, often for a trip down memory lane. I've also given away fish, plants & equipment that, for whatever reason, didn't fit my tanks anymore.

I'm kind of on a "lesser" tank mode these days. Feeding, water changes, filter cleaning & some weeding are pretty much it right now. Algae, java moss gone wild, well, I'm not trying hard. I know I will get back to better care of tanks & maybe new fish...eventually (sigh). Over 45+ years of aquaria & I'm on a lower point on the hobby rollercoaster. You guys keep me going sometimes with new ideas, thank you!

 

[gimme30]

Interesting question. The short answer would be a gajillion. From tank setup on there's so many different ways to do things and our tastes or abilities change over time.
If I had to label myself I'd say I'm an 'evolutionary experimentalist.' I started out simple and learned the ropes. Wanted more of a challenge, rejected conventional "wisdom," did things everyone said wouldn't work or that I shouldn't do. Learned the hard way that sometimes they were right. I'm always interested in something new and have been led to branching pursuits due to keeping various critters, eg; Axolotls led to newts. Research into diets/foods led to butterflies, which in turn led to birds...yes, there's a path.

Since starting out, the only time I haven't kept fish is during my stint in the Navy and while I don't have the experience some of our more, erm, fossilized members have, I've got a pretty good grip on things. I intend to keep fish until I can't properly care for them anymore, but I have greatly scaled back to one tank.
Which has inexplicably grown to 4.
But I can stop anytime I want. Probably,

 

[Magnum Man]

I'd like to add, that the fish are, and will always be #1, in my tanks... but I do like to experiment... my "lit" backgrounds, I did not see in the hobby anywhere, but I came to like them enough, that they have become my 1st and last lighting on about 3/4 of my tanks, and I like to experiment with terrestrial plants, and have found the the roots of many, mimic riparian vegetation along the shore lines in a natural way, ( with a huge success with my hatchet fish, and the silver dollars like to eat them, and make swimming pathways through them ) ... fish and plants can have a big connection... some times the plants ( both aquatic, and terrestrial ) don't end up working out, most of them probably because I don't fertilize them, being the fish are #1, but I have found a plethora of plants that filtering fish waste out of the aquarium water, is enough for them, and no added fertilizer is needed... I have a new variety of Hoya coming for the fish, and Mrs. on valentine's day, that has heart shaped leaves, and different blossoms than the others I've started in my tanks...

 

[squirley]

A good name like white cloud does it for me. If a fish is named pluriblubus amobeamunum i will skip it,. Algae eater is another awful name. Also i struggle with the decision to buy fish in schools or a few of different types. Since i am a beginner i have not really attempted to set up the environment similar to where they are found, but i do contemplate it a lot especially when i lose a fish.

 

[gwand]

My tanks have been evolving. For me this has been a dynamic process focusing on fish, although all my tanks have easy to grow plants. For the last year I maintained two 20 gallon long tanks dedicated to breeding cockatoos. My 29 gallon tank houses live bearers. A 60 gallon tank houses African cichlids, mostly East African. A 10 gallon tank is home to Asian nano fish. Then there is the quarantine tank. Right now I am satisfied with all my tanks but who knows if and when I may seek a change. The process is a bit laborious because I have to deal with two chronic issues. First, my tap water is hard. So for my soft water tanks I have to dilute it with RO/DI water. Second, my tap water has fluctuating nitrate levels. Thus the need for plenty of aquaponic and substrate oriented plants as well as a nitrate binding resin filter plumbed into my tap water.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

I think I'd be a hard-core biotopist if I could afford the luxury. As it is, I build a lot of sorta-topes: Fish from a specific area or closely related species, and as many plants as possible true to the area, rounded out with similar-looking ones from elsewhere.

Ah, to have the money and time to track down all the correct every thing and build true biotopes. I would really enjoy that. Maybe someday when AI has invented replicators and we no longer have to purchase groceries, housing, and health care.

 

[Rusty_Shackleford]

Years ago I could care less about plants. Of course I was keeping cichlids thar would rip any plants to shreds anyway.
This iteration of fish keeping I find myself drawn towards biotope tanks. I've always been one to keep appropriate fish together, but I find I want to replicate one snapshot of nature.