Whats more important??

[Clift]

Equal parts for me. I like a natural backdrop with a nice 3D background, some slate maybe with little/no pebbles at the bottom. Clear water, some originality, and lots of healthy large fish.... you're golden!

 

[3dees]

wow, thats a tough one. I have a biotope with wild discus. if I removed all the fish the tank would look like just a bunch of sticks. i have also seen bare tanks with wilds a it looks completely wrong. I guess they have to go hand in hand. on the other hand, I have seen some pico tanks with only plants and they are beautiful. I have never seen a bare tank that I liked, no matter what was swimming in it. the fish may be awesome, but the tank is not something I would want to look at all day.

 

[Milpool]

I would have to say a good combination of the 2. But if I were to choose one over the other, I would have to lean more towards the setup. I'm not a fan of tacky decorations nor a tank with absolutely no setup and just fish aimlessly swimming around...BORING

 

[spirofucci]

I have seen beautiful 10 galllon aquariums. It's cool to have nice fish, but if the tank is not aquascaped to your satisfaction, you won't be happy

 

[vfc]

[FONT=&quot]While a beautiful fish is pleasurable to watch; what makes or breaks the pleasurable experience for me is the environment the fish is in. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]On the extreme end of the scale, I would be stressed out looking at a beautiful fish in a cramp, bare tank, with cloudy water. I would also include tank mates as part of the tank. If one or more of the tank mates was constantly chasing the beautiful fish that would also stress me out to no end. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]On the other end of the scale, I would get great pleasure watching an average fish swim in a large, beautifully decorated tank (including caves and structures for the fish to explore), with crystal clear water, and passive tank mates.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Here are two pictures of one of my favorite fish taken just two weeks apart. In my opinion, the fish in the quarantine tank is far less attractive and pleasurable to watch then in the decorated tank with friendly tank mates.[/FONT]



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[david yurik]

its definataly about the setup. a clean breathtaking setup will make any fish look lucky and beautiful.

totally agree. anyone who has ever come over and seen my tanks over the years immediately comments on a cloudy or dirty tank. crystal clear water and nice deco are always first to get noticed ( or not noticed ). the fish are almost always second.

dave

 

[postshawn]

I said tank display. But it's really a mix. I see tank displays I like and then I research what goes in that type of display. I'm not going to say I like a planted tank and get a fish that will tear up the plants. But for me it's the over all look which has more to do with tank display in my opinion. If there is a fish that someone must have then you do the opposite and find out what kind of tank the fish likes.
Sorry to get so logical minded. So I look at tank display first usually.

 

[jcardona1]

For me, it's the display. You could have the rarest most expensive fish in the world. If it's in a fugly bare tank, it wouldn't impress me one bit. I would rather see a cheap common fish in a beautifly scaped tank

 

[MonsterMinis]

the fish.. because if I just wanted something that looked pretty.. I'de buy some paintings. but in all reality it's both.. healthy vibrant fish no matter how cheap or expensive look better in a nice scaped tank. but imho even the nicest of scapes look like crap if the fish are poorly taken care of or are obviously poor stock. So if I have to choose.. the fish are more important.

 

[doug_sa]

imo...decide on the fish you want and design a decor to enhance the fish. again, imo, I think you would be short changing the beauty of any exotic fish by not providing it the environment that was natually given to it.