Your Greatest Hurdle?

[JDowns]

As an aquascaper what is/was your greatest hurdle?

Now I'm not looking for dosing methods, algea problems, etc. But more specific towards the aspect of creating an aquascape.

For me it has been trimming techniques to achieve the final goal, ie. when to trim an how much.

[trenac]

Getting a look of depth, a smooth transition between foreground, mid-ground to background & of course the trimming aspect.

[Orlando]

I like both of these above post's. Depth and trimming go hand in hand. When should I trim? Where should I plant? Why is my anubias covered in algae? For me it seems to be everything is a hurdle. Thats why I like to look at and enjoy Trenac's tank quite often, and everybody elses.

[George Farmer]

Pruning what and when is also a biggie for me and is why I tend not run with many stems.

Maybe I should, so I can get better...

[Mellonman]

When I'm in search of a "final shoot", the big issue for me (for big tanks) is synchronizing plants growth/trimming so that all of them are at their best on D-day...

[goalcreas]

My biggest hurdle is getting my scape to come out as I imagined it would.
Both in the hardscape and then the final results of the tank.
I go in thinking I know exactly what I am trying to do with the hardscape and I always have to compromise positions and space that I thought would work out and end up making adjustments and it never is what I imagined it would be when I started. I usually am happy with the results, but it is never all that close to what I thought I was going to end up with.

Then the plants and trimming and getting the growth patterns to bring the hardscape and plants together to be what I started out to accomplish.
Again, I am happy with the tank, but it just was not quite what I was after.

[Pat7676]

Imagining how my plants will fill out, trimming and plant placement.

[happybob59]

My hurdle would probably be prunning, like so many others have said. I usually just cut my plants so theyre not touching the top on the water. I just can't seem to cut them in a way to make them "POP"...

[Vojs]

My greatest hurdle is how to adjust all plant species achieving their top looking in a way I have imagined in plned period of time. Almost alvays there are some species that grow much slower than I expect, and by the time they reach supposed look for egzample Crinum tahianum, carpet is overgrown or mosses get to bushy, and I have trim moss and carpet ant wait again.

[John N.]

For me, it's finding the time required to maintain an aquascape. I think this is one of the most overlooked aspect about having a well done aquascape. The top aquascaping photos we see in competitions or even here in our Aquascaping Showcase take a lot of time and preparation to paint that beautiful scape.

-John N.

[Guillermo]

Find nice rocks , take good pics, and of course trimming stems, lol.

[Anti-Pjerrot]

Raising money to get that sweet ADA equipment

Serious - timing trimming for a final shot. Choosing the right plants from the startl, so that all plant has the desired size, color and texture than i expected when i made my plans.

Good hardscape don't come easy too..

[Pat7676]

Yeah i can never find any rocks worth anything around here.