Help What’s Going On with Aquascaping YouTube? Even the Big Channels Are Struggling…

[techman81]

due to the overwhelming presence of advertisements.

I watch Youtube more than TV or any other streaming service, so it was worth it for me to pay for Youtube Premium. I couldn't stand the ads either. Last time I updated my phone plan, I got a discount on Premium so that was nice, but I also have Youtube TV and it ticks me off that Youtube doesn't include premium with that for just a small surcharge.

 

[TheWetScape]

I watch Youtube more than TV or any other streaming service, so it was worth it for me to pay for Youtube Premium. I couldn't stand the ads either. Last time I updated my phone plan, I got a discount on Premium so that was nice, but I also have Youtube TV and it ticks me off that Youtube doesn't include premium with that for just a small surcharge.

Same!

 

[*Ci*]

due to the overwhelming presence of advertisements.

I use the Brave browser for most things now. No ads on youtube or anywhere else.
I forget that ads even exist until I accidentally open something in Safari on my iPad …

 

[Jeff Miotke]

Really appreciate everyone’s insights—lots of good perspectives here.

I’m looking more at the past year or so, so the COVID boom probably isn’t a factor anymore. But something still feels different. Views are down across channels, contest entries are fewer, stores seem quieter, and club turnout isn’t what it used to be.

I wonder if tougher economic times are part of it—this hobby isn’t exactly cheap, and maybe people are holding off on new setups or upgrades. Or maybe it’s just a shift in how people are engaging—less public activity but still plenty happening behind the scenes.

It makes me question whether this is an actual decline or just a perceived lull. Are people really losing interest, or are they just participating in quieter, different ways? And what might it take to spark that same energy we used to see?

And on the topic of ad blockers—it’s a tricky one. They definitely make watching YouTube a lot smoother, especially with how aggressive the ads have become lately. But the downside is that they also cut into the ad revenue creators depend on. It’s hard to fault anyone for wanting a better viewing experience, but it does raise questions about how sustainable the platform is for the people actually making the content we enjoy.

For what it’s worth, I don’t do ad reads and keep ads pretty minimal. Even with okay views, it doesn’t come close to covering just the software to make a video. That’s fine though—I’ve always made the content I wanted to make.

I just hate to see it getting tougher for creators across the board. It feels like it could hold back the kind of sharing and inspiration that keeps this hobby growing.

 

[Jeff Miotke]

@Jeff Miotke , what we really need is a video of your very unique paludarium.

Ill think about it. i did launch multiple videos going over the build in details. combined views on like 4 videos was less than 1k. I nuked my channel and started over at end of 2024. So i do have some good stuff but Id have to repackage it. Maybe 1 video edited through to share and document the project so its not lost to time.

 

[Lush_Aqua]

Much like Facebook and Instagram, short form content is the name of the game for media consumption right now. TikTok was leading this effort, and people are dumping their time spent on media on "doom scrolling." I don't think it's at any fault on Youtube altering algorithms, but the way people spend their time watching content of any form is primarily through short form content. Just like Youtube, television is seeing major decline in viewership because the culture of media consumption has changed.

 

[snowballs99]

Aquascaping is a pretty expensive hobby all things considered. Think people have a lot less money right now so are less likely to look for inspiration/how to videos.

Everything also swings in a pendulum.
We went high tech for a while. People get tired of the maintenance. Things swing back to low tech fish/shrimp focused etc. They will get bored of that eventually and hop back onto CO2 high light etc.

Attention span is also been shot pretty bad and is only getting worse and worse.
If I search any video on YouTube first thing I see are AI shorts and I go out my way to block those.

 

[SingAlongWithTsing]

Newbies:

• Expensive entry point + not so good economy is probably the main reason people aren't as interested right now.
• Not to mention there's some people that kinda don't want to put in effort; seen a lot of people on fb groups want to avoid doing water changes (I'd understand if it was well water or unstable tap though).
• Tik Tok brain rot is also another issue. or maybe it's an effort thing too? Idk. Personally like longer form content, even better if there's time stamps.
• Scalpability is another thing. If it aint scapable they probably don't want to do anything with the hobby. It's a good thing for us though, we don't need that type of people in the hobby.

This is probably just a me thing (aquascaping for 10+ years, fish keeping for longer):

• I haven't found a scape that lit a fire under my ass and has me motivated in a long while and go "wow I want that scape!", a lot of the competition tanks look the same to me. Please dont confuse this with arrogance, I think it's more of a melancholy thing.
• Haven't been watching a lot of Aquascaping channels lately. Most of the stuff I watch these days are woodworking and construction/renovation videos.
• Lately I've been more interested in the filtration/engineering that goes into plumbing large systems than aquascaping itself. Took someone else to tell me that to realize it lol.

 

[Art]

My opinion is that social media is leading us down a spiral of declining attention spans. We need to feed our brains with media whenever we have a free moment. This is evident when you see people walking down the street, or driving, or standing at the grocery store line with head in phone. Heck, go to a coffee shop or look around at a restaurant. People with heads in phone, scrolling.

Platforms like TikTok are now huge because it feeds this obsession with constant entertainment commonly known as brain rot. "I have nothing I want to know or learn in particular but I don't want to stand here doing nothing or thinking so I will scroll short-form videos to see if anything interests me."

Longer-form videos are now sought when you want to really learn something and a short-video is just not enough. Usually, the short form influences are enough so long form is seeing the traffic decline. Heck, I know someone who built a vacation itinerary solely using recommendations from TikTok influencers.

For YouTube creators, I think the strategy is to create short-form videos on TikTok to capture the attention and interest of someone with a teaser video. This video should lead them into the longer-form YouTube video for more in-depth info. Kinda like lead magnet pages were to websites.

 

[Sulla]

Iv

In recent times, I find myself reluctant to watch YouTube due to the overwhelming presence of advertisements. I am unable to endure even two minutes of ads, regardless of the length of the videos. I just work to much and the last thing I want to do when I finally sit down at home, is waste my time learning how XENA a new medication for midosymbriosis is gonna turn my life into a spectacular joyous embrace.

So I stay off the YouTube’s lol.

've been paying premium for a while. I can't stand ads either. Premium gets rid of all that.

 

[Unexpected]

YouTube 100% changed how views are counted to combat boting. This is most noticeable on gamer streaming channels with millions of subscribers. @TheWetScape link is well known and the top gaming streamers reported this as well.

The top gaming streamers cross stream to other platforms simultaneously, and if more viewership is a goal, you'll want to do the same. Gamers are cross streaming to channel views to YouTube. Kick, Rumble and Twitch have IRL sections and IRL streams see millions of people watching. That said, these are gamer specific sites, but IRL is still heavily populated with non gamers.

I only uploaded content because there's so little in the way of true Dutch on YouTube. I'm out though, I had a small goal and I feel I achieved what I set out to do. I had zero production value, and to get to your level of production would require more effort than I have to give. Uploading was also draining the fun of this hobby from me. And I won't allow myself to continue down that road.

Interestingly, I watch very little aquarium videos. 90% of the content I watch is the "calling" I missed. I just watch dudes turn wrenches and modify cars. If I could only go back in time and become a mechanic!

 

[snowballs99]

Newbies:

• Expensive entry point + not so good economy is probably the main reason people aren't as interested right now.
• Not to mention there's some people that kinda don't want to put in effort; seen a lot of people on fb groups want to avoid doing water changes (I'd understand if it was well water or unstable tap though).
• Tik Tok brain rot is also another issue. or maybe it's an effort thing too? Idk. Personally like longer form content, even better if there's time stamps.
• Scalpability is another thing. If it aint scapable they probably don't want to do anything with the hobby. It's a good thing for us though, we don't need that type of people in the hobby.

This is probably just a me thing (aquascaping for 10+ years, fish keeping for longer):

• I haven't found a scape that lit a fire under my ass and has me motivated in a long while and go "wow I want that scape!", a lot of the competition tanks look the same to me. Please dont confuse this with arrogance, I think it's more of a melancholy thing.
• Haven't been watching a lot of Aquascaping channels lately. Most of the stuff I watch these days are woodworking and construction/renovation videos.
• Lately I've been more interested in the filtration/engineering that goes into plumbing large systems than aquascaping itself. Took someone else to tell me that to realize it lol.

On the scape fatigue as well.
I haven't seen a scape i wanted enough to be worth the possible maintenance as well.

All my tanks are just substrate only with random plants. Hell I'm even planting moss into the substrate.

I only have a few round tumbled lava rocks as decoration and that's because nerite snails seems to be addicted to them.

 

[BenB]

Aquascaping is a pretty expensive hobby all things considered.

I agree with this and also, if you could grow a few good plants, you could sell them and get a little bit back to pay expenses. I'm looking at Planted Tank Quick Auctions and people aren't getting bids on what there used to be a fight for.

I haven't found a scape that lit a fire under my ass and has me motivated in a long while and go "wow I want that scape!", a lot of the competition tanks look the same to me. Please dont confuse this with arrogance, I think it's more of a melancholy thing.

For me, its the same but a little different. I really really like more old school Nature Aquariums and that just isn't the thing right now. I've enjoyed the garden style, but even many of them see more like a bunch of plants throw in and the lights turned all the way red rather than a well thought out scape. Lastly I like Dutch, but that is a harder process and you just don't see much of that.

I agree that I'm over the moss and twig scapes.

 

[Phish Tank]

I'm burned out on unmaintainable High Drama contest tanks, and videos where the only goal is getting that one perfect photo to submit. There should be an aquascaping contest where you have to submit one photo for the contest, and then a second photo of the same scape a year later. Scoring incorporates how well the tank lasts over time.

 

[Trey]

I have actually been watching it also! They have some really valuable information with the fish side of things and in general outside of creating the scapes. I wish Jeff senske was still doing his, I love just listening to the aquascape conversations on different topics at night before bed or with morning coffee (as my toddler allows lol)

YES! Jeff's podcasts were awesome!

 

[fishyjeff]

Same here. I never cared much for diorama style tanks with the sole purpose of winning a contest. I would like to see more long term sustainable nature aquariums.

I spend plenty of time on YT watching and looking for aquascaping content. I prefer longer narrated videos as opposed to cinematic and short videos. While I understand the need to generate revenue there is a particular channel that I've subscribed to for several years that seems to have become mostly a platform for promoting the channel's main sponsor so, to me, it's understandable why his viewership might be in decline.

 

[ScaperHaynes]

May be stating the obvious here, but good content provides information or entertainment, sometimes a combo of the two. If the viewer isn’t asking “how do I do that?” or “what happens next?”, it’s game over.

Aquascaping has a somewhat limited capacity to engage people entertainment-wise compared to other subjects, so information tends to dominate. This trend is clearly reflected in the most popular aquascaping channels if you sort by the most popular videos. Easy to observe as a content consumer, incredibly difficult to navigate as a creator.

I'd suspect that aquascaping is competing with ever more hyper-entertaining content. Additionally, many people may be less willing to wade through hours of video to find answers to things with tools like ChatGPT being available (no matter how wrong they may be at times lol).

Either way, I agree with many of the statements here about wanting to see more content on long term scapes.

 

[Naturescapes_Rocco]

I'm burned out on unmaintainable High Drama contest tanks, and videos where the only goal is getting that one perfect photo to submit. There should be an aquascaping contest where you have to submit one photo for the contest, and then a second photo of the same scape a year later. Scoring incorporates how well the tank lasts over time.

God I'm so down for this!