We can all contribute to the success of fellow hobbyists- and to the hobby in general- when we make an effort to recognize the signs of a hobbyist who’s headed in the wrong direction....

I developed a sort of paranoia about doing anything that would disrupt my carefully managed aquariums. It was a bit of an ice-reaction, I think.. because the reality is, as an 8 year-old eloquently stated, “...fishes don’t break so easily...”

“Detritus” and “mulm” send shivers down the spines of many aquarists.. they’re metaphors for “sloppy”, “dirty”, and “undisciplined”, right? Well, not really. In our view, it’s more like their metaphors for “food source”, “biological filtration”, and “part of a healthy aquarium...” yeah, let’s re-think this stuff!

While you can hurry Nature, you CAN manipulate things a bit. Of course, when you do, there are trade offs and compromises and different outcomes. As I’ve learned- particularly with natural, botanical-style tanks- there is no substitute for patience.

Seasons change... so should the way we replicate our aquarium habitats to meet them...

The largest wetland on earth, The Pantanal is awe inspiring and fascinating! Our guest, Tai Strietman, the man who provides all of those amazing underwater pics for us, shares his firsthand knowledge of the fishes and the habitat- and how we can recreate it in our aquarium!

Vast, diverse, and fascinating- The Pantanal is one of the most productive aquatic habitats on earth. Many of the fishes we love in our aquariums come from this amazing ecosystem, yet we hardly ever see aquariums based on it. We, as lovers of natural-“, botanical-style aquariums, are uniquely positioned to change that!

It starts with an innocent question: “What are the best fishes to eat algae in my aquarium?” And then it snowballs from there- culminating in an interesting ethical argument and questions about who’s really in charge of your tank!

In the botanical-style natural aquarium, faith and patience are some of the most important “components”- things you need to have an abundance of. What happens when a botanical- style aquarium evolves, and how do we react to the changes which inevitably will occur...?

Like many of you, I love playing with aquascapes. However, UNLIKE many of you, I suck at incorporating rocks into them! What is this? Do I have some bias against rocks? Hmm..