“There’s some stringy stuff growing on my leaves..” if we had dollar for every tine we heard that.. yeah. Well, guess what- you have BIOFILM! And you should be stoked! We’ll talk about the slimy, gooey, and entirely misunderstood biofilms in today’s podcast.. and you might just come to love ‘em after all!

Our world is one of constant change. And just occasionally, breakthroughs are achieved. Botanical style aquariums are a literal “proving ground” for all sorts of cutting edge hobby ideas. Especially when we move forward...boldly.

Like any other aquarium, a botanical-style aquarium requires us to observe, understand, and maintain what we’ve created. We are very much creating a little “microcosm”, and need to respect the checks and balances which Nature imposes upon it.

Killifishes are a large and diverse group of fishes. They’re super colorful, interesting, relatively easy to breed- and they come form all sorts of fascinating habitats ripe for replication in our aquariums! So what aren’t they more popular? I think I know why.. and how to fix this!

There is something special that occurs when you take a so-called “common” fish and provide it with conditions similar to those in which it’s evolved for eons.. in this episode, we discuss this simple concept, through some personal examples. Perhaps it’ll inspire you to see your “common” fishes in a whole new light!

Water levels in Nature ebb and flow. The angles of the sun change. Fishes face constant challenges, evolving over eons to meet them via evolution, adaptation, and behaviors. How can we apply these seasonal changes to our aquarium world?

The key to long-term success with natural, botanical-style aquariums is to go slowly, deploy patience, observation- and consistent maintenance practices... in this episode, we talk about the long-term husbandry of these unique aquariums.

I can’t help but wonder what it is that brings various fishes to a certain location of niche within an environment. In this episode, we contemplate stocking of our aquariums in a more natural sequence. Blurring the lines, for sure!

It’s time to push out our botanical aquarium “practice” and express Nature in a more “literal” way. That means not-so-spotless aquariums, turbid water; more decomposing materials. It’ll challenge our aesthetic sensibilities, our skills, and our patience. However, the potential benefits of this “blurring of the lines” between Nature and aquarium are manifold and exciting! Go next level!

Sure, it’s hardly a mystery that Nature offers tons of materials that we can play with in our aquariums. In this episode, we get into the basics of “doing it yourself”- and Scott delivers a bit of “tough love” on taking the responsibility to research...