I maintain my 54G corner tank in a very low-tech fashion; I don’t use CO2, and I allow Phyllanthus fluitans, or Red-Root Floater, to help suck up any excess nutrients. What that means is that after about a months time, the floater has completely covered the surface, shading out everything below.

Look at how much darker the tank is above with the floater, verses below, without it, albeit, this is probably common sense. This tank is easy to forget about as it generally maintains itself, but it always reminds me to do a water change and remove some of the floaters when the tank is quite dark. It’s a nice visual cue.

And just because he was out and about while I was taking the above pictures, here’s another picture of my Irian Red Rainbowfish (Glossolepis incisus).

The Utricularia graminifolia is starting to grow in in the 75G tank. It’s still not really that full, but you can start seeing some little leaves pop up from the aquasoil substrate. My theory is that this plant takes longer than others to get going because it requires a more mature tank with more microorganisms to get caught in its bladders. Of course, I can’t say that I’ve grown it predictably enough to have it fully understood at this point.

What I know is that that once I start seeing “trailers” like the ones below, that that plant is well on its way to filling in. I’ve also had a number of “trailers” growing up into the water column, making the foreground look too tall and shabby, but I’ve gradually cut those off and replanted them in the bare areas to try and get them going.

Additionally, the Nannochromis nudiceps seem to have gotten over their digging fascination, so they’re no longer pulling up, or covering up, the Utricularia graminifolia directly in front of their “underground lair.”

After nearly 6 weeks in 20L, I finally returned my four Red Lizard Catfish, Hemiloricaria sp. ‘Red’ (L10a), to the 75G tank. I’ve been leaving them out for two reasons: I wanted the water chemistry in the 75G to stabilize, and I wanted the Utricularia graminfolia to get partially established before I reintroduced them to the tank.

These pale reddish catfish are quite lazy fish in my tanks. They spend a large deal of their time lounging on the substrate or hardscape. It would be fantastic if they actually ate some of the black-brush-algae they’re laying on in the pictures. Fortunately, the Amano shrimp are slowly mowing that down.

Despite their less-than-ideal appetite for algae, they stay small, and they’re colorful, so I enjoy having them in my tank. They’ve already seemed to settle back into their larger home. The 75G is quickly turning into a catfish tank with all of the corydoras, Ancistrus sp. L279, and these guys.

Viktor kindly hosted GWAPA December meeting this past weekend. Since the holidays are so busy, GWAPA combines the November and December meetings into one meeting; this year a holiday potluck. Besides being fantastic aquarium keepers, we’ve got a few good cooks in the club too. I really enjoyed a number of the salads that were brought, Dave’s sausage rolls, the various dips, yeah… pretty much everything. Oh, and the desserts were good too — especially the fudge!

Besides eating and socializing, we also finalized the GWAPA board. I was fortunate enough to be elected the club president, which is a challenge I’m really looking forward to in 2008. I’m still trying to figure out exactly what I want the driving focus of the club to be this year, but with a few local stores already expressing an interest to work with us, I’m hoping to help get some workshops off the ground.

Of course, one of the treasures of GWAPA is our members’ ability to create beautiful tanks in many different ways. Above, Viktor has created a wonderful planted aquascape without CO2, without a designer substrate (soil), and that doesn’t require constant attention or water changes. Yet somehow, he always has extra plants in the auction, which is a great testament to his ability to grow them. With four new members at this month’s meeting, the talent within GWAPA is only growing.