I have not been particularly active in my aquarium hobby lately. Let’s call it an ‘interest break’. I am not quitting, and my work with CustomAquariums.com keeps me very engaged with aquariums, hobbyists, and the industry. But, at the end of the day, I have not had much motivation to work on my own tanks.
I have begun an ambitious project that I am confident will restore my passion, but it will take some time. The fish room is coming down… completely gutted. A gallery of display tanks featuring CustomAquariums.com tanks, stands and filtration will take the place of a fish breeding set up. I am not in a hurry to make this happen.
I think that the moment that my flame went out was when the 75-gallon planted tank I had planned so carefully leaked the morning after I set it up. My plan for a totally new aquarium gallery started as I spent the 4th of July holiday tearing down that leaking aquascape.
Winter hit Wisconsin earlier this week. We had a beautiful Fall with pleasant temperatures, and all of a sudden the air turned cold, windy, and threatening snow. Daylight savings time has not ended yet, but it is already getting dark before 6 PM. Next week, it will be dark at 5. This is the time of year when most northern aquarists disappear into our hobby for the Winter.
I am not, apparently, totally devoid of aquaristic invention, because I suddenly had the urge a couple days a go to scape a tank. I had a lot of plants growing out in an emergent growth chamber (there was a video about that in July), and empty 10-gallon tank, and a blank spot in my office to set it. I decided to try something different. I did not set up an aquarium… I set up a ‘wabi-kusa’ terrarium. Emergent-growth aquatics plants in a moist enclosure.
Take a look:
