About twenty members and non-members attended the March GWAPA meeting. Alex, our presenter, discussed the how-to of taking pictures of aquariums and their inhabitants. First of all, you will need a tripod. Also, it is helpful to illuminate the tanks from behind, and you can do this by using a background that lights up. Using a hairdryer which is taped to the tank creates a ripple effect which makes more natural pictures. The photos should be taken when it is dark outside, so nighttime is ideal. Make sure though that the stem plants have not closed up for the day. RGB light panels can be helpful when playing with the colors. Finally, to block outside light, you can use aluminum to cover the sides of a tank or even part of the top. You’ll need to take hundreds of photos to find good ones. At a photoshoot, Alex takes 500-1,000 pictures over a period of 2-3 hours. A raffle of donated Oase products and an auction followed the talk.

About twenty people showed up to the February GWAPA meeting in Gaithersburg. Corey, the president, gave a talk on floating plants. She discussed the good things and also some drawbacks of keeping these plants and then detailed the various species. A raffle with Oase donations followed the presentation. Then we had our regular auction of plants and fish. Some of the fish were donated by Splashy Fish, an aquarium store in Springfield, Virginia.

This presentation by Nguyen Le provided a comprehensive guide for beginners interested in setting up their own planted aquariums. It covered essential aspects, from selecting the right equipment to establishing and maintaining a thriving ecosystem.