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.

After we enjoyed pizzas and other delicacies, our speaker, Becca, started her presentation. She talked about the different Dicrossus species and how to keep them. Then she went into details about breeding D. maculatus and D. filamentosus. Becca also mentioned the idea of Dicrossus changing sex. Following the presentation, we had an amazing auction.

About a dozen people visited Laurel for the September GWAPA meeting. Nick gave a talk about trimming plants in a planted aquarium. He showed off his aquascaping tools and explained the advantages and disadvantages of each of them. After describing his trimming process, which included cutting off every damaged or algae infested leaf and trimming the stems very close to the ground to enable them to create bushes, he trimmed the host’s 75 gallon tank. Once the plants were trimmed, Nick put a polishing filter in the tank to be used for about an hour only. Then he used a razor blade and melamine foam to clean the glass while intentionally stirring up the detritus for the filter to catch the particles.