Poor Richard’s Almanac

It’s “leap day,” proof once again that, even after several million years of trying, we humans still haven’t gotten the calendar right. But I digress.

Our friend Ben realizes that the title of today’s post may aggravate a few of you passionate gardeners out there. You may even feel that you’ve been had. Why, you ask, didn’t I call it “A shrimp’s eye view” or something? But please set aside your prejudices and read on. I wrote this especially for you.

Those of us who love plants and live in cold-winter climates have a problem: Trying to get enough green in view to make it through to spring. We cover every flat surface in our homes with houseplants of all types and stripes. We try to keep yet another *&%$#@!!! rosemary alive indoors through the winter. (Those of you who have no problems doing this, and our friend Ben knows several, just shut up and stop looking so damned smug.) If we’re lucky enough to have a greenhouse, we cram it with orchids, amaryllis, and all the container plants that graced our decks or patios during the growing season, creating the dreaded “incredible shrinking greenhouse” effect. But it’s still not enough.

Fortunately, there’s another way to get more plants into our snowbound lives. It’s small-space, low-maintenance, and requires very little in the way of specialized equipment. It’s a landscaped aquarium.

If you think of aquariums as showcases for trailer-park taste, with dayglow gravel and plastic pirate ships, I have news: It ain’t necessarily so. A decade or so ago, Takashi Amano set off a revolution in aquarium-keeping with his indescribably beautiful book Nature Aquarium World. In it, Mr. Amano showed how he created underwater landscapes, filled with gorgeous plants, exquisitely natural-looking, glowing with life. Suddenly, gardeners had a whole new realm to conquer, creating luscious aquatic landscapes they could enjoy in the heat of summer and the depths of winter.

If you want to be inspired, you can’t do better than order Mr. Amano’s fabulous book or its sequels. But if you want to try this at home, there’s a little problem: His beautiful aquascapes depend on close monitoring of tons of high-tech equipment, including CO2 injectors and high-powered lighting that could easily bring you a visit from your good friends at the DEA. Not to mention continuous micro-monitoring of pH, fertilizers, and so on.

Now, our friend Ben loves aquariums–I’ve had them all my life. But it’s my view that they should be fun, low-cost, mostly self-maintained worlds of wonder that don’t require a second job or a Ph.D. in chemistry. And fortunately for all of us, there is another way. And another book: Ecology of the Planted Aquarium. This book is as boring as its title–no photos, technical tone, design harking back to the age of mimeographs. Ugh. But its author tells in great detail how you can have a very low-tech, self-maintaining landscaped aquarium, and trust me, this is our goal. I recommend both books–one to inspire you and one to tell you how it’s done. But you really don’t need either.

Our friend Ben’s aquariums are as low-tech as they get. I don’t even heat them–the only heat the fish, plants and other denizens get comes from the lights in the lids, which came with the tanks and are certainly no big deal. (In fact, I’m convinced that the astounding longevity of my tropical fish, which can live for ten years easily, is due to the lack of heat and the fact that I “fast” them over the weekends.) Nor do I have bubblers or other aerators, undergravel filters, or the like. What I make sure to do is to create a balanced aquarium–lots of both rooted and floating plants, cute and colorful little freshwater shrimp and otocinclus catfish to keep algae off the plants, mini freshwater clams, snails, and corydoras catfish to clean the gravel and (in the case of the clams) help to filter the water, and, of course, I have the colorful tetras and other tropical fish we all love to add life and interest to the tank.

As a result, my aquarium maintenance is limited to feeding the fish on weekdays, pruning overly enthusiastic floating plants like anacharis (which I add to the outdoor container water gardens during the growing season and use to enrich the compost pile in the winter), rinsing off the filters once a month, and changing filters every three months (or so). I don’t even do the horrific water replacements that consitute aquarium-keeping drudgery for many; I just top off the tanks when the water level goes down. The water in my tanks is sparklingly clear; there is no algae on the rocks, plants, or tanks; the plants, fish, and other denizens are flourishing. Everybody’s happy.

Speaking of other denizens, let’s talk about snails. Our friend Ben has always loved snails, with their beautiful spiral shells. I’ve collected saltwater specimens and enjoyed encountering land snails in the wild and, yes, even in my yard. (Mind you, where I live, they are seldom seen and not voracious.) I remember fondly the beautiful pink snails of my Nashville youth. So it’s not surprising that I’d enjoy snails in my aquariums. I’ve had many kinds over the years, but my favorites are the big, bright yellow snails (the shells are yellow, but the bodies can be white or black) that add bright spots of color to the aquascape. They work hard, too, cleaning debris off the tanks’ bottoms, and best of all, they don’t eat the plants! Our friend Ben urges you to give them a chance in your own aquarium. Try them, you’ll like them!

Incidentally, if it’s hard to find a good selection of plants, shrimp, snails and the like in your area, a wonderful mail-order resource is Arizona Aquatic Gardens (www.azgardens.com). Check out their “Shrimp Factory” for a wonderful rainbow assortment of freshwater shrimp!

An easy-care aquascape is a delight for the whole family. If you have cats, they’ll enjoy watching “fish TV” as much as you do. And what a joy to see the warm light, lush plants, brilliant fish, and entertaining shrimp, clams, and snails when it’s bitter and snowy outside. Aaaahhhh…