I would like to respectively request the garden.org site operators consider offering a new badge:
"Aquarium Plants"
many aquarists grow plants in the tank along with whatever fishes/shrimps/amphibians. Some have a few, some have dense planted tanks, a popular specialization is creating Biotope aquaria. Sometimes its for visual appeal, but the plants provide an important function-- removing poisonous nitrates, nitrites, phosphates and other pollutants.
I have had tanks which used plants for all filtration, and pumps for circulation. The inhabitants were healthy, long lived, and exhibited behaviors such as socialization, spawning/mating, etc
here are two tanks from the legendary visionary Amano Takashi(*) Many folks who have ponds may already know him even if they don't keep aquaria- he essentially created and popularized the art f aquascaping and without him our ponds would probably have lotus and algae as our only options for plants.
as a brainstorm starter, here is a prototype candidate for the badge image - basically a theme of water-fishes-plants
This sort of badge would fill an open niche in our hobby and broaden our horizon of possible expressions of our plant obsessions.
NOTE: If this proposal is problematic, or if the request is inappropriate, or if such a badge is outside the scope of garden.org or otherwise undesirable, then by all means feel free to consider the proposal withdrawn and the matter closed.
thanks for reading!
>>edit 11/15/2023 to properly attribute pictures lest folks think those were my own tanks!
(*) (Takashi-san was also professional bicycle racer, designer, large format Nature and Environment photographer, founder of ADA-Aqua Design Amano and the international annual IAPLC competition, and the year of his death he had completed the design and construction of the 40 meter Florestas Submersas at the Oceanário de Lisbo, Portugal) .
