Today, I attended an open house at Erik Leung's loft apartment. Erik is a member of SFBAAPS, the San Francisco Bay Area Aquatic Plant Society.

Erik has three beautiful tanks, quite large (by my nano-tank standards), each of them impeccably designed. Not only is he an enthusiast with a great eye for contrast and texture, he's also wildly knowledgable about the chemistry/nutrient aspects of tank care. He can speak and write about them to great effect. It goes without saying that his plants are in extraordinary condition.

About 25 people attended, all of them friendly and full of anecdotes, advice, and humor. After some time getting to know people, we gathered around Erik as he talked about the setup and maintenance of one tank in particular. After that, we passed around cuttings from attendees' tanks. Terrific stuff. I came home with Christmas Moss (which I've been coveting for six months), Alternanthera reineckii, E. tiandra, and some of the long subulata I love but which usually doesn't work in my tank. The latter was so healthy, how could I resist?