In the last weeks of 2018, I pulled my dusty 10-gallon aquarium off the top shelf of the closet, and inventoried the extant remains of my tank accessories and supplies. I filled the aquarium with conditioned water and pieces of hardscape, and seeded it with some organic matter to jumpstart the cycling of the system. Then, I waited.

Last week, following a four-day journey in the mail from an aquatic nursery in Hereford, AZ, the plants arrived. So it begins.