Ben's Aquarium Blog and, Why Botanicals?

Welcome to Betta Botanicals! Ben's Aquarium blog, (named after my personal fish accounts where 'I just have fun in my tanks'), is the home base of this brand for information on botanical style aquariums, betta care, ecology of planted aquariums and much more. These posts will be more in depth than our short form Tiktok videos and Instagram posts. I hope that your journey with Betta Botanicals teaches you something new about aquarium husbandry, and surves as a place to explain some of the behind the scenes work. For example; how to test new botanical species in the home aquariums.

Our first post speaks close to home; Why our company Betta Botanicals and BensAquariums is here in the first place. 

Ever since I was a child (age 3-4) and able to walk around, formulate ideas and show interest in anything, my grandfather has been immersing me in the natural wonders of biology. He was, and still is, a biology teacher. His enthusiasm for the natural world is the reason I am here. He instilled in me a deep fascination with nature. We were plunging dip nets into cloudy streams, catching tad poles, learning about bladder wort (a frickin cool carnivorous plant by the way) from the very beginning of my childhood. He is one of the reasons for this whole thing. His teachings have been the groundwork for me, launching me into various niches of this hobby, a similar way I try to make my content... provide you with enough information so you can google the key words and continue your own learning.

From there, my obsession with aquariums started at age 6 when I bought my first aquarium with my Dad at Petco... 1 aquarium eventually became 9. Fake plants turned to live plants. Plain gravel turned into dirted tanks.

After dirted tanks and breeding fish, I went to college, pursuing a degree in environmental science and realizing there were so many overlooked parts of aquarium keeping that held back the system as a functioning ecosystem. When I returned to the hobby I set up a dirted tank, started using catappa leaves. I thought I'd hit the big leagues with catappa leaves. ...but then I found kj_the_aquarist on instagram and had to rethink what I was doing, entirely.

...and now we are here. After 1 viral tiktok video throwing away my aquarium plants, I own a business designed to help you build your ecosystem.

The learning never stops! Keep an open mind.

All the best,

Ben