the roots

After months of patient tending, the roots tank had found its rhythm—a cool-water sanctuary where flagfish darted through dense Bolbitis while cherry shrimp grazed the creeping Marsilea below, all thriving in the steady 70°F embrace of an unheated glass world. Nitrates held steady at 10 ppm, the invisible proof that this first aquarium had matured into something self-sustaining, asking little more than a single weekly water change and the keeper's quiet attention.