Probably, each of you will find in your childhood memories how rich and amazing life was at that time. Every day brought many new discoveries. On the margin of an ordinary pond one could spend hours studying various dragonflies, snails, frogs and other living creatures. Or, lying on your back in the grass, you were peering into the shape of clouds running across the sky, performing a “heavenly” show that only you could understand. Unfortunately, as we get older, these things do not amuse us anymore, and sometimes we do not even notice them. But this nostalgia is deceptive. Man, by nature, always remains a researcher and, having learned some phenomena, starts searching for the new ones.
It is rare that an aquarist is content with only one type of fish or plant for several years. The irresistible craving for the unknown pushes him to obtain more and more new pets (Figure 1). However, at a certain point you realize that the range of living objects suitable for keeping in your fish tank is not so large. In addition, they are also systematically combined into groups (families, genera), the representatives of which have similar morphology and conditions of pet care. For example, plants of the Araceae family are represented in aquariums primarily by common Cryptocoryne and Anubias species. Moreover, you do not surprise anyone with Pistia or duckweed (In 2010, duckweeds were transferred from Lemnaceae into Araceae because the taxonomists had discovered an inflorescence of this single-leaf plants).
Figure 1. Home wet greenhouse with rare aroids from Southeast Asia.
In contrast to this, the appearance of some rheophytic aroids from the island of Kalimantan in aquariums looks revolutionary. In particular, Bucephalandra plants have rooted in the tanks of collectors in a short period and have been used even in aquascaping. It turned out that not only Kalimantan, but also the neighboring island of Sumatra is rich in surprises. Although, what new can this island offer except for the Sumatra barb (Puntius tetrazona) that has been one of the most popular fish among fish keepers for several decades?