My name is Branislav Rakić (Zander). I’m 30 years of age and I live in Novi Sad, Serbia. I have fallen in love with aquaria as a child by virtue of my uncle who used to be my only resource of aquarium information at that time. Later I’ve explored the older literature and magazines where my uncle gathered the knowledge. At that time the knowledge has been far away from “internet age of aquaristic”. Even though the hobby was very interesting to me, I took a long break from this hobby which lasted until 2005.

When I initiate a new tank, it did not dawn on me that very soon I would going to dedicate so much attention only to aquatic plants.

At the local aqua-shop I used to buy anything they had on the shelves and tanks. Slowly I discovered and learned from internet forums and aquarium plant communities. At the time, I didn’t know a lot of people engaged in the aqua hobby and it was difficult finding plants that kept my interest. Nowadays, it’s much different.

Recently, me and my fellow aquarists established a new forum www.mojbiljniakvarijum.org which is aquatic plant-themed site. There we are always in touch. We help each other, exchange plants, and hang out to share our aquarium experiences. Two or three times a year, we organize a gathering in different places of Serbia, Just for the hobby and the fun. There are aquarists from Serbia and other former Yugoslav Republics. We would be very glad if someone from the ASW-forum could one day join us at our meetings.