Sam Rutka, also known as Captain Duckweed, built his first water-garden at the age of 8 and has been working with fish and plants professionally for about a decade. A lifelong fish-keeper and gardener, Sam has competed in aquascaping and aquatic plant layout competitions nationally, consistently placing within the top five aquascapes and received second place in the 2019 international Aquatic Gardeners Association paludarium competition.

Specializing in habitats and display builds for aquatic and terrestrial plants and animals, Sam has built and designed dozens of aquariums, paludariums, and terrariums. His builds can be found all over northern New England, including at the New England Aquarium in Boston MA. Sam’s work was featured on the cover of AMAZONAS Magazine (volume 7 issue 1) where many of his personal and professional tanks and paludariums are showcased along with instructions on building your own.

You can find Sam on Instagram, Tiktok, and YouTube at @Captainduckweed. Be sure to follow to keep up to date with his current projects and adventures.