Re: high vs low thing (long)

["Christopher Newell" <newellcr at yahoo_com>]

Hello John,

>>OK....Basically, the same wires and endcaps, and a
ballast go into PC lighting. Same as a shop light by
my count. Add a reflector and you're high tech, baby!!
Hehe...sorry for the sarcasm, but that works on every
front. When is the last time you considered the
phosphors in your lights. I never have...That's for
the light company. <<

If you buy into my definition of technology, then the reflector is high-er
tech than the shop light.  Applying the knowledge that the reflector
enhances the performance of the light by increasing the usable light to the
leaf...  Same works for the light bulbs.  If you pass by the GE "shop light"
bulbs and buy the "daylight" bulbs because the daylight bulbs is more full
spectrum, then the "daylight" bulbs are high-er tech than the shop light
bulbs...  If you know that fish poop lacks something that your plants need
and you dose that component to your plants, this applied knowledge is
high-er tech than fish poop...  Ok, that's enough of that.  To a fair
extent, that's reality as seen thru my eyes...

>>fish poop, as an exclusive
means of fertilization, only produces real results
under very specific conditions. Thats *hard*!! And I
risk incendiary retort here, but the palette of plants
that will produce under that scheme limits your
aquascape.   <<

Within limits I agree.

>>So, you think that your method is less complex than a
tank with CO2 injection, and water column ferts?
Doesn't sound like it to me. After the initial
investment, which could be really reasonable, or sky
high, the cost is minimal...I'm a college student BTW.
I also make my living as a musician. <<

90% fo my plant culture is fish poop, T-8 shop lights, $.89 a bag top soil,
and pea gravel.  I don't know if it's less complex than CO2 injection and
water column ferts, but generally, I think it is lower tech than setups that
use CO2 injection and water column ferts.  I tinker with the other 10%.
Most of what I consider to be my high tech dabblings occur in my display 55
gallon tank.

My low tech fish breeding/plant culturing setup churns out a lot of really
nice specimen plants each year.  I'm really happy with the results.  The
plants flower occasionally and multiply readily, the only time I see algae
is when I am really feeding the fish heavily to encourage spawning or when
other duties take me away from the fishroom for a while.  I pick out a
little algae when I see it and toss it out, no big deal.  Occasionally, the
system has some hic-ups, but they are easily solved with water changes and
the occasional other tweeking.

After thinking about this a little longer, maybe my culturing methods are a
little highter tech than I previously thought.  It's hard to say.

Kind Regards,

Chris Newell
Warren, MI