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Re: Aquatic Plants Digest V1 #279
Subject: Back to nature
> Does anyone know what other types of natural environments various
> species are found in?
Anubias: According to Schott, most species are found on the banks of or
sometimes submerged in streams, rivers and seasonal water courses. Both
muddy and rocky substrates are sited.
Aponogeton: Depends on whether your discussing African, Asian or Australian
sp.<g> Speaking of the Asian species, which are most common, while rivers
are mentioned occassionally, most seem to come from ponds lakes and pools.
In one place I found a reference to "sandy soil". In most cases, we think
of pond/lake bottoms as being fairly heavy in organic material.
Rotala: Rataj mentions R. rotundifolia growing in rice fields in India. I
believe rice feilds are mud bottomed and rich in animal wastes(?)
Luwigia: Personal observation here. Grows in the margin of many local
streams, old (slow, winding) rivers and lakes. I've found it mostly in
sandy soil, often with a lot of leaf litter over the top. Once in the shade
of a dense stand of fir trees, where the substrate was literally a mat of
fallen needles about 6" thick, sandy soil below.
> What plant species are found in "vermiculite streams"?
Wise guy!
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Subject: Re: nutrient diffusion into substrate
Joanne,
> Can anyone reccomend a specific brand & type of cheap, hardware store ligh
> bulbs? I have a table which Drew Warwick forwarded to me many months ago
> which was posted to the Krib by Joseph Sellinger via George I think. I ju
> want someone else to decide for me which one to try, I'd like to try to
> duplicate Coralife's Trichromatic and 50/50's which I've used the past. W
> either of the 6500 K bulbs (Phillips daylight or Comptom S 80) be compara
> to the trichromatic? I can't seem to find anything comparable to the 50/5
For cheap standard T-12 bulbs, I don't think you can beat Philips Daylite
bulbs. I've used them, mostly in combination with Vita Lights, but also
alone for years. They aren't IMO as good as some of the more expensive
bulbs, but for my money, they're the best of the cheap bulbs.
P.S. Remember that if you are going to try using Wisconsin native plants,
they will go into "hibernation" in the fall, even if you keep them warm.
Tends to make for an unattractive plant for several months of the year... if
you can bring them back. You might be happier using southern species of the
same genera.
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> Subject: Snail troubles and E. tenellus question
Dev,
Can't help with the snail problem, but:
> And one other question about E. tenellus- does it really require fine san
> as a substrate? My gravel is small but no where near sand-fine. Mike steer
> me away from E. tenellus and instead sent me a dozen E. quadricostatus- th
> not as small as I'd hoped and they don't look all that hardy...
If your gravel is no larger than #3 (I prefer #1) you can get your tenellus
to root with no problem. Don't worry about the quadricostatus though.
You're right that they're bigger, but they are quite hardy.
Karen