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- To: Aquatic-Plants at actwin_com
- Subject: Aquatic Plants Digest V3 #253
- From: Aquatic-Plants-Owner at actwin_com (Aquatic Plants Digest)
- Date: 09 May 98 00:48:02
Aquatic Plants Digest Saturday, May 9 1998 Volume 03 : Number 253 In this issue: Re: New tanks for beginners Re: Water Chemistry -- Remedial Help Re: Flagfish Re: Water chemistry--plant ID books Re: DIY Substrate Heating Cables Re:DIY Substrate Heating Cables Re: Aquatic Plants Digest V3 #252 Re: Subtrate Rotten Re: Aquatic Plants Digest V3 #251 See the end of the digest for information on unsubscribing from the Aquatic Plants mailing list and on how to retrieve back issues. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 8 May 1998 16:13:25 EDT From: Dennis8425 <Dennis8425 at aol_com> Subject: Re: New tanks for beginners In a message dated 98-05-08 15:55:02 EDT, Aquatic-Plants-Owner at actwin_com someone wrote which prompted my comments: << >Easy plants : Anubias barteri v. nana, Hygrophila polysperma or the "Sunset" >Hygrophila with good light/iron it show some nice red coloring, I have not had much luck with Hygrophilia in any of the varieties. It usually grows tall and has few leaves. >Cabomba >caroliniana, Bacopa caroliniana, Caution on the Cambodia. I have found that occassionally the leaves drop and make a nightmare cleaning the tank. > some of the Echinodorus are pretty hardy >try Echinodorus bleheri (paniculatus). I will agree here but caution is to get the right varieties to go with your size aquarium. Some grow to 24 or 30 inches in nature and unless your tank is that tall you may be having problems with plants to large in time. Get a good plant book and check on the hieght it grows to before buying. Also the key to these plants is a lot of light for 10 to 12 hours per day > Also type some Cryptocorynes like >the Cryptocoryne wendtii it is pretty easy to grow but likes to be left >alone. Just plant in fertile substrate in a low to average lighted area of >your tank and don't move it. Yes another great group of plants. You can mix varieties of the Crypts in the tank and get a great effect. But remember they like low light of 16 to 20 hours a day and are not compatable with the plantthat need intense light for shorter time periods. >Others to consider are different varieties of >Ceratopteris or Water Sprite and of course some Amazon Swords. For more >"easy plants" look in the same sections mentioned below. Yes but again be cautious on type to match the plant size with the aquarium. > >Heavily planted tanks from the start are far less likely to be come algae >farms and cycle easier ! > >> Defenatly true but still expect get at least a breif splurge of algea when you start up. Also to help cycling add a few fish about 2 or 3 days after setup. Personally I add the scavangers first at this time as they are usually rugged enough to handle the instable chemestry you may initially see untill everything settles down. Dennis ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 May 1998 12:04:59 -0700 (MST) From: "Roger S. Miller" <rgrmill at rt66_com> Subject: Re: Water Chemistry -- Remedial Help Alysoun Mclaughlin wrote: > I would also like to find a book which provides one or more of the > following: > > 1) Pictures and descriptions of a large number of plants, especially those > which are less common (not just a few of the same old pictures and > descriptions of rotala, swords and crypts); Good luck finding Rataj and Horeman. It has lots of photos and descriptions of plants, but its short on good husbandry information. > 2) Detailed information about water chemistry, including explanations of > why it matters (for instance, what you're actually testing when you use X > product, and what that means, why we can or can't use it as a reliable > indicator of a broader condition, what Y product does to your water and why > fish/plants need it); "Advanced Aquarist" by Ghadially (a reference you've already been given) comes about as close to this as anything I've seen. This too will be hard to find. The approach on this mailing list is rather heavily slanted toward (paraphrasing the old ad campaign) "better horticulture through chemistry". While I find the chemistry interesting I think that a) you may be stressing this need too much b) the source you're looking for may not exist and c) this might be something where there's more good questions than there are good answers. The last two points probably explains why the topic is discussed so much on this list. > 3) Detailed troubleshooting information, including explanations of what's > going on (not just "Cryptocoryne disease, treat with X product"); > As you know, the inexpensive Barron's book is pretty good for this. I'm not sure there's anything better. The Krib contains lots of trouble-shooting information. Combing through that for a while might be helpful. > With, of course, the emphasis on #2. It seems there's a lot of criticism on > this list of how most aquarium literature handles the issue -- am I > searching for the holy grail? IS there a book or FAQ in existence which can > serve as a primer on basic water chemistry, without excluding important > variables or leading me into false assumptions? You might look at the Baensch atlases (Rael and Baensch, I think. Maybe someone else can help with the full title), which is in at least 3 volumes now. I don't have them all, but I know many people are pleased with the information they contain. What I've seen quoted from them seems to be in the "intermediate" category you're looking for. Roger Miller In Albuquerque, where the spring winds have passed and hot air balloons are once again flying every morning. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 May 1998 14:13:15 -0700 (MST) From: Michael D Nielsen <mnielsen at U_Arizona.EDU> Subject: Re: Flagfish I had a really, really nasty green hair algae problem that they cleared up in only a couple of weeks with no help on my part. I did not have any beard algae, but I would guess they might eat that too. Good luck o Mike Nielsen u m Department of Geography THE OPTIMIST BELIEVES WE LIVE IN ? a Harvill Bldg Box #2 THE BEST OF ALL POSSIBLE WORLDS; w r Tucson, AZ 85721 THE PESSIMIST FEARS THIS IS SO h e mnielsen at u_arizona.edu o ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 May 1998 14:25:38 -0700 (MST) From: Michael D Nielsen <mnielsen at U_Arizona.EDU> Subject: Re: Water chemistry--plant ID books JUst a personal opnion, but if you have the money some of the best books are the Aquarium atla s series by Baensch, vols, 1, 2, which have literally hundreds of species of plants as well as a couple thousand fish. THey give some info on the plants and in general have beautiful pictures of everything. A bonus for you is the first volume also has some basic info on tanks and some on water chemistry. They are about $40 a piece in the hard cover, but I have seen some reprints in softcover for about $25 each I think. I love the books. o Mike Nielsen u m Department of Geography THE OPTIMIST BELIEVES WE LIVE IN ? a Harvill Bldg Box #2 THE BEST OF ALL POSSIBLE WORLDS; w r Tucson, AZ 85721 THE PESSIMIST FEARS THIS IS SO h e mnielsen at u_arizona.edu o ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 08 May 1998 16:32:59 -0500 From: Steve Garinger <sgaringer at pivotint_com> Subject: Re: DIY Substrate Heating Cables I have built cables like you are contemplating. I did not repeat your calculations, but the wire length sounds similar to what I used. My advice is to add 5% to the length before cutting the wire, then measure the resistance and trim the wire to match your desired output. It has been awhile since I read the file, so I don't recall if this next part is in there, but if it is, it bears repeating: Be very careful to make the connection between your feeder wire, and the heating cable watertight. I used 14 ga. wire between the transformer and the heating cable. I put heat shrink over the solder joint between the wire and the cable, then sealed the ends of the heat shrink with silicone rubber, then (after curing) put a larger heat shrink tube over that and sealed its ends with silicone rubber. I have had no troubles in long term (2 years+) usage. My plants love it. The fish-room manager of my LFS was over the other day and could not believe my aquarium. He had never seen crypt wendtiis (that's what the seller called them, I have not researched it) with leaves up to the surface of a 55, or with such a deep maroon color on the underside. But then, his exposure is mainly to what comes in the door, not to the tanks of the folks on this list. Good luck, Steve Garinger In Lawrence, KS, where we are about to reclaim the town from the KU students (for the summer). ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 May 1998 14:44:09 -0700 (PDT) From: Jim Spencer <jimsp at yahoo_com> Subject: Re:DIY Substrate Heating Cables Jay wrote, >Hello All! I am currently in the process of setting up a 75G planted tank, and am considering building a DIY substrate heating system as described in the Dan Resler and Uwe Behle article published in the March 1995 issue of Aquarium Fish Magazine. Has anyone out there built a system like this, including the cables? >snip For about $25 I installed substrate heating cables very similar to what you describe a little over a year ago. See my post at http://www.actwin.com/fish/aquatic-plants/month.9703/msg00457.html I don't now how much it has contributed to my success but it seems to be working fine. I used a 12V-5amp transformer ($11 from all electronics www.allcorp.com) and have had no problems with it. You may want a higher wattage transformer which you can find in the current MPJA catalog. (www.mpja.com) They have a 13.5V-20A transformer for $19.95 and a 13.5V-35A one for $24.95. == Jim Spencer Sayre, PA _________________________________________________________ DO YOU YAHOO!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 08 May 1998 15:47:30 -0700 From: Dave Gomberg <gomberg at wcf_com> Subject: Re: Aquatic Plants Digest V3 #252 At 03:48 PM 5/8/1998 -0400, Alysoun McLaughlin said: >I've ordered K. Rataji and T. Horeman's "Aquarium Plants" -- since it's >billed on fishlinkcentral.com as "the most complete volume ever published >about aquarium plants". 448 pages should include at least a few pieces of >relevant information! It's out of print, though. To: The Edmonton Book Store , 11216 - 76 Avenue , Edmonton , AB , Canada , T6G 0K1 Phone (403)433-1781 / Fax (403)433-4569 , Email ebs at compusmart_ab.ca ... A member of ABAC See their homepage here! From: ... buyer's email id Re: Rataj, Karel and Horeman, Thomas J. Aquarium Plants, Their Identification, Cultivation and Ecology New Jersey T. F. H. Publications 1977. VG in illus. boards. Binding is HB. US$ 15.00. Terms: V/MC/cheque. Prices $US net. Cdn. orders add GST. Postage $5.00 US for surface, add $1.50 US for each additional book. Air mail, other carriers extra, please inquire. Dj's Brodarted. Good luck. - -- Dave Gomberg mailto:gomberg at wcf_com FormMaestro <http://www.wcf.com> - ----------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 May 1998 18:12:13 -0700 (PDT) From: pcshop at rockisland_com (Dieter Schuman) Subject: Re: Subtrate Rotten I have about 2" of flourite in my 125g, which I covered with about 2" of silica sand. I also began to notice the substrate bubbling, even though the plants looked great. I took out as much of the sand as I could, about 90%, and that seems to have done the trick. No more bubbles and happy thriving plants. Take care. -Kes Stargard ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 9 May 1998 00:16:07 -0400 From: westland at ma_ultranet.com (MJ Westland) Subject: Re: Aquatic Plants Digest V3 #251 Jeff asked about: >Also does anyone know of a web site with info and preferably photos of >Farlwella (sp) or whip tail cats? I was hoping to find out more about them. >I have seen them suggested as algae eaters. Maybe I can find them in my >area. I've been lurking for a few weeks trying to learn enough to make the leap and setup the planted tank my husband and son gave me for my birthday. My son's tank (15 gal) was set up for fish only, but I got so interested in plants that we made a deal--the fish are his and the plants are mine. Well, we're learning, anyway. We bought a Farlowella (aka Twig Catfish) because we got green algae on the glass when the winter sun hit the tank. "Herb" did a marvelous job of cleaning the glass. Alas, when we got an infestation of this long black hairy stuff, he wouldn't touch it. We bought what we were told was an SAE, but he (Harry) won't touch the new algae either. In the mean time, Herb died (starved? somehting else that took a few Danios too?) and the hairy algae grows on. We are now in search of Flagfish. BTW, Whiptail Catfish (Rineloricaria) are totally different than Farlowella. Tails are a bit different, and the Farlowella has a long snout that sticks out beyond the sucker. (I wanted to name ours after Jimmy Durante, but my son would have none of it.) I know nothing about Whiptails other than what I read in my book, don't know if they'll eat algae as well as our Farlowella did. Sorry, I don't have a URL to share with you. My "Aquarium Fish" by Dick Mill, Dorling Kindersley pub. has great pics and info though. Mary Westland westland at ma_ultranet.com ------------------------------ End of Aquatic Plants Digest V3 #253 ************************************ To unsubscribe to aquatic-plants, send the command: unsubscribe aquatic-plants in the body of a message to "Majordomo at ActWin_com". Archives are available on the web at http://www.actwin.com/fish/aquatic-plants or via FTP to ftp.actwin.com in /pub/aquaria/aquatic-plants.
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