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TFH Articles
>Has anyone picked up the June copy of TFH? There are a pair of
>interesting articles on riccia and C02 that seem to contradict
>everything I thought I knew about these two topics (which isn't much).
>
>* The article on riccia (p. 21) states that "when attached to objects of
>even the substrate, it develops roots and looks for all the world like
>grass." In my experience, riccia doesn't grow roots or attach to
>anything, at least underwater.
No, Riccia does not have roots.
>* The CO2 article was a little odd. Written by Shawn Prescott it
>featured photos of the Amano-like CO2 equipment advertised by Aquarium
>Landscapes/Fish-Vet. The credit on the photos, which are obviously
>clipped directly from the ads, is Shawn Prescott.
>
>a) My first concern is what appears to be the use of what is supposed to
>be an objective article to push a product. To me, this clearly violates
>the line between advertising and editorial. Although no company names
>are mentioned, anyone remotely familiar with CO2 equipment will
>recognize those photos in a heartbeat. If the author is connected with
>the company, how do we know we're getting good CO2 advice or just the
>company's party line on CO2 systems?
It's a good lesson to learn that you need to read all articles critically.
There are some very good articles, by very knowledgeable people in the
magazines. There is also a lot of bunk. That said, I haven't read the
article, nor do I know the author. Just because an article is written by
someone involved in a commercial operation does not mean that they are not
knowledgeable. One would hope that a company selling CO2 equipment would
know something about it.
Tim Hovanec is a very, very knowledgeable scientist and aquarist who also
works for Marineland. It would be a great loss to the hobby if he were not
willing to share his experience through hobby magazines.
>b) Second, the author says that C02 must be shut off at night. I use
>Dave Gomberg's setup, and he said that C02 doesn't have to be shut off
>at night. In the nine months I've been (successfully) running CO2, I've
>left it on at night with no problem.
>
>Any opinions on this?
Yes. A properly set up CO2 system does _not_ need to be shut off at night.
But this author is not the first to make this mistake.
Karen