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Re: Aquatic Plants Digest V2 #842
Aquatic Plants Digest wrote:
>
> Aquatic Plants Digest Saturday, July 19 1997 Volume 02 : Number 842
>
> In this issue:
>
> Re: Farowellas vs. Peckoltias
> Riccia on wood
> Re: Calcium Requirements
> Luvskribs's snail
> Re: Aquatic Plants Digest V2 #840
> (no subject)
> Iron
>
> See the end of the digest for information on subscribing to the
> Aquatic Plants mailing list and on how to retrieve back issues.
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Date: Fri, 18 Jul 1997 13:12:53 -0700
> From: Shawn Young <young at mda_ca>
> Subject: Re: Farowellas vs. Peckoltias
>
> Hey all,
>
> I originally sent this directly to healer, but thought I'd shoot it along
> here for general info (general criticism? :-), since it _is_ related to
> planted tanks, and getting rid of any algae in them.
>
> Cheers...
>
> - ----- Begin Included Message -----
>
> >From young Fri Jul 18 10:40:58 1997
> Date: Fri, 18 Jul 1997 10:40:51 -0700
> From: Shawn Young <young>
> To: healer at global_california.com
> Subject: Re: Farowellas vs. Peckoltias
> Cc: young
>
> Hi there,
>
> I keep both farlowellas (4 of them; 3 different sp.) and a peckoltia
> (pulcher?), in the same 55g tank.
>
> I have had good experience with both, but that is not the case with e.g. my
> father, and a few others who tried keeping farlows when they were new to
> aquaria.
>
> Farlowellas are notoriously finicky and sensitive, but they will latch onto
> anything, including roots, leaves, glass. Then they stay put for significant
> periods of time... Primary upside to them is that they do not harm plants
> (and they are cool to look at:-)
>
> (N.B. By finicky, I mean wrt water conditions and any "major" changes to
> their environment.)
>
> Peckoltias, on the other hand, will rarely be seen on glass or leaves, if
> they are given a decent sized root. Since the inclusion of a root, or some
> wood at any rate, is wanted for a complete diet and proper digestion by
> many of the loricaridae (incl. farlows and peckoltias), you will likely
> find that the peckoltias will make such their home and never stray far, so
> long as algae grows on the root. Then again, some peckoltias are partial to
> certain plants. If they happen to find one of your plant species a delicacy,
> be prepared to have it gnawed off in a very beaver-like fashion.
>
> As an alternative, some types of ancistrus (bushy nose plecos) are supposed
> to be very good, relatively hardy, and they "do windows". They also stay
> fairly small. Some are quite favourable to look upon, as well. There is some
> talk that certain of them will munch on certain plants, however.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Shawn
>
> - ----- End Included Message -----
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Fri, 18 Jul 1997 13:15:19 PDT
> From: Roxanne Bittman <rbittman at kirk_dfg.ca.gov>
> Subject: Riccia on wood
>
> 6 weeks ago I set up a new 40 gallon tank and included two pieces of wood
> with Riccia on it, attached using lots of monofilament line. I followed
> instructions in Amano's book which indicates you need to wrap the line over
> and over, with lots of overlap to keep the Riccia down. The book says that
> eventually the Riccia will attach to the wood and stop trying to leave it.
>
> Yesterday the whole mass on both pieces of wood lifted itself off and
> floated to the surface. Left behind were the pieces of wood with
> monofilament wrapped tightly around them and a few stray bits of Riccia.
> Not quite what I'd intended.
>
> Does anyone have experience with this method of attaching Riccia to wood?
> I've since reattached the liverwort and will wait another 6 weeks to see if
> it stays this time!
> - --
> Please note new email address:
> =======================================================================
> Roxanne Bittman, Botanist Natural Diversity Database
> Phone: (916) 323-8970 __o CA Dept of Fish and Game
> Fax: (916) 324-0475 _ \<_ 1220 S St
> Internet rbittman at kirk_dfg.ca.gov ( )/( ) Sacramento, CA 95814
> =======================================================================
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Thu, 17 Jul 1997 20:00:08 -0400
> From: Rochelle Williams <t_rwilli at bellsouth_net>
> Subject: Re: Calcium Requirements
>
> Chazz asked about plant needs for calcium. From my experience with soft
> water (30ppm GH and KH), hygrophelia begins developing small holes in
> both new and old leaves, but mainly in the old ones. Also the Amazon
> swords stop putting out new leaves. Otherwise, no appreciable plant
> changes. I throw in 2 human calcium tablets (the cheap kind with no
> sugar coating), don't worry about changes in pH because its a 125g tank,
> and put a tablet in every week for 2-3 times. MT snails will swarm the
> tablet and eat it, but a good bit goes into the water.
> Rochelle
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Fri, 18 Jul 1997 18:10:43 -0400
> From: Beverly Erlebacher <bae at cs_toronto.edu>
> Subject: Luvskribs's snail
>
> > Date: Thu, 17 Jul 1997 19:00:35 -0400 (EDT)
> > From: Luvskribs at aol_com
> > Subject: Re: Aquatic Plants Digest V2 #839
> >
> > I have found a small snail in my planted tank. It is brownish, and I'm not
> > sure what type it is. It has a small spiral at the end of its shell, but the
> > main part of the shell is more round. Could anyone hazzard a guess? I would
> > like snails to keep the gravel from getting to compacted, but don't want ones
> > that eat plants. Thanks
>
> It's probably a pond snail (Limnaea and related species). These guys
> are undesirable - they breed very fast and will eat plants. You'll
> probably never get rid of them, but when you see them crush them against
> the glass. Most fish regard crushed snails as a treat.
>
> The snails you want for the gravel are Malaysian Trumpet Snails (Melanoides
> tuberculata). They don't eat plants, but will eat algae and detritus. They
> burrow in the gravel during the day. I wouldn't trust them with fish eggs,
> however.
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Fri, 18 Jul 1997 23:07:48 -0400
> From: krandall at world_std.com
> Subject: Re: Aquatic Plants Digest V2 #840
>
> Subject: Farowellas vs. Peckoltias
>
> >Farowellas are unique and supposedly good algae eaters, but I've read
> >they get big and are delicate. Anyone kept these before? Also, do they
> >prefer the glass or leaves to chew off algae (I've kept ottos that stuck
> >to the plants and plecos that liked the glass better)? Finally, (and
> >most important) how effective are they compared to Peckoltias?
> >
> >Peckoltias are cool and stay small. However, they can't compare with
> >the unique appearance of a "Twig Cat" (the wonderful jargon of the
> >employees at Petsmart).
>
> Peckoltia sp. eat little if any algae. They are neat fish... I have a
> number of differnt specis spread among my tanks. But don't count on them
> for algae control. IMO, Farlowellas are too big for a 26G tank. If your
> algae is under control, they will most likely starve to death. Get a bunch
> of Otos instead.
>
> - ---------------------------------------
>
> Subject: Re: cheap substrate heating
>
> >Good idea! The what you have described is a basic heat exchanger. Think
> >of the radiator in your car. Silicone tubing would be good to run the
> >lines, but to "pickup" and release the heat energy from the ballast you
> >would need to use something more conductive to heat. Food grade copper
> >tubing, if it suitable for use in the aquarium, comes to mind.
>
> Copper is a really bad idea in an aquarium. It is toxic to plants, fish,
> and other organisms as well.
>
> Karen Randall
> Aquatic Gardeners Association
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Fri, 18 Jul 1997 20:28:03 -0700
> From: Harold Pachtman <harold at azpedeye_com>
> Subject: (no subject)
>
> I am new to this, and have purchased a Python cleaner and water changer.
> I must hook it up to and outside hose bib, as it wont fit on my
> goodeneck sink faucet. My question however is this: I find that it uses
> a tremendous amount of water which flows all over my yard. Is it
> necessary to have the water on full force? Is there a way to use less
> water. I have searched the archives and could not find anything on this.
>
> harold at azpedeye_com
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Fri, 18 Jul 1997 23:39:11 -0700
> From: Harold Pachtman <harold at azpedeye_com>
> Subject: Iron
>
> At Home Depot I found a large container of Iron Sequestrate. It appeared
> to be enough for the average person's need of Fe for a lifetime, and
> cost about $10.00. Now my question is, is sequesstrated Fe the same as
> chelated Fe? Will it work as well? Will it harm fish? Is it soluble? How
> can it be mixed in with the other trace elements to make up PMDD?
>
> harold@azpedeye
>
> ------------------------------
>
> End of Aquatic Plants Digest V2 #842
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Roxanne, I am the guy that you got the Riccia from. To tell the truth,
I have never seen Riccia attached to any solid surface. In fact the
only thing that I have seen it attached to is the algae on the face of a
waterfall that I maintain. It is quite beautiful against the dark green
of the algae. The plants that you got from me were grown floating at
the top of a 50 Gal. aquarium. From time to time, if the clumps become
dense enough, I weigh one down with a stone or marble and then let it
grow into a ball. Eventually, however, it invariably floats and form
clusters at the surface, as you have seen. By the way, did you ever
I.D. that Chara or the gelatinous spheres that I sent along with the
Riccia? David Curtright, FFF.