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Re: "You can't ever go home"!
Merrill wrote:
<< Back in the early days when Innes wrote the "bible of the business" --
Exotic Aquarium Fishes" (or something like that), the variety of plants was
extremely small, as compared to today. >>
Well, in the circa 1948 edition he describes 48 different plants,
almost all
with illustrations, usually photographs. Not quite an "extremely small"
number.
Of course there are more today, but many are additional species of genera
that
are represented in his book.
<< Time passes and we have a tremendous variety available. To grow some, you
can get by not changing water. To grow all, you need to change some
water much more often and add Carbon by gas or other sources like
Carbo-Plus". >>
There are some aquatic plants that require a lot of special treatment,
perhaps
many, and maybe some need frequent water changes, although I hadn't heard
that before. But a respected authority, Ms. Walstad, in the 1999
edition of her
book, on page 183, says she normally does a partial water change every
six
months. (Her book is available on Amazon.)
<< IMHO, make it easy on yourself if you want a good variety. Follow Tom
Barr
and you won't go wrong. The breeding of Neons and Cardinal Tetra was not
possible at that time, either -- nor hundreds of other varieties not even in
the "Innes Bible". >>
I agree about following Mr. Barr's advice. I've learned quite a bit
from him and
other high tech aficionados who post here. But there are a number of ways
to
succeed with aquatic plants. Not all require counting CO2 bubbles or
frequent
monitoring of the levels of chemicals in the aquarium.
BTW, Dr. Innes discusses successful experiences in the breeding of
neon
tetras in his book.
You might find Dr. Innes' book quite interesting if you can find a copy, Ms.
Walstad's, too.
Bill, in sunny SE PA where the overwintering daphnia eggs have hatched and
spring is knocking at the door.