[asukawashere]

Hey y'all! We'll be having a meeting on the 24th at 2pm. Meet up will be at my place (pm or email me if you want the address) and then we'll go on a collecting trip. Haven't quite decided where we'll be collecting; speak now if there's anything y'all feel like looking for. Also, feel free to bring plants to swap if you've got 'em.

Furthermore, the week after our meeting, on Sunday 8/2 starting at 12pm, is the Norwalk Aquarium Society fall auction in Westport, CT. All CAPE members are encouraged to attend if they're looking for good deals on hard-to-find fish, equipment, plants, and other aquatic goodies. I'll be there, of course. Currently I'm pondering the relative merits of attaching little CAPE ad stickers to each of my plants I'll be putting up for auction.

Post here to RSVP if you're attending our meeting!

 

[Zapins]

8/2 ? is that the correct date?

You guys should take pics and post them so I can pretend I went with you all. I'd love to be there

 

[Riverboa]

I will be out of the country those two weeks, so unfortunately I am going to miss both those events.

Have fun, and please post pics.

-T

 

[asukawashere]

Sorry to hear you'll be gone, Tonny, but take the opportunity to go ditch diving! Whereabouts are you traveling to?

Since I've heard nothing on the collecting front, is there something else you guys want to do? Hang out in my basement and rearrange aquascapes? Debate the relative merits of Cryptocoryne spp.?

Or would you prefer to meet the following Saturday (Oct 1) instead? That's the same day as the NAS fish show, and I'm emailing the guy in charge of that event to see if we can put up a display table showing off a small aquascape or two. Maybe we can meet there instead? Anyone want to help me with the aquascaping/materials if we get the table? I've recruited Kristina to help already but more hands are always welcome (except in a nano tank ).

BTW if we meet this weekend, I have to bump the time back to 4:30 pm. The library I work at just somehow roped me into working from 1-4pm at their "Country Fair and Cow Chip Raffle." Interestingly, no one actually asked me whether I was willing to work extra hours outside my contract, or else I would have told them we had a meeting planned and I couldn't. Long story. Clearly I need a new job. Sorry for the time swap.

 

[Storms]

Hey, I can make it this weekend if you're still planning on having it. My wife would also like to come, although she's not really into plants and fish as much as I am.

I'm a little confused about the NAS show - that's actually 2 weeks from Saturday if it's on the 1st. I'd definitely like to go to that as well.

Anyway, as far as swaps go I have some extra fissidens fontanus if anyone wants some, although I'm not sure what to swap it for as all my tanks are full of plants atm... I need some advice on rescaping so maybe I'll bring some pictures of my 2 tanks and pick your brains for advice... (mmmm... brains...)

Every time I browse cool journals on plantedtank.net I start dreaming of MTS high-tech Co2 setups, UG, staurogyne repens, and blyxa japonica... /sigh

 

[Zapins]

Ke also said he can come. He has a new group on google groups. People in CAPE should join. I'll post directions on how to join in a new thread.

 

[asukawashere]

Okay, if we have people coming (yay, people!) then we're on for 4:30 on Saturday 9/24. PM me if you need the address guys.

Storms, this Sat is the 24th, Oct 1st is Saturday next week Hence, a week between the events.

I also got tentative approval from NAS to set up a display table at the show. They just have to double-check the space they have available to see what kind of room we can get. As such, I'd like to get a list of people willing to hang out at said table for a bit and do some recruiting, or to help out with the aquascaping, or whatever else. Anybody have a spare rimless tank floating around that they'd be willing to donate for the weekend? Or any plants, hardscape, lighting, or other materials? I'm thinking, depending on available materials/space, we should do 1-3 nano scapes set up on the table in question, with a flyer of some sort for the club that we can hand out. Maybe a couple of rare emersed plants in pots for people to squint at? I dunno, gimme some more ideas guys!

Should I deploy the club funds (currently about $100) to purchase a small rimless setup to use for occasions like this?

 

[Storms]

Okay, if we have people coming (yay, people!) then we're on for 4:30 on Saturday 9/24. PM me if you need the address guys.

Storms, this Sat is the 24th, Oct 1st is Saturday next week Hence, a week between the events.

You're right, I suck at dates, but I will plan on being there Saturday at 4:30pm.

I also got tentative approval from NAS to set up a display table at the show. They just have to double-check the space they have available to see what kind of room we can get. As such, I'd like to get a list of people willing to hang out at said table for a bit and do some recruiting, or to help out with the aquascaping, or whatever else. Anybody have a spare rimless tank floating around that they'd be willing to donate for the weekend? Or any plants, hardscape, lighting, or other materials? I'm thinking, depending on available materials/space, we should do 1-3 nano scapes set up on the table in question, with a flyer of some sort for the club that we can hand out. Maybe a couple of rare emersed plants in pots for people to squint at? I dunno, gimme some more ideas guys!

Should I deploy the club funds (currently about $100) to purchase a small rimless setup to use for occasions like this?

I'm not sure about our availability for manning the table - I'm such a newbie I'd probably tell someone the wrong thing anyway, but I'd have fun helping with the nano-scapes or just watching and learning as you did them. At the moment I don't have any free tanks but I'm trying to talk the wife into getting me an Eheim Aquastyle 9 for my birthday in November...

Finnex 4g is also a really cool little nano-tank which has a great light and filtration system, although it's so much light for the size you probably need Co2.

 

[asukawashere]

So, today I ordered a Mr Aqua rimless 7.5 bowfront and one of those little TOM 13w mini-CFL lights. I also have a spare bag of fluval stratum that I'll use.

I still think it'd be nice to have 2 tanks with different themes - something like one Iwagumi and one nature aquarium type gig, or maybe a high light and low light, or something to show off different types of tanks people can make.

Maybe we can use part of this weekend's meeting to have a brief discussion of what should be at our table?

 

[Storms]

The TOM 13w CFL is probably good for a low-light tank on the Mr. Aqua 7.5. If you wanted to do a high-light setup, you might need a Finnex or something similar. Although what would you do about Co2? Just Excel, or get a paintball kit?

The Finnex is only about $65 after shipping for the kit, but you need another $60 for Co2 and some substrate so it starts to get pricey...

House of Fins does have some HC and dwarf hairgrass though (for probably ridiculous prices) so for about $150 you could do an Iwagumi... My wife will kill me if I get another tank right now, but it sounds fun to set it up...

 

[asukawashere]

The tank's only going to be up for 3 days; I'm not too worried about the long run. Probably I'll set up a DIY yeast bottle for a CO2 demo. As for the light, the WPG rules are guidelines, and when lighting a nano tank that's relatively shallow, the lighting is more effective than it would be in a deeper tank, where it would lose energy as it penetrated deeper into the water. If I were to set it up in the long-run, I'd have no problem stocking it with moderate-light plants.

As for HoF, the only plant I'd even consider buying from them right now is the Bucephalandra motleyana I saw there a couple weeks back, and even then I'd be negotiating the price. They're asking $120 -___-' It's a rare plant in the States, but not that rare. They're also trying to sell purple bamboo for $25 a stem. I offer it on the sales board here for under a buck apiece.

Easiest place to get hairgrass 'round here is a pond. With the added bonus of being able to show everybody something we might find on a collecting trip.

 

[Storms]

The tank's only going to be up for 3 days; I'm not too worried about the long run. Probably I'll set up a DIY yeast bottle for a CO2 demo. As for the light, the WPG rules are guidelines, and when lighting a nano tank that's relatively shallow, the lighting is more effective than it would be in a deeper tank, where it would lose energy as it penetrated deeper into the water. If I were to set it up in the long-run, I'd have no problem stocking it with moderate-light plants.

As for HoF, the only plant I'd even consider buying from them right now is the Bucephalandra motleyana I saw there a couple weeks back, and even then I'd be negotiating the price. They're asking $120 -___-' It's a rare plant in the States, but not that rare. They're also trying to sell purple bamboo for $25 a stem. I offer it on the sales board here for under a buck apiece.

Easiest place to get hairgrass 'round here is a pond. With the added bonus of being able to show everybody something we might find on a collecting trip.

I just remember seeing a pot of HC in their back tank that looked pretty nice - no idea what the price was but I'm sure it's 4 times normal... lol... I also remember seeing a really awesome plant that looked like cabomba but with a silver/white top. It looked amazing but I'm sure anything I bought there would melt and die in my low light as soon as I got it home...

Hey, I was just thinking - I have a Fluval Spec that we might be able to transport to the show if you want. I have literally no idea how to safely transport a tank to a show like that - lower the water level and hold it really steady in the car?

It has a small driftwood arrangement in the center to which I've tied phillipine java fern and some plant that I forgot the name of. It has a marsilea minuta forground that hasn't filled in yet - it was trimmings from my other tank so some of the pieces are not "perfect" but have started to sprout new growth - I'll just trim the old pieces out after new growth. The only inhabitant is a single betta splendens and a very tiny pond snail that I placed in there for algae control.

I'll take pictures tomorrow and you can decide if it is worthy of the show... Since the foreground hasn't filled in yet and my aquascaping skills are questionable at best, you might want to rule it out, but I just thought I would offer.

 

[Storms]

Here are my tanks:

Fluval Spec:



Fluval Edge:



My aquascaping skills leave a lot to be desired... I'm considering getting rid of the large driftwood in the Edge and planting more stems in it's place - it takes up too much space and the moss I attached to the top of it ends up growing hair algae because it's too close to the light.

Tips and pointers are welcome!

 

[asukawashere]

Moving a tank intact is difficult, it's usually easier to just take a picture, empty it (bag the fish & plants separately, stick all the hardscape in a bucket), and set it up again in the new location. Whether you want to go to that trouble is up to you, but I'd be happy to help set it back up at the show.

I have some Lilaeopsis you could use to fill in the foreground if you want to bring the tank to the show. From a scaping perspective, I'd get all of the Limnophila indica behind the wood - it's too big a plant to be in front of it. I'd also take the java fern and place it at the base of the wood, like a fern under a tree. The fern doesn't need a lot of light, and moving it will also leave more room for the Limno to fill in. The moss in front doesn't do much for the scape; I'd put that in the other tank where it can match the other moss rocks, and leave a little open space in front.

For the edge, I'm actually more bothered by the funky triangle rock than the driftwood. It doesn't fit with the overall texture and theme of the scape. Again, I recommend getting the tall stems behind the hardscape, and again, put a low-light plant (the moss rocks, maybe) in the shadow of the wood.

 

[Storms]

I guess it's probably too difficult to transport the tank and then transport it back. Both tanks are fully cycled and I think disturbing the substrate that much might cause a mini cycle. Of course if you're just setting up the tank for a few days you don't really need to worry too much about cycling, but when I get this back home I want the fish to live and be healthy...

Lilaeopsis would probably look great, but doesn't it require high light and Co2? I guess for the show it would be fine, but long term the Spec light doesn't grow much except low light plants. I know what you mean about the Limnophila indica - it's going to get way too big. This tank is all made from cuttings from my Edge, so I just stuck it there. I'll move it behind the driftwood but first I need to remove some other java fern that is planted back there.

So you think the phillipine java fern would look better in front of the plant? I was going for a look more like this after it has grown out:

Also, you're right about the triangle rock - I'm going to get rid of it. I thought the coloring was cool but the shape throws the whole arrangement off. The problem with the Edge is the amount of space you have in there. That driftwood piece is so large that it's literally right up against the back wall of the tank and there is no room to move the stems. I should take a side tank shot so you can see it. Also, those moss rocks are just in there for storage - I don't really plan on keeping them - not a big fan of moss rocks. I just needed somewhere I could store a bunch of extra fissidens I got from the S&S for future projects. I need more plant storage space!

I appreciate all the tips. The Edge was my first tank I aquascaped and I just kind of threw everything in there. I've learned a bit since then and I think next I might try an Iwagumi. I'm still a big fan of nature style though, and I'm not a real fan of the Iwagumi just because the biomass of the plants is so low. I would have to have some really tall grass in the background of my Iwagumi layout just so that it could be "lush" as well.

 

[asukawashere]

It is a bit of a hassle. And yes, a mini-cycle is a distinct possibility. Hence why I was hoping someone had a spare tank lying around that we could use or a bit, instead of an already-running one. No worries if you don't want to undertake the risk. We can use the 7.5g I ordered, and I also have a little acrylic 2.5 bow we can use, maybe - it's not in perfect shape, but I can try to polish it a bit and strategically place plants/hardscape to cover the scratches on the back... maybe I can swing by a pet store this weekend and shop around a bit, see if they happen to have a finnex pico in stock and would be willing to cut a deal.

Ferns on the end of a branch are an uncommon sight in a nature aquarium scape. Usually, you either see them at the foot of a piece of hardscape, simulating terrestrial ferns at the foot of a tree, or occasionally at the center of an arrangement of a branchy driftwood. Think of it in terms of the growth arrangement in a typical forest: you don't tend to find ferns growing alone out on the ends of branches or in broad sunlight in a meadow, you typically find them in the shade of something else in clumps. Java ferns, crypts, and similar low-light, broad-leaved plants are typically utilized to evoke a similar image in an aquascape.

As for Lilaeopsis, it's actually fairly tolerant of dim lighting. It won't carpet like crazy in dim light, but you can make up for that by planting it fairly densely to start. It also depends on the speces - L. chinesis is a bit more light-needy, L. mauritiana is the least demanding, and L. brasiliensis is something of a middle-of-the-line species. Not sure what the demands of L. caroliniana are, it's not often found in the hobby, but when I've encountered it in the wild it's pretty much always in full sunlight so I would assume it's more needy. Whatever the case, the species I mentioned I had spare growth from is L. brasiliensis, which would probably survive in your tank but not grow at better than a snail's pace. Which, in such a small environment, is actually probably for the best.

You're quite welcome for the input, FWIW. I actually rarely bother with scaping my own tanks, as long as the plants and the fish/shrimp are happy and growing I'm really too lazy to care what the overall setup looks like, but I do have formal design training and can give fairly good advice from a visual perspective And I can and will arrange a tank if the mood strikes me - I just usually can't be bothered to when it comes to my own setups :mrgreen: You'll see if you come to the meeting tomorrow...

 

[Storms]

No worries if you don't want to undertake the risk. We can use the 7.5g I ordered, and I also have a little acrylic 2.5 bow we can use, maybe - it's not in perfect shape, but I can try to polish it a bit and strategically place plants/hardscape to cover the scratches on the back... maybe I can swing by a pet store this weekend and shop around a bit, see if they happen to have a finnex pico in stock and would be willing to cut a deal.

Purrfect Pets in Milford has a Fluval Ebi and a Fluval Fora in stock, but I think they are both too expensive for what you get.

Oh, and I think I might need to pick up some more CRS from you - I have 10 CRS in my Edge and I think every one of them is male... Every one of them has antenna longer than their body and no saddle. Did you get enough S babies to sell any? Or do you have some more A-C you might want to sell?

See you on Saturday.

 

[asukawashere]

Hmmm, maybe I'll stop by there, then, and pick one up. I know the owner, he'll probably cut me a deal on it if I offer him some nice livestock/plants in exchange... only thing I inherently dislike about the flora/ebi design is that fake rock background. Any idea if they have any other nano setups there?

As for the shrimp, I have one or two A/S shrimp I could spare, but they're too young to sex still. If you want a for-sure female, it'll have to be one of the C/B grades.

 

[Storms]

That's where I got my Spec also, but I didn't see any in stock when I was there 2 days ago. When I bought the Spec he was asking $60 but I talked them down to $55 by showing him the Amazon price.

It's not too bad of a tank for $55, although the light can only grow low light plants - I've gotten decent but slow growth from most things.

You can remove the rock wall from the Ebi if you want. I just don't like it because I would probably have to add more/replace the light and maybe replace the filter and by that time you might as well have just bought a Mr. Aqua.

 

[asukawashere]

Personally, I prefer to keep the cheap all-glass black rim tanks for breeding/propagating stuff. But, they leave something to be desired in terms of showiness.

In other news, my sister broke her kneecap in school today. Currently she (and my parents) are in Bridgeport hospital trying to get it glued back together (or whatever it is they do with broken kneecaps). This has absolutely no relevance to the conversation at hand, just an interesting bit of news. I, in the mean time, have been left in charge of a sniffley 12-year-old.