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Hello from BC Canada!

1805 Views 15 Replies 7 Participants Last post by  fish dork
3
Hi! Just wanna say hello! I've been lurking around "The Barr Report" forum for the last couple years now and heard good stuff about this forum.

I've had a few aquariums in the past and have successfully had 3 planted tanks:

1. 25 gallon low-tech tank with basically a huge Java fern that looked like an inverted pyramid and school of bosemani australian rainbows and cats

2. A 48 gallon at my workplace that I converted to a planted tank with tonnes of Amazon sword, ludwigia, rotala and so much Java fern growing in on a massive driftwood that it was nearly invisible and DIY CO2


3. And finally a lowly 10 gallon in our condo with high light and DIY CO2 and the most varieties of plants I could stick in there. I actualy made a blog about my progress and would have pictures if I hadn't of switched ISPs and lost my whole website and then at the same time formatted my computer and didn't backup my aquarium pics...except this tiny preview thumbnail that my brother managed to find on his computer :(


That was 2 1/2 years ago and since then we moved to another town and I didn't want to setup the tank till we settled in a house. Just buying our first house this last summer my aquarium fever returned. I've been buying parts slowly as I could afford to over the last couple years for my new 33 gallon setup.

I got a nice frameless 33 gallon aquarium, Onyx sand, a Hydor inline heater, an Eheim canister filter, a glass ADA CO2 hand-made diffuser, a Milwaukee CO2 regulator and pH controller, a couple of CO2 cylinders. I just mounted the 2x55 PC lighting system from AH Supply in my totally AWESOME canopy that my dad, who is an amazing carpenter, made custom for me--and also put some nice doors on this old TV cabinet.


Inspired by Tom Barr's article on giving a planted tank a jump start by growing an emersed carpet of HC and other plants I got excited and ordered a pile of plants from Arizona Gardens. Little did I know it would take over 2 months since then and I still wouldn't have recieved them. Never answering my emails and bad communication was very frustrating with them. I guess there problems with the brokerage documentation at the border so they shipped it out again and again and still never recieved it. Well, long story short I'm still waiting after repeated long-distance phoning to Arizona. Hopefully in the next few days!!

In the meantime I'm feverishly looking around these forums and getting more and more excited about trying my emersed planting experiment. The plants I'm planning to grow emersed is Java fern on driftwood, anubias nana, HC, glosso, and lobelia (small form). Not sure how the lobelia will do but it's a pretty stiff and sturdy plant.

I look forward to talking with everyone and posting pics on my progress through my new blog!
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Welcome to the forum, Dave. I love your tank. Have you though about scaping then and placing them by their height for better viewer experience?
WOW! nice 48g tank...at work even, where is it that you work that allow you to keep that beauty?

oh yeah, welcome:).
Hey! I'm in BC as well. Nice looking tanks. That new one will be interesting to work with. I just got rid of a huge java like those as well, and spend 2 full days doing a complete rebuild on my 80 gal planted. Now I'm back to about 3 rhizomes of Java again!
WOW! nice 48g tank...at work even, where is it that you work that allow you to keep that beauty?

oh yeah, welcome:).
Yeah thanks, was fun as I could do it on work time :) Worked at a computer shop.
Hey! I'm in BC as well. Nice looking tanks. That new one will be interesting to work with. I just got rid of a huge java like those as well, and spend 2 full days doing a complete rebuild on my 80 gal planted. Now I'm back to about 3 rhizomes of Java again!
Hey fellow BC'er! Where you in BC?

Yeah that was the wide-leafed stuff. The ones I ordered I was assured that the would be the narrow leaf which I like better. Those things propagate like crazy!

80 Gallon, totally cool, I wish I had that size!
Welcome to the forum, Dave. I love your tank. Have you though about scaping then and placing them by their height for better viewer experience?
Sorry I don't understand, you mean the 48 gallon that I used to have?

Yeah actually, that one was tough as it was not very deep and had to look good for both sides.
I'm in Castlegar.. about 7 1/2 hours out of Vancouver, close to the US/Canada border. The 80 is great... except for the 2 days it takes to break it down and set it up! But all else is awesome. I think the only other issue is now I want a bigger one. (Totally addicting...MTS)
Great to have you aboard... Welcome to APC :bounce:

You have a very healthy looking tank!
Welcome to APC! :wave:

Great looking tank. :)
Hi, I'm a fellow BC'er, too. (Gabriola). I mostly lurk in the El Natural forum.

You do know that you can't have live plants shipped into BC without a Phytosanitary certificate? This is different than simple brokerage fees for other types of packages. The cost when ordering from nurseries by mail order used to be $30-50 - probably more now . And then the plants and phyto have to be inspected by Ag Canada when coming into Canada.

If the mail order place doesn't handle this aspect, your package may have simply been destroyed at customs. Sometimes they (customs) inform you and sometimes they don't!

Your tank is beautiful.

Cheers,
Ci
Hi, I'm a fellow BC'er, too. (Gabriola). I mostly lurk in the El Natural forum.

You do know that you can't have live plants shipped into BC without a Phytosanitary certificate? This is different than simple brokerage fees for other types of packages. The cost when ordering from nurseries by mail order used to be $30-50 - probably more now . And then the plants and phyto have to be inspected by Ag Canada when coming into Canada.

If the mail order place doesn't handle this aspect, your package may have simply been destroyed at customs. Sometimes they (customs) inform you and sometimes they don't!

Your tank is beautiful.

Cheers,
Ci
Wow, thanks for telling me this. Arizona Gardens has already tried to ship me like 3 times and it hasn't got here. Probably why! Is there any great place in Canada to order from you know?
I'm in Castlegar.. about 7 1/2 hours out of Vancouver, close to the US/Canada border. The 80 is great... except for the 2 days it takes to break it down and set it up! But all else is awesome. I think the only other issue is now I want a bigger one. (Totally addicting...MTS)
cool, I'm in Cranbrook! We go through Castlegar several times a year when we're heading east to see friends and family.
Wow, thanks for telling me this. Arizona Gardens has already tried to ship me like 3 times and it hasn't got here. Probably why! Is there any great place in Canada to order from you know?
http://www.aquariumplants.com/Default.asp?Redirected=Y has a Canadian distribution center. i've never ordered from them as i find their deliver fees are way outta hand but you may want to look into them if you haven't got many options Dave.

darryl
I've ordered from aquariumplants.com several times. Their plants are reasonably priced but the shipping is outrageous. If you order a large volume, though, it becomes more worthwhile.

The quality of the plants I have received from them was outstanding, I have to say. Large, beautifully leaved, and clean plants (no algae or snails).

I used the 2 day shipping option to get them to BC (which they don't recommend) and the plants arrived just fine - but it was in late spring and summer - don't do this in the winter!

As far as I know this is the only online aquatic plant seller in Canada. But if you're in BC - I've also had success with plants and fish from "April's Aquarium" a sponsor on the BCAquaria forum.

She's in Vancouver and ships, in fact is very accommodating and will send me stuff on the floatplane right to Gabriola Is., where I live. She'll post availability lists on the forum or on her website, and you can also special order plants or fish.

Cheers,
Ci
I've ordered from April as well and the stock is awesome! She'll ship on most airlines and is good to deal with.
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