NASH January 2009 Meeting – Kevin Christy’s 75G Set-up

2008 was very successful year for Nature Aquarium Society of Houston. The Wabi-kusa presentation, Invertebrates presentation by Eric Do, The San Marcos Collection Trip and the great NASH representation at the AGA Convention 2008 were just a few of the accomplishment for NASH in 2008. Nature Aquarium Society of Houston started 2009 with a bang. The January meeting was graciously hosted by Kevin.The plan for this get together was to do a planted tank set up demonstration for some of the newer members of our club. Luis Navarro along with help from Kevin decided to do a mangrove style aquascape inspired by AquaJournal July 1996 Vol.25 “Blessing of the Mangrove”. Luis is an accomplished aquascaper and winner of several aquascaping contests, so his experience was really vital in this demonstration.

Kevin had actually started preparing for this project since November of 2008. The 75G  aquarium Kevin choose for this project has 1/2″ thick glass with no center brace. The tank was drilled from the bottom so there was no unsightly hardware hanging in the tank. Kevin is using an Eheim 2260 for filtration with an in line AquaMedic 1000 Co2 Reactor for Co2 diffusion on this tank. The stand used for this tank was hand painted by Kevin and he had done a great job. This was going to be a open top tank , so Kevin had two 150W Coralife  pendants suspended from the ceiling.

Luis started aquascaping the tank by spreading a large bag of  Power Sand Special M  as the bottom layer of the substrate. The next thing to go in were four bags of AquaSoil Amazonia II. After properly leveling the substrate, Luis started arranging the pre-soaked driftwood. As Luis was working on arranging the hardscape a team of NASH members was preparing Anubias and Marsilea. The arranged hardscape which consisted of a lot of separate pieces of driftwood was then tied together using wire ties. The finished hardscape had turned out excellent.

Kevin and Luis started planting the tank by first tying some Java moss to the wood. Luis then arranged the Anubias which was tied to small lava rock pieces using ADA Woodtight.  Some Bolbitis heudelotii ‘mini’ was then tied to driftwood. Blyxa japonica was planted around the base of the driftwood.

The next step was to plant the Marsilea sp foreground which would have been a very tedious task had it not been for the members who had already prepared the nodes for planting. Some Cryptocoryne spiralis was then planted in the background to finish the planting.  This tank is a great example of a minimalistic aquascape which would turn into a beauty as it matures.

Luis and Kevin spend some time answering all the questions which some of our newer members had about aquascaping and the planted aquarium hobby in general after filling up the tank. Kevin has still not decided on the livestock he wants to put in this tank. But he has promised us that he will keep us updated on the progress of this tank.

The NASH January meeting was a awesome start to another great year. The meeting had a great turnout and was a good opportunity to meet some old friends and to make some new ones.

Aquatic Gardener Association Convention 2008- Day 2 & 3

After hardly 5 hours of sleep the previous night, AGA Convention Day 2 started with an early breakfast at the Sheraton’s Cafe. The previous night, at the hospitality suite Luis had told me and Kevin that we would be helping Mr. Amano along with him to prepare the plants and the driftwood for his demonstration today. Luis had been entrusted with the  responsibility to arrange all the plants Mr. Amano needed for his demonstration. This had kept Luis on his heels all day on Friday.

Dr. Benito Tan

The second day of the convention kicked off with a presentation from Dr. Benito Tan. Some of us who have been in the hobby for quiet sometime might remember  Low Kwek Leong from Killies.com. Dr.Tan is the “Professor” Mr. Leong mentions quiet often when it comes to aquatic moss identification and taxonomy. Dr. Tan’s topic was “Aquatic Mosses: Taxonomy and its application in commercially sold aquatic bryophytes.”  Dr. Tan started off with a paper he had published correctly identifying the common Java Moss. He then explained the common misconceptions in our hobby in regards to the identity of the “True” Java Moss. Another interesting subject which Dr. Tan bought up was identification of   ” Subwassertang” . Subwassertang was widely considered as a liverwort related to Monosolenium tenerum aka Pellia. Research by Dr. Tan and his co-researchers has found out that Subwassertang is not a liverwort at all. It is a gametophyte of  a fern Lomariopsis lineata. Dr. Tan had a great sense of humor and warned the hobbyist against submerging terrestrial mosses in and attempt to grow them underwater.He finally concluded his presentation with some great pictures of some mosses which will make great addition to our aquariums in near future.

Mr. Takashi Amano

Around 10:30 am Mr. Takashi Amano took the stage. The convention hall was full to capacity at this point. The long awaited moment had finally arrived for a lot of people in the room. Mr. Amano started  with a short introduction  with  a single English sentence ” I am Takashi Amano.”  Mr. Amano does not speak English. So his short introduction in English got a loud applause. Mr. Amano was accompanied by his translator Ms.Tomoko Schum. Ms. Schum did a great job. Mr. Amano’s presentation was titled “Nature Aquarium Layout”.  Mr. Amano started with results of the International Aquatic Plant Layout Contest 2008. He introduced the top 5 layouts and then went into details with slides of some layouts which were not ranked that high. He pointed some flaws in these layouts and that gave a good glimpse into the mind of  an IAPLC judge. I would like to document few of Mr. Amano’s comment on the top 4 layouts.

Mr. Amano’s Comment: The creator of this layout tried to capture the beauty of Mt. Donha. The selection of plants for this layout is perfect giving its a green monotone. The rock used in this layout has a very unique color and texture. Even this layout uses a lot of moss.  The cardinal tetras swimming in huge 3 m tank matches the composition of this tank very well.

Mr. Amano’s Comment: This layout made use of unique slender pieces of wood which were arranged dynamically. The use of  Eleocharis vivipara in the background balances the layout. The use of moss in this layout shows the creators expertise. Aquascapers who use moss properly in their layout will rule the aquascaping contests.

Mr. Amano’s Comment:This layout represents a view resembling a pine tree. The use moss to depict a pine tree is unique. The angle and placement of driftwood shows the highly skillful layout technique of the creator.

Mr. Amano’s Comment:The dynamic placement of the driftwood and stone in this layout is exquisite. The use of open space in this layout is very effective. The creator has been successful in creating a great sense of depth. The only flaw of this layout was it had not matured when the photograph was taken.

After introducing the prize winning entries at the IAPLC 2008 Mr. Amano proceeded to describe some deficiencies in the layouts which could not be ranked higher because of some subtle mistakes in the placement of hardscape or certain plants. The next part of Mr. Amano’s presentation included  a step-by-step to setting a couple of Nature Aquarium Layouts. He did a iwagumi layout as well as a layout with driftwood as the main hardscape. This was a very interesting presentation as we got some great tips from Mr. Amano regarding his hardscape layout technique as well as his planting technique. Mr. Amano also spoke about two of his landscape photos from Sado Island, Japan which were presented during the G8 Working Lunch Sessions at Hakkaido Tokyo Summit in July, 2008. The photos were of the pristine cedar forests on the Sado Island taken using a 8×20 inches large format camera and presented on a 4mx1.5m panel.

The Nature Aquarium Society of Houston group picture with Mr. Takashi Amano after his presentation. After this me , Luis and Kevin slipped out of the conference room with Mr. Yoshinori to start preparing the plants, rocks and driftwood Mr. Amano was going to use for his demonstration later.

The next speaker in the line up was Mr.Jeff  Senske from Aquarium Design Group, Houston. Jeff’s presentation was on ” Effective Design”. I missed most of Jeff’s presentation but I gathered a few great points from it later when I watched it on the AGA Convention 2008 DVD . Jeff’s presentation dealt mostly with the Nature Aquarium Style layouts but he also presented a few layouts where he illustrated how even simple layout consisting of only driftwood and no plants can make a visual impact in someones living room. Jeff’s presentation dealt mostly with the actual maintenance  of planted tanks over a period of time and how selection of certain plants and design can help in its long term survival. Jeff stressed a lot on philosophy behind setting a aquarium weather its a lush planted tank  or a simple bare driftwood layout. This I think is a difference between those thickly planted jungle tanks which we just look at and pass over versus the immaculate and interesting planted tanks we like to drool over again and again.

Mr. Amano’s demonstration started at 3:00 PM. The conference room was full to capacity. Mr. Amano had selected a ADA 90P Cube Garden tank for his demonstration. We had already prepared some rocks and driftwood covered with moss for the demo. Mr. Amano stressed a lot on tying the moss very tightly to the rock or driftwood. Mr. Amano did a detailed explanation on substrate layout and how each additive and component used in the substrate works. For this particular layout he also used decorative sand demonstrating the substrate partition technique. The moss covered rock was then placed along the Aquasoil II and Bright Sand partition. The layout was going to be a concave layout and accordingly the Aquasoil II was divided in a 2:3 ratio. Mr. Amano then started the placement of the driftwood. The driftwood was placed over Aquasoil for this particular layout but its not unusual for him to place driftwood along the substrate partition using it to hide the partitioning border. He next demonstrated the plant tying technique used for tying epiphytes like Anubias and Microsorum to rocks and driftwood using ADA Woodtight. The next step was placement of Anubias barteri ‘nana’ and Microsorum pteropus ‘narrow’.  Mr. Amano was clearly building his aquascape from front to back.

As Mr. Amano proceeded he was simultaneously answering a bunch of questions from the curious  plant enthusiasts. Luis had arranged for a variety of stem plants which we had prepared by trimming them to equal lengths. Mr. Amano planted three stems of a particular specie at a time. He stressed during planting background plants that, its very important to vary the shape and color of leaves. This plays a very important role in creating the final aquascape. Another point to be noted was how thickly the tank was planted when it was finished.

The aquarium was finally filled after all the plants were planted. The lighting used on this aquarium was ADA Grand Solar which was installed on the ADA Grand Solar Stand after the layout was completed. An ADA Super Jet Filter ES-600 Series was used for filtration. This filter is built completely of stainless steel and is a monster.   Just to give you an idea how thickly this layout was planted here is a picture from the back.

Mr. Amano’s presentation went beyond the scheduled time but I am sure no one was complaining. After Mr. Amano’s inspiring demonstration we proceeded to the Banquet Hall for the Banquet.

The AGA Aquascaping Contest 2008 winners were announced during the banquet by Mr. EriK Olson and Ms. Karen Randall. Mr. Takashi Amano was also a judge for this contest and provided his valuable comments on some of the winning aquascape. We had a winner at our banquet table. Jason Baliban won the 2nd price in the ‘ Large Aquarium’ category for his aquascape ‘ Meander‘. The last presentation of the night was by Ms. Karen Randall on ” Collecting in Thailand”. Ms. Randall did a great job presenting  some great pictures of  biotopes and actual collections from Thailand. I found her experience of collecting Cryptocoryne albida very useful. The different pictures she presented of the locales C.albida grew in gave a idea how variable their habitat can be. The night ended with a few drinks later with some friends at the hospitality suite.

The third day started drooling over all the great plants that were up for auction. There were 4 long tables approximately 20 feet long which were full of bagged plants. The highlight of the auction were a single Echinodorus ‘Midifleur’ plant  and the newly launched Cryptocoryne wendtii ‘Florida Sunset’ which went for 150 $ each. We left the auction at about 1:00 pm starting our long drive back to Houston. The ride back was uneventful and we reach Houston safely. This was a great convention and I am already planning for the next one.

Aquatic Gardeners Association Convention 2008 – Day 1

After a long time my wish to attend one of the AGA conventions finally came true. I along with a bunch of friends from Nature Aquarium Society of Houston (NASH) decided to make this trip as a club event. NASH was represented at the AGA convention by me, Luis, Kevin, Thanh and Trung. This years speakers line up was pretty impressive with likes of Mr. Takashi Amano, Mr. Jeffrey Senske, Dr. Benito Tan, Greg Morin, Dr. Michael Kane and Ms. Karen Randall. The biggest inspiration for me to attend the convention was to get a glimpse of Mr. Takashi Amano and to see him do a presentation and a demonstration on Nature Aquariums. My wish not only came true but I got more than I expected. I will talk more on this later. This years AGA convention was held in Atlanta, Georgia from 14^th Nov- 16^th Nov 2008. Me, Kevin and Thanh decided to drive all the way to Atlanta while Luis and Trung were going to fly there. The drive through the night went smooth and we reached Atlanta on Friday morning. The convention venue was Sheraton Hotel, Atlanta.

The AGA had arranged for a Georgia Aquarium Field trip which was scheduled for 9:00 am on Friday morning. We missed that trip as we were too tired after a night of driving. So after a quick nap we decided to check out the whale shark (Rhincodon typus) at the Georgia Aquarium on our own. This is one of the only three places in the world where you can see the whale shark in captivity.

Georgia Aquarium is considered the largest in the world with 8.1 million US gallons of holding capacity. Other notable specimens at the aquarium are the three Beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) and a manta ray (Manta birostris). Watching these beauties cannot be explained in words. The exhibit which housed the whale shark and the manta ray is called the “Ocean Voyager”. After a quick jaunt through the aquarium we headed back to the hotel for the official registration and to the start of the convention at 2:00 pm.

The convention started with the opening of the vendor room and the registration. The vendor room was dotted with stalls from The Aquatic Gardener Association, Seachem, Aqua Design Amano, Invertz Factory and a aquarium store (whose name I cannot recollect). The AGA registration table was quiet tempting with a lot of goodies for the planted tank enthusiast. The table had a lot of back issues of The Aquatic Gardener (TAG) and Planted Aquaria for sale. I could finally pick up the last missing TAG issue from April 2007 for completing my collection of TAG from 2002-2008. They also had all the 2001-2007 Convention DVD’s for sale.

The Aquarium Plant book from Oriental Aquarium,Singapore was also available for sale along with Ms. Diana Walstad’s book “The Ecology of Planted Aquarium”. After spending quiet a bit of cash at the AGA table we moved on to the Invertz Factory stall. They had a bunch for rare Neritina sp. and Tylomelania sp. for sale.

Aqua Design Amano (ADA) stall this year launched their Do!Aqua brand of product for the planted tank beginners. This line of Nature Aquarium products is going to be slightly cheaper than the regular ADA brand products. Mr. Yoshinori Kondo (ADA Marketing and International Marketing Department Section Manager) was kind enough to answer my question about some of the Do!Aqua products on display.

Seachem stall had their entire product on display including the ones for cichlid aquariums. I was rather impressed by their representatives (read beautiful girls) who were pretty helpful in enlightening me how Seachem Flourish fertilizers can help my planted tanks. As I strolled around the vendor room Kevin and Thanh rushed to the airport to pick up Luis.

The AGA convention was officially kicked off at 4:00 pm with a presentation from Seachem CEO Dr. Greg Morin. “Foliar vs. root-zone uptake for ferric and ferrous iron” was the subject for this interesting presentation.

Dr. Greg Morin

Greg did a great explaining the mechanism for iron (Fe) uptake in different types of plants. He explained how plants like to obtain their iron in ferrous (Fe⁺²) state and when it is offered to them in ferric (Fe⁺³) state it requires additional energy from the plants to convert these to usable ferrous form. He also explained how Seachem has performed laboratory experiments on different plants like Cryptocoryne wendtii, Egeria densa (Anachris) and Echinodorus bleheri to determine the best form of iron fertilization.

They used ferrous gluconate fertilization in water column as well as in the substrate to determine which was received well by different plants. Foliar fertilization was found advantageous for stem plants while the root uptake of iron was considerable for heavy root feeders like Cryptocoryne and Echinodorus. The presentation finally concluded with a note from Greg explaining how this area is still undergoing research to better understand the aquatic plant needs.

The next presentation in the line up was “Tissue Culture for Aquarists” by Dr. Michael Kane from University of Florida. This was a pretty interesting talk as Dr. Kane specifically focused on educating the people attending the lecture on tricks to tissue culture aquatic plants at home DIY style.

Dr. Michael Kane

Tisssue culture is widely used by aquatic plant nurseries though out the world for propagating plants in large quantities in short time. As per Dr. Kane the biggest challenge for an everyday aquatic gardener is to find a sterile source plant for propagation. He explained some easy ways to do it using ethanol, water and bleach. After this first hurdle has been passed the next step is to obtain a growing medium for the isolated plant cell. Commercially pre-mixed media can be used for this purpose but is expensive.

Dr. Kane also gave tips on some great websites like Kitchen Culture Kits, Inc which can be a source of tissue culture material for the everyday hobbyist. This particular presentation was the second most popular during the convention following Mr. Amano’s presentation and demonstration.

Dr. Kane used an example of Cryptocoryne wendtii to explain the various stages of tissue culture with some pretty impressive slides.

The most awaited event of the evening was the Iron Aquascaper Contest which began at 8:30 pm. The Iron Aquascaper Contest was generously sponsored by Aquarium Design Group (ADG), Houston.

Jeff Senske did a great job of hosting this event. The competitors were Jason Baliban of Project Aquarium and John Ciotti of ADG. This event was judged by my good friend Luis Navarro. The other judges were Ghazanfar Ghori, Phil Edward and Takashi Amano.

John and Jason

After a rather exhaustive hour John Ciotti’s aquascape was judged as the winner. Mr. Amano specifically pointed out the use of 2:3 ratios in John’s aquascape. Jason’s aquascape was also good but the judges pointed out the lack of open spaces in this scape for point deduction.

Jason's Aquascape

John's Aquascape

The first day at the convention ended spending a couple of hours at the Hospitality Suite getting to know other enthusiasts from around the country.

Rotala rotundifolia

Rotala rotundifolia

Rotala rotundifolia is probably one of the easiest Rotala sp. we encounter in our hobby. It may also most probably be the first stem plant a new comer to the planted tank hobby generally walks out with from a local fish store due to its ease of availability. Aspiring aquascapers are attracted to the beautiful small pinkish red leaves of this plant. Even tough it’s an easy plant to grow and maintain in an aquascape it requires a good amount of light and proper fertilization to show its true beauty.

R. rotundifolia is a common marsh plant found through out Southeast Asia from India all the way to Japan. Recently there have been reports of its introduction in Florida and Alabama. Emergent growth of R. rotundifolia is distinctly different than the underwater foliage. Some times in an open top aquarium when periodic trimming is neglected R. rotundifolia starts putting out thick round leaves on stems over the water. These round leaves give this plant its common name “Roundleaf Toothcup”. If one is lucky enough these emergent stems will also bear beautiful pink inflorescence at the tip. When observed closely this inflorescence is actually a group of tiny pink flower. The inflorescence can be used to differentiate between R. rotundifolia and R. indica which looks very similar. R. rotundifolia is commonly mislabeled as R. indica in aquarium shops, but both are actually different species.

Underwater R. rotundifolia has small lanceolate leaves. The color of leaves can vary from green to deep red. When grown in medium light, the leaves will remain green. For the plant to show its beautiful red leaves it requires a lot of light along with a good amount of iron dosing. Under high light R. rotundifolia stems grow at a slant angle instead of growing vertically up. This particular habit of the plant can be used to a great advantage while aquascaping creating dense beautiful hedge creeping over some rocks. Consistent trimming must be done to shape the hedge. Leaving the stem bottoms in the substrate instead of replanting the stem tops helps to achieve the required plant density. After trimming, new buds emerge from the nodes between the petiole and the stem.

R. rotundifolia does well in a variety of water conditions ranging from soft to slightly hard. It is also quiet undemanding compared to other species from this genus. Even though it can be grown in inert substrate like sand with adequate water column fertilization, fertile substrates like ADA Amazonia benefit the plant significantly.

Finally R.rotundifolia is a good beginner plant which can be used to a great advantage in an aquascape.

September-October 2008 GHAC Newsletter

Greater Houston Aquarium Club (GHAC) is a new and upcoming aquarium club in the Houston (metro and suburban). GHAC is less than a year old but has been widely accepted by aquarium keepers through out Houston and the surrounding suburbs. This is clearly visible through the great turnout at their meetings and parties. The success can be attributed to some dedicated members who have put in a lot of time and effort to make this club active and efficient. Over the period of last six months they have had some great presentations and tours in co-ordination with NASH. GHAC is headed by their President Mr. Raul Turner and Vice-president Mr. Tim Bell.

Last week Tim asked my permission to use a couple of my articles from Aquamusing in their September-October 2008 GHAC Newsletter. I gladly permitted Tim to use my write ups on Hisonotus leucofrenatus and Hydrocotyle verticillata. These went in the “Fish of the Month” and “Plant of the Month” section of the newsletter. I am attaching a copy of the newsletter here:

septemberoctober_08

GHAC official website: Greater Houston Aquarium Club

Rotala macrandra

Rotala macrandra is a plant which has been long been considered by aquatic plant enthusiast to be the most beautiful red plant you could add to your aquascape, but it is also considered one of the more difficult plant to keep. The delicate red wavy leaves of this plant can add a strong focal point to an aquascape. The red leaves help in drawing attention into the aquascape , while the beautiful wavy leaves helps to give a soft impression to the aquascape when used with other delicate looking plants.

R.macrandra can be used as a background plant in medium to large aquariums. When provided the right conditions for growth the stems tend to grow fast towards the light and then form floating leaves along the surface. These top leaves are always redder than the leaves lower down the stem. Rotala macrandra originates from India. This plant needs a lot of light to show its beautiful red color supplemented with good CO2 and a proper fertilization regime. Over the years a lot of people have speculated what causes the plant to turn red. The oldest and the most widely believed claim recommends adding enough chelated iron combined with good lighting to bring out the best in this plant. Some people have claimed that limiting the NO3, while maintaining relatively high levels of P would produce large, deep red leaves. Iron and micro-nutrient dosing will also need to be sufficient. I cannot confirm the validity of the above claims as I never measure the water parameters in my tank but in my experience taking care of major factors like light, fertile substrate and CO2 should solve 80% of the problems associated with cultivating this plant.

R. macrandra is available through a lot of online plant dealers and is also regularly available at most LFS. In my opinion there is a small trick when selecting R.macrandra stems. When selecting R.macrandra stems always select a bunch in which stems show some inter nodal roots. My observation has lead me to believe that when we select stems which do not have inter-nodal roots , the stem rot off faster than the plant can form new roots. R.macrandra has a tendency to lose leaves on the lower part of the stem like other stem plants as time progresses. Proper placement of mid-ground plants should help to cover this unsightly section of the plant. R.macrandra can be propagated by cutting the tops of the stem and replanting them in place of the old ones or you could just leave the cut sections of the stem in place which will develop new shoots. Consistent trimming can produce beautiful bushy look. R. macrandra has been widely used in both Nature Aquarium and Dutch aquascapes for a long time.R macrandra can be a great addition to any aquascape but is certainly not a plant for novice.

NASH-DFWAPC San Marcos Collection Trip

In May, 2008 NASH (Nature Aquarium Society of Houston) and DFWAPC (Dallas- Ft. Worth Aquatic Plant Club) arranged a collection trip to San Marcos River, San Marcos, Texas. NASH was represented by Kevin, Thanh, Rick, his wife Melissa, myself and my better half Preetam. DFWAPC was represented by their president Nikolay and his wife. We started the drive from Houston to San Marcos at 5 am after meeting up Kevin and Than at Houston Aquarium Warehouse. Kevin was driving which was a good thing as both I and Thanh had slept just a few hours the night before. We arrived in San Marcos around 8:30 Am and met up with Nikolay and Casey Williams our guide from Texas State University.

San Marcos Springs Ecosystem is the second largest in Texas and along with the Comal Ecosystem has the greatest known diversity of organisms in an aquatic ecosystem in southwestern United States. The source of these springs is the Edwards Aquifers. There are quiet a few organisms that are endemic to these spring systems. This biological uniqueness is limited to first 4 miles of the San Marcos River and the Spring Lake. This ecosystem has a temperature of 72 degree F all year round. The water is extremely clear with visibility up to 20 feet underwater. This unique freshwater habitat is a home to several threatened and endangered species. These threatened and endangered species are not supposed to be collected for any reason, unless one has a permit from Texas Park and Wildlife Department and U.S Park and Wildlife Department.

Entering the protected area of the Aquarena Spring Lake through the Wetland Boardwalk the first aquatic plant we spotted was Hydrocotyle verticillata and Cabomba caroliniana. The water here was about 12” deep with a layer of organic sediments at the bottom. The banks of the lake were lined with Elephant Ears which is an introduced plant to this ecosystem. This specie has been considered responsible for displacing the now endangered San Marcos Gambusia (Gambusia goergei). As we proceeded on the boardwalk we startled some thing big in the water below by our movement. Peering down the sides of the boardwalk I was excited to see a large black shape about1.5 feet large dash towards the bank. My excitement soon faded as I realized it was large Tilapia. Tilapias were introduced in the Spring Lake to combat another introduced specie Hydrilla verticillata. The tilapias did not eat the hydrilla but established themselves in this ecosystem. Today both the Tilapia sp. and Hydrilla sp. are rampant in Spring Lake and have contributed to the destruction of the native species of plant and fish. This was the breeding season for tilapias and we spotted a large number of males which had dug round nests about 3feet across all over the shallows. We could spot large stands of Myriophyllum spicatum and Ludwigia repens growing here. Two other introduced wetland plants that have become a huge problem here are Eichhornia crassipes (water hyacinth) and Pistia stratiotes (water lettuce). Moving on we saw a lot of gambusia and flagfish. We could not exactly ID them as we were not supposed to catch anything here.

The day was turning out to be perfect for a collection trip. The temperature was staying around 78 degree F all morning. At about 10:30 am we proceeded to book our seats on the glass bottom boat. The water in this part of the lake looked turquoise blue like a coral reef. Huge strands of Cabomba caroliniana and Vallisneria americana created a beautiful underwater maze as colonies of soft coral would create on a coral reef. The glass bottom boat ride showed us how amazingly clear the water was even at 20 feet with lush green growth of aquatic plants even at the bottom of the lake. We also encountered specie of Fissiden in the eastern part of the lake. While waiting for our boat ride we found Hygrophila polysperma, Ceratopteris thalictroides, Cabomba caroliniana and Riccia fluitans growing in a quiet corner of the lake. The H. polysperma was some of the reddest I had ever seen. From the top this part of the lake looked like a nice aquascaped tank compleate with large Astyanax mexicanus (Mexican tetra) swimming in and out of the foliage. Most of the unique organisms found in this lake are bottom dwellers. We got a chance to check out some of these at the small aquarium maintained near the lake. The fountain darters (Etheostoma fonticola) were really interesting. These fish would have made a beautiful addition to a nano aquarium had they been not endangered.

Our next stop was going to be downstream from the lake on the San Marcos River. Here Casey showed us stands of Texas Wild Rice growing in the swift current of San Marcos River. Texas Wild Rice is another native species which is endangered due to destruction of its habitat. The water current in this part of the river was pretty swift, but we could still spot large patches of H. verticillata growing very close to the river bottom. As we proceeded further down the rivers bank we were amazed by the lush growth of Potamogeton illinoensis and H. polysperma covering the entire width of the river. We could not spot the river bottom for quiet some time after that. Here H. polysperma was growing both emersed as well as under water. We could also spot some C. thalictroides growing emersed along the bank.

Our last stop was going to be the spot where Kevin had seen some Cryptocoryne beckettii growing in shaded pools in the past. We were disappointed to find that spot closed to public due to some construction activity along that part of the river. It is alleged that C. beckettii was introduced here due to dumping by aquarists. We started our journey back to Houston from here. This was a well planned trip and all of us enjoyed our uneventful drive back.

Some more picture here:

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/nature-aquarium-society-houston-nash/51852-san-marcos-tx.html

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/nature-aquarium-society-houston-nash/51854-san-marcos-tx-part-2-a.html

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/nature-aquarium-society-houston-nash/51855-san-marcos-tx-part-3-a.html 

http://picasaweb.google.com/ddasega/SanMarcosRiverMay172008#

ECA

ECA stands for Efficient Complex Acids. ADA claims it contains natural organic acids and iron in liquid form which is easier for aquatic plants to absorb. The organic acids in ECA help to enhance bacterial activity and improve the overall condition of aquatic plants. ECA contains iron in a form which does not easily combine with other ions making it easily available for plants. The actual ingredients of ECA are not disclosed by ADA.

I decided to try out ECA when I started seeing almost white colorless leaves in new growth in plants like R. rotundifolia and R.wallichii. I tried supplementing with another brand of liquid chelated iron, but it was not helping. It improved the color of the stems a little but I still had colorless new leaves which on R.rotundifolia had started turning transparent. I brought the 50 ml drip feed dispenser of ADA ECA and started dosing as directed on the package. Within a span of one week I could see a lot of improvement in the fast growing stems. The color had started to return, but was still not where I thought it should be. So I decided to up the dosing. I have never used any kind of testing kits and I dose all the fertilizers for the tank observing the plants. The growth and color are very good indicators of an aquatic plant’s health. After a couple of weeks the R. rotundifolia’s tops had turn beautiful pink and the R.wallichii had turned deep red and pink. I have been using ECA in all my tanks since then. ADA recommends use of ECA with caution as it is highly concentrated and overdosing can cause water discoloration as well as algae.

ADA recommends 2 drops of ECA per 5 liters of water. But this can be changed depending on type of plants you have and the amount of whitening on the new bud. I guess the trick is to understand your plant requirements and modify the dosing as needed. I generally add it right in front of the filter outflow as ECA is heavier than water and the drops tend to settle where they are dropped if the water flow is not enough. This prevents even distribution of the supplement through out the tank. When using ECA regularly it is recommended to change atleast 1/3 rd tank water every week. Excess accumulation of iron in an aquarium can hurt plants.

In my experience the best results can be obtained from ECA by using it along with Brighty K and Green Brighty Step Series. The opinions of people who have used ECA have been mixed. I have seen quiet a few beautiful tanks where it has been used so I will stick with what I believe is a good product when used in an educated way.

Hydrocotyle verticillata

Hydrocotyle verticillata

Hydrocotyle verticillata even tough a common marsh plant through out the southern states of North America is not as establish in the planted tank hobby as the other member of the genus Hydrocotyle leucocephala. This probably is attributed to the difficulty of growing this specie underwater. H.verticillata is commonly known as the Whorled Pennywort or Sheild Pennywort. Hydrocotyle verticillata can be found growing all year round throughout Texas wherever there is moist to wet soil. There are a few people I know who ordered this plant from online dealers later to find out this plant growing like weed in there own backyard. I have found large groups of this plant growing in quiet a few place around my house. Even though considered as a perennial plant this plant suffers quiet a bit in the Texan summer. I have found that during summer only group of plants in well shaded locations survive. H.verticillata can be found growing submersed in large groups in fast flowing water of San Marcos River all year around. The water temperature of this river stays around 72 °F all year.

H.verticillata growing on the bank of San Marcos River.

H. verticillata is considered a moderately difficult plant to grow submersed. It requires a lot of light supplemented with good carbon dioxide addition and regular fertilization. Lack of nitrogen will cause quick yellowing of the older leaves. It also likes soft and slightly acidic water. I have been growing this plant both emersed and submersed. H.verticillata is a fast growing weed when grown on land in sunlight as well as when grown emersed under lights. But its rate of growth significantly differs when grown underwater. It grows painstakingly slow. The stem of this plant grows along the substrate with 1-2 leaves growing upright at each node. The height of leaf stalk in an aquarium is decided by the amount of light. I had this plant growing under 65w of light in a 10 gallon aquarium. The maximum height to which it got was 1-1.5”. In low light tanks the leaf stalks try to reach out towards the light and hence can have long stalks. When I first started with this plant I planted it in two different tanks one with Aquasoil Amazonia II and one with just plain river sand. The few nodes which I planted in Amzonia II sent out new leaves within a couple of weeks of planting, but the ones in river plant took a lot longer than that. This makes me believe that it appreciates a nutritious substrate. This plant can also be grown as a floating plant. If grown as a floating plant it will appreciate a lot of nutrients in the water column. This plant has small white flowers growing in tight group on the tip of the stalk.

I haven’t seen H.verticillata been used by a lot of aquascapers in their aquascapes. This probably is due to the unique leaf shape which makes it difficult to incorporate in a scape. Mr. Takashi Amano has used this plant in quiet a few of his earlier scapes as a foreground plant. The most memorable use of this plant was in his scape called “Grace of Angles” from AquaJournal Vol.18 (December 1995). A picture of this scape pops in my mind every time I see this plant. H.verticillata’s unique leaf shape and easy availability prompted me to use it in “Boraras Dream”. It was placed in this scape on the extreme left corner to draw attention of the viewer to that corner while adding interest to that shaded section. In a small aquascaped tank H. verticillata can be used as accent plant to draw attention to its unusual leaf shape. In larger tanks it can be used as the main foreground plant. I belive a lot of aquascapers will appreciate the slow growth of this plant underwater. It does not get unruly like Glossostigma elatinoides or Echinodorus tenellus. If you can satisfy all its need H.verticillata can be a great addition to any aquascape.

 

Diffuser Dilemma

There has been a lot of debate over which diffusers available in the hobby right now are the best or the most efficient in delivering the most amount of carbon dioxide in a planted tank. For larger aquariums reactors are the preferred mode. I believe for aquarium up to 30-40 gallons,  glass diffusers introduced  by Aqua Design Amano (ADA) especially the Pollen Glass Series is an excellent choice. They are efficient, beautiful to look at and almost like a piece of art.

Over a period of two years now there have been a lot of replicas of the Pollen Glass Series available on Ebay from China and Malaysia. There is a big debate going on out there if it is worth paying the price ADA charges for its goods and the Pollen Glass Series is one of the most debated. I have been using both the ADA Pollen Glass Series as well as the Generic diffuser for over a year now and would not hesitate to say “You get what you pay for!”

ADA Pollen Glass

Right from the design to the quality of the glass work every thing is just simply impeccable with the ADA Pollen Glass series. You have to actually hold a piece in your hand to see what I am saying. The ceramic disc is perfectly placed. Once plugged in the Pollen Glass diffuses the incoming carbon dioxide into extremely small bubbles spreading it as a mist all over the tank. The size of the bubbles is actually the smallest I have seen with any similar generic diffuser I have used. The interval between two cleaning for the Pollen Glass is fairly longer than a generic diffuser which clogs up in about 15 days. Over a period of time the efficiency of the Pollen Glass to diffuse carbon dioxide does not fluctuate as much as the generic diffusers. Simply saying the bubble size coming out of the Pollen Glass is far more consistent than the generic copies available in the market.

Generic Diffuser

Coming to the generic diffusers which are copies of the ADA Series, I have had various experiences mostly bad. I once received a diffuser which had a small hole on the glass stem which connects to the ceramic disc. Most of the carbon dioxide escaped from here before reaching the ceramic disc. Another time I received a diffuser which had really sharp edges which would easily hurt the person handling it if they are not careful. This one even came without a suction cup and had a really bad design in general. The stem connection to the carbon dioxide tubing was so badly designed that it just won’t hold the tube on for more than a few minutes before it popped off due to building pressure. The size of the bubbles delivered by these diffusers are not as small as the Pollen Series but I think they would be suffice if you decide not to spend on the ADA product. The bubble size is really inconsistent and they start showing signs of clogging within 15 days.

The generic diffuser cost approximately 1/10^th the price of a Genuine ADA Pollen Glass and hence a lot of people prefer buying these over the Pollen Glass. I believe it’s a matter of cost than the quality for a lot of people when it comes to certain things in our hobby. I would just say if you can afford one go for the Pollen Glass you will not be let down. For others there are a lot of generic varieties out there you just have to find the right one