Tales from the Crypts
We gathered at our home in Wooloowin on Friday, 24th June, 2005. There were nine present on the night with several others sending their apologies. We welcomed our newest members, Luke who is the owner of Underwater Gardens - installing and servicing planted aquariums, and Nick (along with his wife and three year old daughter) who has a keen interest in aquatic plants. It was nice to see some new faces. We also had a look at the fish room downstairs and the tanks upstairs which had finally received some attention.
I started off the meeting by welcoming the new members and discussing a few items of interest. One of our original members, Tony has relocated to Rockhampton which explains why he hasn't attended meetings recently. I passed along the information on his database of Australian aquatic plants which he has sent to the AAPGL (Australian Aquatic Plant Group List). He is looking for comments, suggestions and any photos people are willing to contribute. Bruce has put him in touch with Adrian Tappin who has an extensive Australian aquatic plant list he maintains regularly. Perhaps they can combine their efforts. Tony also passed on a link to some photos he has taken which will be added to the BPSG site soon.
I have also been in contact with Shaun Winterton, author of the "Aquarium and Pond Plants of the World" key. The key was developed as an identification tool for invasive aquatic plants for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) in the U.S.A. It consolidates existing diagnostic information and provides an identification tool to identify aquatic plants presently offered for sale in the aquarium and pond plant industries around the world. A fantastic reference for any aquatic plant enthusiast. You can freely access and download the key at http://www.lucidcentral.org/keys/appw/. Shaun is currently working on an updated version which will be available for downloading only. We hope to welcome Shaun to our meeting in August, while he is in Brisbane photographing and collecting plants.
Next, we moved on to going around the room and catching up on everyone's latest news on their tanks. We started off with Luke, who told us a bit about his set up. He has a planted tank with Cardemine sp., Echinodorus sp., Riccia sp., and Glossostigma sp. He uses a Dupla dilution for plant growth. Luke wants to get the Riccia sp. to grow carpet-like along the bottom of the tank. Bruce has seen Riccia sp. (native) growing submerse, but it was under a waterfall and the pressure of the water was holding it down on the rocks. Luke said he was impressed with the number of native aquatic plants available in Australia.
Bruce mentioned that some of the submerse plant forms look completely different from the emerse form. For example, Hygrophilia difformis (Water Wisteria).
Lee had lost a whole heap of fish recently (mostly Tetras). He suspected something as the fish were only from one particular shop and had been replaced several times with the same end result - death. Only fish from that shop died, even though there were other fish in the tank. The fish lasted about nine days and then went bad. They stopped eating and went to the top of the tank. There were Papliochromis ramirezi (Microgeophagus ramirezi) (blue rams) in the same tank which did fine. It was thought that maybe the fish were being treated with antibiotics or some other chemical was being used in the tank. Lee's plants are growing wild. The Hygrophilia sp. and Echinodorus tenellus (pygmy chain sword) are growing well together. His tank currently has about eight Papliochromis ramirezi (Microgeophagus ramirezi) (blue rams) and 40 tetras. The tetras have been laying eggs, but they don't last long before something comes along and cleans them up.
Bruce remembered when his original tank was cleaned out after about four years, he had more fish than when he started. It was obvious that the barbs, cory cats, etc. had all been breeding and he didn't know it. I asked if there were some fish that were more tolerant of living with the fry. Bruce mentioned Rhadinocentrus ornatus, Melanotaenia praecox, and Pseudomugil sp. were some of the fish that typically don't eat their fry.
Peter has been doing nothing since the Caboolture Show. He placed first, second and third in the native class with Rhadinocentrus ornatus, Melanotaenia trifasciata "Goyder River", and Melanotaenia boesmani. He also placed third in the community class with all New Guinea fish. Congratulations Peter!
Alan asked Peter if he had a chance to test out the diffuser and carbon block that he brought along to the meeting almost a year ago. These were the ones he got down the coast at bargain prices. He said he had gotten a chance and he was still mucking around with them. Luke mentioned that he heard carbon blocks put out too much of something that was harmful to the fish. He has an article on the topic and will try to find it. Nick says that diffusers work better than spray bars. Peter agreed that the diffuser worked better.
Nick asked if it was possible to add too much CO2 to a tank. Peter advised that it was possible to add too much CO2 and it will affect the fish. Too much CO2 will cause the pH to drop and will be toxic to fish at high levels. CO2 needs to be regulated. Nick built a fish tank around Christmas time and showed us some pictures on his digital camera. He has some dark green algae growing on the glass and rocks that he would like to get rid of. He attributes this algae growth to an imbalance in the tank or the lack of enough plants in the tank to absorb the nutrients. His substrate consisted of just gravel, but recently he has purchased some "laterite" from a shop and had been contemplating a CO2 set-up. However, he mentioned that since seeing our tanks tonight, he might consider going without the CO2. Nick did have a yabby in the tank, but he escaped and was later located at the other end of the house in the bedroom. Bruce mentioned that he had some freshwater crabs once that ended up in his shoes (discovered with a crunching sound when he put the shoes on). Bruce advised Nick to get some timers for his lights. The timers regulate the light and keeps the plants on a cycle of light and dark. Luke recommended some cardinia shrimp to see if they eat the algae. Nick also mentioned that he didn't have an algae problem until the yabby died. Bruce said this was probably due to the yabby cleaning up any extra food and recommended some Ceratophyllum sp. (hornwort) to help absorb extra nutrients. I provided some of this for Nick to take home with him.
Bruce brought along some show and tell on the night, some books and plants. The books were:
Bruce also brought along three varieties of Bacopa sp. - Bacopa montiera, Bacopa caroliniana, and Bacopa lanigera.
- Aquarium Plants by Christel Kasselmann
- Mangroves to Mountains: A field guide to the native plants of the Logan-Albert Rivers catchment by Logan River Branch S.G.A.P. (QLD Region) Inc.
- Labyrinth Fish: The Bubble-Nest-Builders by Tetra
We ended the night with supper and some more conversation about plants and fish.
The Brisbane Plant Study Group (BPSG) meetings are held on the 4th Friday of every month and begin around 8PM. If you need directions or have any questions, please feel free to contact me via email at bpsg2002@hotmail.com or via mobile on 0403 790 701. For the latest information, please visit our website at http://bpsg.frell.org
