Tales from the Crypts
By Alan Rubin

The group once again convened, the 26th of August, at the abode of Alan and Heidy. Unfortunately, Heidy was still away in Darwin finishing up her last teaching practicum so Alan was flying solo on the night. Also sending their apologies were Bruce, Ken and, sadly, Shaun Winterton, who realised earlier in the week that his flight back to the United States was actually leaving on the Friday. The group did have a pleasant surprise with the arrival of long-time member Tony Eales, who was in the area visiting from his new home in Rockhampton. Also in attendance were Peter, Luke, Nick and Greg.

We began our discussions with Greg. The Royal Brisbane Show, or Ekka, had just recently finished and Greg had displayed some Tanganyikan cichlids. He needed some plants to put with the fish, and, owing to our mild winter, actually had some blue pickerel rush (Pontederia chordata) handy. The rush actually grew quite well in the warmer temperatures. Greg reckoned many marginals have a timespan in which they can be put into the aquarium - such as Queensland bog lilies (Crinum pedunculatum). Greg had also spent some time searching around the web for aquatic plant related websites of interest to share with the group. He came across http://www.aquabotanic.com and thought they would be a good candidate to swap links with on our respective webpages. They also have forums and a monthly electronic journal that receives contributions from the likes of noted author Diana Walsted. Greg suggested that perhaps the members pool a few dollars each and get a subscription for the group.

Next Nick shared that he found a surprise in his community tank: a nest of betta eggs. He wondered how long they would survive without being eaten by the other fish. Nick was also concerned over the discovery of the relentless brush algae in his tank. Suggestions from the group were to add more CO2. Luke suggested dosing with Flourish Excell, which is a commercial product, and it was pointed out that it provides usable carbon for aquatic plants.

Luke shared that he had been adding some salt to his rainwater which he mixes with tapwater for his water changes. His tanks have been doing well with the exception of being able to grow Glossostigma sp.. He wondered if his problem could be his carbonate hardness not being high enough? Tony reckoned that 20 was a good number, but to also make sure that the plants were receiving enough food since Luke had a high light:water ratio (20+ was actually my recommendation for CO2 ppm not carbonate hardness. I thought that his CO2 level was low and marco-nutrients ie Nitrogen/Phosphate/Potassium level were probably too low as well as he wasn't adding any. The issue being that if you provide so much light but no fertilizer the only thing that can use the light effectively is algae). Tony's favourite point of reference for these types of ratios and measurements was Chuck Gadd's website (http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/) which also has a calculator to determine the proper ratios for water conditions in your tank. Luke also asked the group if anyone was using any type of chelator to bind up the heavy metals in their water or just using a chlorine neutraliser? None of the members were using any type of chelator, just chlorine neutralisers (as long as the neutralisers were also taking care of chloramine). Since Luke was talking about water changes, Greg added that you had to be careful with large water changes and changing the overall water temperature too quickly as it could affect fish health. Nick mentioned that he had been doing large water changes lately to deal with a phosphate problem, but he discovered that the source of his phosphates was his fish food which contained shrimp meal. Contrary to Nick, Tony has actually been adding phosphates to his tank to counteract his use of CO2 for his plants. It was also pointed out that large numbers of fish in a tank without proper filtration will promote the growth of blue-green algaes because of the fish waste adding too much nutrient to the water.

Luke then posed an interesting question: do plants actually do more of their growing during the period when the lights are on or off? When do they actually take up the NH4 (ammonium) in the water? The group could not come to a conclusion. Following on to this discussion, Tony stated that contrary to popular belief airstones are not always bad in planted aquariums. If you aren't adding CO2 to the aquarium then the airator actually helps to keep the natural CO2 at atmospheric level. This spurred Greg to mention that the oil from fish food will cover the surface of a tank with still water which prevents air exchange. One trick to remove the surface oil is to lay a piece of newspaper on the surface which attacts the oil and then to slide the paper off removing some of the oil when the paper is removed. Greg says newspaper is used because it is good for absorption and it is cheap and common in the household.

Peter has recently started using the commercial product Dinosaur Pee, along with Dinosaur Dung, to fertilise his aquarium plants. He has also been using Carbonate Hardness Generator from Aquasonic but he was looking to purchase the basic ingredients in bulk to cut down his costs. Luke believes that the primary ingredient in such products is sodium bicarbonate. Nick then wanted to know what could be used as an affordable, generic fertiliser in the aquarium? Tony said he was happy with a container of "trace elements" from a local nursery (a widely available brand is produced by Manutech). The one thing you do not add is any product that contains Ammonium Nitrate, but you definitely want ones that contain potassium nitrate. Again Tony referred to Chuck Gadd's website to determine the correct dosages and ratios. In reference to potassium nitrate, Tony warned that querying about buying large quantities of potassium nitrate might draw suspicion because it is an ingredient, albeit inefficient, for use in home-made bombs!

It was finally time for Tony to have the floor. Tony was particularly full of tidbits and goodies to share with the group. First, he showed us a sample of Utricularia sp. (australis?) bladderwort that he had picked up around Emerald. He said it was hard to grow in a tank with other species, but was doing very nicely for him in a glass bowl on its own with aged water and clay for substrate. The U. australis actually looks much more like a typical plant compared to its more common relation the U. gibba. Due to its inability to compete well, it is also not as invasive obviously. Like the U. gibba, the U. australis sends up a pretty, but smaller, yellow flower when it is in bloom. He showed us some pictures on his laptop about his travels around Emerald and the area in which he picked up the U. australis. He mentioned the black soil in the area and how dangerous it would be to drive through it, particularly during the wet season. Alan asked what "black soil" was, and Tony said it was a clay soil that becomes very boggy when wet, and Peter added that the large gaps between mounds of soil were "good" hiding spots for snakes! Lastly, but far from least, Tony showed the group his pride and joy: his Australian native aquarium plant spreadsheet. A version of the list had been previously published the AAPGL mailing list, but this was the first chance Tony had to show it to our group in person. Tony said his list differed from others, such as Adrian Tappin's, because his was only interested in plants that could truly grow in the aquarium. Other similar lists often include marginal and bog plants. The layout is columns for family, genus, species, description and notes. Tony said many of the notes in the list had been supplied by the always helpful and keen Dave Wilson. For identification purposes, Tony has largely been using books.

As a follow-up to Tony's presentation of his spreadsheet, Alan took the group into his office so that he could show Shaun Winterton's online aquatic plant key (available at http://www.lucidcentral.org/keys/appw/). While somewhat complicated for the amateur hobbyist, Shaun's key is quite a powerful tool. The key works by the process of reducing your options until you come up with the plant you are identifying. Specifically, it breaks down leaf and plant types into smaller and smaller groups to reduce the number of options. There are many pictures to view and match to the plant that is being identified along with fact sheets about the plant. While he had the floor, Alan took a moment to present the new ANGFA Aquatic Survey Database (http://db.angfa.org.au). The goal of the database is to record fish and habitat information from across Australia and New Guinea. This includes aquatic plant life which makes it more relevant to plant group members. While you have to be a member of the national body of ANGFA, the website will allow the general public to view basic information and a gallery of pictures including a section devoted to aquatic plants found in Australia and New Guinea. The opinion from the group for both online resources was uniformly positive.

We ended the night with our usual supper, and Alan happily gave Luke and Tony some snakeskin valisneria to take home.

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