Tales from the Crypts

We gathered at our house in Wooloowin on Friday, 28th January 2005. There were six people in attendance on the night, with several others sending their apologies. We had a look at the tanks and the new fish. The tanks are almost all filled.

Our first item up was the identification of an aquatic plant collected at a creek 10-15kms South of Miriam Vale. We had a few specimen brought back from our collecting trip. Bruce was able to identify it straight away. It was Ottelia alismoides. This plant needs lots of light to grow big and never gets any floating leaves. It has a tendency to float, so Bruce recommended putting some clay around the roots to weight it down. Bruce consulted the Aquarium Plants from A to Z to check for images of the plants' flowers and to read more about the conditions is prefers. This plant would make an ideal specimen plant in a planted aquarium. There is also another variety Ottelia ovalifolia that has floating leaves.

Next up was Alan with a slide show on the computer and mini talk on pictures from our recent collecting trip and visit to Ausyfish. This was a fantastic outing and the weather was brilliant. The only downside was the anchorworm (Lernaea sp.) found on some of the fish collected from one of the creeks. Alan and I have the fish in quarantine, but were curious to know if the anchorworm could still be present even if it wasn't evident on the fish. Bruce advised that we should consult a fish disease book for the incubation period. For treatment, a salt bath is recommended.

Ken also brought along a CD with pictures of the plants around his place. The conditions must be very favourable for the plants as they are doing extremely well. Ken also gave us an update on the construction of his shed. At present it is about half finished. In total it is 6m x 12m. Half of the space is for a fish room and the other half is for parking the cars. He has plans to air condition the fish room and is using a petrol generator and solar panels to power the room. We can't wait until it is finished and we get to have a visit. Sounds like it is going to be the gourmet of fish rooms.

Peter advised that nothing new was happening at his place. He lost a few fish collected, but the rest of the fish are doing well. Peter also advised the group of some changes being made to the RNA judging categories for aquarium fish displays. There was brief mention of a large category of "fighters" (Betta Splendens or siamese fighting fish) being added.

Lee has set up his fish tank and it is going well. There have been no fluctuations or imbalances in water quality. He has lots of plants in the tank and everything was doing well except Eleocharis parvula (hairgrass). Both Bruce and Peter advised that Eleocharis parvula likes a lot of light. Lee has the fish tank up against a window, so he doesn't want to add too many light bars for fear of increasing the temperature too much. His biggest problem so far has been the tannins leeching from the driftwood, but that is now under control.

Bruce mentioned Ludwigia inclinata as a very nice, lovely, brown, plant with a narrow leaf. He also brought along some plants to share around. Those plants included:

• Micranthemum hemianthus (micranthemoides)
• Micranthemum umbrosum
• Rotala rotundifolia
• Bacopa caroliniana
• Hygrophila difformus (water wisteria)
• Microsorum pteropus Windelov (java fern Windelov)

Bruce also brought with him several books. The first one was the Florilegium Catalog. This is a company that specialises in plant books. He also brought "Aquarium Plants: The practical guide" by Pablo Tepoot.

Ken brought the "Encyclopedia of Aquarium Plants" by Peter Hiscock. Invaluable resource for aquatic plant enthusiasts.

There was also mention made of Tom Barr's website http://www.barrreport.com. Tom is an avid aquatic plant hobbyist.

We finished off the night with a nice supper, including an American treat - Angel Food Cake.

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