had an idea last night and wanted input..
true, but they might get angry at me ripping them off the trees.Aaron wrote:You should be able to find Oak leaves pretty easily. Oak trees are just about everywhere.
right around me there are minimal trees OR I will have to worry about the salt, chemicals, oil etc.
The other Jeff
Master of growing algae and getting better at plants
Master of growing algae and getting better at plants
-
DelawareJim
- Posts: 1249
- Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2003 4:25 pm
- Real Name: Jim Michaels
- Location: Southeast PA
I can honestly say that this is one occasion where my living Metro accessible is a bad thing.krisw wrote:Anyone else think it's sad that the expression, "if only they grew on trees," doesn't really help in Jeff's situation?
out of curiousity, what happens if you have say Elm leaves too?
Obviously you cant use pine needles but what about other leaves?
The other Jeff
Master of growing algae and getting better at plants
Master of growing algae and getting better at plants
-
DelawareJim
- Posts: 1249
- Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2003 4:25 pm
- Real Name: Jim Michaels
- Location: Southeast PA
Your Apistos will develop Dutch Elm Disease and we'll have to put them down and fumigate the tank. 
Seriously, if you're thinking about getting elm leaves from the Mall or donwtown, I'd stear clear. My understanding is they are periodically injected to reduce the possibility on contracting DED. Elms also self "root graft" where if the roots from two elms come in contact with each other, they will graft together creating a single super tree. As such, all the elms on the Mall are essentially one continuous tree and if one is treated, they all are treated.
Cheers.
Jim
Seriously, if you're thinking about getting elm leaves from the Mall or donwtown, I'd stear clear. My understanding is they are periodically injected to reduce the possibility on contracting DED. Elms also self "root graft" where if the roots from two elms come in contact with each other, they will graft together creating a single super tree. As such, all the elms on the Mall are essentially one continuous tree and if one is treated, they all are treated.
Cheers.
Jim
just as long as they dont get bagworms.DelawareJim wrote:Your Apistos will develop Dutch Elm Disease and we'll have to put them down and fumigate the tank.
Seriously, if you're thinking about getting elm leaves from the Mall or donwtown, I'd stear clear. My understanding is they are periodically injected to reduce the possibility on contracting DED. Elms also self "root graft" where if the roots from two elms come in contact with each other, they will graft together creating a single super tree. As such, all the elms on the Mall are essentially one continuous tree and if one is treated, they all are treated.
Cheers.
Jim
The other Jeff
Master of growing algae and getting better at plants
Master of growing algae and getting better at plants
Sorry that I am late to the party, but it does sound like fun.
As with most things underwater in glass boxes, stability will be the key. You really cannot "just stack"either wood or rock. I do a lot a rockwork in tanks, and am as weird about that as a lot of other things. I am also neurotic about long-term. If I set something up in a tank, I want it at capable of making it for ten years. I may decide after 1 or 2 years that it does not hold my interest and take it down, but that is another factor.
Aesthetic considerations aside, rockwork is easy. I'll do my usual flashback to the dark ages of my youth. My grandfather (a retired semi-disabled civil engineer) taught me to build dry-laid rock walls as done in both new England and Merrie Old England. What you have learned in a couple of summers of back-breaking work you never forget. The mantra is simple - repeat after me: "One over two, two over one." Simple, effective and stable over generations. That is it. My mbuna tank (pre-GWAPA) had several hundred pounds of rockwork and never shifted in the ~ fifteen years of its life. The rock wall for the tangs is simpler and not as stable, but is >5 now and good for a few more years. Kris: want a photo series? We can con Judith into doing the shoot.
Nothing simpler than Anubias. But I have never tried it in soft or acid water. Historically I have used rubberbands to attach it to rocks. That is far from perfect, but I will not do thread or monofilament. I'm ready to play with epoxy - that should do the same job..
My one trial with Bolbitis was mixed - in the small River Tank opposite the front door - it went emerse and swallowed the open space in that tank. It is slow underwater. Not so emerse. There were brown tips where it apparently did not have enough humidity near or protruding from the two vent strips at the top. But the tank was a thinnish jungle of one plant - not very pleasing. Submerse it should be a lot better. but may be a bit current-demanding.
Any of the slender Java fems should be good, but in quantity you need access to your filter intakes to avoid issues. I've been there too, and that was why I banned the plant from my tanks. It loves to gromwon my prefilters.
How do you plan to control the stack of wood? That would be the only issue I see.
I'll second the bright-colored smallish fish. Tannin stained water is their home and their colors are likely at least in part to allow coherence of the school in such water.
If your Ca++/Mg++ are low, for shrimp you might consider tiger shrimp - they are rumored to like such water, but I think that I would still sneak in some cuttlebone.
Oak leaves are great, but need to be fully dry - not green at all. The Skeptical Aquarist preferred Birch I believe, but I have only used Oak.
Wood, attached plants, no lawn just leaves - some Apisto?, some gaudy small schoolers, that sound like my kind of tank.
You tempt me, but I would not do the water mods for the small cichlids.
As with most things underwater in glass boxes, stability will be the key. You really cannot "just stack"either wood or rock. I do a lot a rockwork in tanks, and am as weird about that as a lot of other things. I am also neurotic about long-term. If I set something up in a tank, I want it at capable of making it for ten years. I may decide after 1 or 2 years that it does not hold my interest and take it down, but that is another factor.
Aesthetic considerations aside, rockwork is easy. I'll do my usual flashback to the dark ages of my youth. My grandfather (a retired semi-disabled civil engineer) taught me to build dry-laid rock walls as done in both new England and Merrie Old England. What you have learned in a couple of summers of back-breaking work you never forget. The mantra is simple - repeat after me: "One over two, two over one." Simple, effective and stable over generations. That is it. My mbuna tank (pre-GWAPA) had several hundred pounds of rockwork and never shifted in the ~ fifteen years of its life. The rock wall for the tangs is simpler and not as stable, but is >5 now and good for a few more years. Kris: want a photo series? We can con Judith into doing the shoot.
Nothing simpler than Anubias. But I have never tried it in soft or acid water. Historically I have used rubberbands to attach it to rocks. That is far from perfect, but I will not do thread or monofilament. I'm ready to play with epoxy - that should do the same job..
My one trial with Bolbitis was mixed - in the small River Tank opposite the front door - it went emerse and swallowed the open space in that tank. It is slow underwater. Not so emerse. There were brown tips where it apparently did not have enough humidity near or protruding from the two vent strips at the top. But the tank was a thinnish jungle of one plant - not very pleasing. Submerse it should be a lot better. but may be a bit current-demanding.
Any of the slender Java fems should be good, but in quantity you need access to your filter intakes to avoid issues. I've been there too, and that was why I banned the plant from my tanks. It loves to gromwon my prefilters.
How do you plan to control the stack of wood? That would be the only issue I see.
I'll second the bright-colored smallish fish. Tannin stained water is their home and their colors are likely at least in part to allow coherence of the school in such water.
If your Ca++/Mg++ are low, for shrimp you might consider tiger shrimp - they are rumored to like such water, but I think that I would still sneak in some cuttlebone.
Oak leaves are great, but need to be fully dry - not green at all. The Skeptical Aquarist preferred Birch I believe, but I have only used Oak.
Wood, attached plants, no lawn just leaves - some Apisto?, some gaudy small schoolers, that sound like my kind of tank.
You tempt me, but I would not do the water mods for the small cichlids.
Where's the fish? Neptune
The basic premise is to stack the wood so it doesnt fall over/collapse without making it look like it was stacked that way. I may have to modify the design a bit by adding some Mopani as a base to start but the plan is to basically toss the Manzanita in so that it gets tangled.
the other idea I had which I have been experimenting with in my 15h (year plus with no signs of rot or deterioration) and the 20L (4 months or so) is to use cork on the back wall and possibly tie monofilament to keep the Manzanita from collapsing totally.
The only collapse I ever had in a tank was when a Dempsey decided he wanted to dig a tunnel. The problem was he wanted a tunnel that was big enough for him to turn around in when he was at about 6" or so..
the other idea I had which I have been experimenting with in my 15h (year plus with no signs of rot or deterioration) and the 20L (4 months or so) is to use cork on the back wall and possibly tie monofilament to keep the Manzanita from collapsing totally.
The only collapse I ever had in a tank was when a Dempsey decided he wanted to dig a tunnel. The problem was he wanted a tunnel that was big enough for him to turn around in when he was at about 6" or so..
The other Jeff
Master of growing algae and getting better at plants
Master of growing algae and getting better at plants
