From John Glaeser: This bulletin should take care of communications for this month. Really looking forward to seeing us all together again on THURSDAY, MARCH 23.

THIS TIME WE WILL HAVE PIZZA STARTING AT 6 PM ! Yes, pizza............ and have fun socializing between then and 7:30 when the real meeting structure kicks in. ________________________________________________________________________

Summary of the 2 / 24 / 2000 meeting:

We had a full house of 20. Welcome to first time visitors Theodore Casper, Sara Olmstead, Daniel Heiniger, Phillip Heiniger, Beth Hermanoon, John Hobbins, Larry Jones, Ian McNaney, and Keith Strade. Hope to see you again at the next meeting, March 23.

From the inaugural meeting of January 27 we saw Mark Adams, Bill Benz, Andrea Diss, John Glaeser, Matt Hirvonen, Linda Horvath, Victor Marsh, Melissa Maurer, Wayne Rayfield, Barb Radka and Joel Redman.

Absent: Pat Cannon, Scott Coles, John Hoffman, Shawn Kolo, David Stalowski and Susan West.

We met in the Commons, a most gracious space accented with large plantings and attractive watercolor paintings. The room is near the facility plant preparation and storage area. At meeting's end we wheeled all our displays and the aquarium back in there ready for picking up in the morning. Quite convenient. Thanks Olbrich.

AT A GLANCE:

We developed focus and considered how best to keep in touch with each other.

A. Focus:

1. Joel Redman's report on his effort to recruit someone from the UW for a presentation got us all thinking about the value of focus. Joel quickly realized aquatic botanics involves several science disciplines that cross over into each other. If an overly broad request is made of a specialist in these related areas the chances are they would hesitate to say yes. Though they may be well aware of the fact of cross over knowledge they would not care to be seen as expert in another area.

Our group could examine some aquatic / bontanic issues closely. This would lead to defining good questions that are challenges to us. An expert could relate to this. Perhaps several experts in related fields brought together in a panel format to focus on dynamic aquatic ecosystems? Let's think about this.

2. At some point we might want to invite a high profile expert in our field. John Hobbins suggested that some big names like Karen Randall, Neil Frank and George Booth give presentations around the country and maybe we can catch one of them along the way. This is possible and the club development grant would take care of expenses.

3. Matt Hirvonen observed we have good resources within our membership to find answers to planted aquarium management questions. Some of us have years of experience to share. Soon the club library will be up and going. There are great resources on the web. Some members call up John G (233-5182) asking a variety of questions dealing with setting up a tank, algae and system crashes. Anyone else want to volunteer to be a HOT LINE contact? Larry Jones, would you be available to be a contact?

4. Andrea Diss urged having a main topic of each meeting. Picking up on this, Bill Benz suggested we identify the components of the planted aquarium ecosystem and each month examine a different sector. Good idea. For March 23 we selected CO2. Lots of people are interested in this. Get your questions together and make note of what you understand about the function of CO2 and the pros and cons of adding it to the aquarium.

B. Communications

1. Folks like mingling and creating friendships. We have a few opportunities for this in our 7 - 7:30 time block prior to the main part of the meeting and during the 10 minute break half way through our session. Next meeting we will have our space open at 6 PM with pizza for anyone who wants to come early and mingle. This would be a good time to check out books from our library, as well.

2.. Victor Marsh floated the idea of a web site which he could design and host. And just for fun he made one for us to play with:

http://www.ivwebworks.com/mag/index.html>

He elaborated some advantages: Agenda posting, Q U E S T bulletins, meeting summaries, club archives, links to aquarium sites, technology articles. A chat room would be cool. Someone has a question and posts it. Someone or several having an answer or suggestion could respond. Someone with an idea can posts it. Research topics could be listed and individuals could enter things they have found about a topic. Victor said he could bring a computer and if we have a phone jack he could demonstrate.

Most clubs out there have a site these days. Let's give it a try. Some of us sometimes seem overwhelmed by all this tech stuff. But, a site could tie together a lot of information for us. We might get real comfortable with the system.

3. Using the best communication methods for particular situations:

Some folks don't have a computer and aren't connected to the web or have e-mail. For these colleagues, mailings and the phone is the way to go. Some people feel over loaded with technology traffic and need a break. They simply aren't in the mood to hit a web address and e-mail would be fine but don't send a novel and don't send frequent messages. We will try very hard to have us all communicating well together.

C. Books:

Mark Adams gave a book report on DYNAMIC AQUARIA, Building Living Ecosystems by Walter H. Adey and Karen Loveland. He was struck by the approach of integrating ecology and aquarium science. He was intrigued with the idea of transferring part of a natural ecosystem community into an aquarium setting to introduce a complex nutrient mix, living micro creatures and bacteria capable of cleansing the water on a continuous basis. Such an arrangement uses an algae scrubbing strategy where water from the aquarium it routed through another lighted container growing grids of algae. The algae is harvested, dried and fed to the fish. He was pretty excited and wants to try something like this. This book is wonderful! I'm getting a few more in so we can spread these ideas around more quickly among us. Thank you, Mark. What a nice report.

Larry Jones mentioned to me he has a copy of this title and he could loan it out to anyone in the club. Thanks, Larry.

Talking about great books! I picked up one: ECOLOGY OF THE PLANTED AQUARIUM by Diana Walstad, former technical advisor for the Aquatic Gardeners Association. The volume is described as a practical manual and scientific treatise for the home aquarist. It is quite readable and makes a bridge between science and practical applications for the planted aquarium. Our development grant has obtained enough copies so each of us can have a copy. Pick up your copy at the coming meeting. Another book on the way is: TROPICA AQURIUM PLANTS.

D. Club project on the horizon?

The long range plans at Olbrich Botanical Gardens includes a major planted aquarium installation. I don't know when this will happen. But, between now and then the Olbrich horticultural and conservatory staff is looking to install an aquarium in their office as an educational opportunity for their staff. They are looking for a small aquarium setup sometime early in July.

E. Plant Clippings:

Having seen Matt Hirvonen bring in a nice little bunch java moss last time reminded me that aquarium clubs frequently have plant auctions. We are not at that stage yet, but it might be fun to bring in surplus plant materials to trade or give away. Zip-lock-bags work well for transferring plants.

F. Organizational Issues

It is time to create a BOARD OF DIRECTORS. They would work on defining the club's structure and provide guidance for short term and long term activity. Each month the group would define the agenda and review the meeting summary for accuracy and inclusiveness. Making the best use of our meeting time will be the first issue to be studied. If anyone has talent along these lines, please contact John Glaeser. Maybe we can form this board soon after the March 23rd meeting.