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Q U E S T 4/6/02 Newsletter of the Madison Aquatic Gardeners Club Prepared by John Glaeser Attending the March meeting: Mark Adams, Winnie Bade, Andrea Diss, John Glaeser, Gordon Hartmann, Jan Hoffman, Linda Horvath, Melissa Maurer, David Reese, Dave Stalowski, Jim Stich, David Watson, Nathan Watson. Special welcome for first time attendees: Louis Dunlap, Brian Gressley and Paul Williams. Main attraction: Video tape excerpts from the year 2001 AGA (Aquatic Gardeners Association International Conference). Watching Takashi Amano assemble an artistically composed aquascape from scratch, was fascinating. The Master starts with strategically positioned rock formations and tucks plants in between and around them to simulate the quality of a natural setting. His inspiration comes from nature scenes such as a brook with protruding boulders and fallen tree branches integrated with plant colonies. Seeing beauty in small details is an intensely exquisite human experience. The genius of Amano is his appreciation of harmonious ecosystems and the beauty of it all, and then applying his skill to create miniature planted aquaria equivalents. The six hour conference tape is available for those wishing to borrow it. Plants from John's collection and pieces of driftwood brought in by Jim Stich, provided many opportunities on the exchange table. Thanks Jim. Professor Emeritus Paul Williams (Plant Pathology) invited us to the UW Science House, for our next meeting. Andrea Diss suggested we have a hands-on workshop there, creating a planted aquaria from scratch, a timely opportunity for applying some of Amano's suggestions. The pizza, Annie Stuart's apple crunch dessert and cookies from David Reese as well as from Linda Horvath, hit the spotŠ..Thanks folks. Q & A 1. Aquatic Specialties Store Show Tank: Folks asked about it. The driftwood, rock placements and tiered substrate show a convincing Amano-like theme. However, the water often appears cloudy and a number of plants seem weak or bleached looking. Things are getting better. Although I don't understand the start-up dynamics completely, I do have some speculations. When the two metal halide fixtures, temporarily positioned on the glass aquarium tops are suspended from the ceiling, some of the problems may go away. I think the instruments will be approximately 18" to 24" above the water level and the light spread will be more evenly distributed, eliminating two "hot spots". Intense light can provoke water born algae. I think this accounts for the cloudy water. A weekly 80% water change and the use of a Hot Magnum power filter with diatomaceous earth clears the water. Starting a new tank with a relatively low light intensity is one way of discouraging water born algae. Maybe next time we will try low light level, for the first couple of weeks. Introducing CO2 right away, can enriched the water too much. Again, algae gets a head start. Since the substrate materials were not rinsed prior to filling the tank with water, nutrient laden dust might have leached out of the substrate, giving algae a boost. In theory, after a couple of weeks, higher plants should be acclimated and ready to pick-up water column nutrients. At that point no iron or nitrogen showed up in the tests. When nutrients were introduced, big time green water algae occurred. Bright light, the culprit? Not surprisingly, Ludwigia repens, directly under one of the lights is magnificent. Having good root systems, it gets nutrients from the substrate. Same species, far left/ front is stunted. Here the light level is quite low. The Cryptocoryne balansae or perhaps it is Cryptocoryne retrospiralis at the far back center/left, appears bleached (lack of chlorophyllŠŠlack of nutrientsŠŠnitrogen?). Dana Riddle has a good article: "Light, Photosynthesis, and Planted Aquaria", in PLANTED AQUARIA MAGAZINE / Summer 2001. She says plants can be stressed when light energy greatly exceeds the saturation point for plants. "When this happens, photo inhibition may occur. This is likely due to photosynthetic 'quenching' by carotenoid pigments, (perhaps xanthophylls) and protects the plant against high levels of oxygen radicals". Many Crypts prefer low light levels. Some sections of the "Amano lawn" Glossostigma elatinoides are beginning to come along. However, most of the planting is marginal to spindly. Through the weeks, some plants are improving. If lighting hot spots are eliminated, liquid fertilizer will help, and maybe green water will not appear. Since my calendar fills up quickly these days, the aquarium has been a "Lee and the staff" project, from the beginning. Certainly, it's going in the right direction, but remains a challenge. 2. Dark green spot algae on the Anubias, what can I do about it? During the AGA Conference, Panel Q&A, Amano suggested: "Begin by understanding the Anubia plant. It lives deep in the dark forests of Africa, where it does well in a cool temperature. It grows slowly and therefore takes up nutrients slowly". In an aquarium, many times dark spot algae colonizes on Anubias when the water is above 76 degrees F, when it is exposed to bright light, when excess nutrients are in the water and when water changes are insufficient. I'm guessing this aquarium has excess nutrients leaching out of a substrate containing too much soil. Using soil is a good idea, if it is mixed with calcined clay (Turface type material which captures and holds leaching soil nutrients). On the very bottom of the tank, one inch of 50/50 soil and Turface should be plenty, topped with 2 1/2" of aquarium gravel. One suggestion. Leaching substrate nutrients can provoke spot algae; bright lights and warm water assures a plague. Once the leaves get it, one cannot rid the nuisance. I'm not aware of algae eating fish, that go for it. Don't count on bleach treatment, you hear about. It gets off some algae, temporarily. Bleach can weaken plant tissue. This is not good. Remove the affected leaves, period. Then address the conditions supporting green spot. 3. Blue/Green Slime: "The tank has gotten a scum of what appears to be blue-green algae on the surface, as well as on the leaves of the Madagascar lace plant and Aponogeton undulatus. I've removed the scum, it keeps on coming back, and I've fertilized with nitrogen. Any thoughts?" Water changes! Get rid of excess DOC (Dissolved Organic Carbons), metabolic waste materials that tend to retard higher plants and open the door of opportunistic algae and bacteria. I've seen BG happen in water conditions of differing nutrient profiles:1. Zip iron and 20 mg/L nitrate; 2. Iron 0.22 mg/L and zip nitrogen; 3. Iron 0.24 and nitrogen 20 mg/L. All had in common, a need for a very much overdue water change. Bad water = problems. Physically remove the BG and do a 50% water change, followed by 30% weekly W/C until the problem is gone. With each W/C, make sure to maintain iron complex of (0.2 mg/L) and nitrate of (15 mg/L) fertilization levels, approximately. Use test kits to check levels. 4. Removing big plants can disrupt the substrate, causing big time clouding of the water. How can this problem be avoided? You need the helping hand of a friend. For instance, a big sword plant can create an enormous root system. With a siphon, poke into the substrate, around the root system, extending in a radius of about 6" from the root origins. This removes small particles and substrate additives such as soil or Laterite. While employing the siphon in this way, slowly reposition gravel away from the plant center, forming a gravel berm around the plants, thus exposing the roots, somewhat. With an old scissors, go down there and sever the roots about 5" from the origination points. When you think you have trimmed most of the roots, begin to slowly extract the plant. Your friend can continue siphoning substrate clouds that will be generated, as you remove the plant. After it is out, use the working siphon to grade and fill in the hole with gravel. Any roots in the substrate can stay there. Some folks use a Hot Magnum power filter with diatomaceous earth, to quickly polish cloudy water, as well. I got the idea for the procedure one day in the dentist chair. While the Dentist was working away, he had a tool that sucked out water and junk stuff, concurrently. 5. Nutrients: Is there a recommended Potassium level for planted aquaria? In his presentation, Amano mentioned aquarium plants need lots of it. Can you have too much? The Aquarium Landscapes Test Kit says, ideal value is close to 2 ppm. This kit has two comparison test vials: one with 1 ppm, which is slightly cloudy and 2 ppm, which is noticeably cloudy. Paul Krombholz says: "The consensus of a number of people on the APD (Aquatic Plant Digest, on the WEB) was that potassium can be safe as high as 50 ppm in the aquarium. As long as you get a white cloudy precipitate, there is enough potassium in the tank. If there is no precipitate, then it is time to add more". If the test produces an extreme cloudiness, we can dilute the sample with distilled water and make a reasonable guess as to the level. A while back we tested Gordon Hartmann's tank water and it tested 20 ppm. He was adding Potassium Chloride routinely. 6. Communications: Q&A. If you have questions about planted aquaria, give me a call or send an e-mail. If you want your aquarium water tested or if you want to borrow test equipment for a while, let me know. Ask questions of the group via e-mail addresses appearing with club mailings. Someone out there might have just the right answer. 7. Wolffia: Who wants to try getting the world's smallest flowering plant to actually flower? The flower has a donut-shaped stigma and a minute anther inside a small floral cavity on the upper surface. The plant is about 0.6 mm long. One of these floating plants could theoretically give rise to about one nonillion plants (1 followed by 30 zeros) in four months. It is 40% protein (dry weight) and is a minor food source in Thailand. Anyway, as of yesterday I had several thousand Wolffia on hand. Haven't gotten around to counting them today. Near the end of the month and victuals budget getting low, students? For back issues of Q U E S T : http://www.ivwebworks.com/mag/index.html
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