I've never heard anything bad about this book. A lot of people swear by it.
Is it worth buying?
http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/0967377315/qid=1139776935/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_2_1/702-3271689-4424869
I have this book... currently about half way through it.
Its pretty scientific. alot of reading and no pictures, I am enjoying it though.
Im not going to recommend or not recommend it to you as I am not finnished the book yet. Its a nice hardcover though !
I will let you know when im done with it what I thought about it.
she was a member of a board i was on years ago.
she started the all-natural low-tech planted tank thing.
she used sunlight (tanks near windows) and potting soil instead of gravel.
the japanese takashi amano went as high tech as he could, while the american diana walstad went low tech.
to each there own. flourcesnts and dust-less, cloud-less gravels are easier to work with. sunlight is free and soil is cheap.
I've been reading up on Takashi Amano as of late. Some of his work is amazingly beautiful. I'll have to check this Diana Walstad out.
I am a big fan of Rhonda Wilson of TFH / NaturalAquarium.com !
I frequent her website http://www.naturalaquariums.com/ daily and that is her style aswell.
Its funny when I bought that book off amazon I also bought Mr Amanos book ( also a TFH author)
The stuff on NaturalAquariums.com is great...If nothing else it gets you to think again about almost everything you consider a hard and fast rule of fishkeeping.
For about 2 months, with the inspiration of that site, I pulled the filter from my planted tank and ran it filterless and airstoneless. All the water parameters stayed where they were before the change. Only reason I went back to the filter was that without the water flow, algae started to take over (granted, I had nothing in the tank to eat algae, so I really didn't finish the experiment)...
Ms. Walstad's book is taking on "Required Reading" status within the plant community.
You certainly can't go wrong buying the book.
Darkdep : My planted tank has a HOB filter from walmart with no floss in it just to get some water flow ! I will never again have a filter on a planted tank !
Aiglos: Great Stuff! I must be brain dead...I never thought about doing that...how long have you had that going? Do you have any algae issues?
Couldn't you just install a small powerhead for water flow? Then you might have more directional control on where it's being pointed, as well.
Very possible, I'm sure. Might be a better way actually, as you wouldn't need to have so much surface disruption (to help keep the CO2 in the water)
I prefer the HOB because it takes up less room in the tank and all you see is the clear plastic intae which I keep hidden asbest as possible. I do not have any surface distruption as i turn the hob down as far as it can go and have the water level all the way up on the tank. I also like the hob as you can pipe your DIY co2 into its intake and if you want to throw some floss in to clear up something you can and then just remove it. Plus I can't justify going out and buying a new powerhead when I have an old hob to use.
I get a small amount of green spot algea once and a while on the glass but its gone quick and I do not have any other algea although I also deploy American Flag fish, ottos and SAE. Its been going about 6 months now. I did have a hair algea problem but I added the AFF and the CO2 at the same time so im not 100% which one cleared the hair algea, although I suspect both.
Quote from: "Aiglos"I also like the hob as you can pipe your DIY co2 into its intake.
Does this work well with a HOB? I use one of the ladders at the moment but maybe this would work better? Do you have something set up so you can see the bubbles (a bubble counter) so that you can tell when production is slowing down?
Quote from: "Aiglos"I also deploy American Flag fish, ottos and SAE.
Deploy? :lol: :lol: :lol: That's hilarious. I'll have to look into getting some algae eaters...right now my planted tank has nothing but snails waiting for some Apistos.
A little bit of phosphate will clear up the green spot algae in quick measure.
Don't AFF sometimes eat plants, though, if they don't have enough other food sources to munch on? Or is it simply keeping them well fed?
Quote from: "darkdep"Quote from: "Aiglos"I also like the hob as you can pipe your DIY co2 into its intake.
Does this work well with a HOB? I use one of the ladders at the moment but maybe this would work better? Do you have something set up so you can see the bubbles (a bubble counter) so that you can tell when production is slowing down?
I actually use a Bubble Ladder. I didn't say I did that I just listed it as a plus for using a hob. I read alot of plant forums and It seems to be what most people are doing and with good results, it makes sense though, sucked up through the intake through the propeller and pushed righ down into the water colum already mixed into the water.
Bigdaddy: Thanks for the tip, I ran outta ferts so next time Im in ottawa I will have to pick some up.
Mettle: I highly recommend the AFF though for people, they are quickly becoming one of my favourite fish, they even nibble at my fingers when I am doing tank maintenence. I have never seen them eat plants although they do rasp pretty hard trying to take all the hair algea off plants, The only plants that they really do any damage to is my najas grass but the grass grows faster then they can eat it. Get a nice male, they color up very nicely !!!!!! And they do not require a heater !! another plus.
I've read of a few people who have their CO2 rigger to powerheads for injection in much the same way as HOB power filters. Though. From what I've seen it's a LOT easier to do with with a HOB.
Maybe once I free up my 20 gallon long I'll try out a planted tank in there with some AFF. It would be interesting to try some of these experiments you guys are talking about.
I'd only have 55w cf on the tank though. I'd hope that'd be enough. (2.75 wpg... I'm sure it would be.)
Mettle: That will work. I have 2.666 wpg of NO fluorescent on my planted tank and everything grows well.
I think I'll try the CO2 input to the HOB on my next batch of sugarwater...although I'm gonna have to figure out a way to watch the flow.
Darkdep: your the DIY man, search up DIY bubble counter. EASY to make..... Might cost you 3$
With yeast... basically there's no point in making a bubble counter... because there is nothing you can do to increase or decrease the amount of gas being produced short of making a new batch.
Do your CO2 calculations... if there isn't enough CO2 getting into the water column... either look for outgasing or change your receipe.
Frankly the HOB thing is okay... but a simple gravel vac powerhead with a sponge on the intake is a lot better on smaller tanks. The sponge on the power head is all the mechanical filtration you need... and then you have a reactor that dissolves 100% of the CO2... plus its a bubble counter because you can see the CO2 entering the chamber.
Well, there is a point of a bubblecounter on a yeast setup...seeing when the rate is slowing down. I do this now with my ladder, but I find the ladder gets covered in snails that disrupt the bubbles :)
My setup works fine right now, just always looking for something else to tinker with (as apparantly I'm the DIY man! Yeah! :D)
Quote from: "valiko"I've never heard anything bad about this book. A lot of people swear by it.
Is it worth buying?
http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/0967377315/qid=1139776935/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_2_1/702-3271689-4424869
Valiko: Ok I just finnished reading this book... Final conclusion is I do not recommend this book.
Too technical. Boring. No Pictures. Too many contradictions to modern fish keeping IE the use of C02, Algea Eating Fish.
Unless your a chemist or biologist leave this book on the shelf. Boring book, It was so boring that I actualy put the book down at work and DID work!!!
If your still interested I can bring the book to the next meeting and you can read it and return it to me.
lol, work over reading. it must have sucked.
i have three of amano's books. there are plenty of pictures with enough text to leave you guessing.
i bought the amano books for the amazing colour photos. some of his work really is art.
Quote from: "Roop"lol, work over reading. it must have sucked.
i have three of amano's books. there are plenty of pictures with enough text to leave you guessing.
i bought the amano books for the amazing colour photos. some of his work really is art.
I bought some of his books with the intent to cut out some of the pictures and frame 'em, making art. :lol:
I found this awesome thread when trying to find out exactly how you hook your CO2 into your HOB intake... pictures and everything!
http://tropicalresources.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=8712&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0&sid=a7c5f0b2e843676aefc37433f7e59f2b
I have had this book for some years now, and found it very informative.
I personally began experimenting over five years ago with similar sized tanks(100 g. plus), in a side by side experiment. Armed with the information from Diane Walsteds book I used soil and gravel for one tank, and using 3 decades worth of experience growing plants in aquariums, knowledge taught to me by my dutch uncle with 50 yearsof aquarium experience, I used gravel alone in the other tank. I maintained both tanks for 3 years, and ultimately decided to convert the other one to a soil based tank as well.
I have used various systems in the past , undergravel filtration, CO2 etc.
I found the pros and cons for each set-up and still struggle with different problems as they arise, but I find soil based very satisfying to do, and it is very pleasing to have my rams and pencil fish et al, happily breeding away, and my rummy-nose tetras with fire-engine red faces. All in all, I am pleased with my results, as too are my plants.
I found this book accessible and relatively easy to understand; this is a woman who has done a number of empirical tests to arrive at the conclusions she has to offer here.
I am not touting this as gospel for planted aquariums, but in my own experience, I was challenged by the idea that plants don't grow in stone in nature, and I tried to encompass a more open mind about how best to provide for both the fish and the plants, as they are related and inter-twined in their functions.
I am still experimenting all these years later, but I am satisfied that what I know to be true, was corroborated by the author's own research.
Make no mistake, I have much yet to learn, but as much as I admire looking at the pictures of the tanks Amano creates, even he admits to the level of intense involvement required to make them enduring. I wanted something that would be easier to operate than the latest offerings of refined tchnology. I wished for a closer relative to a balanced ecology; there are ups and downs, and many good things I glean from both perspectives, so I shun neither resource.
In effect, though this book hasn't the glossy dioramas Mr. Amano's works share with us, it offers hands-on advice for those of us who might venture out to the edge of this currently flat world, just to see what is beyond the latest trends of common practice.
On the mini-topic of CO2 into the HOB:
I pulled the tube off the bubbleladder last night and stuck it in one of the slots of the HOB intake (an Aquaclear 50). It seems to work great...bubbles fly up the intake and it's virtually silent as they hit the impeller. At first you could hear a tiny splop when they hit, but it's pretty much silent now.
I left it for the night and am gonna take some readings today and see if more of the CO2 is getting into the water.
In short; I enjoy the book immensly and find it a good reference resource.
Buying books are very personal avenues, but I would recommend this one absolutely.