D. Walstad, Ecology of the Planted Aquarium

[darkdep]

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!  )

[Aiglos]

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.

[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.

[Mettle]

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:

[PaleoFishGirl]

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

[babblefish1960]

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.

[darkdep]

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.

[babblefish1960]

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.