Newsgroups: alt.aquaria

In alt.aquaria, mattk@cbnewsl.cb.att.com (matthew.kaufman) writes:

    me others. Personally, after numerous attempts, in strong light/weak light
    rich substrate/poor substrates hard water/soft water liquid fertilizers/no
    fertilizers, I've only been able to *melt* the aforementioned plants. What

Ah, but did you try "strong light" AND "rich substrate" AND "soft water" 
AND "liquid fertilizers" all at once? :-).

    plants. If you use CO2 injection, I believe the universe of plant success
    widens, but jeez, you shouldn't have to invest in so much technology, hassle
    and expense just to grow goddamn plants. Further, one should be able to
    grow plants and keep enough fish where the fish are the centerpiece and the
    plants the accents and not suffer the depradations of algae infestations.

Why should plants be any easier to grow than any other living thing?  Each
species has it own requirements based on its native biotope.  If you don't
pay (no pun intended) attention to their needs, of course they will not
proliferate.  This is no different than killies, cichlids, sword tails,
gold fish, snails, cat, dogs or children.

    Also, to me, a beautiful planted tank with everything thriving (like,
    say Vinny K's former tank or George Booth's spectacular tanks) are, to me,

Aw shucks ....

    well, beautiful and boring. Is it exciting to watch a plant grow? At some
    level, yes, but personally I enjoy watching my killies flare, my cichlids
    herd fry around their tanks, my catfish raid cichlid spawns, etc. Also,


Well, I find it exciting to watch a plant grow, but then I'm getting up
in years :-).  Actually, our plants grow faster than baby fish, so they
may be *more* exciting.  *And*, they don't eat their young.  

My plant tanks are not your typical "Dutch" tank.  We have fish as the
centerpieces.  Have you ever seen 15 adult Rainbowfish spawning at once?
*That* will keep your attention!  The 9 discus in our two warm water
tanks "flare".  They herd fry.  The catfish (or something) eventually
eats the spawn.  Nature takes its course.  All among dense plants. 

    I guess where I'm headed is to say that I'm sort of down on live plants as
    an accent in a tank because it just doesn't work if you don't like algae. 

What, you don't consider algae as part of the aquatic world?  Certainly
too much algae is a, well, distraction 8-O, but careful management will
prevent that from becoming a problem. 

    and maybe spawn. Beyond that, don't bother to try unless you're willing to
    increase your fish tending chores dramatically and suffer much frustration
    until you find the magic plants that like your water (and *everyone's* is
    different.)

Well, yeah, it is a *lot* of work.  But isn't that what a hobby is for, 
to pass your leisure hours in an interesting, educational pursuit? 

    Matt
    Member, Aquatic Gardener's Association (finally :-)

Hmmm, maybe I need a .sig.  How about ...

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George Booth                                   Author, Aquarium Fish Magazine
booth@hplvec.lvld.hp.com                      Member, Rainbowfish Study Group
R&D Engineer                                Member, Colorado Aquarium Society
Manufacturing Test Division            Member, Aquatic Gardener's Association
Hewlett-Packard Company                Author, Aquatic Gardener's Association
Loveland, Colorado                Founding Member, The Colorado Aquarium, Inc
         /\                     Member, The Colorado Aquarium Plant Committee
     /\_/  \             Chairman, The Colorado Aquarium Filtration Committee
____/       \_____  Member, The Colorado Aquarium S.E. Asia Exhibit Committee
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Newsgroups: alt.aquaria