Steve's Aquatic Plant Resource Page
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Canadian Forces Bombardier Myles Stanley John Mansell of the 5th (BC) Field Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery, Victoria, B.C., was killed in Afghanistan on Friday April 21st 2006 when the armoured G-Wagon he was riding in was struck by a roadside bomb.
Website Summary: How to grow aquatic plants effectively. Aquatic plant website listings, pictures of aquatic plants especially Cryptocorynes, comprehensive information about substrates for aquatic plants, easy to follow instructions for substrates and mineral fertilization for rapid plant growth, soil science references and a listing of aquarium hobbyists around the world who are willing to sell or trade aquatic plants at a fraction of store prices!
Welcome Aquatic Plant Lovers!
Click on any image to see the full-size jpegs
Cryptocoryne blassi (rt fg), Cryptocoryne crispatula(lt fg), Bacopa monneri(rt bg) The C blassi has leaves which are 2.75" wide and 11" long. The stems are about 17" on this plant. The undersides of the leaves are a very dramatic reddish purple. There are more pictures of this plant in the Oct 97 section. These shots show the leaves lighted from the underside using a couple of halogen spotlights to illustrate the beautiful coloration. Check out this section!
What's New:
- Oct 11, 07 - Clean up some dead links
- May 5, 06 - Added January 97 picture gallery and memorial for Myles Mansell
- Mar 12, 03 - Added link for Clay Fertilizer Ball orders
- Oct 24, 02 - Added link to my resume
Articles
- Substrates for Aquatic Plants (long, technical but hopefully useful)
- How to Grow Beautiful Aquatic Plants (cheap!) or How to Build a Soil Substrate (HTBASS)
- Precautions for the Use of Soil Substrates
- ABSORPTION and ASSIMILATION of IRON in PLANTS
- SUBSTRATES FOR THE PLANTED AQUARIUM by Jamie S Johnson. A survey and analysis of commonly used substrate materials and amendments. Includes commentary and a summary of his conclusions. I hope to add an editorial commentary at a later time.
Picture Galleries
Web and FTP Links
Purpose of the AGA:
- to disseminate information about aquatic plants
- to study and improve upon techniques for culturing aquatic and bog plants in aquariums and ponds.
- to increase interest in aquatic gardening.
- to promote fellowship among its members.
The journal of the AGA is called The Aquatic Gardener
(TAG) and we put out 6 of these a year.
The publication is usually 25-30 pages long and contains good info.
Membership dues are $15.00yr, U.S./Canada/Mexico and $28.00/yr, all other
countries.
The back issues of TAG are an excellent source of information on growing
aquatic plants written by the experts.
IMHO this is an unbeatable source of information for a very low price.
New issues always contain some new gems of information, research reports and a
question and answer column. Articles written by anyone are welcome; contact
Neil Frank.
Erik's Aquatic Plants FAQ THE place to START searching the World Wide Web for information on growing aquatic plants.Read this stuff first. Then read it again. :-)
The Krib by Erik Olson. The SECOND place your should go when searching the World Wide Web for information on growing aquatic plants. A prime spot for finding extremely useful information
Aquatic Plant Digest Archives Where to do some serious mining for aquatic plant information. Or just spend hours reading interesting stuff.
AGA International Aquascaping Showcase and Contest These are some fantastic photographs of beautiful planted aquaria from all around the world. The best of the best!! Check out this site!!
The Plantguild Clay Fertilizer Pellet System for spot fertilizing or adding supplemental components to an existing substrate. The system allows the user to make custom pellets of pmdd, laterite, fertilizer and/or trace nutrients and then to precisely apply the pellets in the substrate for selectively feeding specific plants without the danger of causing algae blooms!
The Krib entry for PMDD and a page on Homegrown Hydroponics on PMDD
(New) Soil Characteristics web page maintained on the NASA website. An excellent collection of website links for learning about soil.
Homegrown Hydroponics is a Canadian operation. An easy read if you want to learn more about hydroponics.
Aquarium Driftwood Driftwood and a reasonable assortment of aquatic plants for mail order.
Aquatic Concepts by George Booth Excellent photographs and information on many aspects of growing aquatic plants. Another highly recommended site for beginners to learn about growing aquatic plants. George has been a frequent contributor to the Aquatic Plant Digest mailing list, TAG and the aquarium hobby.
A.R.T. Studio Clay Company, Inc. Where to find iron rich pottery clay for your aquarium substrate or to make clay balls. (United States outlet, see Plainsman below for Canada)
Amano A commercial aquarium product company from Japan. Specialize in pictures of extremely beautiful planted tanks. Study these pictures to get ideas for aquascaping.
Nutrient Management notes from the University of Oklahoma State. Helps to explain why some materials have a higher cation exchange capacity. Very technical but good information. Advanced.
College and University Home Pages A list of places to start snooping for information such as where to inquire about soil and nutrient analysis
Jan D. Bastmeijer Lots of Cryptocorynes, pictures and many interesting links!
Dennerle A commercial aquarium product company. Publish the Dennerle book which is another good aquarium plant book.
Dupla A commercial aquarium product company. High quality products. High tech stuff.
FLUORESCENT LIGHTS FOR PLANT GROWTH by the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Good background information on lighting for plants which suggests that special spectrum lights are not as beneficial as thought.Very easy to understand; written for a non-technical audience. The watts per gallon empirical rule for planted aquariums is given as watts per square foot for house plants. The numbers are the same! "
An extensive reivew of factors important to Hydroponics much of which is held in common with growing aquatic plants. It includes some interesting technical information, and keys to nutrient deficiencies (nothing especially new) and toxicities. Interestingly, nutrient toxicities often show up as deficiencies in other nutrients!" - Roger Miller
Jim Hurley Pictures, notes and good technical description of a home built pH controlled CO2 injection system.
Hoa G. Nguyen's Freshwater Planted Aquarium Pictures of aquatic plants and fish, technical information, book and reference information and notes on Hoa's experiences. Diagram of a CO2 reactor. A well laid out site with excellent documentation. Overall, a good place for somebody starting out to get many good ideas and background information on many aspects of keeping aquatic plants.
Jim Kelly's Article "Great aquarium plants, real cheap!" Includes details on the famous loamy topsoil + vermiculite + pond tablet substrate
Bruce Hallman's aquatic plant pages
PLANT NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT SoilScience/Horticulture/Agronomy 326 University of Wisconsin-Madison Phillip Barak -- Instructor This is an excellent place to learn more about soil nutrition for plants.
Iowa State University's Soil Survey Division Soil information.
Plant Media, Cornell University All sorts of information on soil properties and various soil media. Good information on stuff like peat, vermiculite, nutrients, CEC and more... Part of an extensive collection of information on horticulture. "Something To Grow On" Includes information on macro and micro nutrients, the nitrogen cycle, mineralization soil sampling and analysis. More on the how to take a soil sample.
Wikipedia Soil Horizons - basic information about soil layers, composition and identification.
Plainsman Clays Ltd Where to find iron rich pottery clay for your aquarium substrate or to make clay balls. (Canadian outlet, see A.R.T. above for US)
Liisa Sarakontu Information on identifying SAEs and similar fish
Tropica A commercial aquarium product company. Some very excellent plant identification pictures as well as tips on growing specific plants from the folks who raise and market them.
University of Florida Aquatic Plant Center Indigenous Florida plants. Not too much stuff about aquarium hobby plants though.
David Webb Another AGA member web site
PETS WAREHOUSE Inc Your source for over 34,000 Pet supplies Direct importer of Marine Fish,Corals,Rock,Inverts African Cichlids, Tropical Fish, Aquatic Plants Birds, Reptiles & AKC Puppies. Since '74
Rhonda Wilson's Natural Aquariums site This is a very beautiful website with nice aquatic plant pictures. There is a work in progress describing several species of aquatic plants with pictures or drawings.
To Order Clay Fertilizer Balls Package of 10 - $5 + shipping or bulk order discount over 400
Visitors since November 22, 1997:
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