September 2012 Meeting

Sunday, September 30th, 2012 at 2:17 pm

Julie Weis hosted the September 22 GWAPA meeting at her home in Ijamsville, Maryland. In addition to the beautiful 37 gallon and 11 gallon aquariums members saw last year, Julie also keeps three lovely little 5.5 gallon shrimp tanks.

 The featured speaker was longtime GWAPA member Sean Murphy, fisheries biologist and the creator of the popular mineralized soil substrate recipe used by many in the hobby. Sean gave some insight into some of the “rules” behind keeping planted aquariums. He gave particular emphasis to the relationship between lighting and co2, stressing the importance of co2. To improve plant growth, most hobbyists increase lighting before doing anything else. However, recent research indicates that co2 is more important than lighting levels.Sean referred to this recent study by Tropica: http://www.tropica.com/en/tropica-abc/basic-knowledge/co2-and-light.aspxAnother key issue Sean discussed was the importance of water movement in the tank. Water movement distributes co2 and nutrients to all plants in the tank, and assists plants in  moving nutrients through their structures. Plants have a layer of water on their leaves that moves much more slowly than the surrounding water, and more turbulence in the tank helps this layer exchange nutrients more quickly to get them into the leaves.The meeting concluded with our usual mini auction, which featured a number of plants donated by Florida Aquatic Nurseries. http://www.floridaaquatic.com

Club announcements:

GWAPA plans to have a table at the All-Aquarium Catfish Convention October 18-22 in Herndon, Virginia. Volunteers to sit at the table are needed. More information about the convention can be found at http://catfishcon.com/

In March, the Capital Cichlid Association (CCA) plans a mini-convention in lieu of its regular meeting that month. GWAPA has been asked to have a table at this event.

The Aquascaping contest deadline is fast approaching! Photos must be submitted by November 18.  Members will decide the winners by forum vote. Voting ends November 30; winners will be announced December 2.

Elections will be held next month. Please consider giving something back to the club.  You do not need to be a great aquascaper be on the board. Talk to a board member if you are interested.

Sean Murphy, featured speaker

Julie’s 11 gallon

Julie’s 5.5 gallon shrimp tanks

 

Thanks to Chris Todd for the photos!