February 25th at 1:00pm
Judi Hammett
420 Chalfonte Dr.
Catonsville, MD 21228
410-747-2553

Directions:

From points south:

• I-95N towards Baltimore
• Exit 49B for I-695N/Baltimore Beltway Inner Loop towards Towson. (Exit is on the LEFT)
• Exit 14 for Edmondson Ave.
• West on Edmondson Ave.
• When Edmondson Ave ends, turn right onto Chalfonte Dr.
• Come up two blocks, house is on left, at corner of Chalfonte and Delta.

Alternative from points south:

• US-29 N/Columbia Pike towards Baltimore
• Exit 24 A for US-40 E/Baltimore National Pike
• Right onto N Rolling Rd.
• Right at the light onto Old Frederick Rd.
• Right onto Rockwell Ave.
• Third right onto Chalfonte Dr. House is on left, at corner of Chalfonte and Delta.

From points west:

• I-70 E to Exit 87A for US-29 S/Columbia Pike towards Columbia/Washington
• Exit 24A for US-40 E/Baltimore National Pike towards Ellicott City
• Right onto N Rolling Rd
• Right at light onto Old Frederick Rd.
• Right onto Rockwell Ave.
• Third right onto Chalfonte Dr. House is on left, at corner of Chalfonte and Delta.

From points north:

• I-695 W/Baltimore Beltway Outer loop
• Exit 15B for US-40 W/Baltimore National Pike
• Left onto N Rolling Rd
• Right at light onto Old Frederick Rd.
• Right onto Rockwell Ave.
• Third right onto Chalfonte Dr. House is on left, at corner of Chalfonte and Delta.

Unlike other zoo exhibits which focus on “iconic animals” like polar bears or pandas, the Amazonia exhibit, which opened in 1992, features an ecosystem. Mike Robinson, director of the zoo during the 1980s, wanted to “get across the idea of biodiversity,” Ed told us.

The Amazonia exhibit is a forest with dizzying variety of plant and animal species native to the Amazon. There are trees, bushes, vines, and epiphytes.  There are monkeys, frogs, insects, dozens of species of birds, fish, and a two-toed sloth. Animals move freely about the exhibit. Many of the fish have been there for more than 20 years.

In addition to the tour through Amazonia, GWAPA members were treated to a peek “behind the scenes” at the room where all the aquarium filtration equipment is kept.

Ed was happy to answer the many questions that came his way, and it was evident that what he was able to share with us during our visit was only a small part of his wealth of knowledge.

Following the tour, members convened at Sam’s house. After following his tank journal on the forum for the past few months, members were excited to see Sam’s 57 gallon rimless tank and hear him speak about it. Almost the entire tank was a DIY project. Sam built the cabinet, made the LED lights, and even ran a hot and cold water supply up through the floor from the basement to make top offs and water changes easier. The intensity of the lights can be tweaked with a simple turn of the dial. Sam said that this was his first “serious” attempt at a planted tank, which many of us found hard to believe when we saw his breathtaking aquascape!  For those who have not seen it, Sam’s tank journal can be found at http://www.gwapa.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=4703

As far as club business, GWAPA President Jen Williams gave us a head’s up about what to expect in the coming year. The board is committed to doing a better job keeping the website up to date and planning events. Members were reminded to renew their memberships. Voting to determine the style for this year’s aquascaping contest has begun. The poll will close one week before the February meeting, and the aquascaping style that wins will be the topic for that meeting. Members can vote at http://www.gwapa.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4973

Kris Weinhold reminded the club of the “one bag” rule: please do not bring more than one bag of any given species to our monthly mini-auctions. Also, invasive species that appear on the Federal Noxious Weeds list, such as Hygrophila polysperma, will not be allowed in GWAPA auctions. The Federal Noxious Weeds list can be found at http://plants.usda.gov/java/noxious?rptType=Federal  Members are encouraged to be aware of the laws concerning invasive species.

The full meeting schedule for 2012 will be posted soon. GWAPA can look forward to another joint meeting with the Aquarium Club of Lancaster County, Jason Baliban speaking on the topic of planted tank photography, a DIY workshop, and more. In addition to our regular monthly meetings, the club plans a photo walking tour, and a field trip to Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens.

The board is looking for volunteers for Outreach/Social media,  Group Buy, and Plant Talk Committees.

The meeting concluded with our usual mini-auction.

Francine's 120G: 1st Place in GWAPA's 2011 Dutch Aquascaping Contest

Francine Bethea

120 Gallon

Filter: Eheim 2217 and Marineland 360C

Substrate: ADA Aquasoil

Dosing: Daily dosing of KNO3, PO4, CSM+B

Lighting: 4 – 80 watt Catalina T5HOs – 160 watts for 8 hours , 320 watts for 2 hours

CO2 diffusion: Reactor 1000

CO2 Reglator: Azoo regulator, 20lb. tank

Fauna: Garra sp., bristlenose, ottos, Amano shrimp, flag fish

More than 20 members brought food and drink to share, and spent the afternoon socializing. President Jen Williams thanked the club for a great year.  Outgoing Treasurer Ghazanfar Ghori briefly reviewed club finances for the year, and stated he would have a detailed report up on the forum by the end of December.

The GWAPA board for 2012 was announced:

President: Jen Williams

Vice President: Viktor Gyorffy

Treasurer: Cristy Keister

Corresponding Secretary: Arlene Wagner

Recording Secretary: Judi Hammett

The winners of the 2011 Aquascaping Contest were announced:

1st place:  Francine Bethea

2nd place:  Cristy Keister

3rd place was a three way tie between Julie Weis (tank #4), Eugen Leontie (tank #7), and Jen Williams (tank #8).

Congratulations to the winners!  Nine tanks were entered in this year’s contest, which was for Dutch style aquascapes, any size tank.

A plant database has been set up on a Google docs spreadsheet. Members, please add your name and what species you are growing. This database will help individual members and the club as a whole keep track of what is being grown in members’ tanks. A link to this database can be found on the forum.

Watch the forum for information on possible group orders with Sera and Green Leaf Aquariums sometime within the next few months.

Great bargains were had at our mini-auction.

To begin our joint meeting, Allen Wood from Pueblo, Colorado, gave a presentation on how he adapted his fishroom and fishkeeping procedures to allow him to keep more species with less time spent doing “drudge work” and more time observing and working with the fish. Allen has bred over 250 species of fish including over 100 species of livebearers. Allen is currently the Chairman of the American Livebearer Association.

Kurt Johnston (right) introduces Allen Wood

Kris Weinhold during his introduction

After Kris’ talk, several pre-registered groups participated in a hands-on workshop/competition! Each ACLC group had the opportunity to put into practice what they had just learned. Several GWAPA members provided advice and guidance in setting up a hardscape of their choosing in a 10-gallon tank. Finally, the tanks were judged by Kris, Francine Bethea, and Kurt Johnston. The judges had a hard time selecting a winner because all four tanks were very well done!

The judging panel explains what they like about this tank

The winning aquascape, done by Ricardo, Chelsea, and Mike

The meeting closed with an absolutely huge auction.

The auction table - it was a monster auction!

Before Rachel’s presentation there were a few announcements:

October’s meeting will be a joint meeting with the Aquarium Club of Lancaster County at That Fish Place in Lancaster, PA on October 15. That Fish Place is a “huge” store with a big plant section, well worth the drive. The day’s events will kick off at noon, with a talk by Allen Wood of the American Livebearer Association. GWAPA’s portion of the event will begin at 2:00 with Kris Weinhold’s talk on hardscape. Small groups will then work on putting together hardscapes in 10 gallon tanks, assisted by GWAPA members. The winning tank will be raffled off. According to ACLC president Kurt Johnston, ACLC members are really looking forward to this joint event.

It’s time to start thinking about GWAPA’s board for next year. Several board positions will be open, and members are encouraged to consider a position. A thread will be started on the forum soon. Nominations are due at the October meeting. The election will be held online, with results announced at the November/December meeting.

Thanks to our Corresponding Secretary Arlene Wagner, who reached out to 250 vendors for donations, the club is able to resume doing raffles at meetings.

Aquascaping kits are still for sale at $20.

This year’s aquascaping contest ends soon! Keep an eye on the forum for details.

Rachel spoke on the subject of “Freshwater Invertebrates: Myths and Misconceptions.” Although introduced as the “resident guru of all things invert, nano, or monster,” Rachel says she considers herself a “professional hobbyist.” She began her importing business because she had trouble finding certain fish and invertebrates locally. She started importing to get “new stuff” for herself and sold the extras, and went from 5 tanks to 50 within 5 months. Rachel’s interests range from invertebrates and very small fish, to “monster” fish.

Rachel addressed the major myths about invertebrates (such as “snails eat plants” “shrimp are difficult and always hybridize” and “invertebrates can never be kept with fish”) , and gave us a rundown on many species currently available in the hobby, and their care requirements.

Rachel’s interest in invertebrates began with the apple snail, Pomacea diffusa. She has experimented with line breeding them, to achieve a variety of colors. Rachel stressed the need to be responsible with these snails, as it is very easy for their numbers to get out of hand. Each female can lay 200 eggs! If you can’t handle their huge numbers, you must dispose of the eggs, which are laid above the water surface. Apple snails are great for fry tanks, as they will eat fungused eggs, while ignoring healthy eggs. Their feces are an excellent source of infusoria for fry. Rachel also discussed the zebra apple snail Asolene spixi, Tylomelania snails (which she no longer deals with because they often harbor leeches), the various nerite snails (“an amazing addition to the hobby”) and assassin snails (about which she has some reservations, as they lay their eggs in filters and at the base of plants, making it easy to spread them around unknowingly).

Rachel gave an overview of a dizzying number of shrimp species, including the cherry shrimp (the “best starter shrimp”), crystal red shrimp, the popular algae eating Amano shrimp, the bumblebee shrimp (a “striped shrimp that’s bombproof”), malawa shrimp, red nosed shrimp, the filter feeding green lace shrimp, and more.

Crayfish have a reputation for destroying plants, but this is not true of all species. Dwarf species Cambarellus patzcuarensis, Cambarellus montezumae, Cambarellus shulfeldtii are often kept in planted tanks. They may be aggressive towards each other, but can be kept with other invertebrates and fish.

It is important to choose carefully and be realistic when keeping invertebrates such as dwarf shrimp with fish. Rachel has had success keeping them with small fish such as Corydorus habrosus, otocinclus, Boraras brigittae, Danio erythromicon (which “may take out a few babies”), Hyphessobrycon amandae, and others. She has kept amanos with Discus, although it does depend on the fish.

When setting up a tank for invertebrates, it is important to consider their requirements for pH and hardness. For some species, using RO water and a substrate that lowers the pH may be appropriate. Leaves and driftwood may also be helpful. A sponge filter should be used, or the filter intake covered to prevent shrimp being sucked into the filter. Invertebrates should only be added to a well-established tank; they are intolerant of ammonia and nitrite, and cannot handle nitrates above 20-30ppm.

Common mistakes when keeping invertebrates are overfeeding, overfertilizing, incorrect water parameters, inappropriate tank set up, inappropriate tank mates, or adding them to a new tank.

Rachel can be contacted at msjinkzd@gmail.com
Her website is Msjinkzd.com
She is also a presence on these sites; aquariacentral.com, monsterfishkeepers.com, capitalcichlids.org, and plantedtank.net, as well as the GWAPA forum.

The meeting concluded with our usual mini auction, which was anything but “mini”! It took nearly two hours to auction off over 150 items.

Ghazanfar opened with some announcements. The GWAPA table at the ACA convention generated a lot of interest; we hope to see some new members as a result. Instead of a regular meeting next month, we will be having tank tours. Only people in Northern Virginia have volunteered so far. More information about the tours will be forthcoming, and those planning to attend will be asked to RSVP.

Ghazanfar’s original plan was to do a presentation and a demo, but he decided that Cristy’s supposedly “overgrown” tank was “too nice to trim.”

Trimming is the most important aspect of aquascaping. It’s not enough to be able to grow healthy plants; trimming is essential for creating and maintaining an aquascape. Trimming “shapes the scape,” creates denser growth, and creates depth. Trimming can create shadows, lines for the eye to follow, and create perspective.

Long armed scissors are “almost a must.” Moss scissors (small scissors that spring open) and wave scissors (very good for trimming foreground) can also be helpful. In discussing tools Ghazanfar made an admittedly “shameless plug” for the sets of tools the club is currently selling for $20. Those in the club who have used these tools say that they are of good quality, at an excellent price.

Different kinds of plants require different methods of trimming. Methods for trimming foreground plants, rosette plants, stems, ferns, and mosses were explained.

Foreground plants will take over or grow over themselves and shade themselves if not properly trimmed and maintained. To trim plants such as glosso or marselia, use scissors to clip them at or below the desired height. The plants recover quickly, and a tight growth pattern is created. Hairgrass can be pruned almost to the ground, and this can be done whenever it “gets ratty.” Rather than trimming it all to the same height, it can be cut on an angle towards the front. Methods for keeping hairgrass somewhat contained were discussed, such as using clear plastic strips set vertically into the substrate as barriers (suggested by Dave). A sand foreground obviously needs no trimming, but does need maintenance. Siphon out old sand periodically and replace with fresh sand.

Rosette plants include plants such as cryptocorynes, echinodorus, vallisneria, and sagittaria. With a healthy patch of crypts, all the leaves can be removed, and the resulting growth will be more compact. Eventually, the patch will still need to be ripped out and divided. There is “almost no way” to prune echinodorus. Old leaves can be cut back to the substrate, but this can only do so much to keep echinordorus in bounds.
Taking scissors to vallisneria and sagittaria is not recommended. Cut leaves will not regrow, but will disintegrate. The only good options for keeping these plants controlled are to rip out and replant, or remove selected mother or daughter plants.

Stem plants include the popular rotalas, ludwigias, hygrophilas, etc. Most can be simply hacked back, and most respond quite well to this treatment. Some can be shaped much like a hedge. Most will send out 2-3 shoots from each cut end. The first pruning should be about 2 inches above the substrate line. Successive prunings will be a little higher each time. It’s important to only prune plants that are healthy. It can also be helpful to grow a plant for awhile, and get to know its growth habits before deciding how best to trim. Some of the needle leafed rotalas, for example, do not respond well to being cut back, and may not reliably send out multiple shoots when trimmed. It may be better to uproot the plants, trim from the bottom, and replant the tops. Eriocaulon setaceum also needs to be treated this way.

Java fern and bolbitis can be allowed to take over and go wild for awhile, then have all the leaves cut back and any excess rhizome trimmed off. Nice dense growth of all new leaves will result. Anubias can be treated the same way as ferns, but it will not grow back as quickly. It may be better to remove the older, algae covered leaves, and to snip the growing tip. Nicking the rhizome will encourage branching.

Ghazanfar says he used to recommend using scissors to trim mosses, but not anymore. Little bits end up everywhere and can become a real problem. It’s important not to let moss get out of control. Periodically rip out chunks, and leave small bits to grow along wood or rock. It can be helpful to keep a slow siphon going when doing this, to easily remove any stray pieces.

Because different plants rebound at different rates, it’s important to keep a log as to when plants were pruned, and how long they took to reach perfection. Once you have this information, you can pick a future date for a photo shoot, then count back and trim accordingly.

Ghazanfar shared some pictures of his 90P from a few years ago to illustrate his trimming methods and timeline. The picture taken after his “first major hack” showed that he cut the stems in front much shorter than those in back –stems were trimmed at a very steep angle from front to back.

Plants sold in the mini auction included Rotala hippuris, Ludwigia arcuatia, Eriocaulon setaceum, Hygrophila sp. ‘red tiger’, Myriophyllum mattogrossense ‘green’, “GWAPA hairgrass”, Najas roraima, Hygrophila pinnatifida, and many more. One interesting item perhaps not seen before at a GWAPA auction was Ludwigia ‘tornado’ (a “mutated inclinata from Cuba” according to Cavan), a small portion of which went for $20.

Many thanks to Judi for taking excellent notes!

Due to technical difficulties, the video that was taken during the meeting is not available. However, Eugen graciously agreed to share the slide deck from his presentation. You can view it here: GWAPA – June 2011 Meeting Notes (Eugen’s DIY Controller)

In addition, we will have our regular auction. Members and non-members are welcome.

May 28th at 1:00pm
513 Lindsay Ct,
Sterling, VA 20164

Directions:

From I-495

• Take 7 West, you will continue in until you reach Potomac View Rd, where you will turn right.
• You will turn right again on Cottage(first light) and then right once more onto Lindsay Ct.(third right)
• The house is at the bottom of the cul-de-sac, if you pass the Loudoun County Campus of NOVA than you have gone too far.
• Park along the street as there is limited space on the driveway and cul de sac. The street above Lindsay Ct also has parking available. Please leave room by the house to allow people to drop off stuff that they intend to sell at the auction prior to shipping.

From Manassas, Centreville, or points Southwest:

• Your best route will probably be to take Route 28 to Route 7 East.
• Stay on Route 7 until you reached Potomac View, where you would turn left.
• You will see Loudoun County Campus of NOVA on your left immediately before turning.
• Turn right on Cottage(first light) and then right once more onto Lindsay Ct(third right).
• The house is at the bottom of the cul-de-sac, if you pass the Loudoun County Campus of NOVA than you have gone too far.
• Park along the street as there is limited space on the driveway and cul de sac. The street above Lindsay Ct also has parking available. Please leave room by the house to allow people to drop off stuff that they intend to sell at the auction prior to shipping.

Kris kicked off the meeting with a presentation on dosing fertilizers for the planted tank, and demonstrated a DIY auto-doser that can be made easily and cheaply.

Jen Williams then gave a presentation on various water conditioners and supplements, including

Handouts (in PDF format) from Kris’ and Jen’s presentation can be downloaded here: April 2011: Sam’s LED DIY Presentation

Chris Todd then led a discussion about building your own CO2 regulator, and many members contributed their experience and knowledge. A handout with the “cook book” regulator build recipe that was displayed and discussed is forthcoming.

Finally, Sam gave an entertaining and informative presentation about LED aquarium lighting, describing his experiences building this fixture:

Sam LED Light fixture

Sam’s entire presentation can be downloaded here: April 2011: Sam’s LED DIY Presentation