April Meeting Summary
Over twenty people turned up to the April GWAPA meeting. Before the presentation began, the president talked about having possible group buys for wood and plants. GWAPA also is offering a liquid fertilizer mix to members now.
Corey then gave her talk on aquatic ferns. She gave a description of these plants in nature and then moved on to their use in aquariums. Afterwards, she went into details about specific species and varieties. She started with water sprite and then moved on to three Bolbitis species including the mini form. Java fern needed no introduction. Cory detailed the various Java fern varieties (needle leaf, broad leaf, trident, sunrise, thor’s hammer, and windelov). Then she discussed Marsilea species, which do need a three-month-long period to get established in a tank, but then it grows relatively fast in a CO2 enriched and high light environment. The president also mentioned a genus most of us never heard of, namely Pilularia spp. These ferns are mostly used in continental Europe. Although one species is native to North America, it cannot be completely submersed for extended periods of time, so it is not suitable for aquarium use. Then the presenter moved on to Salvinia, Crepidomanes, and Azolla ferns. She mentioned that Azolla thrives in water with high phosphorous content, so it if is growing well in your tank, your water is subpar quality. Finally, she mentioned the highly unusual fern süsswassertang, which, contrary to popular belief, is not a liverwort, and which never develops to the final stage of its lifecycle due to natural genetic modifications. She gave the example of axolotl which are similar in this sense.
The meeting ended with a raffle where items donated by Oase found new homes, and there was also our usual auction of mostly plants.
Tags: Corey Wickliffe, ferns