Viktor Gyorffy welcomed GWAPA to his home in Montgomery Village, Maryland for our April 28 meeting.\u00a0 After members had some time to mingle and eat, and admire Viktor\u2019s many tanks, President Jen Williams opened the meeting with a few announcements.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She noted that the GWAPA forum has been very active of late, with many members posting photos of their tanks. She thanked everyone for participating.<\/p>\n
Next month is our joint meeting with Aquarium Club of Lancaster County. Aaron Talbot will speak on Fertilizing the Planted Aquarium. The meeting will be held at That Fish Place, so start saving now for your shopping spree! Please note that the meeting will be held on May 19, the third Saturday of the month, instead of our usual fourth Saturday.<\/p>\n
Jen reminded us about the GWAPA Aquascaping Contest currently under way. This year\u2019s theme is Nature Aquarium. Photo entries are due November 18. Watch the forum for more up to date information as the contest deadline approaches.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Kris Weinhold presented this month\u2019s Plant of the Month talk, on Hydrocotyle tripartita. This plant has been circulating in the hobby for awhile under the name Hydrocotyle sp. \u2018Japan\u2019.\u00a0 Kris stated that \u201cwe think<\/em> this is tripartita,\u201d calling attention to how the leaves form three distinct pieces. Kris chose it \u201cbecause it is a great aquascaping plant.\u201d H. tripartita is a bright green creeping plant, which provides a nice contrast against other darker plants, making it a good accent plant. Since it grows so quickly and will creep over everything, it is not a good idea to plant it when first setting up a new aquascape. Let other plants grow in, and get the foreground well established before adding H. tripartita. In about 6 weeks it will be nicely filled in.<\/p>\n It can be trimmed aggressively if used as a foreground plant, and grows well in emersed set ups. Because of its aggressive growth, H. tripartita can become a problem plant. Kris recommends yanking out big clumps of it and letting it regrow from what\u2019s left behind. Julie Weis also noted that it responds well to \u201csmooshing.\u201d She puts substrate on top of it to keep it under control.<\/p>\n Kris concluded his talk by distributing some small bags of H. tripartita to the group. (Which pleased everyone, except for poor Julie who\u2019d brought a bag to sell in the auction! Sorry, Julie!)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The main focus of the meeting was Cavan Allen\u2019s informative talk on plants of the Eriocaulaceae family. This family comprises 1200 species, of which 400 are in the Eriocaulon<\/em> genus. Plants in this family are found on all continents, with the exception of Antarctica. Only one species grows in Europe.<\/p>\n All plants from the Eriocaulaceae family need stable CO2, root feeding, low KH, low pH, and good lighting. They really like mineralized soil. Most are not hard water plants, although Eriocaulon parkeri<\/em> is more tolerant, and sometimes even grows in brackish conditions.<\/p>\n Some species will die right after flowering, so any flowers that appear should be trimmed or pulled off to prolong the plant\u2019s life.\u00a0 Plants will often divide at the base, and can be split apart and replanted to make a foreground. Some species will grow adventitious plants.<\/p>\n Cavan gave a run down of various plants in the family, some of which are currently found in the hobby, some not.<\/p>\n Tonina fluviatilis, <\/em>the only plant in the Tonina<\/em> genus, is found in Cuba, and from southern Mexico to Brazil. It is very common, and easy to grow. It doesn\u2019t tend to branch much until it reaches the water surface.<\/p>\n Syngonanthus anomalus <\/em>is probably <\/em>the correct name for the plant previously known as Tonina<\/em> sp. \u2018Belem\u2019 and later as Syngonanthus<\/em> sp. \u2018Belem\u2019. This plant is known by many hobbyists as a demanding plant which will not thrive if its needs for high light, fertilization, co2, and soft water are not met.<\/p>\n There is an unnamed Eriocaulon <\/em>species from Guyana that is similar to S. anomalous<\/em>, but its flowers are different, as is its leaf veination.<\/p>\n Eriocaulon parkeri<\/em> is a plant of tidal shores, found in fresh and brackish waters. Its range extends from the northeast corner of North Carolina all the way up to Maine and parts of Canada. It used to be found growing alongside Sagittaria subulata and Hemianthus micranthemoides. It is the easiest Eriocaulon<\/em> to grow. It makes a nice foreground plant. It forms a mound and provides \u201ca little bit of a wild look.\u201d<\/p>\n Eriocaulon aquaticum<\/em> is the only European Eriocaulon<\/em>, and is found in Scotland and Northern Ireland. It is not too demanding, although it likes cooler water, and requires iron and root feeding. It grows a bit taller than E. parkeri<\/em>.<\/p>\n Eriocaulon compressum<\/em> is found from New Jersey down to Florida and along the Gulf of Mexico. It is a large plant that requires lots of space. It is very buoyant, and so requires some maintenance to keep it planted in the aquarium. E. compressum<\/em> was February\u2019s plant of the month, and more detailed information about it can be found in February\u2019s meeting notes: http:\/\/gwapa.org\/wordpress\/2012\/02\/february-2012-meeting-2\/<\/p>\n Eriocaulon ravenelii<\/em> is very similar in appearance to E. parkeri<\/em> and E. aquaticum<\/em>. Cavan states that it \u201cdoes fine for awhile, then melts for no apparent reason.\u201d<\/p>\n Eriocaulon cinereum<\/em> is originally from Asia, and is now also found as a rice paddy weed in California. It looks like a \u201cbig Kooshball\u201d and is hard to use effectively in an aquascape.<\/p>\n Eriocaulon amanoanum<\/em> was first described in 1956, and despite the \u201camano\u201d in its name, was not named after Takashi Amano.<\/p>\n Eriocaulon modestum<\/em>\u00a0 (this may be the correct name for Eriocaulon<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0sp. \u2018Mato Grosso\u2019) doesn\u2019t transport well and is a difficult plant. Cavan has had it melt within a day when the tank\u2019s co2 ran out.<\/p>\n A plant somewhat similar in appearance to Heteranthia zosterifolia<\/em> (\u201cstargrass\u201d) that has been circulating throughout the hobby as an Eriocaulon<\/em> type 2 is not an Eriocaulon<\/em> at all. Its true identity is not clear.<\/p>\n Lachnocaulon minus<\/em> is a US native. Its name will probably be changed in the future. It has very different looking roots than others in this genus.<\/p>\n Paepalanthus tortilis <\/em>comes from <\/em>Guyana, and looks \u201calmost as if you crossed an Eriocaulon<\/em> and stargrass.\u201d<\/p>\n Rondonanthus capillaceus <\/em>grows in mountain streams, in high flow areas. It is an epiphyte, and sticks to rocks. Its leaves are fine, almost like hair.<\/p>\n Eriocaulon quinquongulare <\/em>is from Asia. It is a red plant, and \u201cit could be kind of cool\u201d if it grew that way in the aquarium.<\/p>\n Mesanthemum radicans<\/em> is a darker green than most Eriocaulons.<\/p>\n Members of the Eriocaulaceae family are a bit challenging, and probably not for beginners.\u00a0 But they are a fascinating group of plants and definitely worth a look.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The meeting concluded with our usual mini-auction, and we gained a couple new members. Welcome to those new members!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Viktor Gyorffy welcomed GWAPA to his home in Montgomery Village, Maryland for our April 28 meeting.\u00a0 After members had some time to mingle and eat, and admire Viktor\u2019s many tanks, President Jen Williams opened the meeting with a few announcements.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-meeting-notes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gwapa.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gwapa.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gwapa.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gwapa.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gwapa.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1273"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/gwapa.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1273\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1282,"href":"https:\/\/gwapa.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1273\/revisions\/1282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gwapa.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gwapa.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gwapa.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}