Books that helped you with your aquascaping?

[dougz]

Inspiration, and or technical aspects..

[BPASCreighton]

Nature Aquarium World: Books 1,2,& 3. That was the first time I was really blown away by the beauty of aquatic plants.

[dougz]

Yeah, I've "read" book 3..

Awesome stuff..

debating wether to get 1 and 2..

How did they compare?

[Pat7676]

Check out my thread, http://www.aquascapingworld.com/foru...ank-books.html
Tons of good books and some free.

[dougz]

Great, thanks, Pat!

I've read the one by Walstead..

Frankly I was left with more questions than answers..

SOIL as a substrate? Bi-ANNUAL water changes? No vacuming of the substrate? No C02 injection required? Go crazy on the fish food? The more direct sunlight the better?? No need for liquid or tab ferts?

I mean, it all sounds good..

The soil already has the bacteria necessary to sustain fish from the get-go, and the other micro nutrients such as iron for the plants..

The breaking-down of the fish food and the soil provide the C02 and nutrients for the plants..

But it flies in the face of everything I've been reading about so far..

She does say that there are problems inherent in using soil, but she says they are temporary, and can be gotten around.. But she doesn't elaborate..
I've since learned that the nutrients in the soil make for an EXTREME risk of crippling algae blooms, unless your tank is like 75% plant!

Thanks, but I'll stick with my high tech tank..


The Teapoot one was a bit of a disappointment as well..

I was a little disappointed with this one..

I was a bit baffled by the German and French translations.. Could they not justify separate printings for those other languages?

And the photos are excellent, but frankly I thought the Hiscock encyclopedia did a better job of describing stuff like optimal growing conditions, maximum plant heights, etc..


Encyclopedia of Aquarium Plants by Peter Hiscock

This one is awesome!!!

[John N.]

Diana Walstad's El Natural style is an interesting one, and really butts head against the current era of high tech, commercial enriched soils, and heavy dosing of ferts that we do today in our planted aquariums. I believe many folks are successful with her style because sometimes not touching or adjusting your tank on a daily basis can result in an eco system that has had a chance to achieve balance. With today's nutrient rich tap water, simply doing a water change and throw off the whole system. That's why many reef people use RO water to control the initial water parameters. Anyways, what's my point? The El Natural followers may have hit on something on doing minimal work on a planted aquarium, and getting good plant growth, however it's a different style and result from other high tech planted aquariums.

Takashi Amano's Nature Series are great inspirational books on his style. You'll probably only need to look through Book 1 as most of the other ones are about the same. You may try also Jeff Senske's "The Inspired Aquarium" for some good ideas and initial basics.

In terms of learning books, I haven't found a great book that will teach hobbyists current methods and the standards used today. Hiscock book explains the basics but beyond that the internet is your best resource.

-John N.

[dougz]

I'll probably go ahead and get 1 and 2..

I'll look for that Senske one for sure, thanks!

[John N.]

I would recommend Nature Aquarium Book 3 over Book 2. There's more variety of scapes in the third book.

-John N.

[BPASCreighton]

They're all amazing though!

[dougz]

Yes, I've "read" the 3rd one..

Can't get the other 2 from the library though, so I'll have to buy them..

[goalcreas]

Originally Posted by John N.

That's why many reef people use RO water to control the initial water parameters.
-John N.

That is why I use RO water on all my tanks. And I mean pure RO, no RO tap mix, no reconstitution other then the Pfertz N and K and Macro, some NPK and some tanks get some ADA addatives like Green Bacter, Green gain.

I know for sure that Roy Deki also uses PURE RO, he listed on one or more of his tanks posted here that he uses Green Gain and Green Bacter at every water changes and ONLY Pfertz Macro's and NOTHING else.

[dougz]

That is why I use RO water on all my tanks

Just your saltwater tanks, right?

[goalcreas]

Nope, FW and SW

[dougz]

Really?

From what I've heard (and read) pure R/O water lacks minerals required for healthy fish and plants, and that mixing some tap water in is essential..

As well, pure R/O water has a pH of 6.0, far to acidic for plants, and most if not all freshwater fish..

I'm at a loss, here..

Do those ferts affect pH?

[goalcreas]

Sorry, but 6.0 is nowhere far too acidic for plants and fish.
Many prefer it and do VERY well with it.
Many will tell you that you need the mineral.
Go to the look at Roy Deki's tanks, he is 100% pure RO.
Most of my tanks are and the ones that are not are new setups that will be.
Don't need to waste RO when setting up a tank with ADA AS that you will be changing every other day. When it doesn't need to be changed every other day, I start converting it over to pure RO.


What is in your tap nutrient wise that you will be missing because there is a whole bunch of crap that will promote algae and is not desired.
It is not there in huge amounts and doesn't hurt that much, but IMO it is not desired.

Try to grow a tonina species in a tank that is not pure RO or mostly.
Mine have been best at 50 to 80ppm max.
it will not hurt to add back some calcium and the other stuff in the RO reconstitutes, but it is NOT necessary.

[goalcreas]

Look at this tank.
Note

ONLY DOSING PFERTZ MICROS

it doesn't say, but I am sure it is RO only.

50 gallon Oceanic

If we need to continue this, start a new thread with questioning this.
I did not mean to hi-jack the thread and others will chime in I am sure.

[dougz]

Huh..

I'll be darned..

There ARE a bunch of fish that do ok in 6.0, plants as well..

Thought that'd be WAY too low!!

Learn something new every day..

The ones I want for my tank hit around 6.8..

[goalcreas]

MOST fish can adapt to anything.
Within reason.
It is STABLE PH that is important and not so much PH swings caused by Co2, more by overfeeding and ever changing water params from instable tanks.

[dougz]

Yeah, that's why I don't want to do water changes over 15%..

My tap water is 7.8, and I'd rather not get into the expense of an R/O, and the hassle of lugging up vats of water from the basement every water change..

So I figure if I can do a 15% change every week on my 75g, that shouldn't affect the pH too much..

The set point on my pH controller (attached to C02 solenoid) will be 6.8..

[goalcreas]

You could have RO in the basement with a small water line plumbed up there with a ball valve (using a storage tank, probably 20 or 30 gallons) and fill right at the tank. Heck you could plumb in an auto top off unit from the RO unit and never have to lug any water anywhere.