Hello nice to meet fellow plant people I have really enjoyed reading the various posts and they have already helped me id some mystery plants for me in these globe ecosystems and turtle gardens for the living room. Salt water biology comprises the first part of the vid, if this does not interest you then let it run for a sec and forward to the 2/3rds mark the plants start there. the video on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XOsitYhihc I know aquariums aren't the main item in these forums, but I was hoping to catch your botany eyes at least with the way I have connected aquatic systems with planted tanks into a linked hydroponics system without disturbing the decor. Since these are bare bones aquatic gardens along with the plants next to them, I make it a point to simply never alter their preferred growth forms, other than staking up more 10 foot runners as they shoot out the top of the planted bog that feeds the whole thing. The plant physiology is utilized in these ways to produce what you see in the vid 1. extreme packing of roots provides ample oxygenation of the substrate. this is an uncirculated tank, something you do not see in common aquatic gardens. I have purposely engineered a high plant biomass relative to waste producers for the specific task of self-balancing without my care. i do add water and fertilizers to it occasionally and fish food which is the primary nutrient input source for the plants (through nitrogenous fish waste cycling) a 20 foot pothos vine travels along my wall as it exits the bog tank. 2.the emersed plants provide a home for a chameleon that lives free in them occasionally until I get tired of cleaning up poop off hardwood floors then it's back to another paludarium. 4. I am trying to get such a plant mass in my living room that it provides some CO2 scrubbing abilities for the micro saltwater tanks, whose pH chemistry is very affected by ambient carbon dioxide stores which is common in houses that don't get a lot of refreshed air. the point is I'm using plants as a connection between biomes in my house, and I love discussing the interconnectedness of it all. Plus if you jam any musical instruments I play opposite ones and we can play rock n roll togetha nice to meet you all, hope you enjoy Brandon
Brandon, What a wonderful creation! Do you have to go in and trim any folage or does it stay small do to the space allowed. As fish grow to the size of their tank or plants to the size of their pots. I can only imagine the knowlede required, and I assume the trial and error, to get so many critters and plants to co-exist. It's just like watching the tide pools at Anna Nuevo, No. of Santa Cruz CA. and seeing the interaction within. And, of course, as a kid feeding the snails to the sea urchins and watching them spit them out. ;)) What kind of music do you play? My son started out with Heavy Metal and now plays spanish guitar. Keep up the good work. I'll bet your Science teachers loved you. barb
Barb that is nice I too play metal but its only because I am not gifted to play spanish guitar seriously! I try to learn it but that's not my most practiced instument. Ask your son if he's ever heard of Susan Grisanti, shes internationally known and I plan on trying some lessons from her when I can find the time, she teaches in my city here in the states. I don't prune the systems, when leaves die they degrade in the system to replicate nature so when I say these are low maintenance I mean they are none (the freshwater ones). the saltwater spheres need regular water changes but they do not require constant testing and tinkering unlike your status quo reef tank where large size imparts larger variable shift The wild type guppies that inhabit the planted sphere are known for being very small even when years old. they're still adapted enough as wild types to handle temp extremes, fasts, drought (when I forget to add water a couple months and it evaps down to 1/2 an inch with 50 fish in it) and every single replication of what would be going on were it left outdoors. Though their size is genetically predetermined, the population densities are not and are a function of the environment they live in, so 50 is just about right and most of these are fry, the actual biomass appears to be around 10 or 15 fish any time you look at it. This bowl is literally standing water, substrate made for planted tanks and driftwood, some dried vine and plants. no water movement or heating really makes it a challenge, but it's also very unique to keep an ecosystem that's not plugged in to electricity other than its light source which could be done in a window but not nearly as nice as it looks with the bluish tint. Snails take care of the leaves that would otherwise be trimmed by the usual aquarist, that pic I posted was a year old and is obviously cleaner than it's current bearded natural look :) but that's what I'll end up looking like someday so I'm learning to like it now Nice to meet you! Brandon
I'll ask the next time we talk, but they are in San Francisco so I don't know. Is there some sort of opening in the sphere to add water or anything? I appears to be completely enclosed, but don't you need to do stuff with it? barb
the sphere has about an 8 inch opening at the top, where those bamboo shoots are coming out about 6-8 feet, its also got a pothos nearly wrapping around my living room and one half way. it can be found by searching for fantasy bowl, $129 with stand, from naturesocean.com its meant to be a giant convex fishbowl that makes them look as round as a softball when filled, cool effect. i just chose to keep the water level at the bottom 1/3rd http://www.fantasybowls.com/ i have to add distilled water to it because it's pumped out slowly to feed the potted plants, so I guess technically that's a water change but it sure is slow, as in drops at a time and it's not me doing any work on it :) I also and some iron fetilizer maybe three times a year but most of it was built as laterite and carbon layers when the substrate was built before the planting. I was just meaning I don't ever clean it out as in water changes or detritus removal. snail waste alone is 2 inches of the top depth of the substrate but you can still see the red flourite gravel I had touched up with in about 2003.
