Biotope One A Study of Flora and Fauna

Leif ‘Apisto’ Johansen has quite a fishroom with around 30 tanks making up the collection.  Among his holdings are what most would deem a very nice collection of Apistogrammas, a dwarf cichlid from South America.  You wouldn’t at first think that a dedicated hobbyist living in Norway would have such a thriving interest. “I guess …

We all know that a good quarantine program for fish, especially marine fish, is an excellent bio security measure when we add a new fish to our aquarium.  We seldom think of this extra safety net when adding plants however.  Plants are a source of all sorts of bad freshwater …

We all have problems with algae in our tanks as some point in time.  When we have adjusted our parameters to combat the algal growth we can take steps to remove unwanted algae from our plants.  Other times they are plants we have obtained from another source and we want …

Many of the plants we keep and enjoy in our aquariums will grow well in both submerged and emersed above water.  Most of them need a humid environment to do so, but once adapted they will grow quickly.  In fact many plants we keep in our aquariums are actually not …

One of the first plants that I put into tissue culture was cryptocorynes. Plant tissue culture is a great way to multiply plants that multiply slowly naturally. Many people think that plants simply explode and grow to overtake your culture vessels instantly. This is not the case and it is …

I am moving some plants around and need to make a little bit of room so I’m going to get rid of a few excess plant I’m not going to use.   Available: Echinodorus opacus rataj emersed cryptocoryne beckettii emersed crypt hudoroi emersed If you are interested send me an …

Today I bought a couple bags of Turface at my local landscape supply house. I have bought Turface before and it was always the large white chips of kilndried clay. Today I was surprised when I opened the bag and it is a bit lighter than Flora Max.   Ill see …

Among those killed in the Malaysian Airlines flight 17 that was shot down was Dr. Alex Ploeg of the Ornamental Fish Industry.  Ploeg who was traveling with his wife Edith, their son Robert and his friend Robin also died in the attack on the Malaysian airliner. Ploeg was the Secretary General of …

Here’s a detailed videography of Ian Cooks Billabong based paludarium. Its about 12 minutes long and has a good bit of detail.  

The Coastal Prairie Partnership was founded to promote conservation and restoration of the local coastal prairie ecosystems.  It has gained the interest and help from local native plant enthusiasts in the area, including some Native Plant Society members.  In doing so they have cultivated an effort that has saved some …