Hello from Wrexham

[dneal]

Hi - I'm Dave. Kept fish as a youngster with my brother. We learnt a lot trying to keep gobies, anenomes, etc, alive from shoreline rock pools near our home. Daily trips for fresh seawater soon turned our attention to a simpler style of fishkeeping... but the interest in biotopes never waned.

That 'naturalist'-type interest brought me to aquatic plants. I'm not taken with the so-called 'nature aquarium'. Not exactly natural, are they? ... more a picture painted with whatever flora and fauna serves the purpose.

A mirror on nature is of more interest to me. Perversely, that might mean a surprising lack of plants in some instances (say an UK riverbank - Willow Moss on a stone, but not much else!). Then in others, it might mean the complete opposite of a 'nice tank' (stagnant, ditch in SE Asia, surface covered with floating plants and bottom covered with rotting vegetation... and a bunch of Sparkling Gouramis lurking in the shadows and literally sparkling when a ray of light gets through.)

Memorables from the past...

• Pair of C. fasciata (Indian Gourami?) doing 'what comes natural' without us even trying to breed them.
  Amazon tributary - lots of wood, Echinodorus, Bleeding Heart Tetras and Corydoras.
  Shoal of five Giant Danio chasing through roots of floating Indian Fern.

Current/future ...

• 11l nano: Vesicularia, E. parvula, Sag. subulata; 2 Otocinclus, 2 Glowlight tetras, 1 male Endler's guppy.
  66l (old 24"x15"x12") work in progress: (end-on, like a room-divider) AquabasisPlus under playsand, Echinodous quadricostatus, E. parvula, Sag. subulata. About a week into a fishless cycle.
  80cm Ferplast terrapin tank (back lower than front): (bargain from reptile store closing down) Either UK stream/river or SE Asia riparium.

So - that's me. Maybe eccentric and opinionated, but definitely an enthusiast!

Dave

 

[Ady34]

Hi Dave,
welcome along, there are a few great vivs on this site and some part emerged and emersed scapes too
Pretty much something for everyone.
Shame your not into the 'nature aquarium' being located in Wrexham, the Green Machine is on your doorstep and is well worth a visit with very knowledgable staff in all aspects of the planted tank.
Cheerio for now,
Ady

 

[G H Nelson]

from the ukaps crew.
hoggie

 

[dneal]

Hi Dave,
welcome along, there are a few great vivs on this site and some part emerged and emersed scapes too
Pretty much something for everyone.
Shame your not into the 'nature aquarium' being located in Wrexham, the Green Machine is on your doorstep and is well worth a visit with very knowledgable staff in all aspects of the planted tank.
Cheerio for now,
Ady

Thanks for the welcome, Ady. I hope I didn't tread on toes with that remark about nature aquariums. In reality, I suppose I appreciate what's happening, but sometimes they don't 'do it' for me.
I do go to The Green Machine - even buy stuff there - even Tropica plants that Pets at Home sell for less money. There's no compromise on quality and variety... and yes the staff are definitely knowledgeable.
Re 'nature' and 'natural': James Findlay's Tributary is my kind of scheme. Looks as though it could be a real stream. I like Nature's Chaos, though it doesn't look like a natural scene to me. I should probably appreciate it more as 'art'. Nevertheless, the fish are behaving naturally - the a shoal of corys tumble about nuzzling the sand, the way 800+ neons move 'as one' in the shadow of those enormous Aponogetons, etc. Though I might not appreciate it as a whole, I definitely like some of the outcomes.
Right... now to devour threads on ferts/CO2/light balance, cultivating emersed plants, and lots more.