Plant field trip

[Plantbrain]

[url=http://tom-barr.aquatic-plants.org/]http://tom-barr.aquatic-plants.org/[url]

Now I know it's a bit of a canoe ride from Singapore, but......

It's a month away almost.

You folks should organize one for hunting of Crypts in the local areas. Jan and other Crypt freaks like me will all go "Ooooo" and "Ahhhhhh" at the thoughts.

Also when folks from over seas stop by, you will know were to take them!

The wild crypts interest folks a great deal.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[David]

Hi Tom

You have a very interesting website and I like the drawings pretty much...

Actually we did try to organise a plant collection trip to West Malaysia in the state of Johor but it did not materialise when the main person who is the trail guide could not make the date.

Probably will try to plan with the other moderators towards the 3/4 of this year....

I would love to join you but I think 1 month is not going to cut it on canoe.....whahahhahaa[]

[Plantbrain]

Getting through the Panama canal can be tough in a canoe I understand.

Crypts grow slow etc, I'd be careful not to post too much about the locations etc. Folks have a habit of running out and taking them!
The plants here are for the most part common weeds and the places are State parks where it's illegal to take plants/anything, except photo's. It's the habitat that is the real treat.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[David]

Hi Tom

Actually cryptos can also quickly become weed once they are established....about 2.5 months ago...I did a little experiment with my 3footer tank.....till today there is still zero water change, just weekly dosing of TMG and scraping algae off the glass, and dishing out dead plants scrapes....and kaboom cryptos took over the whole tank killing or stunting it fellow plants off after 3 weeks. The for grown cryptos have been pulled about 4 times but they just kept growing......

2.5 months before invasion



2.5 months after invasion

[naturetan]

David, I'm surprised! Your crypt can grow so fast in 2.5 months! What steroid you use???[:0] [:0] [:0]

[vinz]

David,

I doubt much of the wild plants have the kind of conditions we provide in our tanks.

[Plantbrain]

Well check out the spring links there.

The Ichetucknee is where my research site is, not a bad place to go every month for samples.

Back in 1970 it was a trash filled cow swamp, beer bottles etc. There was a PO4 mining company the state bought the land from right at the head springs there.

In the last 30 years the springs have really become a great place and get a lot of use.

They are around 6 miles long, clear as clear water can be, about 1-2 mph flow rate, nothing but beds of plants through nice wooded forest.

It;s nothing short of swimming 6 miles through a planted tank. I have swam without the flippers, but with them it's a nice swim.

Most go down in inner tubes for a lazy float down the river.

After the initial shock of all the plants, fish etc, folks settle down after 30-60 minutes or so.,

The wood that Amano uses for some of those big tanks, we have a place here that has enough for 100 of those tanks..........
Also Rainbow springs has some invasive crypts apparently, I have permission to take a few and know the folks working in the area but I have not pursued it yet.
They have 2-3ft dia snapping turtles there, I have some shots of them! The head/neck on it was as big as my thigh!

Regards,
Tom Barr

[naturetan]

Tom, your research site is simply breathtaking!!![:0] Guess it's really a great place to work in.

During my trip in Sabah, Malaysia, I've got a chance to witness many offspring turtles coming out of their sandy nest struggling to reach the sea. It's such a sight for urban-dwellers like me. I've seen big turtles, but have never seen a big head/neck one. Sounds like a monster to me...[] [] Would love to view those shots if possible.

[OUTLAW]

try sydney aquarium in AUST..went there recently during my holiday to sydney.
it houses both saltwater and freshwater aquarium, www.sydneyaquarium.com.au .. a very wonderful exp i had

[naturetan]

I've not been there when I was at Sydney. But did you drop by at Great Barrier Reef in Australia? It's such a spectacular place to dive and snorkel. It's filled with endless sight of colorful corals and fishes in a crystal clear water... Simply can't resist to marvel!

Over there, we've a chance to get intimate with some of the very big fishes while diving, where our dive-mates would hug and fondle it. It's such a fun there.

[David]

NatureTan....In the first pic, the cryptos are not doing so good till I started direct injection via stringe some stuff I concorted with raw ingredient.....and after about 3 weeks of direct substrate injection....PHOOOFFFF!!!!!!!...

Vinz...that is true....I think I withdraw my last thread.....[]

Tom...I will agree with you that irresponsible removal of wild plants is not going to be too good for the ecology....we should just admire and take afew pics....

[Plantbrain]

Well the whole Indo China region and associated islands are under high pressure.
We are losing many species of plants very rapidly.
The Amazon gets a lot of press but local areas are often some of the best places to start doing something about it.

Many crypts species are certainly rare etc. Some are surely threaten with extinction. Many folks are poor and will hunt down rare plants for collectors etc in rural areas. I know a number of plants in Vietnam are getting decimated in some of the highland regions.

It's one thing to go in and take one or two samples of plants but often many will take the entire group/patch for sale.

Even here in Florida, after all they've done to this place(Essentially drained most of the Everglades), they have allowed a cement plant right up the road from their prized spring.
Read the cement plant on the Ichetucknee.org site.

We stopped a raw sewage proposal for dumping directly into one of the world's largest cave systems with very high biodoiversity. With limestone, the water is all interconnected. Any issues with that cement plant will end up in the spring.


Regards,
Tom Barr