Bob also intrigued the audience by producing pots and trays of plants, which wondrously appeared from the side of the table he was speaking from. Out of the three large plastic carrying cases (in the 40-gallon range), he produced a continuing stream of examples of what can be grown in aquaria. One of the more impressive was the Jungle Valesneria, with it's leaves six feet/ 183 cm long and almost an inch / 2.5 cm wide. It's surface was so durable, he noted that no pond snails would be able to eat holes in it and no algae (not even brush or hair algae) would be able to settle on it. A big part of that resistance to those pests is in the proper diet and lighting of that (or any) aquatic plant.

When considering what the proper way of feeding plants was, he suggested that for rooted plants, it must be through the substrate (or the material in the tank bottom). If the aquarist just pours fertilizer into the water (especially nitrogen and phosphorus), the plants, which can best utilize that, are those without roots. Significant among them will be the various algae species.

Appropriate levels of Potassium, by contrast, will encourage algae to die. Along with the carbohydrates produced by photosynthesis, it is also an essential ingredient in the formation of ammonio acids, proteins and DNA.

He noted that rocks and gravel were not appropriate for growing plants. Soil, from the back yard, soaked for over a day, so the junk could float off and be removed, contains all of the necessary minerals needed by aquarium plants. It was observed that the soils of the Midwestern United States, at least those not paved over, are among the finest agricultural soils in the world. ("Can you dig it?") Obviously that stuff may need to be held down and Robert was a great proponent of growing plants in the plastic pots one buys larger plants in at the garden center. A layer of gravel over the top keeps the soil inside.

Potting soils, by the way, according to him are too over refined. They pack so tightly that few biological processes can take place in the spaces between the dirt particles. And one gets that perlite all over the top of the tank. ;)

In his parade of samples, he also brought around smaller plastic plant holders. Often in these 3" by 6" by 1.5" / 7.6 cm/ 15 cm/ 3.8 cm trays were two examples of the same species of plant. One set was clearly less healthy than the other. The variable was the iron content in the soil. Iron takes different forms. The iron in the anaerobic conditions of the mud is the most easily absorbed by the plants.

He reproduced the photo of a magnificent aquarium (which had to be several 100 gallons and longer than any three tanks I have ever had) which was luxuriously planted. He suggested that all of those plants were set in pots and appropriately arranged.

He observed that when the New York residents, who migrated to Florida in the 1920s, '30s and '40s to Florida to set up fish farms and establish their ponds, they discovered that plants thrived and fish grew larger in a pond into which a set of iron bed springs had been dumped. (Someone else noted that home aquarists of the same period noticed that when a plain old nail was accidentally dropped into an aquarium and forgotten, that those plants flourished.)

Iron, of course, is needed by the fish to form hemoglobin. For the plants, iron is needed to make chlorophyll. Neither grew as well - or as large - without adequate iron.

If one can not get usable iron in any other way, commercially available chelated iron will work.  The aquarist should apply it at one drop (from an eyedropper) per gallon in setting up and when doing water changes.

A member of the Chicago Aquatic Gardening Association observed that it seemed like most of the things he was doing to grow lush plants (using the fancy substrate additives and fertilizers) were wrong, according to Prof. Steinback. Bob smiled and took the conversation to the addition of carbon dioxide. Here they heartily agreed - either a lot of fishes in a tank or a CO2 dispenser was recommended. Commercial sources were also mentioned (though I don't have them at hand.) Someplace in Genoa, IL was quite reasonable.

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See also http://listings.allpages.com/il-0107873454-genoa.html

16 hours of light was also suggested as essential. That is assuming at least a couple watts per gallon of water.

Robert also noticed that calcium rich well water is the bane of aquarists wanting to raise plants. Especially when mixed with carbon dioxide, the calcium carbonate, in the water, will form a sheath of calcium bicarbonate on the plants and they will dwindle or die. (Hornwort is something of an exception). The only way to combat too high a mineral level is to dilute it with R.O., DI, very expensive distilled or rainwater (off of a seasoned roof after about 20-30 minutes of rain).

Another way to kill plants is to have just too much "stuff" in it. Bob pulled out a really fancy TDS meter and asked us how many had kept water hyacinth through the winter. Very few raised their hands. He noted how easy it is to let some of the water evaporate in the winter (this sounded a lot like that little "winter mystery death" blurb on fish deaths). Even a vigorous grower like water hyacinth, will just brown with too many ions in the water.

Robert lit up when he saw the large chalkboard across the front of the room (we meet at the College of DuPage). He ran a number of chemical relationships and formulae across it. They made a lot more sense there than in my notes.

We learned then, among other things, that to grow plants, aquarium water, without too much calcium, at a fairly neutral pH, was good. Too many fish wastes were often very bad. Gravel and U.G. filtration do not give our plants the best of habitats. Phosphorous and iron are necessary for plant and fish health. Regular garden soil (without supplements) is about the best we can have to root plants in.

By the way, if plants began to turn white, it is time to repot them since the iron in the soil has been used up. (Much of this will sound more than a bit like Diana Walstad's Ecology of the Planted Aquarium: A Practical Manual and Scientific Treatise for the Home Aquarist. I'm gathering that both parties have done their homework and practical research, and while drawing from similar sources and research sometimes, they have arrived at their own conclusions.)

There were a couple of observations on guppies, perhaps of interest here.

Years ago, Bob arranged for a pond to be built into the hall of the Elgin Community College biology department. It is about 12 feet by 18 feet long by 18 inches deep. The plant growth is luxuriant and varied, assuming water changes are made. Lots of guppies and the Mozambique tilapia thrive in there. The tilapia feed on most of the algae.

I was curious too. (Hope this is correct.) 144 inches by 216 inches by 18 inches will yield 559872 cubic inches, which can be divided by  231 to give us over 2400 gallons of pond in that floor. (Been there, seen that; marveled at it; glad I didn't have to change the water.)

Hundreds of students hurry by that pond each day. They shed extra body cells. Traffic stirs them up into the air. Those cells are popularly known as dust. As the dust settles on the water, surface bacteria and algae interact with those organic goodies to form that white surface skin some of us have seen on fairly still aquaria. The guppies for their part, when not chasing down some of the softer algae, nibble on that surface scum.