Welcomes and Introductions

[nry]

Hi, my name is Chris, I am a plantaholic. I was diagnosed 6 months ago and am undergoing therapy to help reduce the costs involved with Tropica plant addiction.

I work in IT Support for a group of schools in Northumberland. Hit the ripe old age of 30 this week

I live oop norf in Carlisle and my tanks are listed in my signature.

 

[james 3200]

Hello,

Im James from South London, near Croydon and work in the tender department of an electrical engineering company. Graduated form university last summer and have made the jump into the real world.. lol Anyway, i am fairly new into this hobby, now into my third year, and the planted bug hit pretty hard as soon as the first lot of plants i bought just died on me..

Currently got 5 tanks, 4' Planted Discus, ADA 3'. ADA Nano, Shrimp breeding tank & a celestial pearl danio breeding tank.

Looking forward to see where the hobby now goes with a dedicated society which seems to be very dedicated and popular

 

[Thom]

Howdy,

I'm Thom - from South East London, though currently a student at Sparsholt College near Winchester. I'm just finishing my first year on the BSc in fishery studies there.

Only have two tanks running at the moment, as I'm away from home - a 160 litre community, and 70 litre with celestial pearl danios and pygmy cories. Also two small ponds.

I tend to find plants that thrive in my tanks, rather than the other way around...but thats convertable

 

[SuperColey1]

Hello

I am Andy as seen on AE and TFF. I am relatively new to planted (started at Christmas) but have already spent a fortune (and this is after doing lots of cheapy things to keep the cost down)
Not too sure if anyone will find any plants I have worth swapping at the moment as I am still in the algae battle stage and haven't completed my setup yet so maybe once I've won the war as I have many different species. as below:

Hygrophylia Polysperma (unknown sp), Hygrophylia Polysperma Rosanervig, Hygrophylia 'Thai' Stricta, Cryptocoryne Balansae, Ludwigia Repens, Vallisinera Spiralis Leopard, Anubias Barteri v Nana, Anubias Barteri 'Petite', Cryptocoryne Wendtii Brown, Phillipine Java Fern, Dwarf Riccia, Riccia Fluitans, Dwarf Pellia, Fissidens Zippelanius, Echinidorus Bleheri, Bacopa Monnieri, Bacopa Caroliania, Giant Hygro, Nymphea Rubra.

I am in Lincoln, Lincs, 32yrs old, Logistics Administrator at a Compost & Fertiliser manufacturer, 2 sons (2yrs and 10 mnths) and am married to a lovely black portuguese girl (who doesn't understand where all the spare money is disappearing. lol)

Still in the DIY CO2 stage although a lot of it and working quite well.

Vastly overstocked fish, snail and shrimpwise but everybody is a happy family

Looking forward to the future of the society, although I can't drive and I doubt I'll get any positive repsonses from her indoors (Womana sarcastica e cynica) so probs won't be able to get to meets, but we'll see.

Andy

 

[Mr G]

OK time to say hello .......

My name is Al, known/registered as 'Mr G' on AE, TFF and Barreport.

I live in a village called Whitwick (pronouned Wit-Ick, not Wit-Wick ) nr Leicester.
I've only been into planted aquaria for about 18 Months, as with most things I've tried I tend to go in at the deep end.

I've been quiet for the past couple of months as I've been getting my new business up and running. Hopefully now getting enough spare time to become more active on the forums again.

I've been really pleased (actually REALLY, REALLY Pleased) to see the formation of this I'm sure this group will help move on the planted hobby in the UK.

Many thanks to Tom for kick starting this and also to those taking on the running of the group. I only wish I had the spare time to be more proactive and assist with it's running. Seeing George and Graeme involved is a good sign.
For now I'll just have to support and contribute as best as my spare time allows.

Currently running 2 high tech planted tanks and 1 low tech planted.
The 60cm tank is due for a re-scape sometime soon.

Al

 

[eds]

Hi everyone,
I've read George's posts on this on AE and at PFK web sites and finally got round to registering. I'm ed seeley from AE and APC.

I'm 29 from Nottingham and I'm a primary school teacher. My class is Year 5s and 6s (9-11 year olds). I'm very lucky to teach at a school with farm and wood! And as well as having 2 3ft tanks at school (both planted!) I'll be getting the school's Leopard Gecko in my class this week!

I've got four tanks at home as well as a 3,500gal pond with koi and other fish.

Other hobbies are F1 (I'll be at Silverstone again this year), pond keeping, bit of Garden design (my former profession), cricket and squash. All of this when I have time....

Anyway I'll keep checking in as much as possible and looking forward to the chance to swap plants and fish with you all (I keep and breed Dwarf cichlids and killifish as well as planted tanks)

Ed.

 

[FelixWabi-Kusa]

oh! im felix im 16 and live in EDINBURGH scotland!
been planting for a year and work at an lfs part time, i love wabi-kusa!
heres a pic

 

[Gerald]

Hi, I am Gerald, I think the first one who does not fulfil one of the requirements: I'm not from the UK, I'm a German aquarist.
But aquascaping and plants make a major contribution to nano-aquaristics, that's why I am here. I'm maintaining nano-tanks for several years, and, in 8/2006, these preferences encoureged me and other hobbyists to set up a german forum of nano-aquaristics, a bilingual forum, of course.

Registering to UKAPS is a step to see further than the end of my nose, and maybe there would grow a good cooperation between UKAPS and the (mostly) German forum of nano-aquaristics.

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish!

Gerald

 

[Amano Who?]

Hello,

I'm Keith and I am an addict! It has been 16 hours since my last aquarist related purchase and I have been confirmed a lost cause...

I recently got back in to keeping fish after a break of 20 years. I used to work in a nursery selling fish as a nipper and I think I never actually got paid in cash. Well fish at cost plus tax has got to be exploited hasn't it?

Currently I have 4 tanks...

Fluval corner unit, 180L, Co2 + Under gravel heating. Soft water theme with Discus, danios, Rainbow and friends. Location - Lounge

Small 47L off the shelf type with Co2, Bonsai Mountain Range with Amano and Crystal Reds in. Location - Garage

Bay fronted 180L, under gravel heating + Co2. Officially a plant propagating tank but strangely has 5 young Discus in Location - Garage

Finally (and a bit contraversial) a Large Biorb filled with African Cichlids. All of them quite small and will have to move on at some point in the future. Location - Kitchen

Soon to be aquired tank, Small cube nano type for the home office so I can see my CRS.

As hinted above I am already propagating cuttings originally for credit at LFS. Now this has come along so I'll have to do a bit more submarine gardening.

 

[sandfire]

Hi everyone.

I'm Charlotte;

I am 28 and live in Fareham, Hampshire.

I have been keeping fish for about 17 years. My passion is for oddball fish (Pristolepis sp. and FW Puffer) and of course planted aquariums!

I have a couple of large planted aquarium and 3 smaller heavily planted tanks.

 

[bigdanne]

Big Danne

Hi everybody, My name is Dan and I live in Daventry Northants.
I have a juwel vision 180 and it is in the process of becoming a planted tank.
It's only a week old so there is still lots of work to do and i'm gonna need loads of help so you may have to get used to me beeing "that annoying guy whos always asking questions".

 

[Frolicsome_Flora]

Hi everybody, My name is Dan and I live in Daventry Northants.
I have a juwel vision 180 and it is in the process of becoming a planted tank.
It's only a week old so there is still lots of work to do and i'm gonna need loads of help so you may have to get used to me beeing "that annoying guy whos always asking questions".

welcome Bigdanne

Questions are good ask away.. noone knows everything, this is why places like this are heaven sent!

 

[bobtail]

Greetings one and all
Im Paul from the Wirral
Ive a sneaky suspicion that I know a few friends of Moody who used to and still work at the zoo.
I am currently on Inc Benefit so have lots of time and little money, I have just purchased a 4' tank which I pick up on saturday.
I used to keep fish and plants years ago but builders conspired to keep me tank free for a while (they broke my tank!!)
I am very practical and love making things so DIY projects do it for me.

Things have moved on apace so Im getting up to speed with they way things are now.

 

[SueOB1]

Hi - I'm Sue
Living in Kent and married to a fish tolerant hero for 23yrs
3 kids - 16, 14, and 13 but in my 'spare' time have been keeping fish for 15yrs
At my 'worst' had 6 assorted small tanks - but now trying to balance one big one!
The rest are in the garage (maybe) until the kids leave home
Great to have a UK site - hope to see any locals soon!!

 

[keith00]

Hi,

I'm Keith and I am new to this game but have kept a reef tank for 13 years.

The reef tank was supposed to keep me happy in my retirement, some nine years so far and counting, and I was happily using 1500 watts of halide lighting until Staywarm caught onto the fact that I was using a bit more energy than other people in old folks bungalows - hence my move into planted tanks.

My main hobbies are, now, planted tanks, scuba diving and running my two allotments. Oh I have just become a great grandfather.

I am financing my tanks from the sale of my salt water equipment and converted my four foot tank four weeks ago using the Barr modified Walstead approach and am very pleased with the results so far. I started with 200 hygros and now have 30 neons in there together with four corys and 10 Amano shrimps.

This afternoon at 5.30 I will be taking delivery of my new 6' x 2' x 2' tank. The back and one side will be painted black with blackboard paint and I will be glad to get the substrate out of my bathroom and into the tank. For plants I will be getting two collections from Greenline, to see which plants like my environment, and supplementing them with 200 cuttings from the small tank.

I had better stop now.

Regards

 

[Paul999]

Returning to Fresh water after marines

Hi Guys,

Just a quick hello.

I'm Paul from Plymouth.

I'm returning to keeping fresh water tropicals after a 5 year period of marine reef keeping. I'm shutting my 48"x24"x24" reef as i'm getting busier with work commitments and feel that i'm not doing my reef justice. My corals, inverts and fish deserve more attention! Not that i'm under any illusions that keeping a planted tank will be maintainence free

I previously kept fwt for 15 years and my last tank prior to my reef was a 36"x12"x15" planted set up running a basic aeorsol CO2 system.

My plan is to re-establish my present 100 gallon reef tank into a planted system and use the sump contaning another 30 gallons as an external filter type set up. I've already stripped the tank down and have throttled all the flow back to avoid de-gassing. Absolutly silent over the weir and down the standpipe to the sump, no bubbly noises at all!

I'm going to re-employ the existing pressurized CO2 system i'm currently running on the reef, all be it with modifications. I've just bought the Aqua Medic reactor 1000 for CO2 diffusion, looks the business but we'll see how it performs.

Lighting is intially in the form of two twin 55w T5 units with decent reflectors, so appx 210w. Not sure on which T5 lamps to use yet guys? Any suggestions? I want good plant growth obviously but don't want to make the fish appear washed out.

Fish stocking will consist of a large shoal of Boesmani rainbows, A large shoal of Rummy nose tetra, marbled hatchets for the top and some corys for the bottom. My wife has also insisted that we get a pair of kribs as she loved the ones we had in the last set up!

I'm liking the resources available via this forum. Learning new things and refreshing old knowledge!

Cheers,
Paul.

P.s I posted this elsewhere on this site before realising we had a uk section! Doh!

 

[Barney]

Hi I'm Paul (another one, seems everyone is named Paul or James...) I'm 26 next week and live in Deal in Kent.

I have kept tropical fish for about 3 or 4 years now but have not had other the last few months. I have just set up my 4ft 160l tank and decided to go for a fully planted setup as I always likes having planted tanks but could never get any plants to stay alive (and now I know why ).

I'm going for the "hi-tech" route because in short I'm a geek and that kind of thing appeals to me. On the same note I work as an IT support engineer but I'm actually giving serious consideration to getting a job in a LFS as Tech support is driving me nuts!

I do have a couple of other tanks sitting in storage but no space to set them up at the moment.

 

[Coralline]

hi all,

i'm Gill, im 26, from Redditch, (near birmingham). i love my fish and other creatures in tanks.. i have a 4ft reef, a 2ft planted tank with cherry shrimp and bristlenoses, a baby gsp currently in a 20 gall planted as well as it can be with gsp, a 25l aquacube- planted otos, rummy noses and , a 5 gallon planted, a 5gall coral tank, my boyf has a coffee table fishtank- hard work but worth it! and a i have a little four gallon tank into which all the rogue hitchikers from the reef tank end up - so far a couple of crabs and a mantis shrimp i also have some land hermit crabs, and some giant snails!

we met george and graeme and dan at the festival of fishkeeping this weekend, they set up a couple of great tanks, was entertaining to see them working away with hangovers!

i bought a 'show tank' to use as a mini planted tank for on my desk at work, i have wanted a tank at work for ages but water a computers isnt a good mix, but this tank is the equivalent to a couple of large mugs of tea, so might get away with it, i have some interesting mosses to use so will be a nice little project, especially as im going to have to create some lighting for it !

 

[Fishy-Fishy]

Hey, I'm Caz, I'm also 26 and I'm Gill's partner in crime I've got 4 tanks set up at the moment, the biggest is a 37 gallon with some congos, a pair of bolivian rams and a trio of Hoplos. I'm juggling the other tanks at the moment, I've got a 25 gallon, a 12 gallon and an 8 gallon and the fish I have are- 1 adult peacock goby and a whole bunch of babies and 9 celestial pearl danios. I haven't decided where they're all going to end up yet but after this weekend I want to re-aquascape all my tanks

The festival was wicked this year and it was nice to meet the guys from UKAPS. See you there next year!

 

[nickmcmechan]

Hello

Hi, I'm Nick.

I live near Edinburgh, work all over Scotland.

Married with two kids, 2 cats, 2 dogs and 2 many fish!

Starting to get into planting now, just started my first serious setup with eco-complete substrate, pressurised co2, resonable lighting and ei dosing with easy plants...hoping for great results.

Anyway look forward to any help, and hopefully i'll be in a place fairly quickly where i can contribute too.

Thanks.