I love Aquarium Gardens.  Such a great aquascaping shop.  They recently opened a new larger operation in Peterborough, so I thought I’d check it out.  Owned by Dave Pierce (no relation) they stock plenty of aquascaping kit and plants.  They also have a showroom where you can get some inspiration. They only moved in two […]

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It is a struggle to find plants that can thrive in the Shrimphaus.  The combination of low-KH high-GH “low tech” not-CO2 injected water seems to make things difficult.  I recently gave up on the reputedly “easy” Staurogyne Repens.  Still, lots of plants left to try.  This time we’re having a go with another “easy” plant:  […]

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Having some red in the Fireplace Aquarium gives some nice contrasting colours.  I picked up some AquaFleur Rotala rotundifolio ‘Blood red’ to see how that would do. Red aquarium plants There are lots of good choices to provide some red colour in a planted aquarium.  I had very good success previously with Ludwigia palustris mini […]

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Replanting actually…  I was looking for something that could grow submersed in the back right corner of the Shrimphaus that might be able to break the water surface and grow emersed.  Amazon sword plants (Echinodorus species) are sometimes able to do that and I looked for an intermediate sized one with interesting aspects and came […]

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It’s been a challenge to find an epiphyte that looks good on the mountain.  I tried Anubias nana ‘Snow White’ which failed to grow, and the similar Anubias nana ‘Pinto’ which grew fine but looked too big for the nanotank.  Also in the mix was Bucephalandra caterina which grew well and kind of resembled a […]

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According to the British Bryological Society (naturally), Riccardia chamedryfolia, also known as ‘Jagged Germanderwort’ is a liverwort with a thalloid growth form and is naturally occurring in most parts of the world including commonly in the UK.  There is a lot more biology-talk about liverworts vs. mosses vs. hornworts that I don’t understand, but I […]

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The Royal Botanic Gardens at Peradeniya, just outside of Kandy in Sri Lanka, is a beautiful horticultural site and a highlight of a visit to central Sri Lanka.   Emersed plant house video tour – Royal Botanic Gardens, Sri Lanka Of aquarium interest, the gardens feature an emersed-growth aquatic plants house, showcasing plants that grow with […]

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