GWAPA – January 2008 Meeting

On Saturday, GWAPA kicked off 2008 with its first meeting of the year. Dave had been working for months on getting his basement ready for us to aquascape his newly installed 180G aquarium. Dave is doing a soil-based substrate, using mineralized topsoil with a few added nutrients, as his base. It’s capped with a layer of 3M Color Quartz pebbles.

Of course, the hardscape is made up of our porous mossy rock and manzanita, both from California. Being such a large tank, he’s trying to keep it manageable by using lower maintenance plants, such as crypts, anubias, and java fern. There are some other exotics, such as Pogostemon stellatus and Hygrophilia sp. ‘Low Grow’ as well.

Prior to scaping, Dave gave a nice presentation about the Golden Ratio, using yarn, strewn across the front of his tank to demonstrate the principle. As you can see, he’s applied the rule of thirds when setting up his hardscape, as well as, using asymmetry in terms of the size and numbers of rocks in each grouping to make the hardscape appealing to the eye.

We had a huge auction at our meeting this month, as well. I brought the most plants I think I’ve ever brought to a meeting. That’s what happens when there’s almost 2 months in between meetings! My tanks are looking a bit bare right now as a result.

Thanks to Jeff U for the meeting pictures!