From: Erik Olson <erik@thekrib.com>
Reply-To: AGA Aquascaping Contest Planning <aga-contest@thekrib.com>
To: aga-contest@thekrib.com
Subject: [AGA-Contest] reasons for marine exemption (fwd)
Date: Sun, 5 Jun 2005 10:25:38 -0700 (PDT)
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, 05 Jun 2005 17:09:45 +0000
From: S. Lardizabal <slardizabal@comcast.net>
To: showcase@aquatic-gardeners.org
Subject: reasons for marine exemption
I have been keeping a small seagrass tank for months now with the intention
of keeping it in the style of traditional freshwater planted tanks,
veritably creating a saltwater planted tank. Its still a very small and
obscure part of marine aquaria, but its got a little momentum at the
moment. I had planned to enter it either later this year when it looks
settled and well-grown, or next year when the tank is far and away mature.
I was just wondering if the AGA would reconsider its standing on the point
of exempting marine aquaria from submission. I very much agree with
keeping reef tanks out of the picture as they are rarely designed
artistically enough to meet this challenge. I also agree with keeping out
most marine aquaria as a rule. However, this seagrass tank, built and
designed from the perspective of a former freshwater planted keeper, might
be a really interesting entry in the showcase and might prompt a little
extension of what we consider to be a planted tank.
The tank is planted with only vascular plants at the moment, as I cannot
find many macroalgae's that fit into my biotope plans. Also, this tank was
built in the tradition that Steven Pituch started with his Texas watershed
tank back in the 2001 contest. The substrate, the inhabitants and all the
plants were collected out of the Indian River Lagoon system on the Space
Coast of eastern Florida. The intention was for it to be a true recreation
of a seagrass meadow, with some simple artistic enhancements. There are
currently four species of seagrass, grass shrimp (Palaemonetes vulgaris)
and a small fighting conch (Strombus sp.). Future inhabitants are to
include either Hippocampus erectus or Hippocampus zosterae, lined and dwarf
seahorses, depending on what I can find that is captive bred. These are the
only elements of the tank that will actually be purchased.
In my opinion the tank is approximating the seagrass biotope as found off
of the Florida Keys as best as can be had in a confined environment. The
seagrass do not have epiphyte covering their leaves which is the only major
detractor I can find at the moment for the authenticity of this setup.
So, please let me know your thoughts on considering a slight extension on
the brackish water category to include a full blown marine tank. I noticed
that several years ago one of the biotope entries was a mangrove tank, and
this is literally just a few feet off the beach from here to a seagrass
tank. I, of course, respect your decision if you ultimately decide to not
extend the category, but I would like to know if there is anything I can do
to change your mind over the next year or so. I had really hoped to share
this tank through the contest.
To see the evolution of the tanks (the first was a 10 gallon test tank and
NOT an aquascaped design, built mostly for propagation to fill a 20 gallon
for aquascaping) please visit my website at
http://home.comcast.net/~slardizabal/home.html and go marine. The only
species not included in the test tank was Thalassia testudinum, turtle
grass, due to bed size requirements. It now appears in the aquascaped
twenty gallon - an update for this tank will be appearing soon.
Thank you very much for your time! I appreciate all the work that goes
into the AGA contest and have a lot of respect for all the work the
entrants put into their tanks each year and of course the judging committee
of the AGA as well as all the work that goes into creating and hosting the
website. Its a great inspiration to aquarists in many places.
Sincerely -
Sarah
--
Sarah M. Lardizabal
Wildlife Conservation
Green Lab/DBI x4642 rm. 289
University of Delaware
(302) 690 - 7131
slardizabal@comcast.net
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