Great -- When is she going to be here, and when would be good for you?? David----- Original Message ----- From: "Karen Randall" <krandall@rdrcpa.biz>
To: "AGA Advisory Committee" <aga-mcm@thekrib.com> Sent: Tuesday, March 01, 2005 2:36 PM Subject: Re: [AGA-mcm] Input from stores
Yes, of course I want it! And I can take pictures when I bring Christel up in a couple of weeks... which we still ahve to work out.<g>Karen----- Original Message ----- From: "David Lass" <davidlass@villasunscape.com>To: "AGA Advisory Committee" <aga-mcm@thekrib.com> Sent: Tuesday, March 01, 2005 2:23 PM Subject: Re: [AGA-mcm] Input from storesIf you would like it, I was thinking about doing an article on the KISS -- Keep it Simple Silly -- theme. Sort of a "this works for me" thing. This is especially true now, since with my newly liberated large tanks that I no longer have to use to sell fish out of I have gotten into planted tanks. All of them are just plain fish fish fish tanks with plants -- not planted tanks with a few fish. My favorite is a 4' 120 up in the bedroom -- the only tank now up there instead of the 8 or 9 I had before -- Karen will remember them. I used Fluorite Red and have some different vals, ludwigia, rotala rubin and other swords and piles of crypts. Lighting is a new T5 2 lamp fixture. Fish are large schools (20 -- 25 fish) of lemon tetras, ghlow lights, brilliant rasboras, 12 adult black ruby barbs, 4 large pearl gouramis, piles of cory cats and a bunch of large farlowellas. I have never had any algae problems, and fish and plants are doing great. Maybe if/whjen Karen comes by she can take some photos -- my photo skills and equipment are non-existent. So -- if you want an article how many words? If you don't want it I will not be offended.David----- Original Message ----- From: "Karen Randall" <krandall@rdrcpa.biz>To: "AGA Advisory Committee" <aga-mcm@thekrib.com> Sent: Tuesday, March 01, 2005 1:40 PM Subject: Re: [AGA-mcm] Input from storesHi Scott, I don't remember what the added page cost is.But as far as beginner articles are concerned, I have NOT been selecting away from this material... In fact, there will be an article in the next issue by someone who just made the leap from "fish tank to aquatic garden".The biggest problem is getting people to WRITE that kind of article. Whether we get extra pages or not, it has always been a priority of mine to include as many beginner articles as possible. (within reason of course, but it's not like we've been deluged with them<g>)Whether or not we add pages, one possible solution would be to alternate Stranded with a beginner-focused article, if you (or someone else) was game. We do want to be careful not to overload on beginner content, since the ONLY paper magazine with content of interest to more advanced hobbyists is TAG.And while a few people may decide to abandon TAG in favor of the on-line mags now being offered, there are many more who just prefer a professionally printed, bound magazine to read in bed. (can you see where my preference lies?<g>) There will also be others who will choose to subscribe to all three. We saw that with PAM... even when TAG was at its most pitiful, very few people abandoned AGA in favor of PAM... they just subscribed to PAM too.There is something else I'd like to point out too... I don't think you are all talking the same language when you are discussing "beginner" content. I am positive that a "beginner" article I got from either Scott or Phil would be dramatically different from one that I got from Paul or Diana. I am pretty sure that Paul is talking "low tech/low light/non-CO2 supplemented" when he talks about beginner content, while others of us would be thinking about "new to the hobby" when we talk about beginner content.There is a perception, and I think that many shop folk fall in this category, that a tank with higher light and supplemental CO2 is "more complicated" or "too hard" for a beginner. When the truth is that striking a good balance for healthy growth and limited algae in a low light/slow growth system can be MUCH more frustrating.Karen----- Original Message ----- From: "S. Hieber" <shieber@yahoo.com>To: "AGA Advisory Committee" <aga-mcm@thekrib.com> Sent: Tuesday, March 01, 2005 7:07 AM Subject: Re: [AGA-mcm] Input from storesIt's an old dilemma, how to stisfy one audience without losing part of the other. I hope, I believe that TAG helps beginners become more advanced. I've heard complaints that "Stranded" is both too advanced and to much a rehash of "stuff everybody knows." Trying to select the "right" stuff is the hardest and most time consuming part of doing that column. And I only deal with that one small column. I can't imagine trying to wrestle with the problem for an entire Journal. Luckily, the commercial mags, like FAMA and AFM are doing plants articles and they focus on beginners. And then there are the lists -- Maybe we should put in a banner or pronounced box mentioning the AGA-member list and APD as resources for beginners (and advanced aqutic gardeners alike? What's the cost of 4 more pages again? If we added a "beginners" section to try to get more of them early on in their gardening careers, it would be nice if we could announce it as *added* pages so the advanced folks don't think they will be getting any less for their money. sh --- Paul Krombholz <pkrombholz@bellsouth.net> wrote:It would be a good idea to have a sort of cycle running in TAG that covers beginner problems and concerns. These articles could concentrate on low to moderate light tanks and the good old standby plants that thrive in them without CO2 additions. Some of these plants have been neglected as of late. There is nothing like a big old amazon sword or two for eliminating green water problems and maintaining a healthy tank. The big guppy breeders used to use only water sprite in their tanks and claimed many benefits. Maybe they still do. There could be quite a few articles about low tech planted tanks. >Over the past few months I have been giving retail stores I sell to >copies of TAG, and flyers, and tried to get them to sign up some new >members for us. The response has been, as we are well aware, >underwhelming. I've sat down and chatted with a few of the guys I >know best, and they have all had the same reaction. The magazine is >very nice and well done, but the articles are too technical. They >all said that they think it would go over better if there were some >simple helpful hints for beginners -- that the vast majority of >hobbyists who frequent retail stores just want to be able to keep a >few plants alive in a tank with fish. Sotat's what I'm doing. Thweir >comments are pretty well justified, and I think we need to decide if >we do want to go after the newbies out there or keep concentrating >on the advanced plantkeepers. >I throw this out for any discussion that might preove fruitful. >David > -- Paul Krombholz in sunny central Mississippi _______________________________________________ AGA-mcm mailing list AGA-mcm@thekrib.com http://lists.thekrib.com/mailman/listinfo/aga-mcm_______________________________________________ AGA-mcm mailing list AGA-mcm@thekrib.com http://lists.thekrib.com/mailman/listinfo/aga-mcm_______________________________________________ AGA-mcm mailing list AGA-mcm@thekrib.com http://lists.thekrib.com/mailman/listinfo/aga-mcm_______________________________________________ AGA-mcm mailing list AGA-mcm@thekrib.com http://lists.thekrib.com/mailman/listinfo/aga-mcm_______________________________________________ AGA-mcm mailing list AGA-mcm@thekrib.com http://lists.thekrib.com/mailman/listinfo/aga-mcm
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