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March GWAPA meeting at Batfish Aquatics, w/ Brightwell Order

JLW

CCA Members
Hey folks,

Have you heard of the Greater Washington Aquatic Plant Association? This is the club where you can learn to keep green things other than Plasticus planticus in your aquarium. :) The March meeting of GWAPA will be held at Batfish Aquatics in Silver Spring, MD on March 28th. Please E-mail me at BatfishAquatics@gmail.com for the address and/or directions, if you'd like to attend. Joshua Wiegert (I) will be speaking on Mycorrhizae and Their Association with Aquatic Plants, which should be a really interesting topic. And might help you understand why Furan kills plants.

In addition, I'm putting together at least one group buy for the club -- which will be a great way to get some really cool plants, fertilisers, substrates, things like that. The first one is from BRIGHTWELL. As some of you know, I recently became a Brightwell distributor, and have access to their full line of products. Brightwell has quickly become one of the leaders in fertilisers and aquarium plant products, especially substrates. Their Japanese fired substrates are second to none, and really unique. Unfortunately, as a special "niche" product that most people will buy only when setting up a new tank (unlike, say, fertilisers, which you'll buy every other week), most stores are hesitant to carry them, and it is incredibly difficult to find these substrates. Well... I got 'em. ;)

Additionally, Brightwell makes a series of fertilisers which are just fantastic, with many (in)famous aquarists and planted tank gurus swearing by them. They've also released several new products, and I haven't listed them all -- just the ones I immediately thought would be of interest to the group.

In addition to the Brightwell line of products, they have teamed up with a company called "Continuum Aquatics." Continuum Aquatics makes a series of algae scrapers that are, bluntly, the best on the market. These aren't just algae pads, but good quality, handled scrapers. They're the ones I have used in my maintenance company for years. They come in a variety of lengths for reaching all the tight corners of the aquarium, although the most useful is probably the "Short," which is about 3-4" long and fits comfortably in your hand. They have three different blades for them. There's a plastic blade which is acrylic safe, star-fire glass safe, etc., and will not damage these substances (unlike some knock-off blades). There's a Stainless Steel Blade which I do not recommend you use on your acrylic tank, but will not damage glass, and removes even the most stubborn diatoms. Lastly, there's the AquaMop, which is a large area algae pad with replaceable pads. They're great.

Brightwell also makes a great selection of filter media, cichlid additives, and more -- if you're looking for their products, please let me know -- I only added the plant stuff to the list, but I'll gladly add the rest if people want it!

If you are a GWAPA member, head over to their forum (www.gwapa.org), and check out the member's only section. I put a link in the Member's Only section where you can order this stuff. Please add to the spreadsheet there. Please also e-mail me your order at BatfishAquatics@gmail.com.

Orders must be received by Wednesday the 18th by no later than 2 PM . Pickup will be at the GWAPA meeting here. Payment in advance via CC / PayPal is appreciated (PayPal to BatfishAquatics@gmail.com)!

Here is the the link to VIEW the availability.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharing

If you are not a GWAPA member, you cannot edit the spreadsheet, only view it. Please e-mail me an order. Note that GWAPA members (and only GWAPA members) can take 5% off their total, but either way, I'll be donating 5% of the total sales back to GWAPA!
 

chriscoli

Administrator
Oooh mycorrhizae! I put in a bit of time as an undergrad in an ecology lab waaaay back picking through pinon pine roots so that some grad student could do DNA typing on the mycorrhizae.

Mycorrhizae is awesome!

(oh, yeah, and the Brightwell order sounds fantastic, too!) :)
 

Becca

Members
I have some of this substrate listed for this group order in a couple of smaller tanks and it is WONDERFUL stuff. It comes in Medium (5mm), Fine (3mm), and Extra Fine (1mm) options and in 3 different colors - a reddish brown, a coffee-brown, and an almost black brown.

There is NO dust and no ammonia spike. The shrimp I keep in tanks with this stuff do fabulously, too.

It's not the cheapest, but if you want "dirt tank" plants without "dirt tank" hassles, this is the way to go.

The 25 lb bags are tough to find and are a good value if you're working with larger tanks or multiple tanks.

It is similar to Fluval Stratum, ST AquaSoil, or ADA Amazonia AquaSoil, but a little less expensive and with more size/color options.
 

Tangcollector

Active Member
Staff member
Josh,
If I want to place and order but I will not be at the GWAPA meeting, can you hold it for me so I can pick it up at the April 18 CCA meeting if you are going to be there.
 
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