Franny, most natives are hard to cultivate. (Needless to say, I'm not a fan of feeding wild-caught fish. A good way to introduce diseases.) Go up to Scales and get some Rosy Reds. Years ago one of the NANFA people did a study for a state agency and found out they out produced everything else. http:/...

Delaware Jim, the eastern shore is a good location for small, slack water acid water natives. If you know of a location, it would be worth considering. We want to keep the travel time short, if we can. (The same species at the Po and Ni Rivers, that's why I suggested it.) I'm leading a trip to the e...

Also, someone mentioned collecting gambusia for their ponds. I don't recommend gambusia for anything other than a species only tank or for feeding to piscivorous species. It's debatable how many mosquito larvae gambusia actually eat. They're also reputed to prey upon the eggs and larvae of more desi...

Another option: A Potomac River Snakehead hunt. There are several wadeable sites, from Little Hunting Creek southward. We went last summer, but didn't get one, so I think our odds will be slim. Also, they're illegal to transport, so if we catch one, we're obligated to euthanize it. Other than that, ...

Hi folks. A few points to consider: I don't know Virginia that well, so I didn't suggest any Virginia sites. ( I can check with Virginia NANFA members, if that's the consensus where we want to go.) There are limitations to collecting plants. Part of that is that I haven't focused on plants--my inter...

That last post was getting a little long, so I guess I'll start another one. My next suggestion would be for an old fashioned fishin' trip, to catch longear sunfish, Lepomis megalotis. This member of that most cichlid-like genus of non-cichlids grows about as large as a medium sized cichlid, say a b...

Hey, is this the thread for the upcoming collecting trip? (Glad I found this.) I'm having a little trouble with this forum. It doesn't have a "view recent posts" link, like the NANFA Forum and the Cichlid forum do. (At least not one that I can find.) So anyway, here are some local options ...

Thanks again, all. I may just have to take a ride out to Lillypons. With "winter resting" can the dormant tubers survive freezing solid? Last night, the water lilly broke the surface with a single solitary leaf, about two inches in diameter. It's really fast growing, considering it's only ...

Thanks, all.

You folks are really helpful and knowledgeable. Over at the NANFA list, they didn't even know what a compact flourescent was.

Some of you mentioned smaller lillies--can you recommend a small variety that will be less likely to take over the tank?

Thanks!

Has anyone tried growing water lillies indoors? I'm trying out some Home Depot water lillies in a low tech non CO2 tank as a means of keeping NH4 levels down. My thinking is that they'll be particularly effective, as the leaf surface comes into contact with atmospheric CO2, thereby allowing them to ...