I hope the big Elf stuffs my stockings full of bags of live fw shrimp!
I can't tell the difference between Erect Moss, Christmas moss and this stuff that's darker and stiffer than java moss so I'm blissfully happy calling everything java moss and using it all equally the same.
Ohh I hope a seamless glass tankf rom germany and a whole bunch of FW shrimp fall under the tree too. Along with a wonderful sand substrate and rocks of slate and a glass defussir for my co2 and a call from mr amano himself LOL. I wonder where he himself buys his shrimp.
If I had to hazard a guess I'd imagine the plants come from Oriental Aquarium based in Singapore, and Tropica from the Netherlands. He did write the foreward for their awesome catalog <i>The Aquarium Plant Handbook</i> and was good friends with the Managing Director, the late Eu It Hai. Oriental has been around for 30+ years and along with Tropica and Florida Aquatic Nurserys (FAN) they are the biggest cultivators of aquatic plants.
If you are looking for Oriental;s stock in the US, many of the online dealers carry their products. Tropica is not available in the US as they ship in rockwool pots and the US has odd rules that say only plants with bare roots can be imported. Tropica is available in Canada.
Your LFS probably orders indirectly thru FAN via a wholesaler. FAN sells very little dictect to a lfs unless the volume is huge.
Yeah ive been hoping to get a catalog, I dont get the rock wool thing since it seems most of the potted plants here are all in rock wool. I still wonder who he gets his plants from. Has anyone ever visited any of his shops?
Join the AGA and get the catalog and other plant related books at a reduced cost.
The potted plants you see in the US are all US cultivated by FAN. The laws on the book requiring bare roots are intended to keep foriegn soil borne contaminants from the local eco-system. While Tropica's cultivatine methods are sterile and the rockwool is devoid of contaminates it's a moot point. They have tried to get an exemption from US Fish and Wildlife and were rebuffed.
And lastly being as there are only 3 major cultivaters in the world I'm sure he sources from them as well his own personal connections he has established over the years. There is nothing that special about the particular plants he uses, only that are grown in proper conditions, hence they look wonderful. You can do it too.
Why not come to the AGA conference Nov 11-14 In the Wash DC area and ask him personaly, he will be there.
I thought about that but i might have to be in Australia during that time Im gonna see if I can go though still...Ill be the one whos hand never goes down lol...Hopefully if I cant make it I can read a bunch of articles on his visit are you going to attend? If you do make sure you tell me everything lol like a school girl I wanna know every single detail Is anyone else going to attend this? I wonder how Amano himself learned what he learned and if he has different experts in each of his shops. Or an adviser to himself who knows all about shrimp etc...I wanna work for him.
Last edited by scrimp on Wed Oct 13, 2004 11:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I will be attending the AGA conf, as a member of the hosting club I am also a volenteer assisting with the behind the scenes preperations. There are several break out sessions scheduled for Saturday afternoon, including Wilma Duncan on Shrimp Breeding, not only will be attending that session but I will be assisting in the preperations for it.
Being the man of few words that I am, do not expect a full blown writeup of the conf or the session from me.