# Killies Import > Planted Tanks >  Diana Walstad's "Ecology of the Planted Aquarium"

## RonWill

Dear all,

I'm interested in buying the book, *"Ecology of the Planted Aquarium: A Practical Manual and Scientific Treatise for the Home Aquarist"* by Diana L. Walstad.

Amazon.com seems to have better prices over other online retailers but I'd prefer to get it local. Anyone knows who stocks this title?

For those who own both the June 2003 and January 2000 editions, is there any major updates?

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## TanVincent

I just bought the 2nd edition. The difference is a 2 page worth of pictures on the front. As for the content, I am still digesting. Got a signed copy from diana herself.

If you are interested, i can get her to send another copy signed  :Smile: 

Cheers
Vincent

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## RonWill

Vincent,
IMHO, an autographed copy inspires and adds a personal touch of commitment to the literary work. Yes, I'd like to buy a copy (yes, signed please :wink: )

Is it appropriate to know the cost, in case there're others interested and want to share shipping.

Let me know how to remit payment.

BTW, are you the same Vincent who bought my set of 4 Amano books?... just a feeling.

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## TanVincent

first, i am not the vincent that bought your book. I dun fancy amano anyway  :Smile:  I personally like luis navarro.

Anyway, I paid USD14 for the shipping. The book is USD30.

Cheers
Vincent

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## hobbit6003

Hi Ron,

Haha, perhaps an autographed copy bring about a kind of a placebo effect?

Anyway, I've gotten the Jan 2000 edition. If you don't mind, I can lend it to you first.

It is a good book, which provides lots of info on the fundamentals of aquabotany, with good technical info, IMHO.

Cheers,

Kenny

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## dts_spawn

Can anyone lend them to me? i tried the library so many times but always not avalible. but of course, priority given to ron.  :Very Happy:

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## RonWill

> It is a good book, which provides lots of info on the fundamentals of aquabotany, with good technical info, IMHO.


Kenny, thanks for the loan. It looks well-written and will probably keep me occupied for a while. Can I safe-keep it until my copy arrives?

Vincent, is it possible for Diana to ship the book via USPS's Economy Surface (Letter), which is more affordable. If that's not a problem, I'll order a copy for personal reference. Not sure if anyone else would be interested but let me know how to proceed from here.

Willy, I'm not at liberty to loan out another person's property. Better you check with Kenny or better still, order our own... share costs and we can even do Air.

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## TanVincent

Hi,

I am not sure if it is possible to ship by usps priority. Let me check with her. If there are anyone who wants to buy a book, please do let me know and maybe combine shipping will be cheaper.

Cheers
Vincent

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## dts_spawn

> Willy, I'm not at liberty to loan out another person's property. Better you check with Kenny or better still, order our own... share costs and we can even do Air.


haha.. i know.. i was asking kenny. and i'm just a poor little student who is damn broke.. sorry..  :Opps:

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## RonWill

Willy, I don't know who is poorer, a student receiving pocket money or a father of 3 with home mortgage to service. Still, that does not excuse me from addressing the person to which the posting is directed.

Meanwhile, if you want, I do have a keyboard with working CAPs key... and the first letter in a person's name is usually capitalized.

Vincent, thanks for doing this on my behalf. Will you be ordering directly from Diana herself? I've been flipping through Kenny's copy and it's a keeper!

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## FC

Willy,

If you find "Caps Lock" troublesome, I have a left "Shift" key to spare since I use only the right "Shift" key. I sound offensive but so is your lazy typing.

I would appreciate if you make an effort to change that.

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## FC

Ronnie,

It was interesting to see your tanks, the way to handle them reminds me of what I read in Diana's book. You are already practicing her idealogies. May I ask again, how do you keep plants with 1 cm thick of gravel (there is no base fertiliser, right?)? *amazed*

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## TanVincent

> Vincent, thanks for doing this on my behalf. Will you be ordering directly from Diana herself? I've been flipping through Kenny's copy and it's a keeper!


Hey Ron,

I'll be ordering firectly from her.

Cheers
Vincent

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## RonWill

> May I ask again, how do you keep plants with 1 cm thick of gravel (there is no base fertiliser, right?)?


Freddy, with such a thin substrate bed, there's no room for additional fertilizers.

Newly introduced plants will have their roots spread out and weighed down with rocks. As new roots develope and digs into the substrate, the rocks can be removed without having the plant float up.

I did the same thing to the _Barclaya longifolia_ you collected, as well as that thick jungle of _Vallisneria_. It was an experiment to try achieve a massive network of roots, becoming a 'living and active' base. Sometimes, when the roots hit bottom, these grow out of the gravel and into the water column... looking like mangroves.

The 4th pic in the beginning of the thread, with the AUS Gold, has roots popping out everywhere.

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## hammy

Hi all,

Have I missed the boat? :P Has the order been made yet? If not, can I be included in the 'list-of-buyers' as well?

And Freddy, what is your personal take on the book?  :Smile:

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## PohSan

Hi Ronnie and Vincent,
I am poor too but I would like to buy the book also. Please include me in the list. Any kind of shipment will be fine with me.Thanks. 

Regards,
Ong Poh San

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## TanVincent

hmm...

how about we allow till end of the week (friday) to consolidate the number of books to order. Then I will forward the order to Diana and then we shall see how much each will have to fork out. Sounds cool?

Cheers
Vincent

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## FC

Selwyn,

This Diana's book is very interesting but just like any books/theory/beleive, it is subject to individual perspective.

What I like about her version of handling planted tank is the care less regime. However, I am sceptical about putting away CO2. CO2 definately improve plants in term of plant's colour, size and texture.

Her books are easy to understand in the beginning but start to turn very dry when she touch on bilogical and chemistry part which readers with good foundation on them to appreciate her analysis.

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## dts_spawn

> Willy, I don't know who is poorer, a student receiving pocket money or a father of 3 with home mortgage to service. Still, that does not excuse me from addressing the person to which the posting is directed.
> 
> Meanwhile, if you want, I do have a keyboard with working CAPs key... and the first letter in a person's name is usually capitalized.


Haha.. Sorry.. Let me rephrase myself.. I'm just a student taking hard earned money from my parents which I don't not want to waste. The money I have now are not mine and I feel that I do not have the right to spend so much of their money. I know how hard my parents work and I do not want them to see me spending so much of their money. You are also a father and I'm also very sure you won't want your children to spend your hard earned money like nobody's business. By borrowing the book, I just want to know more about planted tanks and also trying to save my parent's money. As they say, "it is easier to save a dollar than to earn one" And as for the second part, I'm also sorry as i didn't know about such ruling and now know, i will abid by it. i'm here just to learn and i don't mean to offend anyone. Sorry, Kenny.

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## hammy

> hmm...
> 
> how about we allow till end of the week (friday) to consolidate the number of books to order. Then I will forward the order to Diana and then we shall see how much each will have to fork out. Sounds cool?
> 
> Cheers
> Vincent


Hi Vincent, 

COOL!!

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## RonWill

> how about we allow till end of the week (friday) to consolidate the number of books to order.


Vincent, that's good with me. LMK how to remit payment, best if it's possible via internet banking.

Willy, I'll see what I can do for you.

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## dts_spawn

[quote="RonWill"]


> Willy, I'll see what I can do for you.


Ronnie, thank you very much!  :Smile:

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## timebomb

> And as for the second part, I'm also sorry as i didn't know about such ruling and now know, i will abid by it. i'm here just to learn and i don't mean to offend anyone. Sorry, Kenny.


Willy,

We accept your apology and we are glad you are beginning to understand why we seem to have many rules  :Laughing: .

I know things are different in other local-based fish forums so newbies tend to ignore basic etiquette when they post here. 

It's not so much a rule but a basic act of courtesy that when addressing someone, especially one whom you do not know personally, you always type his or her name in initial capitals. The folks here in killies.com strongly believe that one should always behave courteously towards others even though we're just talking to each other through the net. It would be good for you to remember this. 

Lazy typing gives people the impression that you don't give a damn what others think. We don't hold anything against you as we are aware it's a habit you picked up in other forums. Here in Killies.com, we try to change the culture. We want this to be a place Singaporeans can be proud of.

By the way, your parents would be proud of you if they know how thrifty you are with their money :wink:

Loh K L

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## RonWill

> What I like about her version of handling planted tank is the care less regime. However, I am sceptical about putting away CO2. CO2 definately improve plants in term of plant's colour, size and texture.


Freddy, I think this is where our perspective of things differ. The concept of low to no maintenance appeals to me and personally, I believe that CO2, while important, is not the key to a balanced eco.

I'd like to share with you, a really tiny setup...

Front cropped view (clickable image)

This is nothing out of the ordinary. So what about it??

It has no piped CO2, no fert base, no fert dosage* and the UGF was 'disabled' about 6months back, so effectively, it's the plants working as filters.
*ok... this may not be all true. It receives a short squirt of TMG... when I feel like it.

Light source is what it receives from ambient lighting... not even a desk lamp.

For those who think that only *big* setups will work, the tank in question is only a 3 gal (around 10 litre) cheap plastic tank! It's last tour of duty was playing home to a trio of *Aplochelius panchax*.


Top frontal view

Topping up water is all the maintenance I do and no spot algae cleaning required for the past year... try that with your tank!  :Rolling Eyes:  




> Her books are easy to understand in the beginning but start to turn very dry when she touch on bilogical and chemistry part which readers with good foundation on them to appreciate her analysis.


My understanding of chemistry is pathetic but I try to learn what I can.

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## FC

Ronnie,

Sounds terrific, that means . . . I can start thinking about a no maintenance tank outside my house . . . any narrow (1ft wide) long tank to spare?

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## RonWill

Freddy,
While I appear to have many empty tanks (for now), most are already allocated to permanent setups for killies, with the remaining few for experiments on low-maintenance tank. I've not tried 'aquatic soil' for ponds but I think that has potential too.

My downstair neighbour asked the same question about the tanks last weekend and yes, he's also game in trying out these 'no-fuss' planted tanks.

But let's see if I'm mad enough to actually utilize all the newly acquired tanks and should there be any balance, I'll let you know.

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## TanVincent

Hi,

Back to the main topic of book ordering. Please fill in the list below, it will be easier for me.

Title : Ecology of the Planted Aquarium
Price : USD30
Shipping : to be confirmed upon ordering

Interested Party






Cheers
Vincent

P/S Ronnie, please contact me at 94889366. It is regarding the package you are about to receive....

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## PohSan

Interested Party 

1) Ong Poh San,

Thanks Vincent. BTW, will it be better to PM you the name so that you can edit your list or else this thread might becoming too lengthy?

Thanks,
Ong Poh San

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## RonWill

Interested Party 

1) Ong Poh San
2) Ronnie Lee

eh Poh San, you're quick! :wink:

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## PohSan

Hi Ronnie,
Hmm.. just a few seconds faster. :wink: 

Regards,
Ong Poh San

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## TanVincent

Okie, PM sounds fine. I will post out the final list tomorrow evening. Then I'll write a love letter to Diana.

Cheers
Vincent

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## TanVincent

Hi all,

I got a total of 4 person who are interested in the book. They are Ronnie, Ong Poh San, Selwyn and Zulklifi.

I will PM you all regarding the cost of shipment for the book, that is when she replied  :Smile: .

I will be paying from my paypal account first and then we can work on the amount to pay per person.

Cheers
Vincent

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## Barbarik

Vincent,
If the order has not been process yet, can you count me in???

Regards,
Yandy

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## TanVincent

Ooops Yandy,

I have paid for the order. Just waiting for the shipping charges to come in.

Let me see if i can add one more order.

Cheers
Vincent

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## lvanilla

> I just bought the 2nd edition. The difference is a 2 page worth of pictures on the front. As for the content, I am still digesting. Got a signed copy from diana herself.
> 
> If you are interested, i can get her to send another copy signed 
> 
> Cheers
> Vincent


Hi Vincent,
can I have a copy too? Hope I m not too late. Thanks.

Cheers,
Lvanilla

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## TanVincent

Hi all,

This is a message to all who ordered the book. The cost of shipping is too much for air-frieght. She suggested surface mail which will take up from 4 to 6 weeks to freight. I agreed to that option as I think USD70 is too much to pay for air freight.

For those who ordered, please contact me at 94889366 if there are any queries.

By the way, the shipping charges for the books via surface mail is USD11. Divided by 5 person, each one will have to come up with USD2.20. Therefore, the total amount each is USD32.20. We'll take the exchange rate for today. After conversion and rounded up to the nearest dollar, it is SGD58 each.

Cheers
Vincent

P/S I hate long messages  :Smile:

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## PohSan

Hi Vincent,
Thanks for coordinate the book ordering. Please PM me your bank account number so that I can transfer the money to you via internet banking. Thanks.

Regards,
Ong Poh San

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## RonWill

Vincent, I think it'll be easier if you emailed the account details for bank transfer (have to specify whether Savings or Current).

Thanks for getting the order through and going Surface is great! D*mn, I love it when we put our heads together :wink:

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## TanVincent

Sure thing Ronnie. For those who ordered the book, you can email me at [email protected]. Then I will be able to send account information over the email. For those who prefer to pay when the book arrives, by all means  :Smile: 

Cheers
Vincent

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## TanVincent

Hi all,

Just got an email from Diana. She will be shipping the books this week.

Cheers
Vincent

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## TanVincent

Hi all,

Here is the reply i got from Diana.






> Hi Vincent,
> 
> This is just to let you know I sent off the books on 5/13 surface mail to
> arrive in 4-6 weeks.
> 
> Hope that you receive them in timely manner!
> 
> Diana


Cheers
Vincent

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## lvanilla

Hi Vincent,
we spoke before. May I know when will u order again? If u do, I want 2 copies instead of 1. Thanks.

Cheers,
Lvanilla

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## TanVincent

Hey Lvanilla,

I will only order again when the shipment arrives. I will message you when the time arrives 

 :Very Happy:  

Cheers
Vincent

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## A.Rashid

Vincent,

Please include me in your next round of order.

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## RonWill

Vincent, I understand that 4 person ordered the book but 5 copies are on the way. Those who confirmed are Poh San, Selwyn, Zulklifi and myself. Is the 5th copy for Yandy?

It pays to hang around and followup on the threads... so Lvanilla and Rashid, next time, be more alert!  :Laughing:   :Laughing:

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## A.Rashid

> It pays to hang around and followup on the threads... so Lvanilla and Rashid, next time, be more alert!


Yes sir, 
Actually I didnt want to order the 1st time round then since Lvanilla made the move to order so I chip in hoping more will order. heheheh

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## TanVincent

Hi Ron,

Yes the last book is for Yandy.

Cheers
Vincent

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## lvanilla

> Hey Lvanilla,
> 
> I will only order again when the shipment arrives. I will message you when the time arrives 
> 
>  
> 
> Cheers
> Vincent


Hi Vincent, okie await for your good news. Thanks.

Hi Ron, I just join this forum, bad timing, so.... miss the boat....

Cheers
Lvanilla

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## hammy

Hi all, any idea on the progress of this matter? Like, have the books arrived?  :Question:

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## TanVincent

Hi all,

I got the books in today. Those who ordered, please do contact me at 94889366. As I have reformatted my PC since the last time, I have lost some of the contacts along with it.

Cheers all
Vincent

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## RonWill

... so quick?? Don't expect it to be in for at least a few more weeks (or do time flies around here?)

Vincent, you really ought to archive/backup some of these things... but then a pack-rat shouldn't be giving advice  :Laughing:  

I saved some of that 'dunnowat' moss and plant for you and if curiousity gets a grip... show me yours and I'll show you mine (urm... still referring to the moss, ya?  :Laughing:   :Laughing:  )

It'd be cool to see if terrestrial sphagnum can be incorporated into a Walstad-styled setup :wink: 

Gimme a buzz at 9295 4554

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## TanVincent

Hi Ronn,

Thanks for the advise on archiving, i made a silly mistake by writing to the same CD-R twice, deleted the old archive.

As for the moss, yes only the moss, i'll be glad to show you. As well as the other mosses that came with the package.

As for the book, want me to send it to you? That will cost you an arm and a leg.

Cheers
Vincent

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## RonWill

Other mosses? Cool stuff! Yeah, it be interesting to see and take some pics of them too (even tho I'm not a "plant-person").

Vincent, it'd most most kind of you to drop by... if you "happen to be in the area" but let me wait for the 'arm & leg' to spawn first. I should have some armlets & leggets available by next week  :Rolling Eyes:  

BTW, how are the others collecting their books (if they haven't already paid up... hint hint)

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## PohSan

Hi Vincent,

Where is your convenient place to meet for collection (home and work)? I will see if it is near to my home or work place. I may be able to collect for Ronnie also. 

Regards,
Ong Poh San

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## TanVincent

Hey Poh San,

I stay in Jurong West. In fact, I could leave your book with Ronn.

CHeers
Vincent

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## PohSan

Hi Vincent,
Jurong is pretty far from my place. Please pass it to Ronnie then. 

Knock! Knock! Ronnie! Anyone home?

Thanks a lot.

Regards,
Ong Poh San

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## Barbarik

Vincent, you have my hp number right? Give me a call to arrange the collection of the book. 
Ronnie, do you want me to collect the book (& Poh San's) for you?

Regards,
Yandy

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