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Victoria's future home January 16, 2003, water temperature 35F. We are under a winter weather advisory today! <Day view | Night view>

1/16/03

Current status is 3 'Longwood Hybrids' and 1 'Atlantis' out of 10 and 15 overnicked seeds. I had to give up on the two remaining seeds.

Monitoring water hardness of now two10 gallon aquariums continues to be a daily task. Also performed daily are pH, nitrite and ammonia tests for my interest only. All levels remain stable and the most important factor, water hardness, is being controlled with continued weekly water changes. No more problem with "Melt". I do continue to lose a leaf now and then but that seems to be the result of age. Victoria's growth cycle occurs so fast! The pictures at the left were taken just days apart! Sometimes a picture can say a thousand words.

Supplementation "weakly weekly" has been a rewarding habit to develop.
I was not able to purchase Fish Emulsion as of my last feeding. I did however purchase and add to my cocktail a supplement called Liquid Ironite.

Liquid Ironite 7-6-6 Analysis: Nitrogen 7.0 % Phosphate 6.0 % Potash 6.0 % Sulfur 1.0 % Boron 0.02 % Iron 0.1 % Manganese 0.05 % and Zinc 0.05 %

Here is a comparison of the analysis of Liquid Ironite that Alan sent us and the Iron Green that we use. There seem to be several formulations of Liquid Ironite and we would suggest the one with less P and K for substitution in our cocktail. We did find a source on line for both here. There is no analysis given for either OR the fish emulsion on the same page but there is only one formulation of Iron Green on the market.

Iron Green 8-0-0 Analysis: Nitrogen 8.0% Magnesium 1.0% Sulfur 5.0% Iron 6.0%

My "cocktail" now consist of: 1/2 of a full-sized Pondtabb in 2 quarts of water and 5ml injected into the soil, 0.5ml of Aquatic Plant Stimulant added directly to the aquarium water and now Ironite. Directions: 1 capful per gallon of water, 5ml injected into the soil. Not a very scientific formula but one that seems to be working for me.

Can we call this a form of Fish Emulsion? This is how I decided to naturally combat my algae problem, with 3 goldfish and 3 algae eaters. It was like magic! Overnight the algae was once again under control and Victorias much cleaner. I believe I have now finally completed a very balanced Victoria indoor natural habitat.

The 'Challenger' and 'Columbia' sprouts we sent Alan are on Page 8b>