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Jungle Fan

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Everything posted by Jungle Fan

  1. Well, my friend got back and took all the bobcat photos, but not all of my raccoon photos from the same day. Here is one of a female raccoon staying warm in a snowy environment. I could've used the flash extender to get more lighting on her but I did not have the heart to mess with her in that way after what most likely was a long, hard and cold night out foraging.
  2. Virginia Rail feeding, also this morning.
  3. @Fish Folk would love to share the Bobcat pictures, but they were the main reason for this morning's expedition. A photographer friend of mine got himself in a bind taking commissions for Caribou pictures and Bobcats at the same time. Had it been Canada Lynx he would've been good to go in Fairbanks, however as is I agreed to take the Bobcat pictures for him. There is a female with two cubs in our park and I had to wait for them at their stomping grounds since before dawn this morning, a meadow with plenty of rabbits next to a pond with lots of reeds and brushwork on the edges. If he doesn't take the whole lot I might have some shots for show and tell, however he's got first dibs. Should be about two weeks give and take, because after Fairbanks, he's due for a workshop in Costa Rica. Another great place for Bobcats in Colorado is Cheyenne Mountain State Park, you just have to be out before dawn, and rabbits are their number one prey. Every time he tells me about his schedule in between commissions, and workshops I'm glad I'm retired. With Bobcats you need to make sure you know where the wind is coming from, if they catch your scent you'll never see them. I used to use a blind as well but since today was a gift horse assignment I just went kind of improptu and used some of the brush as a blind.
  4. @Fish Folk They're a bit more elusive, but I know a place where they like to hang out. also got some more shots of Northern Shovelers, Whitetail Deer, Belted Kingfishers, Common Mergansers, Red tailed Hawk, Cooper's Hawk, Canada Geese, American Widgeons, American Coots, Virginia Rail, and some Bobcats this morning but I haven't finished post processing yet.
  5. This morning in our local wetlands nature reserve, courtship of the Hooded Mergansers, Spotted Towhee, and White Crowned Sparrow.
  6. I'm with @Jurrian Hering and @Cory on this. I have friends and family in Germany who love them, but those available on the U.S. market so far have been underwhelming in regards to quality in my experience as well.
  7. I used to take pictures of both Auerhahn (Capercaillie), and Birkhahn (Black Grouse) when I still lived in West Germany. Back then the species were even rarer than today, and you had to spend days camped out in silence in a tent blind for each photo, although being friends with a Forstmeister (Forest Ranger) helped tremendously.
  8. Easy when they do this. The Harlan's Hawk variety can throw one off at first but they sure hang out in the same territory.
  9. What can stop duckweed can stop shrimp, and cheese cloth is non toxic.😄
  10. @Aiden Carter an alternative to any awkward conversations could be a piece of kitchen equipment, namely a piece of cheese cloth, of which several yards can be had for a few bucks and a strong rubber band to attach with to the siphon bell. A friend uses cheese cloth to help him remove duckweed from some of his smaller tanks once he has removed the fry he uses the tanks for.
  11. @Fish Folk, @Patrick_G I too have been using this "high tech" piece of equipment, called nylon stockings, issued to me by my wife for years. not only does it prevent shrimp getting sucked up by the Python system, it also helps to refill the tank without causing turbulence to uproot plants. When it comes to food I have found my shrmp to be less than gourmet oriented, to them pretty much everything seems to be food although I have fed them Dennerle Shrimp King Complete and some other Dennerle shrimp foods in addition to their omnivore foraging in my tank since they first colonized, and conquered the tank. I do want to get them to try the Xtreme Shrimpee Sinking Sticks from Aquarium Co-op next time I place an order though.
  12. By the angle at which the figure holds the piece of equipment, the cumbersome looking targeting device it is looking through, and by the shape of the helmet, I would say an early Swiss shoulder launched anti-aircraft missile device.
  13. Got two new pairs of Valleret photography gloves, one down to around -20 degrees Fahrenheit with Merino liners and fold back index finger and thumb with magnets, the other a pair of arctic mitts for the real cold with zipper to expose the first pair of gloves underneath. So now once again I'm good to go for taking pictures in winter, whether here in the Rockies, or up in Fairbanks, AK taking photos of the Aurora. Also got some new 300Mb/s memory cards for my cameras.
  14. @Paul R I do run CO2 in my tank, not necessarily for the moss but it does seem to respond favorably to it as well. The chop up and rub method has been around for a while and I believe it was pioneered by Takashi Amano when he was still alive, at least it was when I first became aware of it. In my experience it takes longer than what I'm doing though which is to attach the moss with superglue using portions of moss and attaching each piece by the originating point only, spraying with water after each piece to accelerate the setting process. I've actually described it in more detail in my 75 Gallon Amazon Jungle Tank Journal. Even though the Phoenix moss is actually from here in the States originally and the Christmas moss from Indonesia they both have the same requirements. As to lower temperature needed as some people insist I can dispel this myth my tank is kept at a steady 78.6 degrees F; the same goes for the "if you grow it too close to the surface it will be overrun by algae" neither my Phoenix moss, or the Christmas moss have that problem despite of their location. I do have to point out that I don't know of any tanks that are 100% algae free, not even the Prize winning aquascapes. Algae is a fact of life whether it gets to take over and dominate depends on how well the components of nutrients, light, and temperature are balanced. In case you would like to read what I posted in regards to moss attaching methods here's a link to the post on my journal:
  15. @tolstoy21 Of course there are other ways to cover a wood stump but trust me for "fast: in epiphytes and rheophytes Java fern and Anubias are my choice, everything else takes a loooooooooooot longer.
  16. Merry Christmas @John in NZ and welcome to the forum,
  17. This evening we had -25° F here in the Rockies of Colorado, almost -32° C and that's without the wind chill, even my friend in Fairbanks, AK had higher temperatures tonight with only -6 ° F, which is hard to believe. I'm grateful to have a garage for my car.
  18. My Java fern experience is more like what @tolstoy21 describes, I can't keep mine from growing in places where I want it, and some where I don't. I've given lots of plants and rhizomes away now. In my experience if you want to cover a wood stump with plants in a hurry there's nothing better than Java fern, Anubias, Bucephalandras, and moss.
  19. Don't want to be the bearer of bad news but this doesn't look like just a simple nutrient deficiency to me but more like Anubias rot that has been around for a few years now. Over the last few years I've read several articles on it now and they all seemed to point in the direction of growers from somewhere in Asia who experimented around with trying to create new hybrids like Anubias Golden Coin, Anubias Golden Leaf, Anubias Jalapeno, a.s.o. and apparently some did not utilize legitimate mutations but actually plants that were infected with some kind of bacteria or virus which caused Anubias which is generally a nearly indestructible plant to melt away in a way that turns even the rhizome to mush. Christel Kasselmann also mentioned this in her latest book on aquarium plants in her chapter on the different varieties of Anubias. If it is just a nutrient deficiency then by providing sufficient nutrients and light your plant will recover, I have literally cut all leaves of some of my Anubias rhizomes which I had cut into small pieces to create new plants and a healthy rhizome will grow new leaves. If the rhizome is turning to mush however I would get rid of it and probably not plant Anubias in that tank again because Anubias rot spreads. A friend of mine lost all his Anubias in a heavily planted Discus tank of his that had Anubias attached to all the driftwood in his 200 gallon tank which had no other plants besides some Java fern, and a few clumps of Bucephalandras about a year ago right after he had introduced some Anubias golden coin to the tank. So like I said I'd cut off the damaged leaves, and make sure to supply enough nutrients first and would wait to see if the plants recover but if the rhizomes turn to mush I'd get rid of the Anubias and I'd not plant Anubias in the tank ever again unless I would ever break down the tank and thoroughly disinfect it before using it again.
  20. @Paul R Here's a view from the other side that shows the difference between the Phoenix and the Christmas moss much clearer.
  21. @Paul R What you see in these pictures is mostly Phoenix moss Fissidens fontanus, but I've also got a good amount of Christmas moss Vesicularia montagnei on one of the branches. Here is a side view from the stump on the left that shows the two branches of the stump on the right; the big rounded mound is the Phoenix moss while the other branch has both Phoenix, and Christmas moss.
  22. Here is one of my Blue Dream recombinants I was talking about, although this little guy is a little paler than some of the other red and white ones that have appeared. PS: This picture was taken right after I had been sick and before the longest, epic maintenance session ever; hence the green dust algae on the glass.😄
  23. I don't regret going with my Blue Dream Neocaridinas, added to my gentle giant Amanos. I started with six Blue Dreams and now there are well over a hundred. Every once in a while a red, orange, or white and red recombinant show up among them, my wife and I consider them pleasant little surprises.
  24. Looks exactly like this image, the bright green color is only present in the young shoots, once they are fully grown they turn into this dark olive green and the leaves mostly stand up, not lay flat as in this image, other than that I would say this is Cryptocoryne wendtii "Green Gecko".
  25. @RennjiDK Correct! However if you brought 700PAR to bear on freshwater plants you'd end up with a wonderful soup of green algae and tissue mush, would be nice if the modifications they make to the reef lights would bring the prices they charge down a bit, alas they are used to making a big buck of those who are willing to shell out $300 to $400 for some fish.
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