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We will be meeting at our NEW LOCATION in Costa Mesa.
Balearic Community Center
1975 Balearic Dr Costa Mesa, CA 92626
May 25th, Saturday 12:30 PM
We have a special guest scheduled to be at our next meeting. Tom Barr is a well known figure in the aquatic plant hobby. He is a horticulture professor in the Sacramento area and has traveled the world discussing plants for the aquarium.
He manages the Barr Report Forum (https://barrreport.com/) and is a pillar in our community.
DR. THOMAS C. BARR III
Tom started keeping minnows caught at a local creek in the Midwest when he was 4 years old. They slowly died due to heat and a lack of oxygen. Fortunately for the minnows, he started catch and release thereafter. He started his multiple tank syndrome at the age of 10, quickly stuffing 7 tanks in his bedroom. Spotting a rainbow darter in a local creek, he attempted to keep them alive but again, too hot, but this time aeration and filtration were good. Tropical fish, mostly Rift cichlids and odd ball species were his main interest. Local creeks also provided the 1st plants he kept. Amazingly, the plants did not suffered the same fate at the local native fish. Creeping Charlie from a local creek and water sprite fern were very easy to grow.
Moving to California in late 1980’s, he got larger and multiple tanks once again. This time he wanted a nice planted tank with nice fish, every phyla included, plants, fish, invertebrates all well scaped at a high level. Unfortunately there was not a lot of information and most of it was speculation and myth.
Woefully ignorant, Tom set out little by little, seeing if he could figure out if aquatic plants grew well. It was not one test, but many, using the old principle of falsification. This proves what something is not, it does not prove what something is.” We can never be 100% certain we are correct, but we can be fairly certain of what something is not”. This same approach was applied for over 35 years to many aspects of aquarium keeping and aquatic plant horticulture.
Today, Tom is a professor at American River College teaching Horticulture (1/2 Time) and at Solano College teaching Biology and Environmental Science (1/2 time). He has a PhD from UC Davis in Horticulture and Agronomy from the Department of Plant Science. He has owned an aquarium maintenance business for 15 years. He also over saw the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta submersed aquatic weed program as a Senior Environmental Science and worked for the state’s Food and Agriculture Department to control Hydrilla. Tom wholesales and collects driftwood and stone for aquarium stores across the USA and Canada as one of the businesses he started in 2006. It can be bitter physical work, but he loves it.
The presentation is one that shows the scientific aspects of aquatic plants in the aquarium mesocosm as a model for students and those of a “curious” nature.
Can aquarist use the scientific method to falsify a myth?
Is there research support for what we see in natural systems as well as aquariums where aquatic submersed plants are present?
How do we help others that have problems with aquatic plant Horticulture?
Rough timeline/agenda:
12:30 - 1:00 - Setup (Please arrive during this time if you plan to sell in the auction)
1:00 - 1:30 - Check in and auction preview
1:30 - 2:30 - Announcements, club business, presentation
2:30 - 3:30 - Auction
3:30 - 4:00 - Clean up
Zoom Link: To be provided day-of
Click Here to RSVP (Facebook account required)
Balearic Community Center
1975 Balearic Dr Costa Mesa, CA 92626
May 25th, Saturday 12:30 PM
We have a special guest scheduled to be at our next meeting. Tom Barr is a well known figure in the aquatic plant hobby. He is a horticulture professor in the Sacramento area and has traveled the world discussing plants for the aquarium.
He manages the Barr Report Forum (https://barrreport.com/) and is a pillar in our community.
DR. THOMAS C. BARR III
Tom started keeping minnows caught at a local creek in the Midwest when he was 4 years old. They slowly died due to heat and a lack of oxygen. Fortunately for the minnows, he started catch and release thereafter. He started his multiple tank syndrome at the age of 10, quickly stuffing 7 tanks in his bedroom. Spotting a rainbow darter in a local creek, he attempted to keep them alive but again, too hot, but this time aeration and filtration were good. Tropical fish, mostly Rift cichlids and odd ball species were his main interest. Local creeks also provided the 1st plants he kept. Amazingly, the plants did not suffered the same fate at the local native fish. Creeping Charlie from a local creek and water sprite fern were very easy to grow.
Moving to California in late 1980’s, he got larger and multiple tanks once again. This time he wanted a nice planted tank with nice fish, every phyla included, plants, fish, invertebrates all well scaped at a high level. Unfortunately there was not a lot of information and most of it was speculation and myth.
Woefully ignorant, Tom set out little by little, seeing if he could figure out if aquatic plants grew well. It was not one test, but many, using the old principle of falsification. This proves what something is not, it does not prove what something is.” We can never be 100% certain we are correct, but we can be fairly certain of what something is not”. This same approach was applied for over 35 years to many aspects of aquarium keeping and aquatic plant horticulture.
Today, Tom is a professor at American River College teaching Horticulture (1/2 Time) and at Solano College teaching Biology and Environmental Science (1/2 time). He has a PhD from UC Davis in Horticulture and Agronomy from the Department of Plant Science. He has owned an aquarium maintenance business for 15 years. He also over saw the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta submersed aquatic weed program as a Senior Environmental Science and worked for the state’s Food and Agriculture Department to control Hydrilla. Tom wholesales and collects driftwood and stone for aquarium stores across the USA and Canada as one of the businesses he started in 2006. It can be bitter physical work, but he loves it.
The presentation is one that shows the scientific aspects of aquatic plants in the aquarium mesocosm as a model for students and those of a “curious” nature.
Can aquarist use the scientific method to falsify a myth?
Is there research support for what we see in natural systems as well as aquariums where aquatic submersed plants are present?
How do we help others that have problems with aquatic plant Horticulture?
Rough timeline/agenda:
12:30 - 1:00 - Setup (Please arrive during this time if you plan to sell in the auction)
1:00 - 1:30 - Check in and auction preview
1:30 - 2:30 - Announcements, club business, presentation
2:30 - 3:30 - Auction
3:30 - 4:00 - Clean up
Zoom Link: To be provided day-of
Click Here to RSVP (Facebook account required)
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