Im not saying its too expensive per se or that its not worth every single penny ,I know it would be money well spent its just money I've not got at the moment.
After I have got my fundamentals for the tank set up I will be subscribing

"After I have got my fundamentals for the tank set up I will be subscribing"

Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free ?

Trust me I understand the general emotion. Sounds reasonable enough...Unfortunately There are manufacturers, and retailers that are counting on just that ! An Uneducated Consumer, is a Generous Consumer !!!

Filters that are half baked. Terrestrial plants that have no business what so ever in an aquarium. Fancy Beautiful VHO lights that are the wrong spectrum entirely or over powered, hot and loud. Simple chemicals with hyped up packaging at an 800% mark up etc... Sadly these charlatans may account for 50% of the retail product sold. Half the books on the shelves are misquoted or just plain plagiarized, regurgitated Pseudoscience Hogwash !!!

No Thanks ! 10% of nuthin is still NUTHIN !!!

Tom and Greg have saved me a small fortune and I barely get to compensate them as it is. I'll re-up for the Lifetime Membership soon enough... and won't even give it a second thought.

I've been in the Aquarium hobby for 40 years. I have a Masters in Marine Biology, and a Bachelors in Organic Chemistry. Yet I still learn something new every single day.

Like what side my bread is buttered on Fer Instance... Best Of Luck, Prof M

I have kept fish and plants for quite a few years and have half a clue on the hows and whys. I discovered by accident that of you ignore the shop and dont use a UG filter your plants grow much better, along with not buying an air pump. I have my tank set up it has good growth, algae of 2 of 3 forms, snails and it doesnt look pretty but its there and it gives me a focus and the opportunity to try things out.
I found this site after Id started buying after checking out the subscription its a pittance for sure .
I need no convincing that I need to subscribe

to anyone reading who hasnt set up yet, Dont do it like me !! Subscribe first

Well, you are involved in the local club as well.
I kicked that ball going as it .....was..... well....just that time. UKAPS can help you save a lot and achieve a lot of goals.

Cost: some time. Some plant sales drives
The goal here is similar. Some time = some plants grown out and sold.

But the services provided are very different and synergistic.
This is true for any other free forum, local club etc.

I am not trying to be like any other forum, we have plenty as it is.
This forum is all plant business and produces a newsletter every month that is unlike anything else. There are not any hobbyists that routinely respond in the hobby like myself. There are excellent Aquatic plant Biologist, but they rarely if ever post anything. So in that regards, I am unique, however it's not something I have pride for, rather regret, I wish there were more like me.

I wish folks could see and put this stuff together easier. I'm certainly not the best, but I try given the time constraints I have.

Still, there are not other folks that will do this, test this, write this, share this etc.

I'm not trying to sell you, I'm a lousy salesman, I am trying to help the hobby out as well as you.

If I save someone 100$ with my help(test kits alone for most folks save this with using EI), then some $ for good articles specifically on plants, mixing research and practical aspects is a pretty cheap and good deal.

I kill no trees in the process(maybe later for the book), it goes out at the same time all over the world, no mail issues, and folks want to read something more than the same old things and never understand why or look to the future about how and why things work in our tanks the way they do.

No one really answers these basic questions about planted tanks.
They give you some quick trite explanation, in some cases it might be right, but any good answer will lead to 3 or more questions. So if you get a good answer, you should have good questions all over the place.

Thus the hobby and our understanding of it evolves.
As that occurs, we also have more control and better management ability to achieve our horticultural goals.

Knowledge is far more powerful than heating cables

Regards,
Tom Barr

Ahh heating cables that was the first thing I read about and it was your response that steered me away from them .

I know there are many who have benefitted from your advice , I am humbled by not only the knowledge but the time you put into your responses.

I realise this is all off topic but hey his is my thread :P

I like the pass it on idea, I'm quite talented in a lot of areas but no expert, just once I may have found something to get expert about

Well finally Ive got my paypal into credit and took the plunge.

WOW Im blown away by the knowledge in here.
Apologies if I came across like I wanted all for nothing

I respect and appreciate the time and knowledge availabe .

Hi, no, not at all. You need not apologize, most feel or think the way you do, I think most do.

My goal is not to have religious follwers etc, rather to get folks to think and pose questions themselves.

So that also goes for rationalizing the expense here and the usefulness of the information.

I'm a cheap guy as much as anyone.
But there are trade offs and do I get something real and worthwhile for my $$$ if I buy a tank, filter, sediment, advice, articles etc?

I'd better or I'll never buy it again!
I do DIY as much as anyone if not more.
I also buy very nice equipment and modified it.

My gaol is to have precisely what I want, not someone else's set of trade off goals.

I liike ADA's aesthetic, but I dislike Lily pipes, lights, their cansiter filters, stands and a few other more minor things. Overall, though, I like that style.

So I can modify and change a few things, test a few things to see what's in them, r research to see if it's worth my/our time to use them.

Cost: benefit analysis basically.

That's sort of what EI is actually.

I test and use to tell folks they should test and use high quality test kits, I did this for 8-9 years before I started suggesting conservatively at first, EI.

Still, EI does not, nor can any method, meet every goal an aquarist might have.

That's both good and bad.
Good because we can do less work and still achieve the goals with other methods. Bad because some clowns think that one method to the Godsend for all planted aquariums.

You need to know several methods to achieve those larger goals to help folks.

I've never met anyone to date that really promotes both CO2 and non CO2 method on equal terms or that can do each method to high level, Nor marine plants.

But it's not about what I can do, it's much much more about how I can help other folks achieve these goals, see the trade offs, see what can be done to meet the set of goals they might have to fully enjoy the hobby and have long term success.

We can be clever and avoid a lot of extra cost and work if we keep an open mind. But not so much as one wise person once said " that our brains falls".


Regards,
Tom Barr

Tom,

You mentioned that you dislike lily pipes from ADA.

I was considering bying them for they are glass-made, what would unclutter the look of my tank.

Is there any problem with their function or you actually don't like their style.

Thanks,
Evandro.