New Book Coming

[Rusty_Shackleford24 139]

By chance I came across this the other day.
This is a new book due out March of 2027 by Tai Streitman. If you're not familiar with Tai he operates the Biotopia channel on YouTube. Biotopia contains videos of fish in the wild. You can see their natural habitat, plants, substrate, water flow of our fishes in their element.

It seems this book will combine the worlds of Biotope aquaria with aquascaping. I think this is a fascinating concept.

Official Trailer

 

[GaryE24 139]

Nice. You should have a look at Ivan Mikolji, who has specialized in those set ups for quite some time.

 

[anewbie]

who is tai strietman and is he knowledgeable or a fake ?

 

[Rusty_Shackleford24 139]

Nice. You should have a look at Ivan Mikolji, who has specialized in those set ups for quite some time.

Oh yeah I'm a fan of Ivan. I think every glimpse we get into the wild underwater world helps us as aquarists. I also think Ivan and Tai share a similar philosophy.
You get people interested in nature by being able to bring a slice into their home. Once their interested they start caring. Once you care about it you're more likely to take action to preserve it.

who is tai strietman and is he knowledgeable or a fake ?

Go check out his diving videos. Well diving may not be the correct term. It's hard to dive in knee deep water.

 

[anewbie]

Go check out his diving videos. Well diving may not be the correct term. It's hard to dive in knee deep water.

Anyone can go into knee deep water even idiots I'm not claiming he is an idiot but i'm just asking the question; my understanding is george foreman is more show then knowledge but perhaps my impression is incorrect on him.

 

[Rusty_Shackleford24 139]

Anyone can go into knee deep water even idiots I'm not claiming he is an idiot but i'm just asking the question; my understanding is george foreman is more show then knowledge but perhaps my impression is incorrect on him.

George Foreman was a boxer, George Farmer is the photographer for this book lol. A lot of hard core plant guys like George Farmer. I take it with a grain of salt as he is a representative of Tropica Plants, so there is a fair amount of show for sure. He does make some attractive aquascapes though.

 

[GaryE24 139]

Why assume the worst? Here, we have some work to look at, and it's the work that matters. That's where we get the impression and decide.

I may look at some of his videos. I do find that the world of aquarium writers and now vid makers can be a catty sort of place. There can be so many mixed legacies, as with an Axelrod or a Bleher, that we can make us be a little skeptical. But not cynical - that's defeatist. There can be awful personalities doing good work, and good personalities doing awful work, with all shades between!

I figure if you film on your belly in knee deep water, you have guts and interest. You have to learn something worth sharing.

George Farmer does aquatic plants - the guy didn't have a choice, did he?

 

[anewbie]

Why assume the worst? Here, we have some work to look at, and it's the work that matters. That's where we get the impression and decide.

It isn't so much assuming the worse as wondering if the book will be decent or fan club hype.

 

[GaryE24 139]

Most of these books are now self published in small runs, and cost a wee fortune. I do editing on books like this sometimes, and it has to be a labour of love. There is very little money in it.

 

[Rusty_Shackleford24 139]

@anewbie I picked this video at random. It's pretty typical of what you'll find.

 

[GaryE24 139]

That guy is very good, and for a nerd like me, very entertaining. Man, I'd love to get some Aspidoras. They're holy grail fish to me. They're one of the few South American fish I'd love to keep now.

But how can we ever provide the current so many fish like this thrive in? It's the greatest wild card in real biotope tanks.

 

[Rusty_Shackleford24 139]

@GaryE
Killies at 15:45

 

[GaryE24 139]

I love those videos, but I want to go fishing for aquarium species now. That habitat is interesting, and you could make something like it in a large enough tank. There seem to be more fish than in the African habitats I've been in, but the populations are still very low. And even in a quiet place like that one, look at how much more the water moves than in the average aquarium. I know I return to that idea in these postings, but it seems very important.

Water flows, visions flow. It isn't hard anymore to see habitats and I can't see how that couldn't inspire you to get away from blue gravel tanks, in your own time at your own pace. You start out trying to make something beautiful, and your sense of what that is can change with videos like this. I kayak just to see waters. The fish species are different and fewer, the plants are seasonal in our habitats that freeze, but the flow is similar.

I've literally watched days of such video. I have a good friend who has filmed hundreds of hours underwater in South America, going back many years, and we've watched raw footage as part of the editing process. He'll sink a couple of cameras sometimes and go off and work elsewhere, to collect them up at the end of the day and see what appeared.

That lone Pristella is a story, and to me, a lesson. Earlier in my hobby I'd see something, in a tank and think it was normal for a species. A new aquarist will say that proves a Pristella is fine alone in with head and tail light tetras. But any other video I've seen of them, or other similar dorsal signal tetras has involved groups. That lone fish had a story.

 

[Back in the fold]

Is this a real printed on paper book that I can hold in my hands or an E-Book ?

 

[Rusty_Shackleford24 139]

Is this a real printed on paper book that I can hold in my hands or an E-Book ?

You can order it in either form.