# Houston Plant-Fest'05 - Day 1



## jerseyjay (Jan 25, 2004)

Hello All,

Once again "Plant-Fest" organized by Luis Navarro and Senske Brothers was a success. I want to take this opportunity and thank Luis for his endless help for "out-of-towners" and thank Jeff and Mike Senske for their hospitality. This was the first time I visited ADG - Senske's Gallery and I would strongly recommend to visit their work. Place is top of the line with great aquascapes. Luis' tanks are what aquascape is all about. There is a lot of Nature Aquarium influence in his work. His private aquariums at home as well as tanks in his office were top of the line.

I will begin this series with San Marcos River which few of us visited on Thursday.

Stay tune for more and more and more pictures !!!

First stop - landscape shop and Luis already buying wood for his next aquascape.









Luis and Ghazanfar looking for native plants









Unknown collected plant









Unknown collected plant - close up









Luis and Thanh looking at Ghazanfar who was snorkeling in San Marcos River









Ghazanfar in action









Fields of Hygrophila polysperma in San Marcos River









Unknown collected plant - close up









San Marcos River









Talking about dedication. Luis taking a closeup picture of Hydrocotyle sp.









Hydrocotyle - closeup









Fields of Cabomba in Wetlands Park









Sagittaria sp.









Flowering Cabomba in Wetlands Park









Hygrophila polysperma


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## gnatster (Mar 6, 2004)

Thanks for the report Jay, looking forward to seeing more.


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## Paul Higashikawa (Mar 18, 2004)

That was blazing fast, Jay! Thanks for being the cameraman who sat long hours on the not-so comfy ladder It was so cool to see you guys in person, finally!


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## jerseyjay (Jan 25, 2004)

You are welcome Gnatster. 

Likewise Paul. 

More pictures from: Luiz's private collection, Luiz's office tanks, ADG tanks and setup put together by Luiz, Jeff and Oliver; coming up Today !


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## Piscesgirl (Feb 25, 2004)

Looks like it was a lot of fun! Weather looks so beautiful!

What was the temp of the water?


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## jerseyjay (Jan 25, 2004)

Piscesgirl said:


> What was the temp of the water?


I believe it was around 70s


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## Piscesgirl (Feb 25, 2004)

70s? Brrrrrrr I'd need a wetsuit, lol! (but way warmer than what it would be here right now). 

Very jealous, wish I lived close to there and could have come.


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## david lim (Mar 30, 2004)

Piscesgirl said:


> 70s? Brrrrrrr I'd need a wetsuit, lol! (but way warmer than what it would be here right now).
> 
> Very jealous, wish I lived close to there and could have come.


]

In the sun the water's perfect!!! Nice pics jay. Looking forward to seeing the rest.


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## BigFoot (Jan 3, 2005)

Nice pics of hygro now i know what is supposed to look like. lol


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## Navarro (Feb 12, 2004)

Thank you guy's fo coming to Houston! I sure hope you can come back next year so we can do more collecting and aquascaping torurs like the last two years.
Mi casa es su casa come back to TEXAS!


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## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

The unknown plant in the hand is a potamogeton, but I am really curious about the much broader leaved plant also pictured in the river along with the Potamogeton. Do you have any more pictures of it? Did you collect any? What river was that, by the way? I don't think it was the San Marcos. 

The very nice picture of the Hygrophila in the San Marcos also shows the endangered Texas wild rice, which only grows in that portion of the San Marcos River.


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## Magnus (Feb 4, 2004)

Thanks for the beautiful pictures, Jay and Luis. Only 13 more degrees to go till water temp hits 70F over here. :grin:
HeyPK, that first unknown plant (I'm assuming this is the plant you are talking about) doesn't exhibit the alternating leaf characteristic of a Potamogeton. Could it be something else? The second unknown plant in hand looks like a Fissidens sp. I think Gomer has this plant.


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## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

> HeyPK, that first unknown plant (I'm assuming this is the plant you are talking about) doesn't exhibit the alternating leaf characteristic of a Potamogeton. Could it be something else? The second unknown plant in hand looks like a Fissidens sp. I think Gomer has this plant.


You are rignt! I had not looked carefully enough. It does not have alternating leaves. Also, it pokes out of the water in a way that Potamogetons never do. Beats me, what it is. I wonder if it would make a good aquarium plant. I am still intrigued by the broader-leaved plant that is entirely submersed.


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## jerseyjay (Jan 25, 2004)

HeyPK said:


> I am really curious about the much broader leaved plant also pictured in the river along with the Potamogeton. Do you have any more pictures of it? Did you collect any? What river was that, by the way? I don't think it was the San Marcos.


If I'm not mistaken this was San Marcos. I will let Luiz elaborate more. The broader leaved plant is the same plant I'm holding in my hand. Broader "version" is completely submerged and thinner "version" is emersed growth. We all collected some.


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## TNguyen (Mar 20, 2005)

The 1st pic is in Luling, Texas on our way to San Marcos, Tx
2nd to 4th is the part of the Blanco River on the north side of San Marcos, Tx
5th to 9th is the beginning of the San Marcos River
10th to 15th is Spring Lake in San Marcos, Tx pumping out approx. 150 or more gallon of water each day

Water temp - 72 degrees year round

The Texas wild rice is restricted to this area and is definitely endanger due to recreation, change in water current, and non-native plants.

There is definitely a lot of area that we have not begun to explore due to time! Hopefully NASH can organize another outing!

A big thanks to Jay, Ghazanfar, and Luis. These guys are a great asset to the hobby. I had a great time!


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