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Aloha! Please check out our newly updated website: www.thefishshack.com

Organic pond liner??

I've seen a lot of blog postings about "organic" certification for aquaponics, specifically pond liners. However, I can't find the scientific reasons for most of the opinions I see posted. There's disscution about plastics and rubber but almost nothing on traditional surfaces such as fiberglass, concrete and of course, clay[ fired or in place]. I suppose that ponds dug in ground at an organic farm would automatically be considered "organic", then again as you dig deeper in the substrate does that open an entirley new "can of worms"?

Cool waterlily picture

I just thought this was a cool picture. This is Nymphaea 'Albert Greenberg'. It was probably my camera, but the colors came out really nifty!

Our lotus are starting to bloom!

Here at the Fish Shack, our spring lotus tubers are starting to send up flower buds. So exciting! We usually get our tubers in the very early spring. Whatever doesn't sell by May 1st, gets planted out here at the shop. Well... the ones we've planted out here at the shop are starting to send out buds and some have even flowered!

Wakins! A type of pond comet

We *rarely* get wakin goldfish in. RARELY. Maybe 1-2 times per YEAR. But they are soooo cool when they're here. A wakin has a regular, long comet goldfish body, but has a short, fancy double-tail like a ryukin or lionhead. Check 'em out:

Nymphaea immutabilis babies

We were graced with 6 immutabilis bulbs a while back. We planted them all out and 3 actually did something. Here's a picture of our young immutabilis throwing out their first blooms:

Oddball waterlily at The Fish Shack

The other day, we had one of our waterlilies go crazy at the shop. It's Nymphaea 'Ostara'. Ostara's tend to go a little nutty and I'm not sure what causes it. Maybe it's the heat here in Kahului, maybe something in it's "genetic code" causes it to go crazy? We're not sure, but whatever it is, it makes for interesting conversation.

The leaves grow into a funny shape. But the oddest thing is that the flowers come out "conjoined"! I wonder if "twinning" in plants is a common thing??