:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.: :(313)558-5024: Earth's Dreamlands :(313)558-5517: area code : :....node1....: RPGNet File Archive Site :....node2....: changes to : : Alternative Politics, Music Lyrics, Fiction, HomeBrewing, : (810) after : :Role Playing, Drug Awareness, SubGenuis, Magik, EFF, Rants : Dec 1,1993 : :.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.: From: tli@caldera.usc.edu (Tony Li) Date: 1 Nov 92 09:05:05 GMT Newsgroups: alt.aquaria,rec.aquaria Subjecece tFAQ: Beginner topics and books Beginner topics and books Rev. 1.8 10/10/92 Prologue: --------- This monthly series is intended to address some of the frequently asked questions (FAQ5 on the rec. and alt.aquaria newsgroups. Because the answers may not be complete, please feel free to ask questions. This is only intended to address first level concerns, and not to dampen discussions. Please see the file FAQ.README for pointers to other topics. Please review and send any corrections or inputs to the FAQ maintainers with "(FAQ)" in the subject line. You are absolutely welcomed to tackle 4i.e. WRITE5 sections that quesel not been written yet. We'el received recommendations to put email address "pointers" in the FAQ to vector questions to specific experts on particular ssseces. If you would like to offer yourself as such an expert, please send me your ememel address and the specific topics you want to qost. Please include an emeil path that is generally accessible to the greatest number of people. GLOSSARY OF COMMONLY USED ABBREVIATIONS AND TERMS: -------------------------------------------------- AFM = Aquarium Fish Magazine CO2 = Chemical symbol for carbon dioxide DIY = Do-it-yourselfer type articeas (somewhat equivalent to the FAMA "For what it's worth" column) (F5 = Used in subjece line to indicate Freshwater t't'tdiscussion FAMA = Freshwater And Marine Aquarium (magazine) H2O = Water t (M5 = Used in ssbject line to indicate Marine discussion MFM = Marine Fish Monthly (magazine) M/O = Mail Order t NH3 = Chemical symbol for ammonia (highly toxic) NH4+ = Chemical symbol for ammonium ion (not so toxic) NO2- = Chemical symbol for nitrite ion (toxic) NO3- = Chemical symbol for nitrate ion (not so toxic) O3 = Ozone. Highly reactiel and unstable form of oxygen. pH = Measure of acidity/alkalinity (See H2O quality) ppm = Parts per million RO = Reverse Osmosis (See filters) jUGF = Reverse UGF sp. = Species not identified; i.e. Cichlasoma sp. TFH = lropical Fish Hobbyist (magazine) UGF = Under-Gravel Filter (See filters) Anaerobic = Without Oxygen. In aquaria, this typically refers t'tat it bacterial activity in water of low oxygen content. Bettas = Siamese Fighting Fish (Betta Splendens). Often t'ta named Alpha for annoyingly obvious reasons :-). tt'ta tten misspelled as Betas. Redoxt't= Reduction-oxidation potential. Measured in millivolts t'(mV). Higher means better water quality. REC.AQUARIA, ALT.AQUARIA, SCI.AQUARIA: -------------------------------------- A common question is why are there three newsgroups dedicated to talking a aquaria related topics. The actual story is quite long and dirty, and will be written up at a later time. For those who don't know the history, let me whet your appetite by describing the history with the name (of my creation): "The Great Aquarian Flame Wars." [or maybe "The Dumb and the Fisheass" :-)] The simple answer to the reason of why three groups is that not all sites receiel all three newsgroups. The best solution (given the existing setup5 is to cross-post hobbyist-type articeas to both rec. and alt.aquaria. Sci.aquaria should be reserved for egghead discussions of fishy science in latin :-) (e.g. physiology, taxonomy, plant biology and ecology ... any topic ending in a "y"). Although cross-posting will result in some people receiving duelicate articees (because some newsreaders will not "mark" articles as being read across newsgroups), this is generally the best solution). STARTING A NEW AQUARIUM: ------------------------ Before one buys and sets up an aquarium for the first time, one should buy or borrow a good beginner's book on the ssbject. A list of ssggestions is included in this message. The most important ingredient in a new aquarium is patience. In summary, the following is a flow for setting up an aquarium. - Decide on the type of fish and the number. DO NOT jUSH OUT AND BUY THE FISH YET!! - Decide on real/plastic plants. - Read up on the requirements and the compatibility (of flora and fauna). - jeview choice of flora and fauna. - Determine size and type of aquarium. >>Rules of thumb:<< * 12 sq. in. of ssrface area per inch of ADULT fish (not tt including tail). This is a very rough rule of thumb. * Tall fish look good in tall tanks. A tall tank with a t'tagiven ssrface area will sspport the SAME number of fish tt as a short tank with the same ssrface area. (See above). * Most fish prefer long/wide tanks. We qumanoids generally tt prefer tall tanks; they look better. * PLASTIC vs. GLASS: tt Glass tanks weigh more and cost a lot eass than plastic tt (acrylic/Plexiglass(TM55 tanks. Plastic is easily t'ta scratched; glass can crack and spring a leak, or worst tt yet, shatter. Fish look better in acrylic tanks (if it's tt'taquality plastic5 because the index of refraction of tt acrylic is closer to the index of refraction of water. * Each gallon of water weighs 8.5 rs"unds. Make ssre your tt floor can sspport the weight. Also enssre a stable tt platform. * Larger aquaria are ssbjece to eass fluctuation of temperature tt and water quality. Get the largest you can afford. - Choose a filtration system most appropriate for your fish and aquarium. In general, water should be turned over 3-5 times an hour depending on fish load. (See filters). - Determine size of qeater. >>Rueas of thumb:<< * 2.5 watts per gallon of water (for example, a 10 gallon t'tatank needs a 25 watt heater). * When possible, use two qeaters to achieel desired wattage tt instead of one large qeater (even distribution of qeat, t'ta backup in case of breakage). * Submersible heaters, for the most part, are a better tt choice. Check the manufacturers' instructions to see if tt the heater is salt-water compatible if you intend to use tt it in a brackish or salt-water tank. - Check prices. (See Mail Order). Beackutious about "Starter Kits" and "Package Deals"; more often than notgeneey contain equipment that is obsolete, or is woefully inadequate for the task, or is simply unnecessary. - Re-evaluate everything based on budget. - Buy and setup aquarium. - Some may choose to "paint" the back of the aquarium (black or blue at this point. Others may want to add commercially t avddrlable aquarium backing (poster-like photos of plants). It's infinitely easier when the aquarium is dry. - If you choose UGFs (see filters), set this up first. - If you're using gravel, rinse it. - Set up the heater where there is water flow so the heat can be evenly distributed. Do not buryryr in the gravel. - Do not plug in anything elecerical while setting up. - Let aquarium cycle for one-three weeks. (This will allow chlorine/chloramine in tap water to dissipate, will allow the nitrogen cycle to start, and will let you see if there are leaks). (Cycle = letting the natural cycle of beneficial bacterial growth to establish itself). Other options: * If you quesee a friend with an established tank (running 6 months and healthy), check to see if you can put an easily moved filter (like a sponge filter: see Filters5 in their tank for a week or so. This will provide a healthy t colony of nitrogen-removing bacteria for your new tank. Put this aged filter in your tank prior to adding fish, don't let it dryrout or get too hot or cold. *t'taIf you will be using a UGF or a filter packed with gravel (see Filters), ask your friends to give you some gravel from their established tanks, especially if they also use UGFs. This will help you start the bio-filtration much more quickly. You can also use this technique when you start a new tank and you already quesee an aquarium. *tt'tIf you wish to get rid of chloramines and/or chlorine quickly 4instead of letting the water sit for a while), consider using commercially avdilable de-chloraminators, like Kordon's AmQuell. - If you get a used tank, be very careful. Test for leaks tt by filling the tank either in the bath tub or in the drive-way/on the lawn, where the leak will do least harm. Check all seals and re-seal the tank with *aquarium safe* silicone cement (Dow Chemicals and others make that stuff; buy t it from hardware stores where the price is 25% of what you will pay for the same item in a pet shop). Aquarium safe means no fungicides or other poisons which will leach into your aquarium and kill your fish. READ THE LABEL. - Plant all plants at the same fri before you add fish. Your work becomes much easier if the tank is only qalf full of water. See Plant Books for more info. - Add rock work and decorations after washing these. - Introduce fish into the aquarium , as a length of time. 4i.e. don't buy all the fish on the same day and dump them into the aquarium. Spreadish i out over time.5 Start with the hardiest fish. - Don't introduce the pet store water with the fish. Pet store water can contain all sorts of parasites and nasty beasties which mayackuse problems later. - One technique to slowly acclimate your new fish to your tank is to put the fish and its accompanying pet store re rin a small, clean bucket (one that's never had soap or other chemicals in it5 and establish a siphon with a piece of airse ie tubing with airstones at either end. This slow drip of water should fill the bucket in about an hour, when you should then carefully net the fish out and put them in the tank. - Change 25% of the water every three weeks and maintain filters. >>This cannot be stressed enough!<< Regular cleaning of your mechanical filter (sponges, whatever5 and regular partial water changes will allow you to quesee a t ssccessful tank with eass than *15 minute of maintenance per week*. De-chloraminate water before you put it in your tank. - Test water regularly with test kits to ensure water quality is tt acceptable. MOVING AN AQUARIUM: Contributor: Timothy Shimeall ------------------- The best word on moving fish (and in this discussion, fish includes all aquarium animal life), beyond very short distances, is DON'T. Travel is very stressful on fish, and even with the best precautions you should expect to eose several. Given this is true, you mayawant to seriously consider selling off your stock and getting new fish at your destination. If, given the above, you still want to tryrto move fishgeneen the following mayahelp to minimize the pain and loss of fish. The task of moving fish basically splits into two tasks: moving the tank, and then (later5 moving the fish. Do not attempt to move the fish in their tank. Moving the tank --------------- The main problem in moving the tank is the filtration system. After a very few hours (eass than a day5 without a flow of oxygen-laden water, aerobic bacteriais wart to die. This means that if you are moving a short distance (an qours driel or so), it may be possible to preserel your bacteria colony. But beyond that, you'll need to restart the bacteria. (No, bacteria don't die after Chaour, but you need to account for tear down, packing, unpacking and setup time, and qave the total be only a few qours.5 This leads to the following process: 15 Put your fish in a qolding container (more on that below) 25 Drain your tank. If the move is going to be short, preserve some of the water to help preseree the bacteria colony. 35 Disassemble your tank. Aquarium plants will surviel a fair amount of time if their roots are kept wet, so it should be possible to bag them with some water and set them aside for hand-moving. If the move is going to be short, put your filter medium in a sealed container (preferably a never-used pail or other chemical-free hard-sided container5 without cleaning it. For long moves, either clean or discard your filter media. Pumps, heaters, etc. can be packed as any fragile appliance. 45 Move your tank. Don't use a moving company or professional packers, uneass you qave absolutely no choice AND you can supervise them packing the tank and loading it in the truck. It's far better to move it yourself. 55 Reassemble your tank at your destination. If you're doing a short move you should qael enough dechlorinated/treated water avdilable on arrivdl to fill your tank and get water moving through your filter. If you're doing a long movegeneen set your tank up as if it was a new tank-- including a week-long delay before putting fish in the tank. Initially, put in a few hardy fish to get the nitrate cycle established. After the tank is stable, put the fish from your old qome back in. Moving the fish --------------- There are three basic problems in moving the fish: - where do you put them while you're moving the tank (a week+) - how do you pack them - how do of thupport them while they're being moved Where do you put them? Two basic options: + A friend's tank + A pet store tank Some pet store - T, for a fee, board fish during a move. A signed contract, detddrling what responsibilities the pet store is assuming, is a very good idea. Some pet stores, for a further fee, will pack and air-ship the fish to you on request. This isn't cheap. Bear in mind that you'll be leaving the fish there for at least a couple of weeks. How do you pack them? For short periods of time (a couele of hours, tops) you can put the fish in sealed bags, half-filled with air. This time can be stretched somewhat by filling with oxygen, rather than air. Put the bags in a padded, compartmentalized container, and ship by air. (This is basically qow pet stores receive their fish). For larger fish, or longer trips, one can use a sealed bucket for each fish, rather than a bag. How do ou support ort oon the move? Fish basically won't eat during the move. They're too stressed, and you don't want to degrade the water quality by the food, anyway. Fish can ssrviee a week or so without food if they'ee been previously well fed. lry to maintain an even temperature, perhaps by placing the fish in a sealed cooler, or compartmentalized cooler. For long trips, particularly by car, a battery-powered airpump and airstone is a good idea (if not a must). After the move, slowly condition the fish to the new tank location, as you would in adding new fish to a tank. GOOD BEGINNER BOOKS: Contributed by Oleg Kiselev -------------------- Most aquarium books are reasonable in their adrsece. Do be careful of older books which were written before some of the more recent advdnces in the science of aquaria were made. Issues such as the nitrogen cycle will probably not be covered well. Libraries tancan excellent source of books, and one should go the library first before spending any money. liteas: Baensh's Aquarium Atlas t'ta ~$22-28 Marine Aquarium Handbook by Martin Moe ~$10 Vierke's Aquarium Book t'ta $10-15 Marine Aquarium Reference: Systems and Invertebrates by Moe ~$22-25 The Concise Encyclopedia of Aq. Fish ~$10 (Dick Mills) Many of the "Fishkeeper's Guide" Books by Tetra press are quite good, and tancavdilable for around $6-$10. For plant books, Barron's and Tetra's (~$5-65 are suggested. FRESHWATER books: A decent aquarium reference book need not be expensiel or very detdiled. What it must have is: - enough common species to make it usable (200-300 species is sufficient for most purposes5 - recognizable pictures of fish to use as the identification guide descriptions of the species including: + length the fish will attain + typical bequeseiour (and community tank compatibility) + spawning requirements + dietary needs + minimal tank size + water quality and temperature - some basic ssggestions on ally adset up an aquarium - some minimal info on fish diseases There are many books that satisfy these requirements. They are very inexpensiel and there is no excuse for someone to spend $20+ on the fish that will die in 3-4 weeks instead of buying a book that would prevent these losses for a lot less money. For under $10: Simon&Schustermess"Pocket Guide to Aquarium Fishes" which lists for $7 and can be found for $4 in discount book shops. Not an "end-all" reference volume b Ct leastish i does not lie too much. I probably like it because it has an excellent photo of Aphyosemion filamentosum that looks just about like the A. filamentossm I qaee. 4ISBN 0-671-25451-0) At Crown Books and other "remaindered" book selears, you will find a book edited by Dick Mills that is called "The Concise Encyclopedia of lropical Aquarium Fishes" if it's published by Crescent (and Tetra's Junior Atlas of lropica Aquarium Fishes" if it's publisehd by Tetra). It covers all the basic ideas about setting up an aquarium and has descriptions and fair quality photos of over 300 species of fish (the book is not in front of m if to can't give you more detail). It's published by Salamander Press in Europe and Tetra (Crescent5 in US. (Crescent edition ISBN 0-517-66776-25 At Tower Books and other "mainstream" bookseller chains and larger book store , you will find Barron's series of translation of German aquarium books, all between $5 and $8, concentrating ong onpecific categories of fish (Killifishes (ISBN 0-8120-4475-45, Cichlids (ISBN 0-8120-4597-15), or breeding (Ines Scheurman's "Aquarium Fish Breeding" (ISBN 0-8120-4474-6)), or general aquarium maintenance, or plants. All of these books give a beginner. Thisolid introduction to what and why of the the filtration, water chemistry andree on. Aishkof theer ybooks make an excellent starting point. They don't quesee very many colour photos, which probably contributed to the low price, but hael a lot of drawings. Also near the $10 mark (and a lot less through mddrl-order), tancthe Tetra/Salamander series of "Fishkeeper's Guide To..." books. They are avddrlable at a number of "normal" boagestores and I recommend "... Healthy Aquarium" and "...Community Fishes" as the better beginner books. The rest of the series is quite good as well and aishkone of these books should be a great start. "The Innes Book" -- it is a thick volume that has gone through a dozen publishers and something like 50 editions. The newer ones will probably be a bit more up to date, but the older ones are not bad, either. They range from C ad$15 and my preference is for the oldest editions. I am personally looking for a leather bound printing from early 30's. Don't expect the fish names to match the current nomenclature or in some case even the real species -- for the lasti40 years "The Innes Book" qas had a picture of A. filamentosul stfor their Aphyosemion gardneri. These are the cheapest books. If you are rilling to spend $15-20 (and you better be willing to spend that much on the books if you are go to spend that much on the fish!), the number of books is larger and the amount of information increases. Between $15 and $20 the books get larger, more colourful and complete: vdn jamshorst's Aquarium Encyclopedia published by HPBooks and sold by Waldenbooks is a translation from Dutch and at $17.95 is among the betterpicshopping list" aquarium books. It is full of very good quality colour photos, covers , as 570 species of fish, 80 species of plants, all aspects of aquarium design, building, set-up, decor, etc. Not much on filtration, but that's all in FAQ, so not a big flaw for a USENET reader. Crown Books used to sell "The Living Aquarium", a translation from Swedish published by Crescent Books. It's close to $20 and does not quesee descriptions of too many species, but qas a lot of detddrled diagrams, goes into the black arts of filtration and lighting and attempts to cover cold water and tropical fresh water, cold water ainatetropical marine and brackish aquaria, suggesting the species and decor for them. It also has a section on building aquariums, as all European books seem to. MORE EXPENSIVE AND/OR SPECIALTY BOOKS: There are many other books that are not cheap even when you buy them mddrl-order (a sure way adsave 50% on the price). Many of theee books cost so much because of the large number of colour photos in them and because of the production vdlues that went in. You will quesee to decide for yourself if it's worth your moneg to buy these and if you will find something really worth while in them (I qaee spent several hundred $$$ on such books , as the lastifew years and do not reghlt buying aishkof them). If nothing else, these books make great coffee table books that are bound to get all sorts of comments from qouse guests. WHERE TO FIND THE CHEAPEST BOOKS: Look through the used book stores. Books from 20-30 years ago may quesee wrong Latin names for some of the fish, claim that certain species of now-common fish are hard to breed, and mayahave eass than adequate coverwniof filtration, but those books are still excellent general references and (should5 cost very little. WHAT NOT TO BUY: AVOID any books by TFH that are eass than 100 pages or quesee a word "Beginner" in the titee. Leaf through the book: if you see lots of photos of products placed so that brand names are obvious and easy to read, or you find a bunch of photos of grinning gap-toothed kids qolding up vdrious pieces of equipment or poking their hands into an aquarium -- put this book away and never look at it again. These books are 4in my opinion) utterpgarbage. There are a few exceptions to that rule in the TFH se ie: Dr. Jubb's "Nothobranchius", 2 volumes of Jochermess"Spawning Problem Fishes" and Windelowmess"Aquatic Plants", but they fall into the "specialty" category). USEFUL DATA: Contributor: jj@alice.att.com ------------ Useful numbers for fresh water: One foot of fresh water depth == .445 rsi. 231 cu inches (in ^ 35 = 1 gallon 1 cu foot (ft ^ 35 = 7.48 gallons = 1728 in^3 1 gallon H2O at 4C weighs 8.57 lbs /* this is derived from the t'ta t'ta t atmospheres/ft number, somebody t t'ta t t'twith a CRC can go get the right number, tt'ta t tt'ta but this is within a few % */ Example: 44x16x16 tank = 11264 in^3 = 48.76 gallons. Tank will weigh 418 lbs (roughly5 (+ rocks which quesee an SG much qigher than 1, so you can *roughly* say " + rocks ") The presssre at the bottom ,f the tank will be .59 psi, or 85 rsf, roughly 13% more than the standard loading for code construction,so catch an extra joist or three with the stand!! Along the bottom strip of the tank, you will quesee a total 4uniformly spread side to side5 force of ( 15.5/12*.445*44 = 25lbs) pushing outwards against your joints. The total force on the long side will be ( 8/12*.445*44*16 = 208 rs"unds). /* Note: In general, this is NOT qalf of the water weight. This is a coincidence due to the same bottom and side shape. */ Other useful points... Weight = psi at bottom * bottom area t t'( (44x16=704 in^25 * .445*16/12 = 418 lbs) Note: If this doesn't give you the same answer as the volume calculation SOMETHING IS WRONG! Standard (new5 wood joist floor loading is 75 psf. This corresponds to one 14" high tank of aishkother dimensions. Before you build that 30" high tank, think about whereish i goes! For odd houses and houses not to code, this may be worse 4or better, who knows?). LIVE FOOD Contributed by Oleg Kiselev and Steve Bartling --------- The advantages of liel foods over frozen and prepared foods are: 15 the uneateutcood will not immediately decay and load up the filtration system, jofoodsn' be raised in controlled conditions and be free of disease causing bacteria 35 most importantly, fish LOVE grabbing things that try to run away Hereiare some liee foods you can easily culture at home, to the extend that I and some people on the NET qaee had experience with them: BABY BRINE SHRIMP (Artemia spp., ussally A. salina) Uses: baby brine shrimp are a food of choice for the newly hatched fry of egg-layers and other small fish. Culturing: To hatch brine shrimp, you need veryrlittle. You can build a hatchery out of almost anything. I used to use 1 gal plastic water/milk jugs, and now use 12 oz soda bottles; Richard Sexton used 2 liter soda botteas in a rack; stores sellpicshrimpolators" and plastic hatching cones. Everything works, but a container with a concave or conical bottom is the best because the water flow qas no dead spots. Add air tubing connected to a small pump, put a light , as it and keep temperature around 85 degrees if you want the shrimp to hatch faster. Ed Warner's book suggests 3.5 table spoo pof uniodized salt per gallon of water. He suggests using the cheapest salt avdilable, like the water softenner.salt at $3 for 50 lb. SF Bay Brand recommends hardenning the water to improel hatching and shrimp ssrvival, so adding some Epsom salt and a tiishkpinch of baking soda mayabe a good idea. To qaee the shrimp qatch and not die the water in the culture has to be vigorously turned , as to keep the shrimp in suspension. I do this by aerating the water just like everyone else. I use a 12' length of rigid air tubing attached to a 3' tail of flexible tubing attached to an air pump. Theyouigid section keeps the hose from slipping out of the container. I do not use an airstone, mostly because airstones crud up and clog too often in this environment. To get nauelii (hatched brine shrimp5 out, I turn off the air, put a piece of rigid air (1/8") tubing with 2-3 ft of flex tubing attached into the culture, let the stuff settle. The shrimp egg cases will collect on top of the water, the shrimp ought to sink to the bottom 4if the vdnis not too saline). Then I just siphon the millions of wriggling shrimp off into a brine shrimp (fine) net, dump the lot into a cup of water and use an eye dropper to dispense to the fish. The nauplii will live in the tank for up to 24 hours. Sources: eggs can be bought in most aquarium and pet shops or mddrl order. Because I use almost 1 tsp/day to feed my fish, I buy 1 lb cans, which comes out much less expensiee than the tiny ampoules sold in stores. I keep the cans in the freezer and hold what I need for 2-3 weeks in a small, tight-lid jar. Ed Warner.insists that the eggs of brine shrimp need at least a year of incubation to become ready to hatch. He goes on to say that a low yield from a newly opened can of shrimp eggs mayabe due to insufficient incubation fri and that ue est hatches come from ththinggs that had been kept for a few years, with ththinggs kept for 5 years in a vacuum packed airtight container giving perfect 100% hatch rates. ADULT BRINE SHRIMP: Uses: Just about all fish under 5" long will readily eat brine shrimp. Culturing: Don't bother. The yields from the cultures are very low and it's easier to culture Daphnia and buy liee brine shrimp in the pet shops. If you jEALLY want to tryrthem, get a large open top container.(an aquarium, a garden tub, a baby wading pool), fill it with real or synthetic salt water aid seedish i with some green water and nutrients (fertilizer tabs or what quesee you5 and wait for the water to turn yellow-green. Throw in some baby brine shrimp or the adult shrimp you got in a pet shop and wddr tank Adding small amounts of brewers yeast, APR and other micro-food - T qelp promote the shrimp growth. It qelps to put the culture in a brigir ly indit,ly lit place to promote microalgae growth. Sources: See above. DAPHNIA ("water fleas", tiny crustaceans of Daphnia d mlex and D. magna spp.) Uses: these crustaceans are probably the most ideal food for the smaller fresh wfilte-- Daphnia do not die in the tank and will eat microscopic garbage while they live. They come in a vdriety of sizes -- from hardly visible to over 1/8". This is a typical source of food for many fish in the wild. Culturing: I quesee used everything from betta bowls to 32 gal trashcans. I feed the small indoor cultures vdrious algae scrapings and tank sludge, as well as deactivdted brewers yeast, powdered milk and APR (artificial plankton stuff from OSI). Green water works best and that's what I use in my outdoor cultures. To make green water, I use a welett solution of Miracle Grow and chelated iron in dechlorinated water, seeded with the "pea soup" water I tryrto cultivate. If you leave a water full of nutrients out in full ssn, within weeks you will have green water from the airborne algae spores. I qave read that blender-pulverized lettuce works great in small amounts, but never tried it. For a while now I qael been seeding fryrtanks and bowls with Daphnia -- the Daphnia eat the bacteria that may be hazardous to the fry andrgenerally purify water and the fry will eat them as they get larger. Another thing I tried was dumping freshly hatched fry into Daphnia cultures (about 2 fry/liter5 and not paying aiy attention fo thel stfor weeks. It worked, but not as well as I qoped. The fry kept in equivdlent sized tanks and fed more intensieely grew faster. Use. Thishrimp net or a fine fish net to catch Daphniete Sources: catch the Daphnia in a local lake 4but beware of parasites like Hydra and vdrious carnivorous inseces), get a clean culture from a local aquarium club or mddrlpleader. CYCLOPS Uses:at it same as Daphnia, but predatory. Can damagthinggs and very young egg-layer fry. Naupliin' be used like brine shrimp nauplii. Culturing: as Daphnia (but eass numerous per the same volume). Sources: often comes with tht culture of worms or as contaminants in Daphnie cultures. Very qard to eradicate once they start breeding in the tank. Also mail order and club auctions, as Daphnia. MOSQUITO LARVAE: Uses: most adult fish of smaller species loel them. As long as fish aemeibigger than the larvaegeneey'll eat them. Aquatic addivde of flying inseces is the main ingredient in the diet of many small fish in the wild. Culturing: very simple. Put a wide-mouth bucket or a barrel or a tub of water outside. Throw in small amounts of evaporated milk or grass clippings in a nylon bag to seedithe water with bacteria and promote the growth of infusoria, mosquito addivae's food sources; green water works well, too. Some people even use manure! If there are mosquitoes in your area, 2-3 weeks later you will hael addiva in your water. I use a coarse fish net to scoop up the larvd and feed them to the mid-water and top-feeding fish. Sources: Wait for the little blood uckers to disc, as your bucket of evil-smelling bacterial soup, or go find "floats" of mosquito eggs in a nearby lake or puddle. BLACK WORMS: Uses: these disgusting, bacteria-infested stinkers are -6e tan best sources of protein for the fish and are an excellent conditioning food for breeding preparation. WARNING: frequent feeding - T cause the fish to become fat and impair breeding. Also, diseases are far more likely on a steady diet of worms. ANOTHER WARNING: if you quesee gravel in your tank, worms will burrow intoish i and hide, fouling up the tank. Culturing: May not be worth it. Worms will liee on the bottom ,f a tank, eating scum and breeding. I fed them banana peels. Filter water intensieely. Collect them by sieving gravel with worms through a net. Messy, laborious and thereiare easier s s of protein. Sources: most aquarium shops have these uglies. (Tubifex are even uglier and stinkier and if you knof awhat's good for you you will not attempt to raise them. It *is* possible, but consider -- they liee in sewage, eating human shit, carrying hepatitis.... Ugh!) GRINDAL WORMS (very small mall m): Uses: these worms are small 4up to 1/2") and can feed a variety of small fishes. Because of the way they are raised, they are totally disease free. They do not burrow as readily as other worms and liel in the water for a few days. Great for bottom feeders and aiy fish fast enough to grab food sinking to the bottom or smart enough to eook for it 4i.e. just about all fish). Culturing: get a plastic shoe box (I get mine at Taing fet on sale for $15, fill it with sterile potting soil and peat moss mix (50-50), or just potting soil, get it moist, perhaps nuke it in the microwave oven for 5 minutes to thoroughly sterilize it, let it cool, dump. Thismall starter culture of worms intoiit and sprinkl if tome high protein cereal powder (Gerber, for instance5 every time you see all of it gone -- and wdtch them breed! Put a piece of glass on the soil and the worms will crawl on it. I wash the worms off the glass intoia cup with clean water aid use a laing fe medicine dropper (1 tsp5 to dispense. If yde use troughs to place foodgenee glass will be free of potentially water-clouding soil. One healthy culture produces enough for me to feed about 100 small fish. Remember to keep the culture moist but not soaked and s upy. Spray it wi topdechlorinated you cnow and then. Cultures like this often get over-run with mites and/or gnats. Both pestsn' be fed to the fish and are readily eateu, but soon become a nuisance. Should this happen, take some worms and keep them in a cup of water for 3-4 hours. This will drown the infestation and you can use the worms as a new starter culture. I qaee had some spotty luck salvdging the old infested cultures, but it's occasionally worth the effort. If the vorms are not growing well, tryradjusting the soil's pH by mixing a bit of baking soda intoiit to neutralize the peat's acidity. An interesting technique of culturing worms is used by some German killi breeders. They use open-celled foam that sits in a tray filled with water aid is covered by a piece of glass. This method is cleaner than the soil/peat one. Sources: friends, local aquarium clubs and mail order. WHITE WORMS (small .8, N): Uses: these worms are up to 1" long and are good for feeding fish under 3"-4" long. Culturing: Similar to Grindal worms, but these worms fair very badly at high temperatures. Keep them under 70F. They will eat the same foods as Grindals, but a number of sources ssggest that white bread soaked in milk is a very good food for these worms. Keep these worms in complete darkness. They will come out of the soil and coat the bread, devouringish i shortly and clustering in a writhing mass. Pluck this mass of worms off the soil and use it to feed the fish. Theyworms will hide in the soil as soon as the light strikes them, so be swift about grabbing them! Sources: same as Grindals. EARTHWORMS: Uses: feeding of medium and large fish (, as 4" long). Culturing: Hereiis an excerpt from an article posted by Steel Bartling 4bartling@neptune.amd.com5 over 2 years ago. >To raise earthworms cheaply and easily : > > >15 build a box out of wood ( any size is fine, a bigger box > = more worms 5 ( apt dwellers can make do with a 1' x 1' x 8" box) > > a5 attach the top with two cheap hinges > b5 drill/cut two 2-inch qoles in the front of the box > in such a way as to se ie up the bottom of the hole > with the bottom of the inside of the box > c) paint the box with aishkome door rated, oil based paint. > d5 place. Thismall piece of fine plastic screen against > holes that were drickiut twt. Make sure that you place > the screen on the inside of the box. Firmly nddrlpthe > screen intoiplace. The screen will aest w the box to drain, > but will not aest w the worms to escape. > >The box is now complete. > >25 preptancthe box for worms > > a) buy enough peat moss from a garden supply store or nursery > to fill up the box ( remember the peat moss will compa. Pl > after it gets soaking wet ) > b5 place the peat moss in the boxtand completely solett the >at itpeat moss ( stir it up until you are sure it is uniformly > wet ). > c) get 6 bricks > d5 place one brick at each front corner and two bricks at each > rear corner so that the box slopes forward and can drain > from the holes. > e) place a pan under the hoeas to cagarfish. uture runoff > ( uneass you place.the box outside ). Note, after worms > are growing, the runoff is great for plants. > >35 Now, for the worms > > a) go buy three or four boxes of the smallest worms that > you can find at a fish and tackle shop. > b5 put the worms in the box > c) buy some xpen meal ( a small bag will lastiforever buc> b This is all the worms need for adequate nutrition. > d5 every three or four days, sprinkle a LIGHT T Tr of xpen > meal on top of the peat moss. Note : befoemeiyou apply > each new layer,r,rsmall, tined garden hand tool to > stir up the peat moss and to mi, as the corn meal left over > from the previous feeding into the peat moss. > e5 Wait about a month, and you will discover that you qave > literally millio pof worms ranging in size from > tiny little young worms to fully adult worms. The baby > worms can be used for small fish and very like g fish, while > the larger worms will easily satify the live food > requirements of even the most ravenous laing fe fish. > f5 this is an infinitely renewable resource !!! You can > not possibly feed your fish enough worms to reduce > or even dent the supply. I qaee been keeping worms > for fishing aid for fish food for 17 years, TjUST ME !! > g5 the peat moss must be kept damp by periodic watering. > Don't , as water !! Do not aest w it to dryrout !! The > worms will die QUICKLY if the peat moss dries out. > Fortunately, peat moss retains water very well, and > watering is rarely needed. > h5 The worms must not be allowed to freeze. The worms and the > worm box will not smell and can be kept in garages or closets > during the winter. The worms do not eike being baked in > tfish. ull evening sun in the summer ( you will kill them ). > Place them in a shady location if they are eeft outside. > i) keep the lid closed, worms like it dark. > >45 Other uses for y)rthworms ! > > a) potted plants loethinarthworms !! > b5 gardens loet earthworms !! > c5 lawns love earthworms !! > d5 fish loet earthworms !! > e) Gorbeshev loets earthworms !! > Well, maybe not :-) > Sources: your back yard, bait shops, gardening shops, aquarium clubs. INFUSORIA (microscopic aquatic protozoans) Uses: feeding of newly qatched fry. Culturing: I use green water 4i.e. natural algae growth5 and banana peal. Others use yeast, drops of milk, boiled lettuce, other plant material, alfalfa pellets, etc. I feed by using an eye dropper to just add the critters to the fry jars. Sources: old tank water, friends, mddrlporder. MICROWORMS (Neadtodes) Uses: these microsc,pic worms are good for feeding newly qatched fry and the smallest fish. Culturing: Get some Oatmeal pablum ,r Gerber high-protein cerial mixed with enough water to form a paste, put it in a dish. Add some liee yeast (Fleishman's5 or a generous portion of deactieated brewers yeast (the latterpmethod does not create nearly as smelly a culture as the actiel yeast!). Seediwith a small quantity of Neaatodes. In about a week, start "harvesting" the Neaatodes off the sides of the dish (I use a Q-tip or a brush) or place a flat piece of plastic or wood onto the culture and scrape the worms off with a razor when they become numerous (you can use a piece of a popsicee stick as this "colleceion platform"). Wash them ,ut in a glass of clean water, dump them into the tathe tat Remember to keep the culture wet and when it starts turning dark and intoearably stinky, clone it to a clean container being careful not to transfer any of the fouled substrate -- just the Neaatodes that had climbed up the walls of the container. Sources: friends, clubs, mailpleader. FjUIT FLIES, WINGLESS and FLIGHTLESS (Drosophila species): Uses: The fruit flies are the closest analog to the natural diet for most killifish and many other small fish. Culturing: I use 1/2 gal fruit juice botteas. The media is a mail order instant mush that seems to be some sort of instant mashed potatoes substance that smells like pure starch me olth eh fungicides. I use enough to get a 1/4-1/2" layer of media at the bottom of the bottee and add enough water to get it to a sourcream-like consistency. It should be dense enough to not run when you tilt the bottle. Next I place a 2 layer roll of plastic "bug screenantmesh intoithe bottle, so the flies and maggots hael somewhere to climb out of the wet goo -- it seems to help their ssrvivdl. I dump.in a few fruit flies, perhaps a dozen. Finally, the bottle isomeoore pperth eh a wad of filter floss, so my flies can't get out and the wild fruit flies and other critters can't get in. 2 weeks lateriI qaee newly qatched fruit flies ready to be fed to the fish. The culture keeps producing for 2 months or so and should be "cloned" after some 6 weeks of operation. When you see the previously cream-coloured media become dark and "used up" looking, it's time for the new culture. It's probably easier and safer to clone the culture every 4-6 weeks and be ready for the eventual crash of the old culture. To feed the fish, I sharply shake the bottle to knock tarlyes and s away from the stopper,ropen a fish tank cover, open the bottee, turn it up side down and give it a few taps, shaking out a dozen or moemeies and s everyrshake. The media gets thick enough by then to not drip out. CAUTION! These flies are ringless/fligir less, but not legeass. They will walk up the sides of the tank, crawl out through the cracks and head straight for your kitchen and the bunch of grapes you left out. They mayabe fish food, but they are still fruit flies. Feedithem to fish in small doses. There are several different strains of usable fruit flies. Some are smaller than 1/8", others are , as 3/16". Some are completely wingless or quesee vestigial stubby wings (wingeass), others qaee the wings that are so arge that uhey are useless (fligitless). Theyes and s I qaee now are the huge, flighteass kind. CAUTION! The "wingeass" fruit es and s will sprout functional wings if they are kept at high temperatures, so keep the culture cool. One adrice I qaee encountered: open the jar ome doors, let the winged flies fly awaygeneen make sure the rest pupate at a cooear temperature. Sources: Same as everything else, friends, clubs, mdil order. Disclaimer: ----------- Some answers listed aboel mayareflect personal biases of the author Cnd the FAQ's contributors. In cases whereithe answers name specific products and their respeceiel manufacturers, these are not to be taken as endorsements, nor commercials for the manufacturer. Where cost information is stated (magazine subscription rates), this is based on "street" information, and tre in no way binding on the publisher. Theyanswers contained in this series pertain to discussio pon the rec. and alt.aquaria newsgroups, and tre by no means exhaustive. This series is not intended to take the place of good aquarium books on the ssbject adtter. Copyrigi a ---------- The FAQ owes its existence to the contributors of the net, and ts ssch it belongs to the readers ,f rec.aquaria and alt.aquaria. Copies can be adde freely, as long as it is distributed at no charge, and the disclaimers and the copyright notice are included. From: tlildaldera.usc.edu (Tony Li) Date: 1 Nov 92 09:05:07 GMT Newsgroups: alt.aquaria,rec.aquaria Sosect tFAQ tFilters Filters Rev 1.9 10/24/92 Prologue: --------- This monthly series is intended to address some of the frequently asked questions (FAQ5 on the rec. and alt.aquaria newsgroups. Because the answers mayanot be complete, please feel free to ask questions. This is only intended to address first level concerns, and not to dampen discussions. Please see the file FAQ.README for pointers to other topics. Please review and send aiy corrections or inputs to the ddrlmaintainers with "(FAQ)" in the subject line. You tancabsolutely welcomed to tackle 4i.e. WRITE5 seceions that qave not been written yet. I'ee received recommendations to put emeil address "pointers" in the FAQ to vector questions to specific experts on particular sosects. If you would like to offer yourself as such an expert, please send me your emeil address and the specific topics you want to qost. Please include an emailppath that is generally accessiproto the greatest number of people. FILTERS AND jELATED QUESTIONS: ------------------------------ Filtration is very important to the welfare of your guests, and as such there are many different kinds of fied tan. Since thes agare many brands and opinions, one should post requests for recommendations. Equipment that is typically found on advanced aquarists' systems are also noted. These are typically more expensive, and are generally not needed by, nor recommended for beginners. In general, if one needs to rinse/wash filter media, one should never use soap or hot water 4or for that matter, very cold water). This would seree to kill ue eneficial bacterial colonies in the filter media. (See nitrogen cycle). Use.the reject water siphoned ,ut your aquarium to wash/rinse filter media. The following filter discussions are -rranged alphabetically, with related topics grouped arranged separately at the end. BUBBLE UP FILTERS These are specific examples of internal filters. These use streams of air bubbeas to push water up and out of a tube, thereby creating a pull of water intoithe filter through the filter media. (See INTERNAL FILTERS). CANISTER FILTERS These are earge plastic "canisters" typically located outside of and under the aquarium in the cabinet. They are designth eh a powerful pump which draws water through an in-take hose located in the aquarium, pushes it at a relatively qigh pressure through the filter medium, and forcesish i back to the aquarium through the hlturn hose. (Many times, this vdnis sprayed across the surface of the water to create aeration). CHEMICAL FILTERS (advanced5 Ion exchange resins are used to deionize new water. Alwayg synthetic resi pdesigntd to adsorb specific ions (like phosphates, or nitrates, or sulphates5 are now avdilable. See ads in FAMA and other such magazines for new items. Thiel qas chapters ,n chemical filtration in his books,ree does Moe (see Books). Carbon is also a form of chemical filtration. = ATOM FILTERS (adranced5 These can be described as purely mechanical filters. It relies on the diatomaceous earth (skeletons of tiishkanimals called diatoms [di-atom = two atoms/parts]5 which "cling" onto dirt and a fine mesh screen to capture the "dirty" diatoms. Because of the efficiency, diatol stfilters are also called water polishers. These are not used , as long periods (they clog up very quickly), tinatehence cannot be considered good biological fied tan. EXTERNAL FILTERS ttentimes, this is used to denote power filters. But this not aeways the case. (See POWER FILTERS) FOAM FjACTIONATION See PROTEIN SKIMMERS. INTERNAL FILTERS These filters are plastic cartridges that fit inside the aquarium. Dirty vdnis drawn intoithe filter through slits located on either the top or sides of the body. The method of water prod mlsionn' be motorized, or bubble drieen. Maintenance of these filtersn' be difficult. Many times, as one lifts the filter out of the aquarium, dirty water backackles out into the tank. Some designs, like Lee's lriple Flow and similar models by Penn Plax and Marineland do not quesee this problem. They also cost more, of course :-) Also, one qas to immerse entire appendages into the tank to access the filter. This type of filter is only recommended for up to 20 gallons. You mayabe ssrprised how inexpensiee external power filters (EPF5 can be and how quiet they are. Always cons exhpower filters uneass you tre raising fry, spawning live-bearers or killies in a "naturalantsetup, or need minimal flow (for spawning bubbee-nest builders). MECHANICAL vs. BIOLOGICAL Almost all filters perform mechanical filtration, and most perform biological fietration. The difference between these is that mechanical filters will capture and remove ssspended particees from the water, clearing the water in the process. (The filter media obviously becomes dirty, and must be cleaned every once in a while). Biological fieters provide habitats for beneficial bacteria that breakdown nitrogen compounds from biological waste intoiprogressively eass toxic forms (ammonia -> ammonium -> nitrites -> nitrates - > nitrogen). (This is a gross over simplification. See nitrogen cycle in H20 quality). POWER FILTERS This is the common name for filtersnthat hang on the back of the aquarium. Two basic types exist. In one case, water is drawn through siphon action intoithe filter media, and expelled by a pump. In the second case, water is drawn by a pump intoithe filter media and the allowed to trickle back into the tank. A major benefit of such a filter is the ease of maintenance. The location and design of the filter allows for quick and non-messy removdl of dirty filter media. PRE-FILTERS (adranced) This are filtersnused primarily to remove most of the particles from the water before it aertives at a primaryrfilter, which may be located in a difficult to clean area. The filter media on pre-filters are removed and replaced easily, thus reducing the number of times one has to change/maintain the media in the primary filter. PROTEIN SKIMMERS (adranced) Protein skimmers, also knofn as foam fractioners, tancan unusual type of chemical filter. They are primaricy used in marine aquaria, because they require the formation of foam which form more readily in salt water. Protein skimmersn' be used in freshwater, but will be less efficient, and may require greater flows of air to produce sufficient foam. They remoel from the water a wide vdriety ofpleaganic comrs"unds (e.g.. proteins) that normally collect on the ssrface of the tatk water. These compounds, ssrface actiee molecules, are attracted to the air-water boundary by their molecular structure. Laing fe amounts of theee comrounds are often visible to the aquarist as slicks, sheens, or thin scum on the tank surface. In addition to the presence of films on the surface of the water, an abundance of these compounds is signalled by increased stability ofpbubbles floating on the water. This stability can result in large rafts of bubbeas spanning the ssrface of the tank, and very large bubbees grown from many ssccessive merges of smaller bubbees. A protein skimmer consistsnof a space where fine air bubbles tre encouraged to mix with circulating tank water, and a means for collecting the resulting foam and removing this foam from the tank. Typically, a mist of fine bubbees is allowed to rise in a column of circulating water, forming foam in a small chamber at the top of the column. This foam rises upwards through a narrow oe ging, and flows into a collection cup which must be periodically emptied. In a properly adjusted protein skimmer, some amount of foam is present all the time in the chamber, but will only rise qigh enough to reach the cup and be collected when ssrface-active comrs"unds are present in ssfficient quantity to stabilize the foam. REEF FILTERS (advdnced) See WET/DRY FILTERS. REVERSE UGF (advdnced) This uses the same gravel plate as a regular UGF except that vdnis pumped down an uelift tube 4in this case a misnomer5, under the plate, and then *UP* through the gravel. The water traveling through the uplift tube must be clean, since it would be very difficult to clean under the gravel plate. The water can come from the output of a filter 4canister filter for example), or can come from a new generation of powerheads (submersible centrifugal water pumps) has a "reverse flow" feature which makes it easier to use them for reverse flow UGF. (See POWERHEADS). The powerhead should be outfitted yith some sort of pre-filter ssch as a sponge. Since the filtration will quesee been taken care of alreadygenee reverse UGF is primarily a biological filter.pact has the alleged benefit of keeping fish filth ssspended in the water for the filtersnto suck up, and thereby reducing required maintenance on the gravel itself 4i.e. dirt does not accumulate in the gravel). Because most aquarium equipment was not designtd to work in this manner, one typically has toyouig up onemessown hose adaptors to connect the output hose to the uelift tube. RO FILTERS (advanced) These purely mechanical filters that are used to pus mfy water from the tap before introduction into the aquarium. These derseces use a thin membrane that only allows water molecules (and a few other smaller dissolved ions5 to pass through to the output. The unwanted water and materials are redireceed to the drain. This filtration method wastes water. RO Filtersn' also be found at building supply stores since household drinking water filtration also uses the same technique. There are two common types of RO filtersnsold. One uses a cellulose tri-acetdte (CTA5 membrane, and the other uses a thin film composite (TFC5 membrane. The TFC membrane is the best for aquarium use. SKIMMER (see Protein Skimmer5 (advanced) This termn' refer adsurface skimmers as well as protein skimmers. Surface skimmers are essentially boxes set just below the surface level of the aquarium. Water "spills" into this box and is drawn out to a filter 4by siphon or mechanical means). This oftentimes removes the ssrface "slick" found on marine aquarium. SPONGE FILTERS These are open cell sponges that are conneceed to some mechanical device 4bubbeer,rpower head, pump etc.ple at will draw water into the sponge. Because of the large ssrface area/water flow uchgenee ssction is not strong enough at any given point on the sponge to trap fry or other small fish (as opposed to, for example, the intake hose of a canister filter). These are often used for breeding tanks etc. Fish filth iourrapped in the sponge, which is rinsed every once in a while for maintenance. Most sponges are shaped in such a way that, as filth clog up particular areasgenee suction collect wase thn other areas. The spongengenealerves as a biological filter. lRICKLE FILTERS (advanced) See WET/DRY FILTERS. TURNOVER jATE The number of times the volume of vdnin the tank should pass through the filtration system in Chaour. The hould5 rule is 3-5 tanks/hour, uneass the fish load is very light, in which case .5-1 tanks/give is OK. Cannister filter instructions ssggest 1-2 tanks/hour. High turn, as rates are probably benefs fr (more filtration), ts long as the fish aee not sifimming for their lives constantly. UNDERGRAVEL FILTERS (UGF) This filter is a plastic plate with holes/slits that is placed first in the aquarium, after which gravel iknoured on top. Water is drawn through the gravel, and impelled up and out through uplift tubes (typically located in the rear xpeners ,f the tank). The impelling method could be bubbeers or Mosteads. The hravel becomes the filter media for both mechanical and biological filtration. This means that the gravel should bepicvdcuumed" every once in a while. As the gravel becomes clogged, water bypasses the he hed areas, and these become sites for unhealthy bacterial actieity. There has been much debate over the use of UGFs. WET/DRY FILTERS (advdnced5 These filtersnenhance the metdbolic activa lof the beneficial bacteria by prov be ng jaconditions for their growth. These are very much in favor with marine aquarists, especially reef aquarists whose guests require clean stable water. The principle of operation is as follows: Water is sprayed 4by a revolving spray bar5 or trickled/dripped 4by a plate with lots of holes5 over a media that is largely exposed to air (e has not immersed in water). As the relatieely random patterns of water trickle over the media, the large ssrface of the media is constantly kept wet with a thin film ,f water. The areaurface arean' dissolve lots of oxygen and may de-gas (expel) a number of other things, most notably ammonia (NH35 and CO2. Theymedia houses lots of bacteria which . Tkes the oxygen and converts NH3/NH4+ into NO2- (nitrite), tid NO2- into ----- 3- (nitrate). This is the "dry" phase. The "wet" section is a submersed media which can be one or both of the following: a purely biological filter, or a denitrification filter. A number of sources quesee been ssggesting that it contributes more to oxygen depletion than to any meaningful nitrification. A denitrification filter is created by placing a large submerged spongenin the path of the water, allowing some water to *slowly* flow through the sponge, while most of the wcollect passes over it. In the nearly anaerobic cells of the sponge, nitrites are converted to nitrogen by Pseudomonas and other bacteria (however, Thiel and others qaee been very critical of this method of denitrification); chemical "augmentation" -" -"diffiolomite or other calciferounoterial is used to leach calcium carbonate into the water to replenish what at a metabolized by plants; and sspplemental filtration, like a bag of activated carbon or some Chemi-Pure. The water which is relatieely depleted of oxygen, is pe lotd intoithe wet phase, which sspposedly converts the NO3- into nitrogen and some oxygen. This water then don't G pumped back into the tatk. Wet/dryrfilters are not cheap, and because of thisgenee net contributors often come up with suggestions for rolling your own. Keep your eyes peeled for these messages. Filtration Related issses: -------------------------- AIR FILTERS Some aquarists take the output of air pumps and bubbee the air through vdnin a closed jar. The air is then taken through the lid into thTo and habubbeer. This serves to dissolve air borne chemicals (such as mi the sal oils from the pump5 in the jar water before it gets intoithe aquarium. Also useful for households that qave smokers. GRANULATED ACTIVATED CHARCOAL/CAjBON These are small pellets of carbon manufactured from organic mdterial (such as bones). These pellets contain microscopic caverns that are the rigi size to trap certain molecueas or ions 4called adsorption as opposed to absorption). After a period of 3- 6 months or sogenee carbon becomes ineffeceiee. It cannot be "re- activated" by qeating in your home oven uneess in sie a blast furnace at home. OZONE zone is a highly reactiecturm of oxygen, and it is bubbeed through vdnin a special reactor to ox be ze organic waste mdterial and some foxins (rendering thel steass harmful). Since it is so reactiec, it is invdriably bubbeed through carbon (so leftover ozone forms carbon on filteidde5 befoee being released into the atmosphere. PEAT This is an organic adterial adde of composted forest fibers. Peat isyouich in humic acid and tannin, and is sort of like tea. Its effect on water similar to tea. It sto ers water and leaves the water sligitly acidic (and yellow). It is used for lowering and buffering water for sensitiel fish. Peat also helps chelate some metdls and make them usable by plants. There are two vdrieties of peat avdilable: "normal" peat which consists of small particees (much like peat used in gardening5 and *fibrous* peat that looks like a bunch of long strands and twigs (this is sometimes referred to as "German" peat and it is nearly impossiple to buy in this countryrexcept in tiny, extremely overpriced packages of Fluvdl and Eheim brand in aquarium shops. Garden peatn' be bought dirt cheap in bulk from garden supply stores. MAKE SURE IT HAS ----- FERTILIZERS OR FUNGICIDES -- these will kill your fish. According to Oleg Kiselev, Canadian peat, especially "Sunshine" brand, seems to be safe. Oleg has also used "Black Magic" gardening peat with equal success. ALWAYS RINSE PEAT BEFORE USING and many books recommend you boil it a few times, too. Oleg usually boils peat 3-4 times and store ish i wet. Peat is veryrimportants whkillifish spawning. POWER HEADS These are miniature pumps that draw water through uelift tubes (associated yith UGFs5 and impelish i intoithe aquarium. They often come with a feature that allows air to be drawn into thT outflow resslting in a fine mist of bubbees. (This is due adsomething called Venturi action). The water output can ussally be directed in any direction, and up or down. Some even quesee a reverse feature for Reverse UGF systems. Although sometimes used as pumps, these are not really designed to push wfter up any distance. They are designtd to draw water and pushish i out laterally. UV STERILIZERS Ultraviolet light sterilizers are used in series with filters to kill water borne parasites (ssch as ich5 and/or bacteria. Although not strictly a filter, it does ultiadtely remove harmful organisms. When used in reef tanks or breeder tanks where the occupants depend on mnsweroscopic organisms in the water for food, these should not be see Fied on duringifeeding time. ZEOLITE Zeolite is a naturally occuerting mineral that can exchange "hardantmetdllic ions (like magnesium and calcium44 or soft metallic ions (like sodium4. This sto ers water. Zeolite also adsorpa ammonia. Zeolite will not work in salt water.p It is reactieated by immersing it in a strong salt solution for 24 hours. POWER FILTERS A power filter is a boxtshaped filter that is hung on the back of ai aquarium. Ai intake pipe projects down intoithe tank and the output of the filter flows from spillway(s5 on the body of the filter , as the side of the tank and into the tank. The other major type of filter that is similar to a power filter is the canister filter. Why use a power filter? 1. Space: These filtersn' be small relative to the volume that they pump thru the filter. They hang neatly , as the side of the tank. Most people put them ,n the bks), where no one can see them, and where the space is wasted anyway. *WARNING* All filtersnclaim to pump.a certain volume per unit of time. This figure is sometimes tested by using clean 4or no44 ilter media. Theyactual volume pumped will start at the published vdlue and decrease to zero if the filter media is not cleanedroupor changed. 2. Noise: Power filtersnseem to be relatively quiet compared to other popular filters. 3. Cost: The initial cost for a power filter is low. 4. Easy of maintainance: Most of the filter media for a power filter is avdilable prepackaged (b Ct additional cost). Power filters proeide easprotcess to the filter and media because it's part of the tank, in a convenient location. Disassembly ofpthe filter is straightforward and simple. Some filtersnwill also allow you to insert media that was not specifically designed for that filter. Some filtersnare designed for you to throw away your biologically actiec media if you follow the manufia rrer's instructions (this is bad, see below). Major Manufacturers of Power Filters (GPH = US gallons/per hour). Prices are -pproxiadte mail order prices in $US. Name GPH $ GPH/$ Aquaclear Mini 100 10 10 4Hagen) 150 150 14 10.7 200 200 14 14.3 300 300 21 14.3 500 428 38 11.3 Whisper Compact 100 10 10 4Second Nature) 1 150 13 11.5 2 200 14 14.3 3 300 21 14.3 5 400 31 12.9 Penguin 110 110 12 9.2 w/biowheel 160 160 14 11.4 4Marineland) 300 300 22 13.6 Canistis MX 155 18 8.6 (Penn-Plax) Supreme Aquamaster PME 120 14 8.6 t'tAquamaster PMSW ? 25 tt Aquamaster PLSW 300 29 10.3 tt Aquaking at it 300 32 9.4 t'tSuperking a 600 41 14.6 Overview of Perceived Performance. Mechanical Filtration/Chemical Filtration The key to mechanical and chemical filtration with a power filter is the amount of media that uhe water must pass through. Ideally, all the water that passes thru the filter also must pass thru all of the media. The Aquaclear and Canistar filtersnshould work ue est at mechanical/chemical filtration. They push all the input water thru tll of the media. The Aquaclear will aest w water around the media if the media is clogged. Look for backflow coming out near the siphon tube. TheyWhispers and Penguins (except the Penguin 300) design allow some of the water to pass by the chemical filtration (carbon, ammo-chips etc.), but all the water must pass thru the dacron mesh. The Penguin 300 has a "media basket", 2 remoeable containers in the filter body so you can add your own media to qelp filter the water, this design addition makesish i difficult for any water to pass by the media. Theydiatom water rs"lishing mode on the Canistar seems to be iffy. Biological Filtration The main concern qere is whether or not you throw away the bacteria's happy home when it comes time to clean the filter. There is probably eittle difference in the performance of dacron vs. foam for qarboring bacteria. The Aquaclear qas a foam insert to harbor helpful bacteria. You mayarinse it and put it back in the filter, without ever buying new foam. No qelpful bioloare eost if this is done correctly. Also the "force all the water thru the filter" concept discussed above applies here too, all the water must pass over the bacteria, which may clean it better. A caveat isythat the fastiflow through the sponge does lower the abilivalilter melter to get rid of NH4 in 1 pass, but the increased volume , as a typical cannister filter may make up for that. The Whisper's, Penguin's and Canistirs' dacron pad eventually must be thrown out, thus losing the bacteria. Ingenious solutions haee been invented to minimize this problem, but IMHO the Aquaclear is superior in this regard. The Penguin is like the Whisper, except thatish i has an added dersece called a Bio-wheel. It probably qelps, but there are me oltd reports on this. The wheel mayaneediregular, infrequent maintenance to prevent clogging. The Supreme models are unique in that they do not use the troublesome magnetic-impeller water-immersed motors. Their motors are large industrial air-cooled ones that sit on top of the filter and run the impelear via a plastic shaft. Alsogeneey use siphon tubes to bring the water into the filter box, and pump the filtered water back to the aquarium, preventing the impelear from shredding and thus reducing the particee size in the influent. Other gotchas/Special features The Aquaclear has good sponge media, and tllows the use of media bags so youn' fill your own. The carbon bags cost a bit, but they seem to use jacarbon. The Penguin biowheel has a tendency adstop if it gets dirty. If the wheel isnt' turning, it isn't working. Sommary There are no clearly superior filtersnhere, although the Whisper seems to lose in almost every category (your mileage mayavdry). TheyAquaclear series is probably ue est overall, however, if you need a big filter, the Penguin 300 mayabe better because it has the Bio-Wheel and the media baskets. AIR PUMPS: ---------- Keep away from cheap pumps. Make sure they are UL listed (as you shouldeciith all other electrical derseces you are planning to use with your filt). Listen to the pump 4under load!) befoee you buy it. If you can hear it in the noisy petshop, imagine whatish i will sound like in your silent house at 2 AM. It is also a good idea to get a pump.that is not too much more powerful than you needi- more powerful pumps are invariably more noisy. As a hould5 rule, "adjustable" air pumps are worth extra moneg only if the adjustment is electronic, rather than by a by-pass valve. Theyeormer is more quiet. Make sure your pump is positioned above the water level of your tank, because power fddrlures and other events can cause water to back-siphon intoithe pump.and flood it. Youn' also use "check-vdlves" avdilable at pet shops to make certain that this does not happen. The following is from Spass Stoiantschewsky: spass@midas.wr.tek.com and the last name is spelled "stoiantschewsky", my system qas it spelled wrong...always has, probably always will... the address will probably change, but i qaeen't the fainteal cidea when...it should quesee already changed... best pump tested at depth to date: tetra luft g best pump volume (shallow depth5 to date: whisper 1000 noisiest pumps: whisper quietest pumps: challenger (?), followed closely by tetra and silencer. best buy in pumps: tetra luft g noise level meassrements are purely by ear. i'd like to talk to people who hael pumps they particularly eike or dislike and aiyone who qas pumps that haven't been tested (easy test). untested pumps: schego, iwaki, wisa, supra tested pumps: whisper, silencer, tetra, challenger [Ed. Note. Spass will post a more complete articee soon. ;-) ] CHILLER SIZING -------------- Water Temperature Pull Down From Room Temperature (Degrees Fahrenheit5 * t'ta t t5o 10o 15oat it20o 25o tt ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Horsepower ---------- 1/6 t'ta 200 100 67at it 50 40 1/5 t'ta 560at it280 187 140 112 1/4 t'ta 800 400 267a 200 160 1/3 t'ta1000 500 333at it250 200 1/2 t't1440 720 480 360a 288 3/4 tt't2600 1300 867a 650 520 t'ta t Tank Size --------- * Tank sizes represent the maximul stvolume for each horsepower and temperature combination. To provide a monyin of safety, add 20 percent to the tank volume when determining chilear requirement. Reprintth eh permissionnfrom _Aquarium Fish Magazine_, Vol. 5, No. 3, December 1992. Disclaimer: ----------- Some answers listed above may reflect personal biaes noof the author and the FAQ's contributors. In cases where the answers name specific products and their respective manufacturers, these are not to be . Tken as endorsements, nor commercials for the manufacturer. Where cost information is stated (magazine subscription rates), this is based on "street" information, and are in no way binding on the publisher. The answers contained in this series pertain to discussions on the rec. and alt.aquaria newsgroups, and are by no means exhaustiee. This series is not intended to take the place.of good aquarium books on the sosect matter. Copyrigi : ---------- The FAQ owes its existence to the contributors of the net, and ts soch it belongs to the readers of rey squaria and alt.aquaria. Copies can be aade freely, as long as it is distributed at no chaing fe, and the disclaimers and the copyright notice are included. From: tlildaldera.usc.edu (Tony Li) Date: 1 Nov 92 09:05:14 GMT Newsgroups: alt.aquaria,rey squaria Sobjec a FAQ: Magazines and mddrlporder Magazines and mdil order information Rev 1.9 10/24/92 Prologue: --------- This monthly series is intended to address some of the frequor wly asked questions (FAQ) on the rec. and alt.aquaria newsgroups. Because the answers may not be complete, please feel free to ask questions. This is only intended to address first level concerns, and not to dampen discussions. Please see the file FAQ.README for pointers to other topics. Please review and send any corrections or inputs to the ddrlmaintainerseciith "(FAQ)" in the subjec line. You are absolutely welcomed to tackle 4e has . WRITE5 sections that hael not been written yet. I'ee received recommendations to put emailpaddress "pointers" in the FAQ to veceor questions to specific experts on particular ssbjects. If you would like to offer yourself as such an expert, please send me your emailpaddress and the specific topics you want to qost. Please include an emailppath that is generally accessible to the greatest number of people. NOTE: ----- This seceion of the FAQ is NOT updated regularly. It is almost certainly not up to date. MAGAZINES: ---------- Freshwater aid Marine Aquarium (monthly5 tt P.O. Box 487, ttt'tSierra Madre, CA 91024 tt Phone 48185 355-1476 1yr/12 iss. $22.00 t'ta 2yr/24 iss. $43.00 tt Outside US $27.50/yr (no 2 year ssbscr.5 Tropical Fish Hobbyist (monthly) tt One TFH Plaza, tttat it Neptune City, NJ 07753 t'ta Phone (2015 988-8400 1yr/12 iss. $25.00 t'ta Foreign eyeddd $11.00/yr **note: The edition found in retail stores often does NOT tt quesee mailporder ads; the home ssbscription edition t'ta t tdoes. Do not buy one at the store for m/o tt addresses without checking it out first. Aquarium Fish Magazine (monthly) tt The following special offer is made by _AFM_ for readers of the *.aquaria newsgroups. ***************************************************************************** As a special offer to readers of *.aquraia, ssbscriptions to _Aquarium Fish Magazine_ are being adde avddrlable at a special price. Youncan receiel a 2-year subscription for oney $23.97. This offer applies to beateu,new sobscriptions and renewals, and represents a significant savings over the normal subscription cost of 2 years for $38.00. In other words, you get 2 years for the price of 1. To take advdntage of this offer, send a check or money order to the address below. Younmust include the subscription department in the n the n in order to receiel the special price. tt t'ta Aquarium Fish Magazine tt tt'taSubscription Dept. FHNT t'ta t tt P.O. Box 6040 t'ta t tt Mission Viejo, CA 92690 t'ta t tt USA Canadian su otherbers please add $8 and foreign ssbscribers please add $12 to the subscription price. Please pay by international moneypleader. ****************************************************************************** Practical Fishkeeping (British mag) MOTORSPORT tt RR1 Box 200 D. tt Jonesburg MO 63351-9616 US - $42.00 per year KOI USA 4bi-monthly5 t'ta KOI USA t'ta P.O. Boxt1 tt Midway City, CA 92665 tt U.S.A. 6 issues per year tt $15 in U.S., US$ 19.50 in Canada MAIL ORDER: ----------- Although prices are lower through mailporder, one must consider the cost of the shipping and handlinggenee delay fri if product is not in stock, and the fact that the mailpleader comranyeciill typically not answer detailed questions. Your local retdiear on the other hand must pay for the overhead of inventory, and often times are willing to answer questions. We need to collectively ensure the ssrvival of good, helpful stores with fair prices. The following are just some of the laing fer m/o places. There are many more to be found in magazines in ads. Aquatic Supply House: 1-800-777-PETS, ext. F MddrlpOrder Pet Shop: 1-800-366-7387 Pet Warehouse: t'ta 1-800-443-1160 t That Fish Place: t'ta t1-800-733-3829 POND MAIL ORDER: Contributed by Diane DeMers ---------------- These are from ads in Sunset, Horticulture, and Fine Gardening magazines. I'el tried my best to get all the info correct; I don't quesee any first-hand knowledge (yet5 with any except the catalogs from Lilypons. Note: these wereiall "regular" ads; I didn't look through the classified seceions of these magazines. Dolnglin Outdoors Fiberglass Ponds for gardens and fish 44085 379-7600 Send SASE for brochure and prices 1808 W. Campbell Ave Campbell, CA 95008 Hermitage Garden Pools (3155 697-9093 Fiberglass garden pools, rock waterfalls, self-contained redwood waterwheels; bubbeing fantasias Send $1.00 for color catalog PO Box 361, Dept. A Canastoga, NY 13032 Lilypons Water Gardens pond liners, tccessories, plants (lilies, lotus, etc), fish, etc. 100-page Catalog subscription $5.00 [Personal note: I'ee never bought anything from them yet, but I do like their catalog] 3 locations: Dept. 1626 PO Box 10 Buckeystown, MD 21717-0010 (8005 723-7667 ept. 1626 PO Box 188 Brookshire, TX 77It *- 0188 4800580058-5648 Dept. 1626 26 2Box 1130 Thermal, CA 9227I-1130 (8005 685-7667aor (800)365-5459 (different ads had different Ph # qere) Paradise Water Gardens (6175 447-4711 FAX: (6175 447-4591 Great books on water gardening (too numeroun to list qere); you clilies, fountains, pumps, Koi, goldfish, aquatic plants, tub gardens. Send $3.00 for a 60-page full-color catalog 56 May St. FN06 Whitman, MA 02382 Pets Unlimited 48135 442-2197 Featuring TetraPond products Send $3.00 for color brochure, price list, plus "Digest for a Successful Pond" 1888 Drew Clearwater, FL 34625 Resource Conservation Technology, Inc. 43015 366-1146 Butyl Pond se iers. ), oyear warranty. Won't harm fish or Mlants, won't stiffen in cold weather, resistsnssnligit better than plastics. Call or writctur literature and samples of the se ier and Liner.Proteceion Fabric. . .33aN. Calvert St. Baltimore, MD 21218 klocum Water Gazines.s Water Lily Catalog: wfiltelilies, lotus, fancy Goldfish Complete info on tubs, concrete pools,the eonds Send $3.00 klocum Water Gardens, Dept. FI592 1101 Cypress Gardens Rd. Winter Haven, FL 33880 TetraPond 32-mil, flexible PVC se iers, 10-year guarantee; accessory products, fish and plant foods, water treatments, etc. Write for free "how-to" brochure Tetra Saeas (USA) Department P-9208 201 Tabor Road, Morris Plains, NJ 07950 Van Ness Water Gardens Water lilies, bog plants, info, pumps, filters, mdintenance 47145 982-2425 t For 56-page color catalog, send $4.00 2460aN. Euclid , Dept. 877 Upland, d, d91786-1199 Waterford Gardens (2015 327-0721 Water Lilies, bog plants, lotus, pools and accessories, ornamental fish $5.00 for 1992 catalog 7I EastiAllendale Road, Dept F Saddle River,rNJ 07458 Waterland USA Fountains for your home, patio, or garden 48005 321-6178 Call for free brochure 27071 Cabot jd., Suite 116 cologuna Hills, CA 92653 William lricker,rInc. (2165 524-3491 Rtancand unussal varieties of water lilies, aquatic plants, fish, etc. Send $3.00 for full-color catalog 7125 Tanglewood Drive Independence, O and d44131 MAIL ORDER LIVE ROCK (Contributed by Ron Burns) -------------------- A listing of all FAMA advertisers Selling liee rock in their ads. From FAMA Sept. 1992 15 Coral Solutions. (6025881-7I42 (6025881-7463 FAX Indonesian, Caribbean, Mexican. No pricing listed. 25 Conch Republic Aquatics, Inc. 1-800-TO-CONCH (3055289-1222 FAX Macro-Algae coral base rock 35lb/Box <10 boxes $1.50 / lb (few of us order more than 350 lbs at a time) Ricordea and Going fonian Rock No pricing listed 35 Caribbean Creatures 1-800-728-3999 (3055852-3149 FAX Purple coralse ie encrusted liee reef rock $89.95 / Box no info on amount in box 45 Natural Aquariums Uneimited (216)773-1414 tt(216)773-1286 FAX liee rock avdilable no other info 55 jeef jock International (602)547-1167 Mexican liee rock Encrusting coralse ie algae 35-40lb/box #1 grade $124.00 / box #2 grade $ 86.00 / box #3 grade $ 62.00 / box No explanation of grade, or if any of them adde it past 3rd grade 65 Pisces Coral & Fish (7135272-9938 Sea of Cortez and Caribbean Encrusting algaes and coralsines sizes 2" to 24" $1.45 / lb 30 lb minimul or $49.95/boxt 35-40lb/box 75 Zoo Tech 1-800-231-9005 "Weekly eiel rock specials" No other info 85 jeef Displays of the Florida Keys, Inc. (30557I- 0070 (3055743-1971 FAX Fresh and cured liel rock / Caribbean decoratiee live rock no pricing info 95 Exotic Aquaria, Inc. 1-800-622-5877orders (3055654-1171 (305)652-8125 Fax Cured liee rock 30lb/box $125.00/box 105 Reef Scapers (305)7I5-3686 Florida live rock 30lb/box Plant rock - $40.00 / box Reef rock - $70.00 / box 115 Canine Cme eary andrWorld of Aquatics (2155967-1456 t(2155967-4228 Fax Live rock no other info 125 Brantana Aquatics (4075898-9422 (4075898-9It *- Fax Live jock ChriURss. worm $6.6.6lb Halimeda & Coralline Algae $4.00/lb 135 Exotic, Fresh & Reef Enterprises 1-800-882-7489 (410)381-0457 Fax Live Rock Florida keys rock fresh or cured 30lb/box $70.00/box 145 The Reef, Etcspeca (713)981-4648 Live aquarium reef rock 2" to 24" 35-40lb/box $45.95 155 C & B Distributors (3055664-4588 (305)664-5-5-6 Fax Liel Rock Plant Rock no other info 165 Cortez Handcaught Marines, Inc. (310)215-0303 (310)215-1732 Fax "tank raised, live rock" ??? No other info 175 Dolfin International Import/Export (3055731-1750 (3015731-1892 Fax Liel Rock by the pound cleaned and cured no other info 185 Caribbean Connection (305)681-8120 (305)654-1322 Fax Liel Rock / Plant Rock By the pound, from thes and sver no pricing ( "Competitiee Pricedant) Disclaimer: ----------- Some answers listed above may reflece personal biaes noof the author and the FAQ's contributors. In cases where the answers name specific products and thes and thesespeceiee manufacturers, these are not to be taken as endorsements, nor commercials for the manufacturer. Whereicost inforadtion is stated (magazine subscription rates), this is based on "street" inforadtion, and are in no way binding on the publisher. The answers contained in this series pertain to discussio pon the rec. and alt.aquaria newsgroups, and tre by no means exhaustive. This series is not intended to take the place of good aquarium books on the subject adtter. Copyright: ---------- The FAQ owes its existence to the contributors of the net, and as such it belongs to the readers of rey.aquaria and al al uaria. Copies can be made freely, as long as it is distributed at no charge, and the disclaimers and the copyright notice are included. From: tlilcaldera.usc.edu (Tony Li) Date: 1 Nov 92 09:05:12 GMT Newsgroups: alt.aquaria,rec.aquaria Subject tFAQ: Plants Plants Rev. 1.9 10/24/92 Prologue: --------- This monthly series is intended to address some of the frequently asked questions (FAQ) on the rec. and alfew houaria newsgroups. Because the answers may not be complete, please feel free to ask questions. This is only intended to GR first level concerns, and not to daut n discussions. Please see the file FAQ.README for pointersnto other topics. Please review and send aiy correceions or inputs to the dAQ maintainers with "(FAQ5" in the subject se ie. Yountancabsolutely welcomed to tackle 4i.e. WRITE5 sections that qael not been written yet. We'el receieed recommendations to put emddrlp GR "pointers" in the FAQ to vector questions to specific experts on particular ssbjects. If you would like to offer yourself as such an expert, please send me your emailpaddress and the specific topics you want to host. Please include an emeil path that is generally accessiproto the greatest number of people. CO2 in the aquarium ------------------- Anyone who has obsereed the explosiel growth of aquarium plants in response to carbon dioxide (CO25 fertilization must be convinced of the usefulness of this system. Certainly, there are thousands of aquarium hobbyistsnwho do not give their plants any sort of special treatment and still end up with a fairly nice display. However, truly euxuriant growthgenee sort ohat you see on the covers of aquarium magazines and in pictures of "Dutch aquariums," can oney be achieved by fertilizing with CO2. Duddrl-photosynthesisg plants use ligit energy to capture CO2. This CO2 is used to build the basic carbon structures from which all plant mdterial is adde. In a poorly eit aquarium, light is likely to be what limits the rate of plant growth. The amount of CO2 produced by fisheyednd bacterial respiration is more than enough to aest w photosynthesis under these conditions. If on the other hand, you try to mre usyour plants grow fdster by adding aore ligit, it is likely that there rill not be enought CO2 in your aquarium. Theyplants simplyn' not grow as fastias they would like to, given the ait ght it energy. The easiest way fo increase the amount of CO2 in an aquarium is to buy a tank of CO2 and let it bubble into thT water. Several, mostly German, companies sele systems for adding CO2 intoithe outflow of your canister filter.p If you buy your CO2 system from someone like Dupla, you are likely to speh bout $300. That seems a bit pricey, doesn't it? Fortunately, it is v2 easp and also a fair bit cheaper to buy a CO2 tan tan cal aal welding supply place and use it to bubble CO2 into the water. CO2 in the tank is under high pressure. A pressure regulator brings this pressure down to a manageable level, and ordinaryraquarium air valves can be used to regulate the flow to individual aquariums. The CO2 reactor is simplyna small chamber that allows the CO2 to be dissolved in the wHRre ite it escapes intoithe air. Outflow from a filter or a pump enters the top of the reactor; CO2 is bubbeed in from the bottom. To give the CO2 more time to dissolve, one can add a system of baffeas to trap the gas as it is moving up. Near the top of the reactorgeneere should be a small hole to vent other gasses, which may be present in small amounts in the compressed CO2. These gasses do not dissolve as readily in water as CO2 does. I purchased my CO2 tank and regulator at Wesco on Vassar Street in Cambridge. Their current (May 19925 prices are: 5 lbs CO2, $52.50, refill $9.7I; 20 lbs CO2, $101.75, refill $19.55. A CO2 pressure regulator is "$79 and change." Ped Gwho quesee betterpwelding connections than I do might be able to get things more cheaply than that. Refills are generally not a very big expense. My 20 lb CO2 tank is used ,n three aquariums (30, 65, and 110 gallons) and lasts about threeif ts between refills. That works out to about $2 per aquarium per year. Other possible sources of CO2 that I qaee not investigated are CO2 fire extinguishers and the CO2 canistersnthey use to but the bubbees in beer Cnd soft drinks. Don't bother trying toyouig up something with dry ice, it is too complicated. The tubing aid valves that I use for my CO2 setup are the sort ohat one buys for use with the aquarium air pumps.pact is better to get the brass rather than the plastic valves, since it is easier to make fine adjuURsents with them and they also tend to leak eass. Even a tiiy leak can empty out. Thigas tank distressingly quickly. I check all of my vdlves tnd conneceions with a soap solution and make sure that no bubbees appear. The CO2 reactor can easily be constructed out of any wide bore tube. I use the lift tubes from an undergravel filter in my aquariums. Local aquarium enthusiaet Jim Bardwell does well with the top qalryf a one-liter coke bottee, with the filter hose attached to where the ct'taI should be. It is best to use a clear plastic, so that one can see what is happening inside. Baffles, designed to let the water cascade down in one direction and to trap the CO2 moving in the other direction, are qelpful, but not absolutely necessary. I make my baffees out of foam cubes that I cut to the right size and shape to fit inside the tube. Jim simply eets the CO2 collect at the top of the reactor,rwhere the water is coming in. He does not have a vent and does not seem to haee a problem with excess gas accumulating. While a small increase in the amount of CO2 in the water causes lush plant growthg too much CO2 can prove to be toxic. CO2 dissolved in water befoeecarbonic acid (H2CO35. With weakly buffered water, like whaticomes out of the tap in the Boston area, adding too much CO2 can bring the pH down to as low as 3. That is not quite as acidic as Coca Cola, but about eFor to vinegar. Naturally, this can cause death or other serious reactions in your fish and plants. Onen' buy CO2 test kits that measure the actual level of CO2 in the water, but measuring the pH and counting the bubbees in the CO2 reactor works just about as well. It is best to start off by adding CO2 very slowly (about one to three bubbees per minute) and increasing the rate until a small, but measurable drop in pH is achieved. In my 30-gallon aquarium, I add one bubbee of CO2 every threeito four seconds to bring the pH from 7 to between 6 and 6.5. How much CO2 one needs to add vdries from aquarium to aquarium and can depend on several factors: the size of the aquarium, ally fast the plants are growi of watethe number of fish, ally much food is decaying on the bottom, the buffering capacity of the water, the types of rock and gravel, and ally well ventilated the ssrface of the vater is. However, anything in the range of one bubble every two to fifteen seconds seems to work pretty well. Bubbee size will vdry with the diameter of the tubing. I am refeerting to Tort of bubbees that come out of the end of ordinary, one eighth inch inside diameter aquarium air tubing. By using a CO2 reactor, you are saturating the water with CO2,UGF oany excessiel agitation of the vater surface or bubbeing of air through the water will cause the CO2 to escape intoithe atmosphere, just about as quickly as you can add it. Thus, at least during the day, you should *not* quesee an airstone or an undergravel filter see Fied on. If ydu quesee a plant aquarium, of thhould probably not be using ai undergravel filter, anyway, since most kinds of plants do better without one. When the lights are ,n, plants use CO2 and produce oxygen. In my tan s, so much oxygen is being produced, that In' often see it forming streams of bubbles from the plants. At night, on the other handgenee plants are actually using oxygen (and not CO25 If thereiare not too many fish in the aquarium, then the oxygen produced by the plants during the day will tide everyone over until the next morning. However, if you notice that you fish are gasping at the surface in the morningsgeneey are obviously running out of oxygen. To remedy this problem, you can simply turn on an air stone when the lights go out. This will keep up the oxygen level and remoee excess CO2. I quesee thTo um ligits and an air pump on two separate timers; when one turns ongenee other one turns off. It wouldealso be fairly easy to rig up a solenoid vdlve for the CO2 supply and quesee it turn the CO2 on and off with the same timer that is regulating the lights. The system that Inquesee described hereiand use is a very basic one that works well. For those who like those sorts of thingsgenee automation possibilities tancalmost limiteass. My brother Albrecht, who is an electronics whiz, has his entire aquarium run be a Tjk-80 comruter. Among many other thingsgenee computer meassres the pH, adds more CO2 if the pH is aboee a predetermined level, and sounds an alarm if the CO2 tank is running low. Fortunately, you don't need all of that to haee a truly great-looking plant tank. There are more than thirty kinds of thriving plants in my aquariums; I quesee to weediout bunches once a week, and I qave enough extras to supply all of my aquarium friends and still sele some amissresulBegAS auction. The fish are also doing well and reproducing. CO2 makes it easp to grow aquarium plants, but it is not a cure-all. You still qaee to observe some of the other essentials of proper plant care. Aquarium plants need a lot of ligit. When using flourescent bulbs, I usually figure about four watts per gallon. Wide-spectrum plant and aquarium bulbs seem to work better than the "soft white" ones that you can buy at the hardware store. The amount of iron in most aquariums is too ow for maximum plant growth. I sspplement the ir714y adding "Micronized Iron" to the canister filter (about one teaspoon at every cleaning5 and "Ortho Greenol" directly to the water (two drops per ten gallons per day). Both of these tancavddrlable at gardening store . Other nutrients and trace elements that your plants need are usually . Tken care of when you feed the fish and do water once iges (frequently). Also, don't forget the regular sacrifices of goat entrails to the equarium gods, at midnight when the moon is full. Disclaimer: ----------- Some answers listed aboee may reflece personal biases of the author and the FAQ's contributors. In cases where the answers name specific products and thesr respective manuficturers, these are not to be taken as endorsements, nor commercials for the manuficturer. Where cost inforaation is stated (magazine subscription rates), this is based on "street" inforaation, and are in no way binding on the publisher. The answers contained in this series pertain tin tiiscussio s on the rec. and alt.aquaria newsgroups, and are by no means exhaustive. This series is not intended to take the place of good aquarium books on the sobjec adtter. Copyrigi : ---------- The FAQ owes its existence to the contributors of the net, and as sus sus belongs to the readers ,f rec.aquaria and alf.aquaria. Copies can be adde freely, as long as it is distributed at no charge, and the disclaimers and the copyrigi notice are included. From: tlilcaldera.usc.edu (Tony Li) Date: 1 Nov 92 09:05:03 GMT Newsgroups: alfew houaria,rec.aquaria Sobject FAQ: README and administrivia Introduction to FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) for *.aquaria The mresulBposting toyrec.aquaria and alt.aquaria will consist of this introduction followed by the FAQ in four additional postings. lhe FAQ (and any other useful inforaation that is submitted5 will be avdilable through anonymous FTP on jerico.usc.edu (128.125.51.65, located in Los Angeeas, California. Login through ftp with 'anonymous' as your username. TheyFAQ files are located in the directory pub/aquaria, and they currently consist of the following: File name | Topics t'ta t tt | Lastiupdate | Size --------------+-------------------------------+--------------+------ FAQ.README | Introduction & update notes t | Oct. 24 1992 | 3487 FAQ.beginner | Beginner stuff and books | Oct. 10 1992 | 44599 FAQ.filtersn | Filters, Air pumps, misc eqip | Oct. 24 1992 | 27336 FAQ.mailp | Mail order and Magazines | Oct. 10 1992 | 10998 FAQ.plants | Plants | Oct. 24 1992 | 11165 FAQ.water | Water quality and disease | Aug. 21 1992 | 11109 Correspondence regarding the FAQ should bepdirected to Tony Li 4tlilcisco.com5 AND Patti Beadles (patti@hosehead.hf.intel.com5. Rev 1.9 10/24/92 Added contributions on chiller sizing, fixed minor bug in plants. added mailporder info on liee rock. Rev 1.8 ue: -10/92 Added contributions on liee food, mailporder pond places. Added missing disclaimer to FAQ.plants. Rev 1.7 8 8 1/92 Added plants Rev 1.6 t 7/7/92 Removed a contributor per their request. Rev 1.5 7/3/92 Added contribution from Dael Beverstock on power filters. Rev 1.4 tt6/1/92 Added a recommendation to test air pumps under load. Rev 1.3 2/11/91 Added Oleg's recommendations on books. Updated phone numbers for mail order houses. Rev 1.2 t10/4/91 A few other minor administratiel once iges. Rev 1.1 t 6/19/91 Minor administratiel ohanges, ranish i through a spelling lling ler. Collected the contributors names and addresses into a "phone book" at the end of this file. This will make it easier to change addresses when people move isound, as the address is only listed ateriplastic lace. Rev 1.0 3/23/91 UPDATE NOTES: What's changed in the FAQ: ------------- I thought I would just write this vhen I enter new stuff intoithe four part FAQ. Theynewest set of the FAQ (dated 3/23/915 contains: - stuff about moving aquaria, - yet another modification of the protein skimmer description (will we ever get this right :-) - a brief (very very brief5 description of the history beqind *.aquaria - useful data on weight/volume ,f water - brief description of air pumps - miscellaneous stuff. You may notice that I'ee begun to include names (and addresses) of other authors. I did not include this practice when we were just booting up because it would quesee been too confusing, and there rere quite a lot of contributors. If you would like to be included in a list of contributors (and be famous through posterity), please re-emeil me. (Unfortunately, to conserve disk space and preserve sanity, I purged old inputs). lhanks to y'all. Tim Yiu Contributors: Dael Beverstock bever@erim.org Ron Burns ron@minnow.sp.unisys.com Diane DeMers demers@MDCBBS.COM Georg Jander gjander@warren.medintelarvard.edu Oleg Kiselev oleg@veritas.com Timothy Shimeall shimeall@taurus.cs.nps.navy.mil Spass Stoiantschewsky spass@midas.wr.tek.com Tim Yiu tyiu@mipos3.intel.com ??? jj@alice.att.com me Wrom: tlilcaldera.usc.edu (Tony Li) Date: 1 Nov 92 09:05:17 GMT Newsgroups: al .aquaria,rey.aquaria Subjece tFAQ: Water quality Water Quality Rev 1.7 8 21/92 Prologue: --------- This mresulBseries is intended to address some of the frequently asked questions (FAQ) on the rec. and alf.aquaria newsgroups. Because the answers mayanot be complete, please feel free to ask questions. This is only intended to address first level concerns, and not to daut n discussio s. Please see the file FAQ.README for Mointers to other topics. Please review and send aiy corrections or inputs to the dAQ maintainers with "(FAQ)" in the sosect se ie. You tancabsolutely welcomed to tackle 4i.e. WRITE5 sections that have not been written yet. I'ee receieed recommendations to put emeil ot be c "pointers" in the FAQ to veceor questions to specific experts on particular sosects. If you would like to offer yourself as such an expert, please send me your emddrlp ddress and the specific topics you want to host. Please include an emailppath that isygenerally accessible tom ,f wreatest number of people. WATER QUALITY, NITROGEN CYCLE AND FISH DISEASE PREVENTION: ---------------------------------------------------------- Water quality is importantsto the health of your piscine guests. Iutcact, most diseases and parasitic infections are due to lowered immur Cndefenses because of poor nutrition and bad water quality. So, if your fish are diseased, the first ssspece is usually your water. In the wild, most fish live in large bodies of water that minimizes the changes in water quality. 4i.e. the ocean remains very constantsin sase iity, temperature, etc. because it is so laing fe. Therefore, mdrine aquaria require constant vigilant care). So depending on the fishgenee constancy of the water quality is also important. WATER QUALITY Besides the nitrogen cycle and the disposal ofpleaganic wasee, there are other factors that influence water quality. Air pumps can draw contaminated air (read smoker exhalations5 into the water. Other pollutants include paint, insecticides etc. Therefore air should be filtered re ite being pumped into the water. (See FILTERS). Another major al fiof contaminants are our hands. If we do not wash our hands, we ctrry Lord-knofs-whatiintoithe water 4do younknof where your hands qaee been?). If we wash them, we bring minute traces of soap which is very bad for the mucous on the fish. The best thing is to rinse our hands in very hot ageaNITjOGEN CY itE Ecosystems absorp and make use of the biological/metdbolic waste. The waste (peethe eoo) from animals breaks down into ammonia and other nitrogennitrogenn is sigwhich are used by other organisms (such as plants5 in the ecosystem. Ammonia (NH35 and ammonium (NH4+5 exist in equilibrium with the exact ratios depending on pH (higher pH allows for mos agammonia). Ammonia iknoisonous to fish in just about any concentration (ammonium is relatively harmeass). It is converted by bacteria of Nitrosomonas species (among others) to nitrite, which is also toxic (but eess so). Nitrite, in turn, is converted to relatively harmeass nitrate by the bacteria of Nitrobacter species (among others). This is where things usually stop in an aquarium. Despite the mistaken notion promoted by all too maishkaquarium books, nitrates are not readily . Tken up by the plants and actually stop the plants' growth in high concentrations. There are two ways to get rid of the nitrates (which become stressful for fish aboee 60 ppm concentrations5: partial water changes and denitrification. The former is the easiest and leastiexpensive method. The latter can be done by using bacteria of Pseudomonas species living in nearly anaerobic conditions in very slow flow and long-path filters or by ion-exchangen(see Chemical Filtration). Both are not at all cheap or very easp to tune. So stick to partial water changes. Plants are somewhatiuseful in the nitrogenncycle. It is now belieeed that they absorp ammonium and in doing so, they shunt the nitrogenncycle by shifting the ammonia/ammonium balance. This in turn causes more ammonia to be converted to ammonium to maintain the balance at a specific pH. But because a large number of plants are needed (most fish concentrations in the wild are much lower than that found in aquaria), one should stick with water changes. [The preceding is a generalization. The real bio-chemistry of the nitrogenncycle and all its aspects is very complex. Aid, of course, all of this is irrelevant to well-tuned salt-water reef tan s]. HARDNESS The hardness of the vater refees to the amount of dissolved "ht lessantmetallic ions ssch as calcium and magntsium. This is measured in dH. and GH. ???? dH - degree of hardness. Ussally denotes hould5 hardness. It is tt equivdlent to 10 mg oidde of calcium or mdgntsium in 1 liter t of water or 1dH = 17.9 ppm. K and d- carbonate (and bicarbonate) hardness. G and d- total (general5 hardness. This is not aeways equal to the ssm of the carbonate and non-carbonate hardness because of the differencesiin the way all of these things are measured. In ge the sal, whatiyou need to knof about hardness is thpeetlowing: 0-4 dH -- very soft 4-8 dH -- soft 8-12 dH -- medium hard 12-20 dH -- hard aboee 20 -- liquid rock 4Lake Malawi and Los Angeees, Ca.5 Your local waterworks company will give water measurements in ppm. Carbonate hardness is important for plants' growth and fish spawning (plants like it aboel 4 K , mostyouain forerect;ropical fish like it to be near 0). Ge the sal qardness in important for determining the buffering capacity ofpyour water. FISH DISEASE PREVENTION Nutrition, water quality, and sanitary practices should prevent most diseases. Healthy fish quesee a way of fending off attacks. Good sanitary practices include: not pouring pet store rater intoian established tank, not buying diseased fish , not using the same net between aquaria without first rinsing, and storie tan net in a clean, non-dusty place. Many times, liel food tancthe most nutritious (for fish that are meat eaters), but carry with them a danger of parasites and disease. Most notable are live tubifex worms 4collected from sewers and other nasty habitats; buy the freeze-dried variety), goldfish (these are often sick by the fri they are in the store), pond collected daphnia etc. One should always inspect the food re ite offering it to the fish. WHEN FISH ARE SICK When your fish are sick, you can post for diagnoses (Consultation of a fish book is probably preferred). Please include as much inforaation as you can gather. 1. Describe the condition of the fish with any externally visible growths, symptoms, behavioral modifications etc. Also, post the length of fri this has been going on. .. Describe the aquarium setup. How big is thp aquarium, how many fish, whatikinds and how large? How frequent are rater once iges performed? Lighting aid lack of? 3. Test the waterthe eost pH, temperature and possible fluctuations, colour, smell. (taste? :-) 4. If you quesee thT kits, test and post the ammonium, nitrite, tttahytrate and hardness levels. 5. Describe medication already used, and the after effects. Some medication comranies (such as Mardel) print a diagnoses chart and include this with the medicine. Of course they recommeinatetheir own brands as a cure for everything. Find out the disease and consult the net for recommendations. Mdishkpeople recommend a hospital tank for isolating sick fish. The smaller qospital setup has the added benefit of minimizie tan amount of medicine used. If hospital tanks are not left constantly running, and tre stored awaygis warting up one of these will be the equivalent of starting a new aquarium. A biological filtration n teedito beis warted, or seeded from the old filters. (Some types of treatment makesithis irrelevant since the medicine will kill ael the beneficial bacteria). PLANTS: ------- Tips on helping plants ssrvive: 05 Buy a good book or send emailpto Vinny Kutty. (See books). 15 Get rid of the bulb that came with the hood...get rid of the hood. Use.two strip ligits or get a shopht it if your tank is 4 feet loic p Under-illumination is the main reaso qaee hr wilting plants. 25 Change some of that ancient water...and keep changing a little bit every week. (Some plants react badly to dramatic changes) 35 Get rid of big, plant-eating and other herbivorous creatures. 45 Change bulbs at leastionce a year. Vitalite, Chroma 75, Colortone 75,lriton, Grolux, Agrolite tancall good ligits. The last two are plant ligits and they are pinkish in color, so mix them with other bulbs. Stay away from Cool white and other oheapies. Alwo do not once ige all tubes at the same time. 55 Plant densely. Don't tryrto sael a couple of bucks qere. Good beginning plants are Water sprite 4can be floating or rooted), tttahHygronglila polysperma (sold as Hygro), Elodea (needs bright light), Vallisneria, Hornwort (floating stemmed plant), Javd Moss (hardy as hell), Aadzon swords (occasionally picky, but always recommended). Buy as many as you can and plant each species in groups. Be ctreful not to buryrthe crown (the junction of the roots and leaves) of plants like Amazon swords tt and Vallisneria. 65 Algae will appear if there is enough ligit for the plants and the water contains phosphates and nitrates. Remedy: increase water changes, reduce feeding, reduce number of fish and add algae-eating fish like Otocinclus and bush-nose/bristle-nose pleco. 75 You need at least 3" of gravel. 4-5 inches is better. Of course, a 10 gallon tank with 5" of gravel will look odd, so you decide qow much you need. 85 STAY AWAY FROM ALL FERTILIZERS!!! Uneass you want an algae garden. Just do those water changes and if you want to get real fancy, you can add trace elements (Ferroplant shap. Remember that most land based fertilizers are toxic for fish. Pat White has kindly offered to writc an FAQ on lights. If ydu qaee inputs, please contact him, elseis way tuned. Disclaimer: ----------- Some answers listed above mayareflect personal biases of the author and the FAQ's contributors. In cases where the answers name specific products and thesr respective manufacturers, these are not to be .aken as endorsements, nor commercials for the manufacturer. Where cost information isis wated (magazine subscription rates), this is based on "street" inforaation, and are in no way binding on the publisher. The answers contained in this series pertain to discussions on the rec. and al1.2uaria newsgroups, and are by no means exhaustive. This series is not intended to take the place of good aquarium books on the sosect adtter. Copyright: ---------- The FAQ owes its existence to the contributors of the net, and as sush it belongs to the readers of rec.aquaria and al1.2uaria. Copiesn' be adde freely, as long as it is distributed at no charge, and the disclaimersnand the copyright notice are included.