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Grainger, CO2 Safety and Nitrate



Subject: Re: Grainger & lighting
 
> "Granger's" is a greenhouse in Ohio that specilizes in hybridizi
> selling African Violets. 

We've been talking about "Grainger's", not "Granger's".  Different 
outfit.
 
> P.S.  Did you all know that African violets (S. ionantha) are id
> palluriums.  

You're right about that!  I keep several in my paludarium.

> They LOVE the warmth and high humidity of these enc
> swamp enviroments 

You do have to be careful though, to keep good airflow in the 
paludarium and not allow the air _or_ soil to get too moist.  I've 
found that I need to keep the cover of my paludarium 1/2 open at 
all times or my African violets have more humidity than they can 
handle.

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Subject: CO2 Bottle and Safety
 
> > From: krandall at world_std.com (Karen A Randall)

> > CHAIN the tank in an upright position to an immoveable object,
> > whether it is the aquarium stand or a dedicated fastener on th
> > wall.  

George wrote:

> Yes, buy all means secure the bottle.  But chain sounds so medie
> Velco straps are much easier to work with.  Leather straps also 
> nice aesthetic appearance ... no, wait, wrong hobby :-)

OK, OK, let's keep it clean.<g>

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Subject: Nitrates, Dropsy and Algae

> > Is there a way to reduce or remove the nitrates in my tank saf
> > without a lot of chemical's or $$$?

Greg Tong wrote:
 
> Yes. Change some of the water regularly. Doing a large change (o
> might be a good thing now in any case because many fish problems
> poor water quality.

Be careful with this!  Fish can, unfortunately, become acclimated 
to very polluted water.  If you change too much water all at once, 
you can kill them as sure as pouring poison in the tank.  If large 
water changes haven't been done regularly, start changing 10% a 
day, then increase the size of the changes gradually until you're 
changing about 50% of the water at a time.  Then when you _get_ 
the nitrate level down, take a good look at your stocking, feeding 
and water change regime.  Make sure you are changing enough water 
often enough to keep up with what's being produced in the tank.

Karen Randall
Aquatic Gardeners Assoc.
Boston, MA