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Re: NFC: Zebra Mussels

I' did a bit of work on Zebra Mussels a few years ago...  My memory, as
usual, is a little rusty, but here goes.  They can't be confined.  The life
cycle is similar to that of many other critters.  The mussels basically have
mass orgies, where sperm and egg are released.  These combine, and form
something called an "alvin."  This is not to be comfused with a Simon or a
Theodore.  The alvins are basically microscopic bits of zooplankton.  They
swim around for a little bit, before finding a place to anchor.  They slowly
grow into a mussel.  The mussel grows and grows and grows, filtering out
organic matter as a food source.  This is typically phtyo and zooplankton.
As has been mentioned a few times, yes, they will remove pollutants, but
will also remove much of the micro-foods located in the water.
Unfortunately, they cannot be confined and used in a filtrations system.  As
the alvins may be produced at any time, and are terribly difficult to filter
out, the effluent is very likely to contain the larvae.

Joshua
----- Original Message -----
From: flatwood <flatwood at bellsouth_net>
To: <nfc at actwin_com>
Sent: Wednesday, July 04, 2001 4:01 PM
Subject: Re: NFC: blue pike stuff


> seems like their filtration qualities could be used but i see the danger
and
> would rather avoid them at this point. i am wondering how they reproduce
and
> if they could be confined to a wire cage??
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Gay" <ghemsath at att_net>
> To: <nfc at actwin_com>
> Sent: Wednesday, July 04, 2001 2:43 PM
> Subject: RE: NFC: blue pike stuff
>
>
> > Hello
> >
> > They also filtered out a lot of the bad stuff as well (PBCs)
> > Not just the green algae and zooplankton
> >
> > Gay
> > Alaska
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: owner-nfc at actwin_com [mailto:owner-nfc at actwin_com]On Behalf Of
> > flatwood
> > Sent: Wednesday, July 04, 2001 11:31 AM
> > To: nfc at actwin_com
> > Subject: Re: NFC: blue pike stuff
> >
> > if i recall, they're small in size and came down the mississippi river
> then
> > into the cumberland river. we're located a few miles from the stones
river
> > which is a tributary of the cumberland. i'll have to guess that they're
in
> > there too but now yall have my interest up and will have to check it
out.
> > this filtration aspect is intriguing however.
> > -=tabb in tennessee
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Fully Prepared" <departmentus at yahoo_com>
> > To: <nfc at actwin_com>
> > Sent: Wednesday, July 04, 2001 1:45 PM
> > Subject: Re: NFC: blue pike stuff
> >
> >
> > > --- flatwood <flatwood at bellsouth_net> wrote:
> > > > a few years ago they caused a lot of concern in
> > > > tennessees lakes and rivers.
> > > > if my memory serves me they were establishing
> > > > colonies on dam gates and
> > > > interfering with the gates operation. i've seen
> > > > several references to them
> > > > for filtration of the small closed koi ponds. that
> > > > may be where this "good"
> > > > aspect comes from. i know they're not welcome in
> > > > tennessees lakes and
> > > > rivers. are they foreign (non usa)???
> > > Zebra mussels are native to northern Europe. They are
> > > not a problem there because they have predators. The
> > > only known predator of zebra mussels in North America
> > > is the ruddy duck. The mussels have population
> > > explosions that result in super-filtration of water.
> > > You will find that this results in a collapsed food
> > > chain; no green algae = no zooplankton = no big fish.
> > > But the water will look nice.
> > >
> > > Boo Radley, Saraland, Alabama (not in Monroe County)
> > >
> > >
> > > __________________________________________________
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> > >
> >
>
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