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Re: NFC: Zebra Mussels
good info, thanks. i know you could see where i was trying to go with this.
so no living bio-filter with a cage full of zm. too bad. an interesting
concept though. i'm sure someone has done some experiments with this idea.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Joshua Wiegert" <JLW at dune_net>
To: <nfc at actwin_com>
Sent: Wednesday, July 04, 2001 5:54 PM
Subject: 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.
References: