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NFC: Re: .02 scattered (Zms, styro)
I have read that one or the other of the buffalo fishes has been observed
eating zebra mussels, and I would expect that large drum would also partake.
We in Tennessee have no appreciable remaining sturgeon, since TVA dams
anything that's wet and moves, but larger redhorses may also try them in the
future. (My own plan involves the legions of racoons in our backyard and
tiny little SCUBA gear...) One problem is that the shells are much sharper
than those of native mussels. Here in Chattanooga we've had a couple of
massive die-offs just below the dam. The pattern seems to be that the ZMs
multiply so fast they literally smother the natives beneath their collective
weight, competing for food, oxygen, & space. Whatever triggers a die-off,
probably not food since there's a constant turnover of water, then kills
literally millions of the little critters, sending multicolored shells
tumbling downstream (and probably killing off any remaining natives, plus
some fish).
I have tried the styro (actually closed foam rigid wall insulation) beneath
one tank, but since we've had no tank failures there's not much difference.
;-)
MW
"The generation of random numbers is too important to be left to chance."
Oak Ridge nuclear scientist, I forget the name.