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[APD] Re: Aquatic-Plants Digest, Vol 14, Issue 13 (Out of Office)



I will be out of the office until October 12. Please contact David
Dalley with any issues.

Thanks,
Trina

>>> aquatic-plants 10/07/04 19:27 >>>

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Today's Topics:

   1. [Redacted] (Reggie Bustinza)
   2. Re: treating change water (Andrew McLeod)
   3. Re: treating change water (Andrew McLeod)
   4. Re:  [Redacted]
   5. Re: Aquatic-Plants Digest, Vol 14, Issue 12 (Dave Gomberg)
   6. Eheim 2026 filter replacement ball (Tomoko Schum)
   7. Re: treating change water (Bill Wichers)
   8. RE: Re: Your details (Bill Wichers)
   9. Re: Eheim 2026 filter replacement ball (S. Hieber)
  10. Re: Eheim 2026 filter replacement ball (Tomoko Schum)
  11. Re: treating change water (Chuck Gadd)


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Thu, 07 Oct 2004 16:25:51 +0000
From: "Reggie Bustinza" <numbr_9 at hotmail_com>
Subject: [APD] [Redacted]
To: aquatic-plants at actwin_com

[Redacted]

Reggie



------------------------------

Message: 2
Date: Thu, 07 Oct 2004 18:46:52 +0100
From: "Andrew McLeod" <thefish at theabyssalplain_freeserve.co.uk>
Subject: Re: [APD] treating change water
To: "aquatic plants digest" <aquatic-plants at actwin_com>

On Tue, 05 Oct 2004 22:34:43 -0700, Anna R. Dunster  
<azzacanth at livejournal_com> wrote:

> On Tue, 5 Oct 2004 20:53:09 -0700, "Steve Pushak"
> <teban at powersonic_bc.ca> wrote:
>
>> pH shift does not hurt fish. Variation in dissolved minerals is what
>> causes osmotic shock.
>
>
> should've read all posts before I replied.
>
> I didn't know this and it's contrary to most of what I have read
> online - people are always talking about being careful of pH shifts.
> Is that mainly because high ph is usually associated with harder water
> and vice versa?

Things on this list being contrary to most of what is online is very  
common. This list is nearly always right, though, even about things that
 
everybody else 'knows' to be true.
Examples:
To prevent algae, you need to reduce nitrates and phosphates.
Plants combat algae (true) by reducing nitrates and phosphates to very
low  
levels (not so true)
pH shifts hurt fish.
Red plants need more light.
You need lots of light to grow plants (more than 2w/g).

As for pH:
pH is merely an indicator of other things. pH shift does not, in itself,
 
affect fish.
In an otherwise unbuffered aquarium (i.e. not using acids like peat or a
 
phosphate based buffer), levels of carbonate hardness and the amount of 

CO2 dissolved in the water determine pH. If you have water with a high
KH  
(high carbonate hardness), the pH is higher for the same amount of  
dissolved CO2 as for water which is 'soft' and has a low KH.
But the pH swing caused by injecting CO2, and then turning it off at
night  
for instance, does not affect fish, even though it can change pH  
considerably.
I'm not sure (I'm not really one of the people who knows their stuff on 

this list), but I don't think the level of KH is critical either. I
think  
it is the level of calcium and magnesium, the 'true' hardness or GH,
that  
can cause osmotic shock. These do not affect pH, however water with a
high  
GH tends to have a high KH because hard water comes from limestone,
which  
is CaCO3 (and some MgCO3), so the minerals are associated.
I think dropping fish from water with a high level of dissolved minerals
 
into water with a low level of dissolved minerals is what caused osmotic
 
shock. But assuming you buy your fish from a local shop, they will be  
acclimatised to the tap water already...
Doing 50% water changes every week seems to be the best suggestion that
I  
have heard.

I have heard the best way to control your water (if you really do have  
hard water, what is your GH and KH?) is to get an RO unit, but it is by
no  
means required.

> Anyway I think I am getting a pretty good idea what I will do with my
> tank once I am done treating for ich and start doing regular water
> changes again. (my medication recommends not to change water for the
> course of treatment)
>
> My tank is usually not much warmer than room temp (the house is
> generally kept in the low 70s and the tank is set to mid/high 70s)

That's the temperature I keep goldfish at; Tetras live in much warmer  
water than that (Cardinals are still happy at >30 for disease
treatments).

> It sounds as if I should be able to adjust my tank to 6.8 pretty
> easily contrary to my initial impression :)   I don't mind not having
> precise control.

The most important thing is this: why do you want to? pH is irrelevant
to  
fish; and most fish will live (though not neccessarily produce fry) at  
pH's and dissolved mineral contents far from what they had wherever they
 
are natural.
Consider that all plants, even those that grow in very soft water, do  
better in harder water. Hard water contains the mineral nutrients that
all  
plants need. Often what is found in nature is not required (or sometimes
 
even beneficial). Fish are very adaptable.

PS I am confident that any mistakes I have made will be pointed out!
This  
list is surely the best place on the web for knowledgable people...

-- 
Andrew McLeod
thefish at theabyssalplain_freeserve.co.uk

This email was scanned carefully before transmission to remove any  
content, information or relevance.

------------------------------

Message: 3
Date: Thu, 07 Oct 2004 18:49:45 +0100
From: "Andrew McLeod" <thefish at theabyssalplain_freeserve.co.uk>
Subject: Re: [APD] treating change water
To: "aquatic plants digest" <aquatic-plants at actwin_com>

Forgot to mention; ammonia is more dangerous at high pH (to be more  
precise, for a given amount of Total Ammonical Nitrogen there is more  
nasty ammonia and less not so nasty ammonium). But you shouldn't have
any  
ammonia anyway, especially in a heavily planted tank...
-- 
Andrew McLeod
thefish at theabyssalplain_freeserve.co.uk

This email was scanned carefully before transmission to remove any  
content, information or relevance.

------------------------------

Message: 4
Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2004 15:18:29 -0400
From: "Bill D" <billinet at comcast_net>
Subject: [APD] Re:  [Redacted]
To: <aquatic-plants at actwin_com>

[Redacted]

Bill



------------------------------

Message: 5
Date: Thu, 07 Oct 2004 14:55:14 -0700
From: Dave Gomberg <dave1 at wcf_com>
Subject: [APD] Re: Aquatic-Plants Digest, Vol 14, Issue 12
To: aquatic-plants at actwin_com
Cc: aquatic-plants at actwin_com

At 09:02 10/7/2004, Scott Heiber asked:

>[Redacted]

Send2Press is a press release writing and distribution service.  
Clearly, 
from the emotional language, it is not a real news item. 


------------------------------

Message: 6
Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2004 19:10:38 -0500
From: "Tomoko Schum" <tomokoschum at knology_net>
Subject: [APD] Eheim 2026 filter replacement ball
To: "aquatic plants digest" <aquatic-plants at actwin_com>

Thank you, Scott.  I knew I could count on you to give me a good lead.

I also have another question.  I let the canister filter go without
cleaning 
the media for two months or so.  I realized this when I saw that the
ball 
was no longer floating.  The somewhat sticky disintegrating ball was 
actually wedged between the ribs of the cage.  When I put my hand on the
top 
of the canister filter (the protruding priming part), I noticed that the

pump was warm.  After cleaning the filter media last night, I let it sit
for 
an hour to let the pump cooled down some.  This afternoon the pump is
still 
slightly warm to the touch. The tank temperature is pretty high as well
(86 
degrees F).   I have been using this Eheim filter for at least 3 years
and 
the top of the priming section has never been warm before.  The filter
media 
has been cleaned regularly every month until this one mishap.  Did I
damage 
the pump?

Tomoko 



------------------------------

Message: 7
Date: Thu, 07 Oct 2004 20:48:38 -0400
From: Bill Wichers <billw at waveform_net>
Subject: Re: [APD] treating change water
To: aquatic-plants at actwin_com


>I'm not sure (I'm not really one of the people who knows their stuff on

>this list), but I don't think the level of KH is critical either. I
think 
>it is the level of calcium and magnesium, the 'true' hardness or GH,
that 
>can cause osmotic shock. These do not affect pH, however water with a
high

KH is somewhat critical if you are using CO2. If you get shifted off to 
very high CO2 concentrations you can have problems with fish deaths.
Best 
to check KH and pH periodically to be sure of the CO2 levels using the 
well-known chart. Apparently municipal water supplies in some areas
change 
water sources and/or treatment regimens with changing seasons, and the 
resulting different water chemistry can sometimes be a problem when 
changing tank water.

>shock. But assuming you buy your fish from a local shop, they will be 
>acclimatised to the tap water already...

Not necessarily -- especially in areas where water supplies are sourced 
from wells. In most larger areas with municipal water supplies you would

most likely be correct though.

>Doing 50% water changes every week seems to be the best suggestion that
I 
>have heard.

I have good luck doing about a 50-60% water change every other week. If
I 
miss one I start seeing problems within about a week though (usually).

>I have heard the best way to control your water (if you really do have 
>hard water, what is your GH and KH?) is to get an RO unit, but it is by
no 
>means required.

I think RO is pretty much the only way to do this. Water softeners just 
trade one problem for another. RO actually removes most everything from
the 
water, but the resulting water has nearly zero buffering capacity and is

hazardous to the fish if left untreated. Some just use the RO water to 
"water down" the normal tap water to arrive at the water chemistry they 
want, others use commercial mixes to treat the RO water to arrive at
some 
known water state.

      -Bill


*****************************
Waveform Technology
UNIX Systems Administrator


------------------------------

Message: 8
Date: Thu, 07 Oct 2004 20:56:55 -0400
From: Bill Wichers <billw at waveform_net>
Subject: RE: [APD] Re: Your details
To: aquatic-plants at actwin_com


>I understand. I have my scanner set to update every four hours as well
>and thus far have been fortunate to just get notifications that someone
>attempted to send me a virus rather than getting trashed. Obviously I'm
>singing to the choir, but if one has a high speed connection, a
firewall
>is also good "preventative medicine".

That's not always enough. As of late I have been seeing some new
virus/worm 
that is sending attachements called "joke.exe", and usually the body of
the 
message just contains a smiley and nothing more. Anyone receiving a
message 
like that would be well advised to delete the message AND the
attachment. 
I'm not sure exactly what has been sending out the latest batch, but I
see 
hundreds of them daily passing through our mail server at work (we're an
ISP).

>I've often found the PayPal, eBay, et al., links give themselves away
by
>the rather obvious misspellings of grammatical errors, leading one to
>consider that many of these are perpetrated by those for whom English
is
>not a first language.

Many of these "please update your user preferences" messages are
identity 
theft scams. Ebay doesn't need your social security number for their 
records, and they never ask for it. They also make it well known that
they 
will never ask for credit card info in email, either.

If you look closely at any of these messages, you usually will see that 
they were sent from a cable modem or DSL user. Chances are Ebay, a 
multi-BILLION dollar organization, is NOT going to contract home users
to 
send their email for them :-) Their revenues really are amazing...

Anyway, for anyone receiving one of those messages, the trick is to look
at 
the HEADERS of the message (which are not normally shown), and follow
the 
RECEIVED: lines down to the last one. The lowest RECEIVED: header in a 
legitimate message from a large organization won't be something like 
192-128-132-56.ne.cal.comcast.net, for example. If that's what you see, 
then chances are the message is a forgery.

      -Bill


*****************************
Waveform Technology
UNIX Systems Administrator


------------------------------

Message: 9
Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2004 17:57:21 -0700 (PDT)
From: "S. Hieber" <shieber at yahoo_com>
Subject: Re: [APD] Eheim 2026 filter replacement ball
To: aquatic plants digest <aquatic-plants at actwin_com>

Unlikely any dreadful damage has been done unless you hit
it with a hammer to see if sudden shock would "fix" 
it ;-)  

Okay, seriously -- The Eheims rely on water circulation to
lubricate the rotor on it's shaft and keep the pump/motor
cool. Generally, a hotter than normal filter means too
little water flow or (and this is very rare and I've only
had it happen once in about 30 years) a shorted coil. 

You might consider each of the following in order. If one
works, then stop there and be happy unitl the next
maintenance cycle. If not, then go to the next step:

Clean all the tubing and filter openings and interior with
good brushes, size to fit -- there's a small channel/slot
in the rotor housing that helps keep water circulating
around the rotor to cool it and burp out any gas the gets
in there -- I know you already did this, but I felt I had
to mention the first step just on GPs ;-)  -- at least I
avoided the obvious "clean the media"   ;

Clean the rotor including the magnet and the vanes -- if
these become well coated with biofilm, they become less
productive -- I think a lot of folks skip this step when
doing filter maintenance. Gunk on a rotor really cuts down
water flow;

And a lot of folks skip this part: Apply petroleum jelly to
the gasket around the 'siphon-starter' plunger. This is on
the inside bottom of the pump head and you'll need a bald
Q-tip or such to get the lubricant down near the gasket.
Work the plunger. It should go down and return back up up
*easily*. If it can not come up easily, it might not come
all the way up, which *will impede water flow* and cause
the plunger to feel warmer than usual.

Inspect the ceramic rotor shaft for any visible signs of
wear. After three years it might not be ready for
replacement but a new shaft and bearings, if you can get
them without buying a new rotor aren't very expensive.

Other than that, there is nothing to wear out mechanically.
The rest of the motor/pump is just a large coil of copper
wire sealed inside epoxy.

The 2026 produces about as much heat as a 20+ watt electric
heater or a bit more than 20 watt fluorescent lamp. The
water flowing thorugh it should absorb most of the heat
despite how quickly it flows through the pump in normal
operation. And it's not enough heat, even with zero water
flow, to be able to damage parts, not even the coil.

Hope that helps,
Scott H.
--- Tomoko Schum <tomokoschum at knology_net> wrote:

> Thank you, Scott.  I knew I could count on you to give me
> a good lead.
> 
> I also have another question.  I let the canister filter
> go without cleaning 
> the media for two months or so.  I realized this when I
> saw that the ball 
> was no longer floating.  The somewhat sticky
> disintegrating ball was 
> actually wedged between the ribs of the cage.  When I put
> my hand on the top 
> of the canister filter (the protruding priming part), I
> noticed that the 
> pump was warm.  After cleaning the filter media last
> night, I let it sit for 
> an hour to let the pump cooled down some.  This afternoon
> the pump is still 
> slightly warm to the touch. The tank temperature is
> pretty high as well (86 
> degrees F).   I have been using this Eheim filter for at
> least 3 years and 
> the top of the priming section has never been warm
> before.  The filter media 
> has been cleaned regularly every month until this one
> mishap.  Did I damage 
> the pump?
>

=====
Still some time left to get the 65% discount hotel rate.

The Annual AGA Convention, 2004, November 12-14.
aquatic-gardeners.org & gwapa.org

Speakers, 3 Focus Groups in two sessions each, plus Field Trip, Banquet,
auctions of equipment and plants from some of the best companies,
gardeners & nurseries in the hobby.

------------------------------

Message: 10
Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2004 20:19:16 -0500
From: "Tomoko Schum" <tomokoschum at knology_net>
Subject: Re: [APD] Eheim 2026 filter replacement ball
To: "aquatic plants digest" <aquatic-plants at actwin_com>

Thank you for the quick reply!  I will follow your advice and check the 
rotor and bearings.  Hope the thorough cleaning will solve the heating 
problem.

See you in DC,

Tomoko 



------------------------------

Message: 11
Date: Thu, 07 Oct 2004 19:24:43 -0600
From: Chuck Gadd <cgadd at cfxc_com>
Subject: Re: [APD] treating change water
To: aquatic plants digest <aquatic-plants at actwin_com>

Bill Wichers wrote:

> Not necessarily -- especially in areas where water supplies are 
> sourced from wells. In most larger areas with municipal water supplies

> you would most likely be correct though.

Definitely do some research.  There are two good fish places within a 15

minute drive of my home, and they are both fed from different water 
sources than each other and myself!   And all have rather different 
parameters.




------------------------------

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