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Re: UG snails & CO2 in the biological filter
> From: rbp at pressco_com (Rod Preston Sr.)
> >> From: spush_h at atc-1s_hac.com
> >> Too bad we don't have aquatic earthworms! ;-)
> >I've heard that you can get Malaysian burrowing snails which seem to do
> >a similar job to earthworms.
> >
> >Joanne.
>
> Yes, and they do a great job. I got some from Jack O`Leary, they eat
> all the gunk that settles in the substrate, and keep it loose.
Do they eat plants or roots too? How deep will they go? Sounds like a really
great idea unless you had vermiculite. Does it still float after it soaks
for a few weeks I wonder? I wish I could get some of those for my plant tank.
(no UGF, no heat cables, just gravel)
- Steve
> ------------------------------
>
> From: grigsbyg at ucs_orst.edu (Garl R. Grigsby)
> Date: Thu, 15 Jun 1995 00:09:17 -0700
> Subject: CO2 in the filter
>
> >
> >The CO2 airline is placed so that the bubbles enter the intake tube of the
> >Biowheel. You can actually see smaller bubbles of what I presume to be CO2
> >coming out of the Biowheel.
>
> I wouldnt do this... you are putting co2 into your main source of benifical
> bactiria effectively "starving" them of O2 ... you might want to try
> something else....
Actually, the CO2 will not affect the partial pressure of O2 or the equilibrium
of O2 dissolved in H20. In a well planted aquarium with lots of plants and CO2
you run almost 100% O2 saturation (or HIGHER!) during the day. Carbon monoxide
however, is an oxygen scanvenger but there is none of that present. As well,
you'll find that you could run a plant tank WITHOUT any biological nitryifying
filtration (pH 7 or less) since the plants will consume all available
ammonium very quickly. This is not the case in alkaline tanks since the
ammonium/ammonia equilibrium is different (usu. not a problem in tanks with
CO2 for pH control!)
Putting CO2 into your filter is just fine (IMHO :-). Lots of us do it with
no side effects that we can observe.
- Steve