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fw:BOUNCE aquatic-plants at actwin_com: Admin request



From Steve Pushak.
-Shaji
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shaji Bhaskar                                              bhaskar at bnr_ca
BNR, 35 Davis Dr., RTP, NC 27709, USA                      (919) 991 7125

---forwarded message---->

Jul 12 17:36:00 1995

 To:         Shaji (S.)  Bhaskar                (BNR)      Dept 3X12   BNRTP
             'owner-aquatic-plants at actwin_com'                 (BNR400)

 From:       'owner-aquatic-plants at actwin_com'                 (BNR400)

 Subject:    BOUNCE aquatic-plants at actwin_com: Admin request

 Attachment:  1) UNIX File: ORIGINAL.HEADER - 560 bytes  

From bhaskar at bnr_ca  Wed Jul 12 17:34:56 1995
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From: Stephen.Pushak at hcsd_hac.com
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Subject: Re: Suspended Particles
To: Aquatic-Plants at actwin_com
Date: Wed, 12 Jul 95 14:34:26 PDT
In-Reply-To: <199507121939.PAA11166 at looney_actwin.com>; from "Aquatic-Plants-Owner at actwin_com" at Jul 12, 95 3:39 pm
Mailer: Elm [revision: 70.85]

Re: HELP!
> 
> PS. Logged in from home and using a primitive terminal emulator.

Which explains why it looks like I didn't read your first message
quite clearly. Sorry :%)

=================================================
> 
> From: zbigniew at cais_cais.com (Patrick Farley)
> Subject: Suspended Particles
> My plant tank substrate is composed of natural dirt and rocks (fresh off the 
> mountain).   I'm having a problem with tiny suspended dirt particles 
> drifting around and landing on my plants.  Besides being unsightly I don't 
> think it helps the plants out.  Any suggestions on how to get rid of it.

Most filters are completely inadequate for removing fine clay particles.  The
best one for this job that I know of is a diatom filter.  It removes everything
down to a few microns which means algae, algae spores, bacteria, infusoria etc.
It's not recommended for continuous use but I'd use it after any activity which
stirs up a clay substrate or to remove an algal bloom.  Does anyone know if
there is such a thing as a diatom filter which fits on a power head?  I'm using
a powerhead to stimulate water circulation in my large plant tank.  I think
this helps reduce certain kinds of algae on the leaves and helps the leaves
respiration.  Hey Everybody!  I never heard if you are believers in the use of
power heads in plant tanks!

======================================================
Subject: Slow reverse UG circulation technique results

The results of this experiment are not complete (read satisfactory yet).

In my 75 gallon 28" deep tank I rigged a conventional UG filter and glued two
uplift tubes together and filled this with a mixture of sand, steel wool, peat
fragments (from a preformed sprouting container) and earthworm castings.  Some
of the outflow from my trickle filter is directed into the top of this tube
which is about 1" above the surface of the tank.  The substrate is a 1" layer
of gravel, 1.5" layer of 15% water logged vermiculite (powdered), 15% earthworm
castings & 70% gravel and then another 1.5" layer of gravel on top of that.
(These are approximatations since it was hard to measure things exactly)

I allowed the leaching tube to saturate with water until the level had reached
the level in the tank.  After filling the tube, I allowed the level in the tube
to drop and measured the height after one hour.  The rate of flow through the
tube is 4mm/hr.  A few rough calculations led me to the conclusion that the
average flow through the substrate is less than .005 mm/hr or 200 hrs to
penetrate 1 mm.  Too low (by a factor of 100).  I think there should be much
less resistance in this down tube so I'll remove all the fine stuff for the
next try. In fact, the tube should probably contain mostly coarse sand or
gravel. I suspect my substrate itself is not highly permeable either.

Earthworm castings are a pretty good source of humus, but I think I used too
much.  The ratios should probably be 5% each of vermiculite and humus to gravel
in the substrate.  Anyway, so far the plants seem fairly happy with their new
environment.

 - Steve