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Subject: Aquatic Plants Digest V2 #92
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Aquatic Plants Digest Thursday, 23 May 1996 Volume 02 : Number 092
In this issue:
In defense of cedar
About filtration
Catching fish in a plant tank
Re:PMDD 's again
Re: PLANT FOOD
(Fwd) NaHCO3 == Baking Soda
Re: About filtration
Re: Green water fallacies?
Re: Hair algae
Cedar vs cypress
RE: Hair Algae
See the end of the digest for information on subscribing to the
Aquatic Plants mailing list and on how to retrieve back issues.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: mark.fisher at tpwd_state.tx.us
Date: Thu, 23 May 96 09:33:06 cst
Subject: In defense of cedar
I had a gnarly cedar stump in my aquarium (Juniperus asheyi--Ashe
juniper, from Austin TX) for three years with absolutely no ill
effects. I found the stump partially buried and looked like it had
been dead for years. I soaked it outside in plain water (no bleach)
for 6 weeks until it sank, then I placed it in my 90 gal tank. Of
course, it stained the water for 4-6 months, but that looked pretty
cool. (Perhaps if cedar is still "green" it would cause problems).
My Ancistris lived under the stump for three years, where he went from
a "cute" 3 inches to a gargoyle-like 7 inches. Java moss grew very
well on the stump. Other plants (especially Vals) grew well in the
tank. The Ancistris and my false SAE grazed on the cedar the whole
time, keeping it algae-free. They seemed to prefer the cedar over the
aquarium glass.
There were no unexplained deaths in the tank during this time. My
Ancistris, false SAE, angelfish, lemon tetras, and black tetras spent
three years with the stump and are still going strong. The only
reason I got rid of the stump was to make room for more plants!
Cedar does not rot, so it obviously has some means of
repelling/killing some bacteria and fungi. Same goes for cypress. I
submit that these two woods are more desirable in an aquarium than
wood that does rot (like the "driftwood" you can buy at an aquarium
shop that is actually a grapevine!)
------------------------------
From: glen at harlie_pps.com (Glen Osterhout)
Date: Thu, 23 May 96 11:10:00 EDT
Subject: About filtration
>I'm interested in the idea of minimal filtration. What kind of filter
>system would be recommended by those who propose minimal filtration? On my
>20 gallon tank at work I have an Aquaclear 150 filter. The sponge in it
>catches dirt in the water but also acts as a biological filter by giving a
>home to the bacteria. What could one replace it with?
>
>Olga
>in Vancouver which is very un-May-like right now.
I found that a simple powerhead with a foam sleeve does a good job of
mechanical filtration on my 125 gallon. I have to clean it every 4
or 5 days, but it is easy to get at (unlike the Fluval cannister on
my 70 gallon). As for biological filtering: all you need for that
is water movement and surface area for bacteria to grow on. The
plants themselves offer plenty of surface area, so you don't need
to worry about providing that.
Glen
in Boston, where it was 95 yesterday and 45 last night
------------------------------
From: glen at harlie_pps.com (Glen Osterhout)
Date: Thu, 23 May 96 11:19:56 EDT
Subject: Catching fish in a plant tank
I loaded my 125 gallon tank with juvenile Apistos and Corys that
I brought back from a collecting trip to Peru last year. Now
they are big enough that the tank is getting overcrowded, and I
can actually measure nitrates, even with a very heavy planting.
I know I need to thin the population, but I've never figured out
a good way to catch fish without totally wrecking the plants in
the process. Any advice?
Glen
------------------------------
From: mark.fisher at tpwd_state.tx.us
Date: Thu, 23 May 96 10:17:24 cst
Subject: Re:PMDD 's again
>However the potassium sulphate was a granular form which looked
>almost like small gravel about 1/8 in in size. When I tried to mix
>it with the water it did not want to dissolve. I stirred it and
>shook it up repeatedly, then I left it set overnight and it
>still has dissolved very little. Is this the right stuff
>and if so How do you get it to dissolve?
Try dissolving the K2SO4 in hot water. Both the KNO3 and the K2SO4
are in their standard state, and will not break down in hot water. If
this doesn't work, try KCl instead of K2SO4. You can get this at a
grocery store as "salt substitute", but beware! Some brands use
phosphate as a dessicant!
------------------------------
From: "Mike Bernardoni" <mikeb at pso_siu.edu>
Date: Thu, 23 May 1996 10:28:22 CST
Subject: Re: PLANT FOOD
Francis, I know I use SEACHEM FLOURISH for aquariums with good
results. I know other people on the list do also. Thanks Mike
Bernardoni mikeb at pso_siu.edu
------------------------------
From: "Mike Bernardoni" <mikeb at pso_siu.edu>
Date: Thu, 23 May 1996 10:32:15 CST
Subject: (Fwd) NaHCO3 == Baking Soda
- ------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
From: "alan van nevel" <frog at theory_physics.missouri.edu>
Date: Thu, 23 May 1996 10:13:04 -0500
To: mikeb at pso_siu.edu
Subject: NaHCO3 == Baking Soda
I used to work for a pool company as a repairman, and yep the expensive jar of
NaHCO3 you just got is just a poor grade of baking soda. If you can get baking
soda in bulk, It will be a lot cheaper
- --
Alan Van Nevel UMC Physics
314 882 6735
frog at theory_physics.missouri.edu
"Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more,
Or close the wall up with our English dead!
In peace there 's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility;
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger:
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood."
- William Shakespeare, _Henry V_ , Act III sc 1
Thanks Again Alan!! Mike Bernardoni mikeb at pso_siu.edu
------------------------------
From: "Christopher L. Weeks" <c576653 at cclabs_missouri.edu>
Date: Thu, 23 May 1996 11:06:06 -0500 (CDT)
Subject: Re: About filtration
On Wed, 22 May 1996 Olga wrote:
> I'm interested in the idea of minimal filtration. What kind of filter
> system would be recommended by those who propose minimal filtration? On my
> 20 gallon tank at work I have an Aquaclear 150 filter. The sponge in it
> catches dirt in the water but also acts as a biological filter by giving a
> home to the bacteria. What could one replace it with?
>
I'm not sure how well it would work with a tank that small, but I keep a
200G tank with no filtration at all. Sometimes there is a power-head
providing current though. The tank is packed to the gills with Jungle
Vallesnaria which seems to provide all the filtration the tank needs.
There is a population of common live-bearers (guppies and swordtails) as
well as some odd fish (a krib, an oscar, a couple of tetras) The only
death I've had in the tank (that I noticed, anyway) was when my
grandmother angel-fish died. She'd been retired to that tank for a life
of ease after providing me with many fry begginning in 1990. She kicked
the bucket earlier this year for no apparent reason. I occasionally
manually remove big clumps of hair algae from the tank too. It's been in
place with only relatively minor changes for almost three years.
I don't test anything in this tank anymore. I change about 1/4 of the
water every year for my irregulary scheduled water change in this
tank...otherwise I just top it off.
later,
- --------------------------------- ---------------------------------
Christopher L. Weeks | Training Specialist |
| University of Missouri-Columbia |
http://www.missouri.edu/~ccweeks | Campus Computing |
- --------------------------------- ---------------------------------
------------------------------
From: "David W. Webb" <dwebb at ti_com>
Date: Thu, 23 May 1996 11:32:04 -0500
Subject: Re: Green water fallacies?
>From: gtong at sirius_com (G.Tong)
>
>I've got another question for you all. Someone on the Goldfish List has
>stated firmly that green water is caused by incomplete biological
>filtration, that if our filters were working, there would never be green
>water. His reasoning is that green water algae can only live when there is
>ammonia around whereas "hairy algae" (his term not mine) can thrive on
>nitrates and phosphates. He claims this is why green water is *never* found
>in planted tanks.
>
>Neither his conclusion nor his assumptions along the way sound right to me.
>Advice? TIA.
I would agree if he said that green water would cause incomplete nitrification
by bacteria, primarily because suspended algae are very effective at
out-competing the bacteria for nitrogen.
Perhaps he came up with this conclusion by either adding a UV sterilizer to the
tank or diatom filtering and then finding out that his bio-filter wasn't at a
high enough capacity to handle the ammonia production.
However, from what I've seen, green water usually reduces NHx and NOx levels in
the tank to basically zero in a very effective manner. The biggest problem
I've heard of then is when someone kills the suspended algae quickly enough to
add the nitrogen back to the water while overloading the bacterial
nitrification system.
David W. Webb
Enterprise Computing Provisioning
Texas Instruments Inc. Dallas, TX USA
(214) 575-3443 (voice) MSGID: DAWB
(214) 575-4853 (fax) Internet: dwebb at ti_com
(214) 581-2380 (pager) Text Pager: pgr at ti_com Subj:PAGE:David Webb
------------------------------
From: olga at arts_ubc.ca
Date: Thu, 23 May 1996 10:38:33 -0700
Subject: Re: Hair algae
>From: SKAU <skau at aa_wl.com>
> Ryan-try dosing your tank with Kanamycin. I've had some success with
>it.
Gerry, -- sorry but I think that this is terrible advice to give Ryan. I
don't see what good dosing with an antibiotic would do for hair algae. Our
society is antibiotic mad. Avoid using *anything* like that in your tank
except as desperate measures for an appropriate fish bacteria. A bit of
hair algae is certainly not "desperate".
Ryan -- what kind of algae eaters do you have in your tank now?
Olga
in Vancouver where it's warmer and has sunny breaks.
------------------------------
From: sywang at whale_st.usm.edu (Shiao Y. Wang)
Date: Thu, 23 May 1996 12:54:32 -0500
Subject: Cedar vs cypress
Thanks to Olga for pointing out why cedar should not be used in an aquarium.
I don't have experience with cedar but I can say from experience that
cypress is an excellent source of driftwood. It is a natural bog or swamp
tree and thus resistant to rotting. It sinks readily and does not discolor
the water. I have a large piece that is arched with many gnarls and holes in
a 75 gal discus tank. It was expensive but one of the best investments I
ever made for a well planted tank. Cypress driftwood is difficult to find in
stores because their natural habitat makes finding them and collection
difficult.
********************
Shiao Y. Wang
Univ. of Southern Mississippi
sywang at whale_st.usm.edu
------------------------------
From: SKAU <skau at aa_wl.com>
Date: Thu, 23 May 1996 15:22:07 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: RE: Hair Algae
> Ryan-try dosing your tank with Kanamycin. I've had some success with
>it.
Gerry, -- sorry but I think that this is terrible advice to give Ryan. I
don't see what good dosing with an antibiotic would do for hair algae. Our
society is antibiotic mad. Avoid using *anything* like that in your tank
except as desperate measures for an appropriate fish bacteria. A bit of
hair algae is certainly not "desperate".
Ryan -- what kind of algae eaters do you have in your tank now?
Olga
in Vancouver where it's warmer and has sunny breaks.
To repeat-I've had some success with it.
Gerry
in cold rainy Ann Arbor.
------------------------------
End of Aquatic Plants Digest V2 #92
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Date: Thu, 23 May 1996 15:39:02 -0400
From: Aquatic-Plants-Owner at ActWin_com
To: Aquatic-Plants at ActWin_com
Subject: Aquatic Plants Digest V2 #92
Reply-To: Aquatic-Plants at ActWin_com