HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: sdebol@htlv.med.umn.edu (Steven Debol (Nelson))
Subject: Re: Blue-green 'algae' are DEAD!
Organization: University of Minnesota
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 17:57:12 GMT

In article <1992Dec14.195438.27806@bagend.uucp> jan@bagend.uucp (Jan Isley) writes:
>anbo@wuee1.wustl.edu (Albrecht Jander) writes:
>
>Yes, Maracyn, aka erithromycin, will kill the blue/green meanies.
>It will also kill your filter and therefore, your fish.
>
>>Besides those purists who absolutely refuse to use any drugs in their
>>aquariums, some people have raised concerns about the use of Maracyn:
>
>>1) It may destroy other usefull bacteria, particulary those in your
>>   biological filter responsible for decomposing amonia.
>
>Bacteria do not carry cards identifying them as usefull.  Antibiotics
>do not care, either, they try to kill them all.  If you think otherwise,
>you are simply incorrect.  This is not subject to debate, Maracyn and
>other antibiotics will kill your filter.
>

This is not entirely true--obviously bacteria are not separated
on the basis of "useful" or not.  However, certain antibiotics are
more effective against certain bacteria.  Antibiotics usually target
specific cellular functions or properties which may or may not
be as significant to one bacterium as it is to another. In general
you are correct but I usually cringe when people make "blanket" 
statements such as this--regardless of the topic.

As far as erythromycin is concerned I don't know off the top of
my head how it works.  I do agree with you that it is more than
likely harmful to the biological filter in general. I guess I'll
just leave it at that for now!

------------------------------------------------------------------
Steve Debol                       "The fear is all in your head,
Dept. of Microbiology              soldier, but don't get the idea
University of Minnesota            it's psychological." 
sdebol@lenti.med.umn.edu                        --Frank Burns
------------------------------------------------------------------

Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
From: "chuck filson" <chuck.filson@canrem.com>
Subject: pleco food
Reply-To: "chuck filson" <chuck.filson@canrem.com>
Organization: Canada Remote Systems
Distribution: rec
Date: 20 Dec 92 23:10:54 EST

In article:: <65#jptcs.COM> Steve.Kilbey%bbs@jptcs.com wrote:

SK>I have heard (from here) that people feed their pleco's frozen spinach. When
SK>I tried this, it hust floats. I believe mt pleco did eat some, however. I
SK>saw him nibbling on it. The other fish tried it too. I am looking for other
SK>methods of feeding him, or her. I have heard that cucumber and zuchinni can
SK>be fed to pleco's. Any other help would be appreciated.

  For those of us who are lazy, just open a can of green beans and all of
your suckermouth catfish will be very happy. The basic 1 inch cut green
beans straight from the can will disappear overnight and they sink by
themselves.

  Mine seem to prefer Green Giant Brand.

Chuck
--
Canada Remote Systems  - Toronto, Ontario
World's Largest PCBOARD System - 416-629-7000/629-7044
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
From: steve@coho.austin.ibm.com (sTeVeN CaLlAhAn)
Subject: [M] Ozone in da Skimmer...
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 18:35:28 GMT
Organization: IBM Austin

Yesterday I bought a protein skimmer for my 29 gallon saltwater tank.
I really didn't need it since my trickle filter does a great job on
its own.  However, since I have heard soooo many great things about
a skimmer....  It seems to do great, already I've collect alot of 
scum from my tank (hopefully I won't have to clean it as often too).

My question is about ozone machines you can buy that will attach to
your skimmer.  You can get these things for about $150 and you can
adjust them for the amount of ozone that they release. 

Are these things worth it?  I don't have a problem with parasites, but
if the ozone will help reduce the proteins then maybe I want it.  Is
there any problem with them in a reef tank?  Do they make a 
{significant, so so, minor} difference?

Thanks

steve

-- 
___________________________________________________________________________
Steven Callahan					   
callahan@austin.ibm.com				   I'd rather
(512) 838-8418					         be raving...
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria,alt.aquaria
From: tse@ra.nrl.navy.mil (Anthony Tse)
Subject: Re: Skimmer-only tanks (Was: Re: Are W/D trickle filters worth it?)
Organization: Naval Research Lab, Washington, DC
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 22:51:10 GMT

In article <1992Dec18.195632.28007@attain.icd.teradyne.com> brian@picasso.icd.teradyne.com (Brian Hunter) writes:
>In article <16DEC199213404056@venus.lerc.nasa.gov> fssmith@venus.lerc.nasa.gov (Greg Smith) writes:
>>> Alex Parker (aparker@maine.maine.edu) wrote
>>
>>>>
>>>** On this topic, can anyone specifically recommend a good brand/model
>>
>>Tunze makes a good venturi skimmer.  Most mass produced skimmers are too
>
>Do you use it?  Does anyone (except Julian of course) actually use one
>of these?  It is pricy at $400, does it really work a lot better or is
>it just over priced.

	I seen many of them in operation.  I bought a used one but it
was broken so I returned it.  The owner of the store was kind enough
to offer to sell me a new one at cost.  But instead, I bought a $10
used counter current skimmer.  BTW, $400 may seems like a lot of money,
but the fish store owners are not making that much money off these
skimmers.  I do think it's way overprice.  It's made of cheap plastic.
Feel like cheap plastic.  But lot's of people swear by them.

>I have heard that the oceanic 6 or 8 inch does a good job.

	I have a Oceanic #4.  It keep my inverts very happy.  It's one of
those thing, not too many people are going to go out and buy 2 multi
hundred dollars skimmers and compare them.  It's hard enough to pay for
one.

-Anthony
From: drake@Autodesk.COM (Dan Drake)
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
Subject: Re: Beginner seeking lots of advice
Date: 14 Dec 92 21:26:23 GMT
Organization: Autodesk Inc., Sausalito CA, USA

TECHVSH@admin.uh.edu (Vickie S. Hyland) writes:
> In <1992Dec12.210043.16794@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> pprior@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu writes:
> 
> The tap water tested ammonia (0.25mg/l), "critical for fish if permanent; 
> slight disturbance of nitrification"; nitrite (0,1mg/l), "good"; 
> nitrate (0); pH (8.5).  So, how do I correct the tap water before 
> adding it to the tank, the ammonia and nitrites that is.
> 
Tetra test kits (which I infer from the description "critical for fish
if permanent") are good and reasonably priced, but can be misleading at
low levels, largely because you're trying to compare the color of a
solution with that of a printed piece of paper.  (The fancy kits from
places like LaMotte have you compare your solution with a standard
solution, but you probably don't want to shell out money for these
really nice toys.)
  
I'd strongly suggest that you buy a gallon of distilled (or
de-ionized) water at the grocery store and run tests on it along with
your tap and/or aqaurium water.  Then you have a reliable 0 value to
compare with.  And, of course, try to restrict your tests to times when
you can use sunlight to look at the results; you'd be surprised how much
redder the nitrite test is under incandescent light.

--
Dan Drake                 In software, the *complete* design *is* the software!
drake@Autodesk.com        --Hugh Lamaster
Xref: sparky rec.aquaria:9638 sci.aquaria:1799
From: anbo@wuee1.wustl.edu (Albrecht Jander)
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria,sci.aquaria
Subject: Re: Blue-green 'algae' are DEAD!
Date: 15 Dec 92 15:08:51 GMT
Organization: Washington University, St. Louis Mo.

In article <1992Dec14.195438.27806@bagend.uucp> jan@bagend.uucp (Jan Isley) writes:
>anbo@wuee1.wustl.edu (Albrecht Jander) writes:
>
>Yes, Maracyn, aka erithromycin, will kill the blue/green meanies.
>It will also kill your filter and therefore, your fish.
>
>>Besides those purists who absolutely refuse to use any drugs in their
>>aquariums, some people have raised concerns about the use of Maracyn:
>
>>1) It may destroy other usefull bacteria, particulary those in your
>>   biological filter responsible for decomposing amonia.
>
>Bacteria do not carry cards identifying them as usefull.  Antibiotics
>do not care, either, they try to kill them all.  If you think otherwise,
>you are simply incorrect.  This is not subject to debate, Maracyn and
>other antibiotics will kill your filter.
>

Not all antiobiotics kill all bacteria!  If that were the case, we 
wouldn't need the hundreds (thousands?) of different antibiotics.
(If things were that simple, you would be correct, even if I think
otherwise).  Bacteria do carry cards that identify them.  Some
bacteria are affected by some antibiotics, and some are not.  
Erythromycin, for instance claims to be only effective agains Gram-
positive bacteria.  I'm not claiming that it doesn't hurt the filter,
but to presume that it kills everything is also a bit extreme.

Albrecht  

>-- 
>   Be a light unto yourself    || Jan Isley ...!gatech!bagend!jan
>Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha || jan@bagend.uucp (404)434-1335
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                        Peltier was a cool dude!!
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria,alt.aquaria
From: tnnguyen@tera.cs.umn.edu (Trung N. Nguyen)
Subject: Re: [F] How to get rid of snails?
Keywords: snails fresh help
Organization: University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, CSci dept.
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 02:15:39 GMT

It's funny how everyone on the net is talking about ways to get rid of snails
and I am trying to get some snails.
I have 2 small green puffers in a 55 gallon tanks.  I had one small spiral
snail, two cone-shape snails (a little bit bigger than the spiral snail), and
3 large snails (~ 3/4" in diameter).  After I added one puffer to the tank,
the smallest snail was gone the next day, 1 cone-shape snail is dead, 1 is
missing, 1 large snail is still alive, 1 missing, and 1 laying in the front
dead.  I saw the puffer taking a nip at the big snail while it was crawling
on the glass.  It tried to eat the snail but the shell was too tough for it.
Anyway, it niped one snail enough times that it killed it.
Now I am trying to get more little snails to put in the tank to provide a
nature food source for the puffers.
So I guess another method to get rid of snail is to get a puffer.
One warning though:  The puffer can be agressive at time.  Sometimes, it will
just float around and doesn't care if my gouarmis takes a small nip at its
fin.  Other times, it will chase the gouarmis around like mad and eat some
fins for dinner.  Most of my gouarmis have bits of fins missing.  The
good thing is that puffers are slow so they can't catch up to other fishes
to do great damage.  Since I added another puffer, I have not seen them
biting other fishes yet.  They still chase my little green barb around though.
Does anyone know the behavior of green puffers?  How large do they get?  My
aquarium book is too old so I don't really trust their information.

			Trung
------------------------------------------------------------------
! Email:                              Phone:                     !
!   tnnguyen@cs.umn.edu                 (612) 623-3913  (Home)   !
!   tnnguyen@cdr.lter.umn.edu           (612) 625-7930  (Work)   !
!                                       (612) 624-7807  (Office) !
------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
From: bever@csd630a.erim.org (Dave Beverstock)
Subject: Re: ballasts (was Re: newsgroups)
In-reply-to: booth@hplvec.LVLD.HP.COM's message of Tue, 15 Dec 1992 19:10:59 GMT
Organization: Environmental Research Institute of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Date: 16 Dec 92 14:18:39

Got a little trigger happy.

I didn't buy the $7.99 one, it was a 2 bulb unit.  I went to Builders
Square and bought a $30 one.  It had an electronic ballast, and a
reflector that fits right on my tank, no hood to make, just some
plexi-glass for a splash guard.  It's set up for 2 40 W bulbs.

I'm so happy I did 22 bulbs, everything looks so good now!

dave
--
Dave Beverstock   bever@erim.org
Environmental Research Institute of Michigan (ERIM)
P.O. Box 134001  Ann Arbor, MI  48113-4001 313-994-1200 x2239
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
From: wmack@en.ecn.purdue.edu (William J Mack)
Subject: Kuhli loaches
Keywords: Info
Organization: Purdue University Engineering Computer Network
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 92 22:05:39 GMT

A few years ago I bought a kuhli loach and it lasted only for a week.
Never bought one again, but I am considering buying one and I'm wondering
what type of water conditions they must have (do they easily adapt).
My tank water has a pH of 8.2 and obviously the water is hard.
(Some people have told me they cant believe my neons have lasted almost 2
years in this kind of water)

Thanks for any advice.

-- 
Bill Mack                        "If you expect me to be an expert on the
School of Electrical Engineering  fundamentals while I'm asking a fundamental
Purdue University                 question....then fine, I'll pretend to be one"
Organization: University of Maine System
Date: Wednesday, 16 Dec 1992 00:59:55 EST
From: <APARKER@MAINE.MAINE.EDU>
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
Subject: Re: powerDDDDDower heads
Distribution: usa

In article <1gkbgmINN7h4@cuda.add.itg.ti.com>, lydia@tarsal.dsg.ti.com (lydia
middendorf ) says:
>fish include 1 texas chiclid, 1 pica cat, 6 cory cats and 2 plecos.
                                  how many more corys can I safely
>put in the tank?

** Depends on how many corys you want your Texas cichlid (12 inches as
an adult, in case no one mentioned that when you bought it) to eat when
it gets bigger.

Alex Parker (aparker@maine.maine.edu)


Newsgroups: rec.aquaria,sci.aquaria
From: jan@bagend.uucp (Jan Isley)
Subject: Re: Blue-green 'algae' are DEAD!
Summary: is too!
Organization: This space for rent.
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1992 21:52:06 GMT

sdebol@htlv.med.umn.edu (Steven Debol (Nelson)) writes:
>jan@bagend.uucp (Jan Isley) writes:
>>Bacteria do not carry cards identifying them as usefull.  Antibiotics
>>do not care, either, they try to kill them all.  If you think otherwise,
>>you are simply incorrect.  This is not subject to debate, Maracyn and
>>other antibiotics will kill your filter.
>
>This is not entirely true--obviously bacteria are not separated
>on the basis of "useful" or not.  However, certain antibiotics are
>more effective against certain bacteria.  Antibiotics usually target
>specific cellular functions or properties which may or may not
>be as significant to one bacterium as it is to another. In general
>you are correct but I usually cringe when people make "blanket" 
>statements such as this--regardless of the topic.

Okay, cringe away.  I meant what I said to be very general except
for my specific claim that Mardel is guilty of false advertising.
I still think what I said is correct.  What are you saying is not
entirely true?  That antibiotics do not try to kill whatever little
beasties they find?  Okay, they try to inhibit the growth of or to
destroy microorganisms.  Better? :)

To be more specific.  Bacteria do carry cards that identify them as
grampositive or gramnegative etc...  However, this does not identify
them as good or bad.  Yes, the effectiveness of an antibiotic varies
depending on the construction of its target micro organism.  This
does not alter the fact that *Maracyn* will kill your filter and
Mardel's claim to the contrary does not make it so.

Don't believe me.  Dose an established, populated salt water tank
with Maracyn as the instructions recommend and you will probably
find a tank full of dead fish on the third day with amonia and or
nitrite off the scale.  I have advised three people recently that
have ignored my warnings against doing this.  *ALL* of the fish
died.  "But the package said it was okay!", they cried.

I do not mind being cringed at. :)

I do mind needless suffering because of false advertising.
-- 
Jan Isley   jan@bagend.uucp   gatech.edu!bagend!jan   (404)434-1335
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
From: jan@bagend.uucp (Jan Isley)
Subject: Re: Piranhas
Organization: This space for rent.
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 18:46:29 GMT

"Rossos J. Kladakis" <rk3f+@andrew.cmu.edu> writes:
>What piranhas are the most aggresive?  I have two red-bellies that are
>not that aggresive.  Any info would be appreciated about making mine
>more aggresive or buying new ones.

Yes, this is a flame.  You were warned.

You could try feeding them your face.

I think that you should find a new hobby, one that does not
involve the use of timid, captive animals to provide you with
perverted thrills.  This kind of attitude gives the hobby a bad
name.  This is the kind of attitude that leads wannabe macho
jerks to buy a rottweiler to have balls for them.  Very sad.

Get thee to an analyst.  Maybe they could prescribe that dose
of testosterone that you seem to need, also.
-- 
   Be a light unto yourself    || Jan Isley ...!gatech!bagend!jan
Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha || jan@bagend.uucp (404)434-1335
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria,alt.aquaria
From: tom@dynamo.ecn.purdue.edu (Tom McCain)
Subject: Re: [F] How to get rid of snails?
Organization: Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
Distribution: usa,world,rec
Date: 15 Dec 92 14:11:36 GMT

mdkj@vax5.cit.cornell.edu writes:

: bklaas@hfglobe.intel.com (Brian Klaas) writes: 

: > What is the best way to rid a tank of snails?  After a recent fish
: > purchase, we have about 10+ small snails in a 20gal tank.  

: However, it is almost impossible to get rid of snails once they
: are established.

I used to think this way.

: out a bunch when you clean the tank, or buy a loach, who will eat
: snails (ask your petshop which specific type of loach to get; if
: they don't know, I can look it up since I have one but I can't
: remember its exact name).

A lot of loaches and botias enjoy eating snails.  I had a tank get so
infested with those little spiral river snails that you could barely
see through the glass during the night!  I purchased a red tip botia
to rid the tank of the snails and I'd say that within two months there
was not a snail to be seen.

--tom
--
	    Tom McCain            tom@dynamo.ecn.purdue.edu
 Oliver's Law:
 	Experience is something you don't get until just after you need
 	it.
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria,alt.aquaria
From: jjd1@cbnewsg.cb.att.com (james.j.dutton)
Subject: Re: [F] How to get rid of snails?
Keywords: snails fresh help
Organization: AT&T
Distribution: usa
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 19:48:22 GMT

In article <Bz80MB.L48@hfglobe.intel.com> bklaas@hfglobe.intel.com (Brian Klaas) writes:
>What is the best way to rid a tank of snails?  After a recent fish purchase,
>we have about 10+ small snails in a 20gal tank.  
>
>Thanks in advance for any help...  Reply to bklaas@sedona.intel.com or
>post to this newsgroup.
>
>-- 
> Brian Klaas                 bklaas@sedona.intel.com
> Intel, Corp.                bklaas@hfglobe.intel.com
> 5000 W. Chandler Blvd.
> Chandler, AZ  85226
 
Three choices. The best I'll mention last.
1) Try treating with copper

2) Boil your gravel. Be aware you will also kill your good bacteria therfore
you will need to reintroduce fish slowly. This method does not
always get rid of the snails. But it may be worth a try.
 
3) ditch the old gravel. Scrape tank with razer blade. Buy new gravel.
 
================================================================================
 Sesquipedalian's 'R' Us. ZX-10. DoD#564. There ain't no more.
================================================================================
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
From: grego@netcom.com (greg huff)
Subject: help with new setup
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest) 
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 20:38:03 GMT

I'm posting this for my friend jill who has no access to news.  if you can 
assist or offer advice, please email her directly at 75540.3173@compuserve.com

thanks,
grego

> Back on Nov. 29th a friend of mine gave me a 10 gal fish tank.
> (they upgraded to a 20 gal) all they did was remove the fish and water
> then transported to me...so the tank was already setup and
> broken in so to speak...I bought 4 head light tail light fish
> and 2 catfish, 2 zebra fish, placed them into the tank, water
> tested fine, on Dec 7th tested water again everything fine stocked
> tank, bought 4 carnal tetra, 2 black neon, 2 glow light
> 2 mickey mouse, 2 painted glass and 2 more spotted/striped catfish
> On Dec 10th found 1 dead micky mouse and 1 dead carnal tetra,
> took back to store he suggested possible infection, told me
> to vaccum gravel, 1/3 water change and add penicellin tablets
> 1 on 12/10..1 on 12/12..1 on 12/14....that was done.
> 12/12 found 1 dead carnal tetra, 12/13 found 1 dead carnal tetra,
> on 12/14 found 1(the last) dead carnal tetra...took bodies
> to store were I purchased them...he has no idea what's going on.
> I look at the fish they seem fine...my friend who gave me the tank looked at 
> them and they seem fine also....Have been told to wait 2 more days
> re-vaccum tank, 1/3 water change put back charcoal on underground
> and back filter (by the way I found all the fish stuck to the
> tube going into the back filter).....
> ANYONE GOT ANY IDEAS????  think the cat fish are killing the 
> carnal tetras?...I need some help...please E-Mail me directly.
> Thanks
> jill
> 75540.3173@compuserve.com
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
Subject: High nitrates [M][FILTRATION]
From: mark@trident.datasys.swri.edu (Mark D. Collier)
Date: 17 Dec 92 15:38:10 GMT
Organization: Southwest Research Institute

My 160 gallon reef-to-be tank seems to have an exceptionally
high nitrate content. I suspect that most of the nitrate is
residual and has accumulated over the last six months. I have
changed about 20% of the water the last two weekends and the
ppm has gone from ~80 to ~60 to ~50. I vacuum the gravel when
I change the water, change my prefilter every couple of days,
feed sparingly, and have a fair amount of macroalgae. I have
also run my metal halides more than normal lately, hoping that
more algae will grow and remove the nitrates (this assumes
that algae require nitrates). I think that once I get the level
down, I can keep it down. Despite the high level, my hard
corals seem to be happy, although my anenomes are withdrawn
and are constantly moving around.

Are there any other ways to deal with high nitrates? I have
read about denitrifying filters, but none of the local shops
use them. Does anyone have experience with either a commercial
or DIY denitrifying filter?

P.S. I checked the local water supply and it does not contain
any nitrate. The only other thing I add to my tank frequently
is the de-chorinator, which I assume does not introduce any
nitrates.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mark D. Collier                      Southwest Research Institute
Senior Research Analyst              Automation and Data Systems Division
Voice: (512) 522-3437                Data Systems Department
FAX:   (512) 522-5499                Software Engineering Section
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
From: oleg@netcom.com (Oleg Kiselev)
Subject: Re: How much to feed?
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)
Date: Sat, 19 Dec 1992 11:02:31 GMT

In article <9212182018.AA24416@ejvdev4> bmoss@ejv.com (Brian Moss) writes:
]them a small pinch in the morning and the same amount in the late
]evening.  However, they always seem to want to eat. Should I feed them
]more as long as the food doesn't settle to the bottom?  

No, you should not.  Very few aquarium fish die from starvation.  Most die
from being overfed and having the waste products and the uneaten food foul
the water,

]>I want my fish to be happy and well fed.  

Then keep feeding them small amounts.  Fish obey their instincts and eat as
long as they see food and they can gulp it down without bursting.  In the
wild conditions, their food supply is limited by the natural scarcity of
food.  In your aquarium it's up to you to keep them from eating themselves
to death.

-- 
Oleg Kiselev at home			...use the header to find the path
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria