HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: uchtlds@Msu.oscs.montana.edu
Subject: wet/dry filters>>>the truth
Reply-To: uchtlds@Msu.oscs.montana.edu
Organization: Montana State University
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1993 17:17:12 GMT

I have been reading this news group now for several months.  I have been
actively following the information posted concerning wet/dry filter systems.  I
agree that this type of filtering system is probably the best for salt and
fresh water aquaria alike.  I have considered building my own w/d for my FW
ciclid (S.American) 55g tank.

My question is just what kind of maintenance does a w/d system require. Are
people "into" their w/d's weekly, biweekly, monthly, what???  I certainly don't
want a filter system that requires an undue amount of maintenance.  I think
that bi- or tri-weekly maintenance is all I can handle before I begin to hate
whatever it is that needs the constant care.  Life is too short to have to
fiddle with a filter system all the time.  I like to think of aquariums in
terms of my car.  Periodic maintenance keeps it looking and running great. 
Forgetting this maintenance can lead to costly repair bills and/or overall poor
performance.  Please let me know what I'm getting into in terms of wet/dry
filter systems.

Derek 
Newsgroups: alt.aquaria,rec.aquaria
From: flick@cwis.unomaha.edu (John Anderson)
Subject: What light can fish see/not see?
Organization: University of Nebraska at Omaha
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 22:17:35 GMT

I have found that my fish and I do not keep the same hours.  :)

I would like to be able to view my fish during the night (say until
3am or so), but I don't want to turn on my lights and end up stessing
my fish.  

So, my question is: What color light can I use on my aquarium for night
time viewing?  The intensity does not have to be incredibly strong, as
it will be dark in the rest of the room.  Thanks in advance!
 
BTW: This is a freshwater community tank.

--
|  John Anderson                      | The views expressed are usually   |
|  U. of Nebraska at Omaha            | my own, and occasionally someone  |
|  Omaha, Nebraska, USA               | other than myself...but they are  |
|  Internet: flick@cwis.unomaha.edu   | usually %100 correct!             |
Newsgroups: alt.aquaria,rec.aquaria
From: rocky@socrates.umd.edu (Rocky Giannini)
Subject: [F] Black Ghost Knife
Organization: University of Maryland University College
Date: Sun, 24 Jan 1993 03:25:53 GMT

Help!

I purchased a black ghost knife a week ago, and I don't think
that he's doing very well.  He's swimming *sideways*, much to
my distress.  The water in the tank tests okay, and all the
other fish are fine.  I have yet to see him eat, although
I've been offering bloodworms, brine shrimp and flakes.  He
does, however come out of his tube, and nose around in the gravel.
I saw him suck up a couple tubifex (I tried feeding those, too)
but I'm not sure if they were actually ingested, or just spit
out when I wasn't looking.  One interesting aside, one of
the people at the store I purchased the knife from said
to feed it guppies, which I thought was odd, cos' the knife
has a teeny tiny mouth.  Any info would be greatly appreciated
because it really is a cool fish, and I'd be kinda bummed if
it died. Thanks in advance!

--Jodi (using Rocky's account)


-- 
==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==  
== Rocky Giannini         |  Internet: rocky@socrates.umd.edu  ==
== University of Maryland |  Bitnet  : rocky@uc780             ==
== University College     |                                    ==
Xref: sparky alt.aquaria:6808 rec.aquaria:10445
From: jpenix@uceng.uc.edu (John Penix)
Newsgroups: alt.aquaria,rec.aquaria
Subject: Re: Fish intelligence
Date: 27 Jan 93 18:31:18 GMT
Organization: University of Cincinnati


 I have a Tialpia Buttikofferi ( a type of African cichlid ) that is 
 currently in solitary confinment in a ten gallon due to its agressiveness.
 Anyhow, the ten gallon is close to floor level and we have a dog.  The
 fish has been seen on sevelal occasions trying to 'challenge' the dog by
 biting the front of the tank.  The dog ( a german shephard mix ) is 
 afraid to go near the tank.


-- 
John Penix                 Wife:    "It was sex and drink that killed
jpenix@uceng.uc.edu                  your uncle, sex and drink!"
University of Cincinnati   Husband: "Ya, he couldn't get either one
College of Engineering               of 'em, so he shot himself."   -Benny Hill
From: assana@polkadot.Eng.Sun.COM (assana)
Newsgroups: alt.aquaria
Subject: Re: Strange pleco. story
Followup-To: assana@polkadot.eng.sun.com
Date: 25 Jan 1993 19:42:34 GMT
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc., Mountain View, CA
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: polkadot

In article <1jvg5aINNopr@shelley.u.washington.edu> stick@carson.u.washington.edu (suzanne cherniack) writes:

>The first day I got this pleco., it was swimming rapidly around and around
>my 30 gal. tank.  The next day, I noticed that he was gone.  Thinking he
>might be hiding underneath a rock, I didn't pay any attention.  Well, 
>about three hours later, I decided to uproot everything and see where
>the darn thing was.  It wasn't anywhere in the tank... so... I looked 
>behind the dresser the tank sits on, and no pleco.  Then, I reached underthe
>stero cabinet and felt a rubbery thing, and there was the pleco., all dried
>out and covered with cat hair.  Since the tank was right there, I dunked 
>it in to clean it off, and it started moving.  It swam to the bottom of
>the tank and alternately "breathed" and stopped.  Now, three days later,
>it seems as healthy as can be.
>
>My question is how the pleco. could've survived for four or so hours
>out of the water.  Are they used to tidal ebbs and flows, or what?
>I'm quite amazed at this and thought I'd post it.  Any replies would
>be appreciated.  

How did he fall out anyways??? I mean, I've had fish jump out the tank
at feeding time once, but only when they were hungry and the whole
lid was off! but how on earth did he fall out???
Are you pulling our legs?

-- 
         ^-^
        /o o\
       ===^===   assana@polkadot.eng.sun.com
          -
From: seloy@mars.lerc.nasa.gov (Pat Loyselle)
Newsgroups: alt.aquaria
Subject: (F) Why did my pl*co die?
Date: 26 Jan 93 16:13:00 GMT
Organization: NASA Lewis Research Center
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41


The subject pretty much says it, two of my pl*cos died yesterday.

Four days ago I bought two clown pl*cos and last night I found them
both dead.  There was no evidence that any other fish had picked on 
them so I'm at a loss as to why they died.  I want to get some more
Pl*cos for the tank but not until I'm sure that they won't die too.

The tank is a a 24 gallon (high) running with an undergravel filter.
The tank has been running for about 9 months.  The water is fairly
hard and there is about 1 tsp of salt/5 gallons.  I have other  pl*cos
in other tanks living in similar water that are doing fine.  The 
temperature averages around 78 F.  There's quite a bit of algae on
the glass and a piece of driftwood in the tank.

Also in the tank are 2 kribensis, 7 zebra danios, 3 cardinal tetras,
two black tetras, and two head and tail lights.

I did a 20% water change 4 hours (didn't stir the gravel up to much) 
before I added the pl*cos. I haven't  had a chance to test the water yet,
but all the other fish are healthy.
Anyway, I would appreciate any suggestions as to why my pl*cos died and
what I can do to prevent it from happening again.

Thanks, Pat
----------
Patricia Loyselle                             seloy@mars.lerc.nasa.gov
NASA Lewis Research Center                    (216) 433-2180
Cleveland, Ohio 44135
Newsgroups: alt.aquaria
From: konrad@mace.cc.purdue.edu (Bill Konrad)
Subject: Re: [F] Update: Convict not eating
Organization: Purdue University
Date: Sun, 24 Jan 1993 05:22:36 GMT

In article <9301230959.AA10724@forte.shc.uiowa.edu>
zubla@shc.uiowa.edu (Samuel Spade) writes: 

>I have high ph, hard water.  If I were to set up a Central/South American
>cichlid tank, is it possible to soften the water, but keep the pH at high
>or medium levels?  And how do I get this white stuff off the outside of my
>glass tank anyway? :-)


For most of the commonly available central american cichlids, the hard
water and high ph should not be a problem at all. I have kept oscars,
dempseys, convicts, firemouths, and severum in water that is 20gh
hardness and around 8 pH. They have all thrived.

Some SA species prefer or demand soft water. Although most books will
say that angels prefer softer and more neutral water, the ones I have
had have done quite well. I have had less luck with golden rams. Also,
a keyhole cichlid has been very happy for well over a year here,
though I believe softer, more neutral water is recommended for them.
One fairly reliable pet shop owner explained that most of the angels
he sells are bred and raised in the local water, so he thought that
changing the water conditions would not benefit them. 

If you have a healthy, relatively hardy type of fish, I think it's
more important that the water conditions remain stable rather than
going to pains to adjust it, with the danger of over/under-adjusting
replacement water. 

As for removing the white crust that builds up tanks due to
evaporation, vineger works great for removing this. Just be extremely
careful not to get any inside of the tank. A small amount of vineger
can drastically and suddenly change the pH of a tank. I only use it on
the outside of the tank or when cleaning drained tanks. 

-- 
Bill Konrad
konrad@mace.cc.purdue.edu
From: hackr@ac.dal.ca
Newsgroups: alt.aquaria
Subject: Re: [F] [M] killifish, 10 gallon salt tanks (bad idea?)
Date: 25 Jan 93 21:38:44 GMT
Organization: Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

In article <lucas.727947050@spot.Colorado.EDU>, lucas@spot.Colorado.EDU (Michael A. Lucas) writes:
> I have this very old (10 years) book on killifish.  These are some of
> the coollest looking freshwater fish I've ever seen.  I've never seen
> any like this at any pet store and I was wondering:
> 1.  Any good mail order places to get the fi or their eggs?
> 2.  Why are they so rare in the pet stores?
> 3.  Do they ever really get to look as good as they did in these pictures
>     or was that just some freak mutated fish that the snapped a photo of?
> 4.  The book talked about some killifish association or something like that,
>     is it still around?  Address?
> 
> 
> AND, I have an extra 10 gallon tank.  I thought it might be neat to set it
> up as a salt tank for an octopus or something like that.  All the pet 
> store people say that it is a bad idea to set up a 10 gallon as a salt
> tank and then convieniently started showing me thier wonderful selection
> of 20 and 30 gallon tanks which WEREN'T to small for salt.  Maybe I'm
> being too cynical but I'd like to get some advice on this from someone
> who knows about this, and ISN't trying to sell me anything.
> 
> Thanks in advance.
> Michael Lucas
> 
>
From: windels@lemon.csil.sfu.ca (Karla Jane Windels)
Newsgroups: alt.aquaria
Subject: (M) Yellow Tang looking sick
Keywords: Yellow Tang, sick, parasites
Date: 26 Jan 93 21:20:17 GMT
Organization: Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C., Canada

Our Yellow Tang has us worried.  Since yesterday he's hardly eaten any of
his lettuce, but at least put in a small effort to eat the frozen brine shrimp.
He's definitely not as active as usual, and looks pale, almost white 
near the front bottom part of his body.

We noticed after we bought him (just over 1 month ago) that he had one
or two very, very tiny black specks (the size of the sharp end of a pin or
smaller) at the base of his top fin.  Now he has more, some are near the
original ones, others are down lower on his body.

Could these specks be parasites?  If so, could this be responsible for
his feeling under the weather, and is there any hope for him?

Tank Description:
  - 72 gal.
  - UGF w/ two powerheads
  - protein skimmer
  - canister filter w/ chemi-pure
  - just a few decorative rocks & coral (nothing live)
  - pH normal
  - no ammonia

Fish:
  - Yellow Tang
  - 2 Blue Devil Damsels
  - 2 Four Stripe Damsels
  - Long Nose Butterfly
  - 3 Green Chromis
  - 2 Scooter Blennies

So far all the other fish seem fine.  Any help/pointers are greatly  
appreciated.
Thanks,
Karla
Xref: sparky alt.aquaria:6769 rec.aquaria:10400
From: oleg@Veritas.COM (Oleg Kiselev)
Newsgroups: alt.aquaria,rec.aquaria
Subject: Re: Catfish in the African tank?
Date: 26 Jan 93 04:51:26 GMT
Reply-To: oleg@veritas.com (Oleg Kiselev)
Organization: Killifish Farm on the Hill

01mbmccabe@leo.bsuvc.bsu.edu writes:
>Upon further consulting of Dr. Axelrod's Atlas, I think the fish I named as C.
>trilineatus may actually be Corydoras julii.

Using Axelrod as an ID guide is a perilous adventure.  C. julii have a 
darker base colour and somewhat different lineup of dots, but I'd have to
have the two species side by side to tll the difference.  There are dozens
of Corydoras species that all look alike and are all imported under one of
the known species' names.  That's why you should always by them by a dozen
to be sure that they are at least the same species.

-- 
Don't blame me, I voted Libertarian.

Oleg Kiselev                                             oleg@veritas.com
VERITAS Software                           ...!{apple|uunet}!veritas!oleg
From: stick@carson.u.washington.edu (suzanne cherniack)
Newsgroups: alt.aquaria
Subject: Strange pleco. story
Date: 25 Jan 1993 01:35:38 GMT
Organization: University of Washington
NNTP-Posting-Host: carson.u.washington.edu

I had a strange experience (as did my pleco.) and was wondering if any
of you experts out there had any answers.

The first day I got this pleco., it was swimming rapidly around and around
my 30 gal. tank.  The next day, I noticed that he was gone.  Thinking he
might be hiding underneath a rock, I didn't pay any attention.  Well, 
about three hours later, I decided to uproot everything and see where
the darn thing was.  It wasn't anywhere in the tank... so... I looked 
behind the dresser the tank sits on, and no pleco.  Then, I reached underthe
stero cabinet and felt a rubbery thing, and there was the pleco., all dried
out and covered with cat hair.  Since the tank was right there, I dunked 
it in to clean it off, and it started moving.  It swam to the bottom of
the tank and alternately "breathed" and stopped.  Now, three days later,
it seems as healthy as can be.

My question is how the pleco. could've survived for four or so hours
out of the water.  Are they used to tidal ebbs and flows, or what?
I'm quite amazed at this and thought I'd post it.  Any replies would
be appreciated.  

-Suzanne
-stick@u.washington.edu

Newsgroups: alt.aquaria
From: annie@bluemoon.use.com (Anne M Connors)
Subject: White plastic tanks
Organization: Blue Moon BBS ((614) 868-998[024])
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 93 21:37:13 EST

Do you know of any proof that white plastic tanks are
harmful or stressful to bony fish, crustaceans, or
marine invertebrates?  If you can find a literature
reference on this, I'd be grateful to know of one.

 This is from
     annie@bluemoon.use.com
who doesn't have his (or her) own obnoxious signature yet
Xref: sparky alt.aquaria:6820 rec.aquaria:10489 sci.aquaria:1937
From: fxm3@po.CWRU.Edu (Frank Mularo)
Newsgroups: alt.aquaria,rec.aquaria,sci.aquaria
Subject: Re: [M] PMS Tank
Date: 28 Jan 1993 23:22:16 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (USA)
NNTP-Posting-Host: slc12.ins.cwru.edu


Triggers are aggressive fish that always shoul be added last to
a community tank. The order of fish addition in your first tank 
allowed everyone to peacefully coexist, but perhaps the late
addition of your coral beauty in your second tank caused some
resentment from the trigger. I don't think fish get jealous, but
they definitely can be territorial if given the chance, triggers
especially. All the fish in your tank are aggressive types if 
given the opportunity to be. A possible solution could be to move 
the trigger out to another tank. Remember that any trigger will
eat any invertebrate if given the chance. I think you were just
lucky it didn't happen to your anemones or crabs. If you remove
the trigger, chances are that the fighting will cease between
the others. Why don't you stick the clown with the anemones. Do
you still have them? 
-- 
Frank Mularo                      Easy Does It
CWRU                              One Day At A Time
Cleve.Oh.                         "Don't mess with my fish, man!"
fxm3@po.cwru.edu                              -a very wise man
From: zubla@shc.uiowa.edu (Samuel Spade)
Newsgroups: alt.aquaria
Subject: [F] Update: Convict not eating
Date: 23 Jan 93 09:59:26 GMT
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X-Cc: zubla@shc.uiowa.edu (Samuel Spade)
X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.3 PL11]

After 5 days the Convict cichlid started eating.  I had one response which
suggested the problem might be my hard water, but that was not the problem.
The problem was this huge Convict came from a 10 gallon tank, with a low
flow of water.  When I put the fish in my 55 gallon tank, with 2 aquaclear
802's, things were different.  The Convict actually had to (gasp) exert
itself to grab a flake dashing by.  It was interesting to watch the fish
learn new skills such as how to grab a flake near the bottom without getting
a mouth full of gravel, and how not to hit the filter pipe during the chase.
I think the fish was actually suffering some sort of environmental retardation
due to its prior, cramped tank.  Has anyone else ever encountered this?
Thanks for the help, everyone!

I have high ph, hard water.  If I were to set up a Central/South American
cichlid tank, is it possible to soften the water, but keep the pH at high
or medium levels?  And how do I get this white stuff off the outside of my
glass tank anyway? :-)

Request for local information: If anyone has information on the Des Moines,IA
(USA) aquarium at the state fairgrounds, please e-mail me.
From: frazier@kona.cs.ucla.edu (Gregory Frazier)
Newsgroups: alt.aquaria
Subject: Re: (F) Why did my pl*co die?
Date: 26 Jan 93 21:17:11 GMT
Organization: UCLA, Computer Science Department
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL5

Pat Loyselle (seloy@mars.lerc.nasa.gov) wrote:
: 
: The subject pretty much says it, two of my pl*cos died yesterday.
: 
: Four days ago I bought two clown pl*cos and last night I found them
: both dead.  There was no evidence that any other fish had picked on 
: them so I'm at a loss as to why they died.  I want to get some more
: Pl*cos for the tank but not until I'm sure that they won't die too.

This is a problem with plecos.  The shippers tend to starve the
fish for a while before shipping them, because plecos deficate
so much.  If they starve beyond a certain point, they are done
for.  There are specific things you are supposed to look for to
detect a starving pleco which I do not recollect offhand.  Anyway,
plecos often die soon after arriving in one's tanks, and that's
that.

--
"They thought to use and shame me but I win out by nature, because a true
freak cannot be made.  A true freak must be born." - K. Dunn, _Geek Love_

Greg Frazier	frazier@CS.UCLA.EDU	!{ucbvax,rutgers}!ucla-cs!frazier
Newsgroups: alt.aquaria
From: jamaro@dante.nmsu.edu (AMARO)
Subject: [F] [M] killifish, 10 gallon salt tanks (bad
Organization: New Mexico State University
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 18:15:15 GMT

 Ahh I just forgot you name sorry!  Well anyways I have a ten gallon salt
tank, with three fish in it. one cleaner wrasse one domino damsel and one 
pajama cardinal, for filteration I have a UGF and 160 Biowheel.  My nitriates 
and nitrates are 0.0.  1
~
I know that a octupus would not live for long in a tank of this size.  So a ten gallon tank will work but only for small fish.  Also make sure you have a  
quality hood or you will have a massive problem with salt on everything.  Most
10 gallon tanks are made for freshwater fish.  

		Good Luck

		Jason Amaro
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Fight racism
------------------------------------------------------------------------------0-
Newsgroups: alt.aquaria,rec.aquaria,sci.aquaria
From: steve@coho.austin.ibm.com (sTeVeN CaLlAhAn)
Subject: [M] HELP!  What happened to my Cowfish...
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1993 16:26:16 GMT
Organization: IBM Austin
Keywords: Cowfish, dead, no reason


Alas,

	Last night my Cowfish died.  I MUST find out what happened.  This
cowfish was like one of the family...

Maybe you can help.  Quick background:

I've had my cowfish for over a year.  It has always come to my hand and
eaten.  Just like a cow, the fish ate as much as it could get.  The fish
has always seemed healthy.  

Well last night I happened to glance at the tank and noticed immediately
that something was wrong with it.  The Cow fish was leaning about 30
degrees and swimming with its horns out of the water acting obviously
distressed.  It was also acting like it had to try real hard to maintain
its swimming.  I tried to feed it but it did not eat (first time EVER),
instead it kept swimming around in a delusioned/confused state.  The Cowfish
had no visible marks on her other than a very small 1-2 mm brown mark
on her nose.  This did not seem like any big deal and was definitely not 
a cut.  All of her fins were at 100% (ie, nothing had attacked her).
About one hour later I looked at the tank and the cow was motionless
on the bottom.  A sad sight indeed (scared the daylights out of me!).
This was something that happened very sudden because the day before the
cowfish was a-ok acting...

I immediately tested the water quality:
PH - 8.3
Ammonia - 0.0
Nitrites - 0.0
Nitrates - 4ppm
O2 levels were very high also
Salinity - 1.20
Temperature - 81 F
Protein Skimmer & W/D filter were operating normally.

It had been about a week since my last water change.  The only other 
inhabitants were:

Niger Trigger - Lived with the cow for about 6 months.  Never attacked
the cowfish and is still swimming around as though there was nothing wrong.

Saddle Back Clown - Lived with the cow for about 4 months.  Never had
any problems and is still swimming around as though there was nothing
wrong.

Moray Eel - about 9 inches long, lived with the cow about 1.5 months.  This
fish has never attacked any other fish and has never caused any problems.
There is also nothing wrong with it.

The only other thing that was different is that I added about 7 pounds of
live rock to the tank one month ago.


What would cause my cowfish only to die like that?  Why did it have to be
my cow, why couldn't they have taken the trigger???  WHY WHY WHY!
Any clues are very much appreciated.

steve

-- 
___________________________________________________________________________
Steven Callahan					   
callahan@austin.ibm.com				   I'd rather
(512) 838-8418					         be raving...
Xref: sparky alt.aquaria:6792 rec.aquaria:10428
From: 01mbmccabe@leo.bsuvc.bsu.edu
Newsgroups: alt.aquaria,rec.aquaria
Subject: Re: Catfish in the African tank?
Date: 27 Jan 93 05:11:43 GMT
Followup-To: alt.aquaria,rec.aquaria
Organization: Ball State University, Muncie, In - Univ. Computing Svc's

>> Also I have 4 catfishes right now which I would like to keep in the Africans'
>> tank.  I have two large (all are 2+ inches) Brochis splendens, and one large
>> Corydoras agassizi, and one large Corydoras trilineatus.
>> 
>>			-Matt
> 
> As others have said, keeping corys in an african tank is not a very good
> idea, Synodontis or Chrysicthys are better choices.  Keeping corys by
> themselves is not a great idea either.  Most will do much better as at
> least a small group, preferably a school of 6 or more.

All 4 of the above-mentioned species are schooling quite happily now.

				-Matt
Xref: sparky alt.aquaria:6733 rec.aquaria:10356