HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: PLai@cup.portal.com (Patrick L Faith)
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria,alt.aquaria
Subject: Re: Cold Salt Water Aquarium
Date: Mon, 20 Jul 92 22:02:17 PDT
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Distribution: usa
  <1992Jul18.154905.5244@javelin.sim.es.com>

I though I should make my "lurkin" presence known ... :)

I've had a couple of cold water aquariums ... I currently have
a 120 gallon one with a large dead fish stuck behind a mound of
rocks - boy these reef tanks can be a hassle when you need to
remove a couple hundred pounds of rock ...

Speaking of disasters ... I had computer problems ( had to buy a new
one ) and have been gone a lot so that newsletter on temperate
reefs is on the back burner for a bit.

I'd aggree with all the coments ... but would like to emphasize buying
the book that California Reef sells on temperate marine tanks, it
is written by Wrobel.  It only cost around 10 $ and it will be one
of the most important purchases you make as a begining cold water
marine aquarists.  I think having a good library does cost much, but
saves a lot of wear and tear on your "visitors" and your pocket book
(oops that was "doesn't" but i can't figure out how to get into vt100
mode to correct mistakes with my new computer and modem software).

I would also recomend against self collecting, i.e. you going down to
the beach and collecting your animals for your reef tank, California
has a lot of laws concerning such things, and unless your a diver
and are willing to go a couple hundred feet out to do your collection,
you not going to be able to legally collect enough to make your
tank interesting.

Concerning cost of a cold water reef tank compared to tropical tanks ...
 ... well ... I try not to think about how much I've sunk into my setup ...
 ... but ... I think a cold water tank is a bit more expensive than
a tropical tank ... except you don't need the co2 control and some of
the advanced gear to maintain 0 nitrate & nitrite levels (i.e. you need
a good protein skimmer but not one with ozone and the ph controllers).

PLai (Patrick Faith)
From: brian@picasso.icd.teradyne.com (Brian Hunter)
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
Subject: Re: Wet/Dry Problems ?
Date: 23 Jul 92 19:51:53 GMT
Organization: Teradyne, Inc. San Jose CA

In article <2800179@hplvec.LVLD.HP.COM> booth@hplvec.LVLD.HP.COM (George Booth) writes:
>In rec.aquaria, brian@picasso.icd.teradyne.com (Brian Hunter) writes:
>
>    I also have a problem with small bubbles collecting in the syphon
>    and have to suck them out every few days.  This is a bother but I 
>    not sure how to fix it. 
>
>Increase the flow through the siphon.  Our wet/dry originally had an 
>802 powerhead (what a joke) as the pump.  Bubbles would collect in the 
>siphon but never got bad enough to break it (at least in the time between
>water changes).  The 802 pumped about 180 gph, if I remember correctly. 
>We changed to a Rainbow Quiet One (restricted to about 360 gph) and 
>bubbles flow right through the sipon tube now.  None ever collect in 
>it. 
>George

Actually this is exactly what I did. (802 to quiet one).  First I should mentionj
that my prefilter/skimmer/syphon is DYI.  The syphon tube has a square cross section

When I first increassed the volume 150 gph (802) I had to limit the quietone output
to I would guess about 350 gph or the tank would overflow.  I increased the size and
depth of the slots in the skimmmer and can now open the valve fully I guess about 700
gph (Need to measure this).

Before I increased the slot size in the skimmer I had a bad problem with bubbles
because the water fell into the skimmer and the resulting bubbles were pulled
into the syphon.  The surface skimming was great however.  Now with the 
larger slotsize the water is pulled from below the surface and the skimming
of the surface reduced.

Wnen I first posted the buble problem I had just returned home from
a 5 day trip and found a large amount of air in the syphon.  Enough so
that the tank level had risen actually above the skimmers top edge.
I removed the air and all returned to normal.

Now after another 10 or so days of operation only a few very small bubbles 
have been seen in the skimmer and everything has been going smoothly.

I currently have no idea why the air collected while I was on the trip except
to blame murphy.

Another side effect of adding the new pump has been HEAT.  I am very surprised
to find that I replaced the 802 and 3 penquin 550s all submerged and have
what was an occasional heat problem with an everyday one.

I no longer need to have the lights on to over heat the tank the pump alone
does it.  It seems the flaw in this pump is that while being external it
uses the water passing through it for cooling.  
To keep my tank temp down I now have a fan blowing air through my sump, a fan
blowing onto the pump, and 2 fans blowing into the hood.  and this is marginal.

But yes over the noise of the fans the pump is completely silient.

Ah yes I now replace about 1 gallon of water a day for evaporation.

Brian
From: allsop@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Brent Allsop)
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 21:44:33 GMT
Subject: Re: Dead Guppys
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Fort Collins, CO, USA
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria



        The ammonia produced by fish will quickly rise to a deadly
toxic level without adequate biological filtration in a tank.  And
biological filtration requires a month or so to "cycle" to a point
where it will perform biological filtration.

        Any surface inside an aquarium becomes a biological filter
once the "slime" growns on it (not algae slime).  The trick is to have
enough surface area with "slime" on it to remove (or break down) the
ammonia produced by the fish.  Usually 1 (or maybe 2 for larger
Aquariums) fish is added so that a small amount of ammonia will be
introduced.  This allows the slime to get started which can sometimes
take 4 weeks or more.  Once the slime is established more fish can be
added (1 or 2 at a time).  An under gravel filter (and or most other
filters) is a good way to increase the surface area on which the
"slime" can grow so that an aquarium can support more than just a few
fish.  The more gravel you have with water circulating through it the
more fish you can have.

        If your aquarium is over 100 gallons 12 fish being introduced
all at once might survive.  But anything around 10 gallons will have
toxic levels of ammonia after a few days.  Especially if it is a brand
new "sterile" aquarium.

        Lots of water changes (replacing some of the tank water with
fresh water) is about the only way to get rid of toxic stuff like
ammonia until the "slime" grows.  Most fish stores will do a free
check for toxic things like ammonia on a sample of water from your
aquarium.


        Brent Allsop




Xref: sparky rec.aquaria:5989 alt.aquaria:4306
From: frazier@maxwell (Greg Frazier)
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria,alt.aquaria
Subject: Re: Cold Salt Water Aquarium
Date: 23 Jul 92 16:41:59 GMT
Distribution: usa
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL4

ddozier@daled.unet.com (Dale Dozier) writes:
: 
:   I am a diver. What are the laws about collecting off the California 
: Coast? Seems like you may need a fishing license to collect some things
: legally. Is there different laws for picking items up out of tide pools
: -vs- diving and collecting offshore?

My understanding is that it is flat-out illegal to collect from
tide pools in CA.  I would guess that collecting offshore would
require a fishing license.

--


Greg Frazier	frazier@CS.UCLA.EDU	!{ucbvax,rutgers}!ucla-cs!frazier
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
From: kylea@uhunix.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu (Kyle Arakaki)
Subject: beginner question
Organization: University of Hawaii
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 12:41:03 GMT


I recently started a FW natural aquarium, and I was wondering what laterite
is used for?  What effect does it have on FW plants?  Is Tetra's Hilena
Crypto the same thing as laterite?  Thanks in advance.

Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
From: harold@wam.umd.edu (James B. Harold)
Subject: Re: Wet/Dry Problems ?
Organization: University of Maryland, College Park
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1992 14:49:04 GMT

In article <1992Jul23.195153.4883@attain.icd.teradyne.com> brian@picasso.icd.teradyne.com (Brian Hunter) writes:
<.....>
>Wnen I first posted the buble problem I had just returned home from
>a 5 day trip and found a large amount of air in the syphon.  Enough so
>that the tank level had risen actually above the skimmers top edge.
>I removed the air and all returned to normal.
>
>Now after another 10 or so days of operation only a few very small bubbles 
>have been seen in the skimmer and everything has been going smoothly.
>

I've found that the rate bubbles collect in my syphon varies significantly,
from no accumulation for weeks, to having to clear it every other day (
tank is a 60g FW, heavily planted).  I've never managed to decide 
exactly what's doing it...could be something with the water quality
(making plants happier and increasing dissolved O2 levels), or 
something more mundane, like the way the water flows into the
overflow box.

In any case, not wanting a new pump (I'm using an 802), I solved
my problem with the venturi of a powerhead.  I have a Hagen
402 in the tank to provide water circulations (gives the 
rainbows something to play in).  I raised it a little, hooked
the venturi into a connector I glued into the syphon, and
*presto* no more bubbles.  Every now and then I entertain
myself by watching a bubble get sucked into the venturi tube
and into the tank (clearly I'm easily entertained :-)  ).
Anyway, another alternative solution.  You may have to fiddle
a little to get enough suction off of your venturi for this
to work. Oh...one caveat.  Plug the powerhead into the same
power supply as the sump pump.  If the sump pump shuts off
and the powerhead keeps going, the venturi will suck water
out of overflow box until the syphon is broken. 

James Harold
harold@wam.umd.edu
From: booth@hplvec.LVLD.HP.COM (George Booth)
Date: Sat, 18 Jul 1992 19:32:54 GMT
Subject: Re: Wet/Dry Problems ?
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Co., Loveland, CO
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria

In rec.aquaria, brian@picasso.icd.teradyne.com (Brian Hunter) writes:

    I also have a problem with small bubbles collecting in the syphon
    and have to suck them out every few days.  This is a bother but I 
    not sure how to fix it. 

Increase the flow through the siphon.  Our wet/dry originally had an 
802 powerhead (what a joke) as the pump.  Bubbles would collect in the 
siphon but never got bad enough to break it (at least in the time between
water changes).  The 802 pumped about 180 gph, if I remember correctly. 
We changed to a Rainbow Quiet One (restricted to about 360 gph) and 
bubbles flow right through the sipon tube now.  None ever collect in 
it. 

-------
George
Xref: sparky rec.aquaria:6090 sci.aquaria:1151
From: gt6441c@prism.gatech.EDU (Jon Edwards )
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria,sci.aquaria
Subject: Re: Selling Reef Continued...
Date: 29 Jul 92 02:36:04 GMT
Followup-To: rec.aquaria
Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology

I'm curious about something.  About how much bio filtration is actually
necessary for a purely invert tank (no live rock, no fish)?  I would
think that inverts themselves represent a very small bio load.

Jon

-- 
Jon Edwards                                   gt6441c@prism.gatech.edu 
Georgia Institute of Technology    
  "we're just two lost souls swimmin' in a fishbowl, year after year"  
                                                       -Pink Floyd
From: sharon@minster.york.ac.uk
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
Subject: Film of Glo-light tetra's
Date: 21 Jul 92 09:47:56 GMT
Organization: Department of Computer Science, University of York, England

I recently put 6 Glo-light tetras in my tank, it is a newly set up tank!
yesterday, I discovered that one of them had a large white patch on its body
and was finding it hard to balance/swim...when I got the fish out, it looked
to have a white fungas/film over part if its body??

It seems to be spreading to the other tetras in the tank, I now have 5 tetras
and another one is on its way out

what is this, that they have got, it isnt white spot
Will it spread to the other fish in the tank (guppys/guarmies/catfish)
How can I help the remaining tetras ?

Can anyone give me any advice ??

sharon
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
From: lfin@xrtll.uucp (Lynda Fincham)
Subject: Re: Horror story
Organization: WCOM Public Access Unix - Toronto
Date: Sat, 25 Jul 1992 15:11:41 GMT

In article <63827@hydra.gatech.EDU> gt6441c@prism.gatech.EDU (Jon Edwards ) writes:
>20H.  It seems they could put 1.5" of fish per gallon into it,
>so the woman said "Oh good, then we can get about _40_ fish!!"

Speaking of horror stories..

At the veterinary clinic where I work they have a 15gal in the rececption
room, with a small assortment of black and red-eyed tetras, a few danios, and
a betta. I've been taking my vacation recently, and while I was away, they
hired this new girl through a government program (ie, the goverment pays for
people to work to get experience). Well this girl turned out to be a real
idiot, she wouldn't stop bugging the regular receptionist, so finally she was
told to sit down for a while and read a magazine. Of course that's not what
she did. They didn't discover until the next day that this girl had poured
a whole can of flake food in the fishtank! They tried to get some out by doing
water changes, but not being experienced with fish, they did 2 50% water
changes within an hour without dechlorinating the water. By the time they
decided to call me, I couldn't see the fish for the food in the water. Not to
mention the stink. 

So I cleaned the fishtank. Miraculously all the fish survived. What bugged me
though is that I had just cleaned that tank not two weeks before!
Lyn
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
From: rivan@bnr.ca (Robert Ivan)
Subject: re:wet/dry problems ?
Reply-To: rivan@bnr.ca
Organization: Bell Northern Research Ltd.
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 92 15:14:26 GMT

>In rec.aquaria, brian@picasso.icd.teradyne.com (Brian Hunter) writes:
>
>    I also have a problem with small bubbles collecting in the syphon
>    and have to suck them out every few days.  This is a bother but I
>    not sure how to fix it.


 I know someone who drilled a hole in the siphon tube and attached a
check valve.  Then if you attach a hose to the check valve and suck
the air can be pulled out ( the siphon can be primed this way also) 
and when you stop the check valve prevents air from going back.

You could also attach the hose to something that creates suction
(like the inflow of a pumpm) to constantly take out air out of
the siphon tube.
From: jj@aquarium.esd.sgi.com (Jennifer Jacobi)
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
Subject: Re: <None>
Keywords: painted glass fish
Date: 28 Jul 92 16:41:10 GMT
Organization: Silicon Graphics, Inc.  Mountain View, CA


Thank you to all those that have responded through e-mail 
and news.

It is true that these poor fish are injected with dyes... 
HOW cruel and horrifying!

As Dave Carr stated: 
	"If it was any other animal, [this paint injection] would be 
	 outlawed"

Additionally, If it was any other animal the original retailers 
might be sighted for fraud.  Can you image pet stores selling 
some bread of "green" dog -- only for the new dog owner to find out 
that the "green" was hair dye?   

Well I won't be purchasing any painted glass fish -- thanks 
for the good information.

Happy fish keeping!
--jj
From: paulr@bts.com (Paul Raulerson)
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
Subject: New FW Plant Tank
Date: 28 Jul 92 19:05:57 GMT
Organization: Bux Technical Services -- Doylestown, PA


We are setting up a new tank, and this one will be primarly for show 
in the living room. Better half has declared she wants some plants
in the beastie. :) 

In short, we are setting up a 29gal with a Magnum 330 and a double strip
of lights. Some sunlight will also be available to the tank. 

We are planning on using a thin cover of gravel on the bottom of the tank,
and pots for the major plants. (This to avoid problems with foulthings in the
gravel, since vacumming disturbs roots and UG filters are not the best for
plant growth. :)  

Does anyone have any recommendations for some nice FW fishies that would go 
well in the tank?  

Thanks!
-Paul
From: ccshf@gdr.bath.ac.uk (Henry Ford)
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
Subject: small tanks, natural light
Date: 21 Jul 92 09:19:28 GMT
Organization: Bath University Computing Services, UK

I have a small tank (10 gall) used to  keep 4 inherited goldfish
(I'm a softie, besides which they're very pretty) and I was forced to set
it up on the windowsill - it can get up to 4 hours of direct sunlight
every day (rare occurrence with the Britsh climate), it has no other
light source, a heater and a small internal eheim. Gravel is underlain
by potting compost from the local garden centre (yes, the same stuff
that I filled the window boxes with) and laterite pellets. Water is
hard. I was replanting my main tank, and instead of throwing out, I
put the declining swords into the goldfish tank and now they're like
lettuces. I scrape the tank once a week for algae on the glass - (it
will green up nicely after a three week break), hoover and water
change, and its the easiest tank I've kept. The cabomba lasts only
about a couple of months, and some crypts have failed, but that's
probably because they failed in the main tank first. 
Point: nothing wrong with window sills for tanks IF  your prepared to
scrape and hoover regularly : i.e. OK for small tanks - and you shade them
when you go on holiday.
Henry Ford.
Newsgroups: osu.for-sale,cmh.for-sale,misc.for-sale,rec.aquaria,alt.aquaria
From: fssmith@venus.lerc.nasa.gov (Greg Smith)
Subject: Re: 150 Gallon Reef Aquarium for sale (Columbus, Ohio)
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    
Organization: NASA Lewis Research Center
Date: 27 Jul 1992 10:55 EDT  

In article <1992Jul24.194052.1749@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>, pprior@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Paul A Prior) writes...
>Drop me a line if you are interested in aquiring a 150 gallon
>(6 foot long) reef aquarium system.  It includes lots of goodies
>such as W/D filtration, drilled tank, Oceanic protein skimmer, ozone,
>Metal halide -and- VHO actinic lighting, auto water replacement
>150+ pounds of live rock and more.
> 
> 
>-- 
>--------pprior@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu----(614) 621-8240----------------
>Paul A. Prior    Ban anchors, not reef tanks   "With friends like this,   
>3rd year medical student		          who needs anemones?"
>The Ohio State U. College of Medicine   Tobacco Kills- Please don't smoke!

Why are you getting rid of it?
From: onstotc@prism.CS.ORST.EDU (Onstott Curtis B)
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
Subject: Fish Surgery....   Help!!!!
Date: 24 Jul 92 19:31:59 GMT
Organization: Oregon State University, Computer Science Dept.


One of our pond comets (4'') decided to eat a carpenter ant and got
it caught in his throat.  I've been waiting about two hours for him
to cough it up.  If he can't spit it out should I catch him and try to
remove it with tweezers?  How should I do this without stressing or harming
the little guy?

                Help me please!!!!
-- 
| Curt Onstott                     |  Help!!  I've fallen and I can't   |
| Oregon State University  (USA)   |  get up!!!   Raaalphppph!!         |
| Ph. (503) 757-6639               |                    -George Bush    |
| E-mail onstotc@prism.cs.orst.edu |                                    |
Xref: sparky rec.aquaria:5925 alt.aquaria:4265
From: rbrown@bbn.com (Ralph Brown)
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria,alt.aquaria
Subject: Re: Cold Salt Water Aquarium
Date: 21 Jul 1992 13:22:28 GMT
Organization: Bolt Beranek and Newman Inc.
Distribution: usa
Reply-To: rbrown@bbn.com
NNTP-Posting-Host: archive.bbn.com

In article <tom.711407327@dynamo.ecn.purdue.edu>, tom@dynamo.ecn.purdue.edu (Tom McCain) writes:
|> ddozier@daled.net.com (Dale Dozier) writes:
|> 
|> : Just one question ;-), is it possible to set up a cold salt water
|> : aquarium ? Say 52-58 degress? Has anyone out there every set one 
|> : up? I would be interested in setting up an aquarium that had
|> : "things" from the Monterey bay (Ca.) area. What kind of upkeep
|> : would such a tank require ( just general idea, not super technical).
|> 
|> Yes it is possible.  I don't have one but I'm sure someone who does
|> will comment.  I think the only draw back is the initial cost of the
|> chiller.  However, some may say its the same as a metal halide light
|> hood, which is not necessary in a cold water setup.  As for the
|> availability of fish, I've noticed recently that cold water reef fish
|> and invertebrates can be purchased via a mail order supplier.
|> California Reef Specialists comes to mind but I'm sure if you live in
|> or near California you may have other choices than mail order.  Good
|> luck if you give it a try!

Sorry I missed the original post. I keep a temperate salt water
tank (70 gal - 60F) with local New England species and some inverts
I bought from California Reef Specialists (Highly recommended - good
people, reasonable prices).

I avoided the high cost of a chiller (~$600) by building a trickle
filter designed to have an air conditioner blowing up through the
media - works great and used ugly 5000 BTU AC units are cheap.

I also built a counter current foam fractionator which is a good thing
to have. I'm afraid I don't agree with some of the advice around on
keeping cold water species that reef quality filtration isn't a good idea.
I based by design on such filtration and have had very good results, most
of my anemones are reproducing like crazy and I've only lost hermit crabs
which I'm beginning to think no one can keep more than a year or so.

The metal halide issue is also an area of disagreement for me. I have a
MH light at one end of the tank, so the light varies from very bright
right under the light to pretty dim at the other. The result has been
a tremendous sea weed growth which seems to both help significantly in
water quality and practically eliminates micro algae on the tank walls.
I suspect that it aids the overall mico environment also.

For my setup, upkeep is about 1/2 hour per week, mostly feeding the
anemones and setting up a batch of brine shrimp. I change 20% of the
water a month and occasionally check water quality and add marine
buffer. About every two weeks I spend another half hour pruning sea weed
to avoid it filling up the bright end of the tank (really!).

I'm very pleased with the results and friends coming over always spend time
looking in the tank.

Ralph
From: slhpv@cc.usu.edu
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
Subject: [M] Prefilter boxes in tanks
Date: 21 Jul 92 21:29:22 MDT
Organization: Utah State University


I have recently been investigating possible tanks to start a reef
aquarium and have a couple of questions.

1)  Several tanks at local dealers have "prefilters" in a back corner.
    Basically these are a plexiglass box with slits in the top edge
    acting as an overflow.  At the bottom of this box is a connecter
    for a pvc pipe to the wet-dry.  Are these a good idea?

2)  How hard is it to create a "prefilter" in a aquarium that doesn't
    have one built in?  If it leaks I assume major havoc comes flying
    out of the sump....

3)  Some aquariums have the overflow and box built in but the connecter
    and matching hole in the bottom are not there.... Whats the deal???
    Am i supposed to install the connecter myself?

4)  I have previously built a 30gallon fresh-water tank using glass... any
    experience building your own 100 (approx) gallon aquarium?  Anything
    different other than bigger and thicker glass???

	-dave
Thanks for your help.

Xref: sparky rec.aquaria:6071 alt.aquaria:4351 sci.aquaria:1144