HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: pjs@gvgdsd.GVG.TEK.COM (Peter J. Stonard)
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
Subject: Re: heavy aquariums
Date: 29 Sep 92 01:05:56 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Grass Valley Group, Grass Valley, CA

In article <19q8d3INN5hu@travis.csd.harris.com> marka@SSD.CSD.HARRIS.COM (Mark Ashley) writes:
>
>Is anybody out there with a 100 gal tank (or heavier)
>living in an apartment that's not on the ground floor ?
>Is this even possible ? What's the biggest (yet safe)
>tank size for this situation ?

Mark,

I currently have two 55 gal tanks on a single stand, which rests on 
a hardwood floor. To spead the load and prevent floor damage from
the small area of the feet I used some scrap oak hardwood - about 2in
by 18 inch by 3/8 inch thick. 

The total weight is about 1000 pounds over an 8 square foot area, 
or 125 pounds per square foot. This is on the high side for new 
construction which is required to carry 70 - 90 pounds per square foot 
(figures from memory here, I don't look in the UBC more than I have to :*) ). 

As the house is more than sixty years old and has very large wood 
beams in the cramped 1ft crawl space. I think the house was built 
with the plan to add a second floor, or perhaps they did things with 
better/cheaper wood in th 1930's.

In an earlier life I had a single 55gal in a newly built Condo, from
the basement it was obvious the floor was dished by the weight, so
I moved it to be directly over the glue-lam beams used in construction.

Ask me about a pair of 29 gallon tanks I had on a single stand, in 
an apartment (another previous life) - one broke in a major way.....

Place the tank near a load bearing wall, and over joists if at all
possible. Consider wood blocks below the feet to spead the load. 
Avoid carpet under the tanks. Good luck!


++=++=++=++=++=++=++=++=++=++=++=++=++=++=++=++=++=++=++=++=++=++
Peter J. Stonard        +                                /^\  /^\
Grass Valley Group      +                       /^\     /   \/
Grass Valley, CA. 95945 +                     /     \ /    /  
pjs@gvgspd.gvg.tek.com  +     Fish keeper in the Sierra Foothills
++=++=++=++=++=++=++=++=++=++=++=++=++=++=++=++=++=++=++=++=++=++
If it looks like; sounds like; quacks like; an Opinion. It's mine.
From: shazam@drycas.club.cc.cmu.edu
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
Subject: New User, Sci.Aquari and all that jazz! *smile*
Date: 28 Sep 92 20:10:12 -0500
Organization: Carnegie Mellon Computer Club

I thought I might as well respond here, due to the volume of mail
I am rec'ing personally concerning it!! *smile*

My first post was to teh sci.aquari group......and I posted my second
one there as well.  I guess it must have "cross posted" here.

So, my first post asking about my swords was indeed sent to the sci.aquari
and I sent my post bringing this person(s)to light to sci.aquari
as well.  *smile*

Thanks for all of the kind notes I got and the encouraging words.

Have a good evening!

Suzanne
From: elster@cs.cornell.edu (Anne C. Elster)
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
Subject: Re: Preludes to livebirth in Guppies
Date: 6 Oct 92 15:25:09 GMT
Distribution: rec
Organization: Cornell Univ. CS Dept, Ithaca NY 14853

In article <BvH895.15L@news.cso.uiuc.edu> ffujita@s.psych.uiuc.edu (Frank Fujita) writes:
>I remember seeing a very good posting about how to know when your Guppy
>is about to give birth.  Did anybody save it, and could you mail it to
>me?  Also, (since I have albino guppies) how should I change the
>coloration of various things for an albino guppy?
>Frank Fujita

I posted a blurb on the subject back in early August. I'll mail it
to you. If several others want to see it again, I'll re-post.

I am not that familiar with albino guppies. Have a female albino
swordtail that is expecting any minute, and am curious to see what
the result will be. I've cross-bred some "plain" guppies with
fancy fan-tailed ones and gotten interesting colors and fin-shapes,
but I tend to stick to breeding the fancy ones (well, they pretty
much breed by themselves -- I just resue the fry).

The latest on our guppy-breeding front (this tank is actually
in my friend, Anne K's apt): On of her guppies had siamese twins
two weeks ago. The are still alive, but fairly small. Have yet to see
them eat much. They seem to share the stomach. They look quite
nteresting when swimming around. I've heard that mis-haps like this
can be a result of in-breeding. I might consider buying a couple
of more, but for now I'm concentrating on my new 55gal with tetras
as barbs. :-)
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
From: oleg@netcom.com (Oleg Kiselev)
Subject: Re: Electronic PH Pens
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)
Distribution: rec
Date: Thu, 1 Oct 1992 08:10:08 GMT

In article <17707@autodesk.COM> drake@Autodesk.COM (Dan Drake) writes:
>My experience, a couple of years ago, was not good at all

Same here.  The new designs sold by Cole-Parmer have automatic temperature
compensation and self-tuning and range checking.  I haven't used a new 
one yet.

On the other hand the electrionc TDS meter (really a conductivity meter) is
a great tool and use it many times every day -- every time I do a water
change.
-- 
Oleg Kiselev at home			...use the header to find the path
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
From: jengagne@next03cville.wam.umd.edu (Jenny Lynne Gagne)
Subject: Re: Help!  My frogs have outgrown comets!
Keywords: mice
Reply-To: Jurassic Park as movie
Organization: Workstations at Maryland, University of Maryland, College Park
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1992 00:49:03 GMT

In article <1992Oct6.231713.21208@reed.edu> mojo@reed.edu (Treacle,  
mostly.) writes:
> I have two juvenile Surinam toads, which are eating about 50 comets a  
week
<blah, blah...>
> want live food, or I'd use mice---but they usually wait for something to
> swim by their faces to grab it.)

So why not feed them live mice?  They can swim, too.  Or give them  
something to sit on until the toad notices them.  Only problem I can see  
is the extra waste of a panicked mouse...

jengange@wam.umd.edu
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
From: cliff@watson.ibm.com (cliff)
Subject: Single Species Tanks
Date: Sun, 04 Oct 1992 21:27:21 GMT
Disclaimer: This posting represents the poster's views, not necessarily those of IBM
Organization: A

Preference question for a single-species tropical fish tank.  Would readers
rather have a large tank filled with 100's of red swordtail fish, or 100's
of tiger barbs?  Thanks.
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
From: jimh@ultra.com (Jim Hurley)
Subject: Re: rocks for tank
Organization: Ultra Network Technologies
Distribution: usa
Date: Sat, 26 Sep 92 18:42:20 GMT

In <1992Sep23.134502.13032@mr.med.ge.com> carl@crazyman.med.ge.com (Carl Crawford) writes:

>could anyone suggest a good place to buy rocks (slate) for a fresh
>water tank besides paying ridiculous prices at a fish store?

I always get sand, gravel, and rocks at a building materials
supplier. $8.00 for 100 pounds of coarse aquarium gravel.
I think the sand I bought is #2-30 mesh, or something like that.
Check your yellow pages and take along some hydrochloric acid to 
test the rocks.

Around here, these places are large areas with piles of rocks
sorted into types and sizes. I fill my trunk, he takes a look
and charges me a small amount for rocks. Gravel and sand
are bagged in 100 pound packages and labelled by mesh size.
-- 
Jim Hurley --> jimh@ultra.com  ...!ames!ultra!jimh  (408) 922-0100
Ultra Network Technologies / 101 Daggett Drive / San Jose CA 95134
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
From: ron@minnow.sp.unisys.com (Ron Burns)
Subject: Live rock is in the tank.  Whew!
Followup-To: rec.aquaria
Reply-To: ron@minnow.UUCP (Ron Burns)
Organization: Unisys Corporation
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1992 13:21:17 GMT

Well, it's in there.  Shipping weight was 284 pounds.  Six boxes of rock.
It took quite a bit of rinsing off to get all (most) of the silt off.
The rock itself ranges in size from golf ball (very few this size) to 
dinner plate.  Not too many round pieces, mostly flat.  probably 80% of
the rocks had a good macro algae growth.  I found lots of colorfull snails
from 1/8" to 3/4" long.  dead critters include an urchin and two small
crabs.  And worms.  live critters include snails and some kinda slug who
was on the front glass after a few hours. little guy.   The magnum 350 is
running cartridge only, no diatom powder.  The P.Skimmer has kicked out 
around .75 gallons of brown-green fluid so far.  There isn't too much in 
the way of suspended loose or floating matter, probably 'cause I rinsed the
pieces well.   BUT.

How the hell long before the water clears up?

Its just all brownish green.  I don't think this is the green water that
Oleg was referring to!  It is as if the grinding rock on rock with macro
algae in between has damaged the macro algae, releasing pigmentation into
the water.  The protein skimmer may get it.

Thinking some more about this, if the color is pigmentation, it may be 
mostly leached out by now.  A water change would remove it.  Draining the 
water would be an ideal opportunity to rebuild the reef.

The current plan is to remove the rock this weekend (ouch!!!!), lay it all
out on a sheet of plastic, select the ones with the most interesting 
algae growth.  Put those in buckets of water.  Take all the rest and strip
off as much macro algae as I can.  These will be on the bottom and get
little light anyway as rock will be stacked on top of 'em.  The stripped
rock will form the base of the reef, the interesting pieces will go on
top of this base.

Maybe I won't wait for the weekend after all.  I don't want all those
organics to start to break down.

 The tank has close to the amount of rock that I would 
want in the tank.  When I get new specimens on a rock, I might want to 
pull out a piece of this stuff.

Any hints or suggestions are welcome.  Bye!
-Ron

PS.  the new DIY overflow skimmer box can handle the full flow of a Quiet
One pump at around 36" to 40" head.  And the floor was dry this morning!

-- 
Ron Burns                                               ...!rosevax!minnow!ron
Unisys Corporation, CIM Dept.                 minnow%ron@rosevax.rosemount.com
Phone:(612)635-6927           or possibly     minnow!ron@rosevax.rosemount.com
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
From: jengagne@next03cville.wam.umd.edu (Jenny Lynne Gagne)
Subject: Re: UGF/RUGF/Sponge Filter [M][FILTERING]
Reply-To: Jurassic Park as movie
Organization: Workstations at Maryland, University of Maryland, College Park
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1992 00:42:36 GMT

In article <1992Oct6.160746.9046@smos.com> ed@smos.com (Life at hard labor  
- but no ball and chain) writes:
> talked me out of it.  He suggested hooking the existing powerheads
> up to two  sponge filters, and removing (part-at-a-time) almost

Well, in theory, if you're going to use RUGF then you need some type of  
sponge filter on the intake anyway, so why not just use the sponge  
filters?  Sounds good to me, though I'm not an "aquarium wizard".  
For me, I've put a sponge on the intake of my Whisper power filter so that  
I don't have to mess around with cartriges.  It's much more convenient,  
and the hidden sponge is much more attractive than the previos filter  
media.  Also I still get that surface current...  And now that I think of  
it, with the sponge as prefilter, I could put more biological media (such  
as a backup sponge for when this one is worn out) in the former filter  
chamber...

jengagne@wam.umd.edu
 
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
From: ffujita@s.psych.uiuc.edu (Frank Fujita)
Subject: Re: Live plants - What kind!? *smile*
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Sat, 26 Sep 1992 18:42:39 GMT


I recently bought some hornwort (found it).  It was relatively
unexpensive, and looks like it has *Tons* of surface area.  Now for my
question, The tips of some of the hornwort is brown.  It feels different
than the green stuff too.  So, should I prune the brown stuff off, or
should I leave it on, or is it in my discretion.

Lighting:  I have a 29 with a single 24" flourscent tube.  Can I get by
with just putting in a 24" grow tube?  If so, which type is best?  My
phar-mor doesn't seem to be selling everything at super-low prices, but
they seem to match mail-order for grow-lights.

Mostly I want this plant to suck up nitrates, and provide a place for
fry to hide.  

Thanks
Frank Fujita
From: hchau@hpscit.sc.hp.com (Hiep Chau)
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
Subject: [F] Oscar breeding Q
Date: 28 Sep 92 23:06:11 GMT
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Santa Clara, CA

I'm new to the net, and have not posted here before.  I have an Oscar
that I believe is pregnant.  The fish is getting fatter each day and
is changing color.  At first I thought that it was sick, but now the
fish looks like it is doing well.

My questions are:

How can you tell if an Oscar is pregnant?  And if it is pregnant how long
does it carry the eggs?  And are there any other special things that I 
need to do to breed them.

My fish tank is 100G, and been set up for 2 years.  The fat fish is
3 yrs old.  Other fish that were in the tank were 3 Jack Demmsy, 1 big
plecostomous,  1 other male male tiger oscar, + 4 other big fish.

Please e-mail responses.  I don't read this group very often.

Thanks in Advance
Gary Chau
hchau@sc.hp.com
From: steve@celia.UUCP (Steve Tyree)
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
Subject: Re: cycling a tank with live rock
Date: 2 Oct 92 18:19:58 GMT
Reply-To: celia!steve@usc.edu (Steve Tyree)
Organization: Rhythm & Hues, Inc., Hollywood

In article <1992Oct2.140348.20721@tin.monsanto.com> kncarp@nicsn1.monsanto.com (Kevin N. Carpenter) writes:
>Steve - do you have any suggestions for sources of small quantities of very
>high quality live rock?  Assuming the restraint is monetary (say ~$100US),
>how much VHQLV can one buy?

 Thats the main problem with "coralline" reefs. The corallines dont come cheap.
I have special ordered marshall Island live rock through local dealers. If you
buy in volume, you can get a discount per pound. It is not cheap but you can
spread purchases out over time. 100 dollars US would get 15 pounds at discount
rate. This rock has a high volume to rate ratio and 15 lbs of it is equivalent
to ~35 - 40 lbs of normal reef rock. You can buy medium grade via mail order
and harvest the micro and macro algaes and wait a few months for the coral-
lines to take over. You could seed an existing reef buy changing a few rocks
every couple of months. I wont jump totally on the coralline bandwagon until
I can spend some more time doing research on coral spat settling on coralline
algaes. My reef is 75 % converted to corallines and 66 % pvc elevated and a
recent added Gorgonian is doing extremly well. See later post.

 Steve Tyree - Reef Breeder.
From: Jonathan Herr <herrj@valnet.UUCP>
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
Subject: Re: PLECO.NET.CURSE
Keywords: Lucky Charms
Date: Sat, 03 Oct 92 10:08:21 GMT
Reply-To: herrj@valnet.UUCP
Organization: WVCF, Vincennes, IN, USA
Disclaimer: Author responsible for contents

cburns@ucs.indiana.edu (Chris Burns) writes:

# > Ever since then though, I've had fantastic luck and I've totally avoided th
# > curse.  I've had this clown pleco (in a 10g) for over 15 months.  I've got 
# > "rhino pleco" in another 10g tank (with baby bettas to keep it company) tha
# > I've had for two months or so.  And I've got a mango pleco (cost me $80!) t
# > I've managed to keep alive for 2 weeks now.
# > 
# 
# > --Dennis
# 
# I think your fantastic luck may be coming to a rapid end (you called 3 fish
# pl...s in that last paragraph.  I'd get one of those charms quickly...
# 
# Chris

And I wish that I'd had one just yesterday.  I didn't even post that
I'd had mine for over two years, now.  I simply responded via email
and then the next day.... SH*T!  It was dead!

Jon

---
No One ever told me                               x   Jonathan R. Herr
This land of dreams was now                     xxxxx Wabash Valley Computing
I told them I'd rode shooting stars               x   System Administrator
And said I'd show them how          -- Ozzy       x   +1 812/886-6109
From: marthab@milton.u.washington.edu (Martha Burns)
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
Subject: Black Algae Plague
Date: 30 Sep 92 16:51:57 GMT
Article-I.D.: u.1992Sep30.165157.1656
Reply-To: marthab@u.washington.edu
Distribution: na
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle

Ugly clumps of black algae have replaced the brown and green algae in 
my fresh water tank.  Some of the fish enjoy nibbling on the green
variety, so it would be nice to have a small amount of that, but how do I
get rid of the black algae?
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria,alt.aquaria
From: bruceg@Cadence.COM (Bruce Gustifson)
Subject: Re: (F) Tetra's gravel additive :(
Organization: Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1992 18:09:16 GMT

In article <66249@cup.portal.com> PLai@cup.portal.com (Patrick L Faith) writes:
> hmmm ... seems like I should have inquired of the Net Wise Ones before 
> my latest fiasco ...  so here's another question before I mess something up ...
>
> My PH is hovering around 7.5 , and I want it to hover around 6.5 - I'm going
> to start a south american tank and was woundering on the best way of dropping
> the PH ?  Heres my current theory - start using reverse osmosis water, tetra
> black water extract, and use Sea Chem's Discus Buffer ( thought about using
> peat but couldn't find a place that sold it in bulk - not sure if that is a
> good way to go anyway ? ) ???
>
> P L Faith

  Why bother with all that trouble and expense? If it is only the 
pH that your concerned with, I recommend using the recommended
number of drops of pH down or a similar acidifying agent. I have
a S. American tank, and that is all I use on the alkaline water
at my house. I usually follow the military axiom KISS (keep it
simple, stupid) :)
************************************************************************
"Would you believe it if you     |             MY KARMA
saw it with your own eyes?"      |           JUST RAN OVER
   Asked the woman               |            YOUR DOGMA
"That depends"                   |               -Dolly Llama-
    Replied I                    |	
***********************************************************************
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria,sci.aquaria,alt.aquaria
From: howardr@col.hp.com (Howard Rebel)
Subject: Re: Resealing glass tank
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1992 19:30:32 GMT
Organization: HP Colorado Springs Division
Keywords: tank

In article <1992Oct4.231045.10769@gallant.apple.com> kiddyr@gallant.apple.com (Ray Kiddy) writes:
>bob@hubcap.clemson.edu (Bob) writes:
>
>>In article <1992Oct3.191312.7754@hubcap.clemson.edu> bob@hubcap.clemson.edu (Bob) writes:
>>>Hi all!
>>>
>>>     I just bought a 75 gallon tank from a friend and intend to set up
>>>yet another salt water tank (my third). It seems to have bubbles in the
>...
>>Thnaks again!
>>Bob
>
>>bob@hubcap.clemson.edu
>
>i tied to reseal a tank and it was a lot trickier than it looked (ok, it wasss
>a hexagon, but...) and it was also pretty messy. the result looked like crap
>and leaked...
>- ray

It is not difficult as Ray makes it out to be.  Use GE 35 year
sealant, make sure the glass is CLEAN, and pratice on a couple of
sheets of scrap glass prior to putting the sealent on the tank.

It is easy to put too much sealant on the tank, that makes it look
like crap.  I use my WET finger to smooth out the sealant.

If the glass in not clean and free of all oils (like from your fingers)
the tank may leak.  

Always reseal ALL seams below the water line.

It is not difficult in a techincal sense but does require time and care.


-- 
Howard Rebel hpcsos.col.hp.com
From: ahughes@arch386.hyperdesk.com (Arch Hughes)
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
Subject: Re: Which to believe
Keywords: joke
Date: 6 Oct 92 22:07:41 GMT
Reply-To: arch@hyperdesk.com
Organization: HyperDesk Corporation

In article <1992Oct6.123740.29074@kong.gsfc.nasa.gov>, mstephens.520@postman.gsfc.nasa.gov (mark stephens) writes:

> Folks, the only accurate thermometer is one for lab or photography work.  

> Typically these are rated in + or - 0.1 degrees, or some such.  A good

> one is from Kodak for use in color film processing. 

> 

> Take a reading with a good thermometer, note the difference between it

> and, say, an LCD stick on and make a note of it.  The difference will

> vary depending on room temperature.  For inside fish thermometers, the 
                                           ^^^^^^^^^^^
> difference should not vary.
> 
>      mark

Don't the fish tend to swim funny that way?
-- 
o o|  Arch Hughes, HyperDesk Corp.        Phone   508-366-5050 x103
o o|  Suite 300, 2000 West Park Dr.       Fax     508-898-3841
---+  Westboro, MA   01581                E-Mail  arch@hyperdesk.com
From: n8943689@henson.cc.wwu.edu (Elric of Melnibone)
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
Subject: Re: Which to believe
Date: 6 Oct 92 05:36:57 GMT
Article-I.D.: henson.1992Oct6.053657.12908
Organization: Western Washington University

nclennan@churchst.ccs.itd.umich.edu (Neil F. Clennan) writes:

>In article <1992Oct5.201115.634@cs.ucla.edu> frazier@kona.cs.ucla.edu (Gregory  
>Frazier) writes:
>> cliff (cliff@watson.ibm.com) wrote:
>> : I have one of those heaters which has a particular temperature value you
>> : can set.  I set it to 75.  The LCD stick-on thermometer on the outside
>> : of the tank reads 80.  Which of the two readings would be closer to the
>> : truth?  
>> 
>> Neither.  The temp settings on heaters are *always* off one way
>> or the other, and those LCD thermometers are completely useless.
>> Yes, I own some, too.  The only thing to do is to buy a real
>> thermometer.

I agree, neither of the temperature are correct, as said before the
one in the heater is usually screwy, and the LCD ones that you stick
on the "outside" of the tank tend to measure just that, the outside
temperature.  You should just stick to the thermometers that stay
inside the tank.

>My LCD thermometer works great. In fact, I started with a "real"
>floating thermometer, and IT was useless. It kept claiming that
>my water was under 50 F, and in my hot apartment, that just ain't
>possible. I had to throw that one out and buy the LCD one. I'd
>trust the LCD (or buy multiple thermometers and see which ones
>agree...)

>Neil Clennan
>nclennan@churchst.ccs.itd.umich.edu

As for Neil here, he was one of the unfortunates who bought a
thermometer and didn't check to see if the temperature was relatively
close to correct while he was in the store.  (I work in a pet store,
and I have seen the thermometers come in and some never ever move)

Pete

-- 
Pete Giffin <n8943689@henson.cc.wwu.edu> <uw-beaver!henson.cc.wwu.edu!n8943689>