HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: Steve.Kilbey%bbs@jptcs.com (Steve Kilbey)
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
Subject: no water changes for me
Date: 12 Jan 93 02:45:02 GMT
Reply-To: Steve.Kilbey%bbs@jptcs.com (Steve Kilbey)
X-Posting-Software: UniBoard 1.10a S/N 202921

I posted a similar message in alt.aquaria, but there seems to be very little
activity there, so I will post this announcement here. I do not do water
changes. My fish do great, so why mess up their environment by fixing
something that ain't broken. Here are my scenarios:
 1) 55 gallon tank, non-african cichlids, 1 pl*co, no water change in over 3
years, 0 ppm ammonia, upper 6's in pH.
 2) 10 gallon community tank, with angels, neons, froggies, and algae eater.
No water change since I got it over 8 months ago, 0 ppm ammonia, 7.0 pH.
 3) African cichlid tank, 20 gallon, little pl*co, 3 month old tank, 0 ppm
ammonia, 7.5 pH, no water changes.

I have had 1 (ONE!) casualty total, in all these tanks, and that was a
cardinal tetra that I just added this weekend to my 10 gallon tank. He was a
little skinny to begin with, and the other nens were beating him up.
Otherwise, my fish are all active, and eat all the food I put in. It is
true, I have not tested nitr[ia]tes. I have considered changing water, but
as I said in the beginning, why sould I if I have had no problems?
From: ayresr@gtewd.mtv.gsc.gte.com (I feel better than James Brown)
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
Subject: Fish in the Workplace
Date: 12 Jan 93 12:43:26 -0800
Organization: GTE Govt. Systems, Electronics Def. Div.

I have two questions concerning fish in the workplace.

1) I am fortunate enough to be able to enjoy a 20 gallon Tenecor tank in my
office (cube, who's kidding who), and would like some advice on Dwarf Cichlids.
I've always loved the personality of cichlids, and would like to keep them
at work.  Which species would be more likely to survive in a 5-day work 
week envirnment?   At one time I had some GREAT Blue Rams at home, these would
be my first choice, any comments?  [I need a good source, Justin @ Ocean 
Aquarium in SFO used to have what he called German Blue Rams, which were
MUCH bigger than most fish-store-types; similar in size to a Bolivian Ram, but
with all the color.  Anyone seen these?]  Currently, the tank is well cycled,
well planted, and contains 3 red-eyes, an incorrigable swordtail, two corys
and a plec.   Please offer suggestions for cichlids that will work for me!
(I'd love discus, but I doubt they'd be hearty enough, and besides, the tank
has a horizontal look).

2) Question two concerns an earlier happening with my tank at work.  In my 
previous location, I'd had limited success with various tropical fish, mostly
rainbows, tetras, and plecs.  Upon dismantling and moving the tank to its
new location, I found two pennies that had been dropped in the back of the
tank (the filter part of the Tenecor).  Given that my water quality was 
usually fair to good, would this explain listless-no-external-indication-
fish-attrition?   (And a rhetorical question, who would ever want to do such
a thing?)

I hope many of you either have the opportunity, or will soon, of enjoying
fish at work.  xfishtank, though clever, just doesn't do it for me!

Thanks,

-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|	Richard R. Ayres
|	ayres@mars.mtv.gsc.gte.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
From: dbs@hprnd.rose.hp.com (Dave Sheehy)
Subject: Re: [M] Help!!!!!
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 02:04:16 GMT
Organization: HP - Systems Technology Division
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1.8 PL6]

Robert Bennetts. (rbennet1@neumann.une.edu.au) wrote:
: 	Has anyone else got any good fish room hell stories...

I don't know if this qualifies but I just bought a new house and finished
moving into it. I have 4 55 gallon fish tanks, 2 african setups, 1 marine
fish, and 1 reef. What a royal pain in the butt. Think for a moment about
moving a reef tank. Every piece of rock with something on it has to be
individually bagged and padded so it doesn't poke a hole in the bag and/or
crush the attached inverts. Then you have to deal with the live rock. I think
I counted 35 bags of inverts (add to that a 5 gallon bucket with the fish
and various echinoderms) after it was completely torn down. The story has a
fairly happy ending. Everything survived the move except the Derasa clam. It
died 2 days after the move. Some of the inverts actuallly seem happier. The
frogspawn coral for example is about 20% larger when fully expanded now.

Despite the success of the operation this is not something I want to do again
soon!

Dave Sheehy

Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
From: sonny@cbnewsf.cb.att.com (joseph.j.de rosa)
Subject: Re: Algae descriptions: Re: [F] Tough hair algae question
Organization: AT&T
Distribution: na
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 1993 12:43:02 GMT

In article <1993Jan4.231558.26837@medtron.medtronic.com> ds0007@medtronic.COM (Dale Skiba) writes:
>Bob Raible - LSI Design (raible@cbmvax.commodore.com) wrote:
>: In article <1992Dec28.194010.22352@medtron.medtronic.com> ds0007@medtronic.COM (Dale Skiba) writes:
>: >Try getting a Borneo sucker.  Mine loves this stuff.  I have a tropical
>: >community tank in an east window.  It gets direct sunlight in the early
>: >mornings.  My plants loved the this, but so did the algae.  I had to get
>: >a couple of ottos to keep the algae under control.  They did a fair job,
>: >but I had to clean off the "green spot algae" every few months.  As an
>: >experiment, I got a Borneo sucker.  It ate everything the Ottos didn't
>: >like. I have not had to remove ANY algae from this tank since I got this
>: >fish.  Actually, the sucker is doing too good of a job.  I have to get
>: >some "algae tablets" now. There is no visible algae left in the tank now.
>: >
>: Can somebody provide the scientific name for this beast - I've never heard
>: of it, and believe I've looked at quite a few tanks in my time. Any info
>: would be appreciated.
>
>I called up the fish store where I bought it.  Usually they have the latin
>name printed on the side of the tank, and the sales receipt.  Unfortunately,
>they do not have the latin name for this one.  They told me it is somewhat
>similar to a Hong Kong Pleco.  It looks alot like a cross between a Pleco
>and a leech.

Actually, these are not even catfish, but are loaches from  SE Asia. I was
fortunate enough to see LOTS in the wild a few years ago when I was in 
Thailand, Malaysia and Borneo. The streams were VERY fast flowing and the water 
was suprisingly cool. LOTS of algae was covering all the rocks, and the 
loaches were all over. They do require highly oxygenated and clean water to 
do well.

I only have a few names for the various "sucker" or hillstream loaches, and 
some of these names might be out of date.

Pseudogasteromyzon cheri  a pretty little mottled fish
Homaloptera orthogoniata  very nicely marbled, from Borneo
Homaloptera zollingeri    not as marbled, from Thailand (I'm told)
Pseudogastromyzon myersi  "Hong Kong plecostomus"
Gastromyzon punctatus     "Borneo Plecostomus" (nicely spotted)

I also saw some fish in the Sabah Aquarium of the genera Balitora 
and Hemimyzon, but all these fish are pretty similar in size and coloration.
I've taken a good look whenever a local shop gets some in, and I'm pretty 
sure that I've seen most of these fish locally, and maybe a few others that
I can't identify.

Joe DeRosa
jderosa@attmail.att.comm
From: paulc@tsien.Eng.Sun.COM (Paul Tsien)
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
Subject: ** Complete 55 gl. Wet/Dry system w/stand and cannope **
Date: 12 Jan 1993 22:09:25 GMT
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Distribution: world
Reply-To: paulc@tsien.Eng.Sun.COM
NNTP-Posting-Host: tsien

FOR SALE!! Complete 55 gl. Wet/Dry System!
Comes with beautiful black Oak stand and cannope!

55 gl. TRUVU Plexi Aquarium (4'x20"x13")
Black background with corner pre-filter
Light and fixture
TRUVU Wet/Dry filter system with submersible Eheim 1250 pump
Magnum 350 canister filter (350 gl./hour)
Aquanetics 15IL UV sterilizer (480 gl./hour)
Sander protein skimmer with AquaClear 802 powerhead (400 gl./hour)
Submersible heater and other misc. items

State of art salt water (or fresh water) setup!
Adds life and colors to any room/office!  Only one year old!

Paid over $2,000.  Asking $1,200 or best offer!

Call Paul at 415 336-0815 work
             415 325-8566 home (Palo Alto, CA)


Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
From: root@kilowatt.uucp (Kilowatt admin)
Subject: Re: Baby cichlids
Reply-To: root@kilowatt.UUCP (Kilowatt admin)
Organization: Kilowatt Computing of Deer Park, NY
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 1993 16:37:19 GMT

>>        What are the scientific names for the Pink Convict and the Salvini
>>Cichlid (looks like a cross breed). But I will say this, the Salvini markings
>>are definitly dominant over the Pink. There's only 3 or 4 fry that are NOT
>>marked like the mother.
>
>Since you asked, they are Heros/Cichlasoma nigrofasciatum and salvani.
>
>Even though you didn't ask, I will add the following comment/advice:
>Intentional hybridization of cichlids is generally considered to be an
>unacceptable practice by serious cichlid keepers, especially now that
>   numerous  natural populations are in decline, with their ultimate
>preservation possibly dependant on the existence of uncontaminated
>aquarium stocks.  I would suggest that you dispose of the hybrid fry,
>obtain a female convict and/or male salvani, and enjoy    breeding
>non-hybrid cichlids.
	Thanks for the reply... and don't worry, I'm not about to spread
another hybrid into the world. I've seen too many pet shops with some strange
variations on the standard cichlids (but these could be real cichlids and I
just don't know the difference).
	As to "disposing" of the fry, that I couldn't do if I tried. These guys
will be distributed to friends who have tanks, not to pet shops...
-- 
Kilowatt Computers (516) 253-2805			Arthur A. Krewat
51 Winnecomac Ave.			uunet!areyes!kilowatt!krewat
Deer Park, NY 11729					(516) 586-4743
	WARNING! THIS ENTIRE ARTICLE IS UNDER PROTECTION OF A SMILEY :-)
From: cowan@cerianthus.pinetree.org (Darin Cowan)
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
Subject: Re: Aquaclear 300 problem
Date: Fri, 08 Jan 93 16:43:39 GMT
Organization: The Aquarium, Ottawa, Ontario

Larry Bunge <LLB@psuvm.psu.edu> writes:

> Bits of debris and food floating toward the intake would attrack fish and lur
> them too close to the intake where some became physically damaged or died.
> When I first started the filter I observed a female betta get sucked to the
> intake but fortunately she got free unharmed. A day later I found a medium si
> angel stuck nose first in the filter and dead. I didn't panic then. Within th
> course of a week I found 2 dead neons, a large platy with a deeply cut mouth
> (she later died) and another angelfish all dead in an aquarium where I haven'
> had any kind of trouble. Finally a white cloud got sucked into the intake - I
> then pulled the plug.

I have been using an Aquaclear 300 in my 50 gal FW for 3 years and have never
had a fish sucked up...  over time the tank has had angels, various tetras and
bettas without a hitch.  Currently the tank has 2 angels, a black ghost knife
some gouramis, glassfish, a tiger barb and a large pleco (the knife is large 
too - both on the order of 9") 

> NOTE: The tank has an "air-driven" UGF with four tubes. I am only running the
> aquaclear 300 about 6 hours a day. It helps keep the water crystal clear, but
> if I run it any longer the turbulence seems to stress many of the fish.

I run mine 24 / 7.  THe fish love it.

THe only problems I've had with the aquaclears is that gunk builds up underneath
the filter media and it can be released into the tank when you pull out the
column of media to clean/replace it.  To avoid this you MUST turn the filter
off to clean - which I find irritating.

Also, in my breeding tank, I have an aquaclear mini which sucked up all but
one fish in the last spawn of my pearl gouramis.


Darin Cowan - cowan@cerianthus.pinetree.org

Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
From: wkb@cbnews.cb.att.com (wm.keith.brummett)
Subject: Re: Bloated tetra
Organization: AT&T
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 01:57:20 GMT


    In article <1993Jan6.065934.11692@zooid.guild.org>, Lynda Fincham
    <gaea@zooid.guild.org> writes:
    > ...
    > It was suggested to me that the one tetra that was getting bloated was
    > just exceptionally stupid and gulping air when it ate, but I guess
    > that remains to be seen if it was only the one tetra. Now that it's
    > dead, I'll be able to see if any of the others are doing it.

    I guess I should pipe up.  I have a tank of neons on my desk at work,
    and they all gulp air (I think) when they eat.  During and after eating
    they all swim around at 45 degrees nose-down, and seem to have trouble
    getting away from the surface.  They've been doing this for months.  It
    seems to disappear after a half-hour or so.  I've been thinking of
    switching from flake food to Hikari micro-pellets to see if this makes
    a difference.

    -- Keith

-- 
    | (614) 860-3187         Copyright (C) 1993, by       AT&T, Room 3B202 |
    | att!cblph!wkb  or,     W.K. Brummett and AT&T      6200 E. Broad St. |
    | wkb@cblph.att.com       All rights reserved.      Columbus, OH 43213 |
    `----------------------------------------------------------------------'
From: scol@scottsdale.az.stratus.com (Scott Colbath)
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
Subject: Trip to Florida, failure in fishfinding.
Date: 5 Jan 1993 20:33:57 GMT
Organization: Stratus Computer Inc, Marlboro MA
NNTP-Posting-Host: scottsdale.az.stratus.com

I just got back from a 10 day vacation to South and central Florida. I hoped  
that during my stay, I would be able to find a few fish stores which were  
loaded with unique fish of some sort, either fresh or marine. I'm tired of  
looking at the same old fish we get here in the Phoenix area. Unfortunately, I  
had no luck. One store which had a huge ad in the Yellow Pages was out of  
business and all the others I called had the typical fish I am used to seeing.  
One would think that being as close to Miami as I was would be a plus. That was  
not the case. Does anyone have recommendations for my next trip to Florida?

--
**********************************************************
Scott Colbath
Stratus Computer
Phoenix, Az.  (602)852-3106
Internet:scott_colbath@az.stratus.com
**********************************************************
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria,sci.aquaria
From: glee@athena.mit.edu (Gilbert Huppert)
Subject: [M] Firefish 
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 17:12:10 GMT

I just wanted to check and see if this had happened to anyone else.  
Yesterday night I bought a firefish (or fire goby) and added it to
my 55 G mini-reef tank.  It seemed to be OK for about the first 
hour, but then my pair of percula clown fish found it.  I have never
seen them be agressive to anything which was not another clown, but
they seemed to hate the firefish with a passion.  They began attacking
it together, mainly at the bright red tailfin.  After just a few 
minutes, even with me trying to get them to stop by putting in a net,
the whole tail of the firefish was destroyed, and the fish was hiding
in the rocks.  This morning, there is no sign of the fish, and since
it is not really very large, I am not going to disassemble the reef
looking for a corpse.  

Has anyone else seen clown fish attacking a firefish?  I expected that
maybe the basselet would attack the firefish, since they are at least
similar in shape, but it ignored the firefish until there was no tail 
left.  Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to catch anything in my
tank....


Thanks for your replies





--
Gilbert Lee Huppert (glee@athena.mit.edu)
Materials Etching Technology Laboratory
From: howardr@col.hp.com (Howard Rebel)
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
Subject: Re: [M] RUGF filtration: how much is too much?
Date: 4 Jan 1993 15:39:11 GMT
Organization: HP Colorado Springs Division
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: hplsdum.col.hp.com

I did a bit of expermenting with RFUGF's during Xmass vacation.  I found
these setups to produce weaker tank currents then any other filtration
system I have used.  Some people have reported lifting of gravel
near the lift tubes but it seems that this is due to the restriction 
caused by the UFG plate to tank bottom distance.  This can be overcome by
adding spaces under the UFG plate.  Once the restriction is removed the
water under the plate should have the same pressure at all points.  If
there is still a problem within the first few inches of the lift tubes
you can try using a donut cut from a sheet of plastic to close off the
holes in the UFG plate around the lift tubes.

You can calculate the flow rate up through the gravel as follows.  Please
check the math.

	// Total flow in gallons per hour
	2  Penguin 1140 move 600 gph

	// convert gph to cubic inches per hour
	600 (gph) * 231 (ci/gallon) = 138,600 (ci/hour)

	// size of you filter bed in sq inches
	30 (inches) * 12 (inches) = 360 (sq inches)	

	// flow rate through gravel bed in inches per hour
	138,600 (ci/hour) / 360 (sq inches) = 385 (inches/hour)

	// convert to inches/minute
	385 (inches/hour) / 60 (minutes/hour) = 6.4 (inches/minute)

	// convert to inches/second
	6.4 (inches/minute) / 60 (seconds/minute) = 0.10 (inches/second)

1/10 of an inch per second is not a fast flow.  This is due to size
(360 square inches) of the filter plate.  

In the area of the sponge filters there will be greater current which 
can again be determined but using the total flow over the sufrace area
of the sponge.  Each sponge will be filtering half the flow and with
a sponge area of 36 sq inches you would have a flow of about .5 inches
per second entering the sponge.  Keep in mind that this is AT the suface 
of the sponge and that it drops off very rapidly as you move away from 
the sponge.  

I do not have any powerheads of this make but I do not think that noise
will be a problem.  Air stones produce more in tank noise then the power
heads I have tried.

Good luck.


pst@cisco.com (Paul Traina) writes:
> I'm converting my 30 gal (tall) marine tank from a UGF + Aquaclear 200
> + protine skimmer to a RUGF + a magnum 402 for surface agitation +
> a piccolo protine skimmer system.
> 
> I have two lift tubes, and I believe the surface area at the bottom of
> the tank is equivelant to a 20L (30"X12").  I'm about to place the
> order for two reverse-flow power heads, and I am contemplating two
> Penguin 660R's (175gph) or two Penguin 1140 (300gph) powerheads.
> 
> I believe that the 660's should be more than adequate, and I'm
> concerned that if I bought the 1140's, the noise and current flow, and
> back pressure would be obnoxious (I have visions of coral levitating).
> 
> Comments?
> -- 
> Tiefer, tiefer, irgendwo in der Tiefe giebt es ein Licht!
-- 
Howard Rebel hpcsos.col.hp.com
From: scol@scottsdale.az.stratus.com (Scott Colbath)
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
Subject: Re: Tank Mysteries and the empty office tank finally gets fish.
Date: 4 Jan 1993 21:23:28 GMT
Organization: Stratus Computer Inc, Marlboro MA
NNTP-Posting-Host: scottsdale.az.stratus.com

In article <1hvg32INN99l@hp-col.col.hp.com> howardr@col.hp.com (Howard Rebel)  
writes:

> P.S.  We've also found an UGF to be a time bomb waiting to happen; once
> one hits about a year; even with regular gravel siphoning.  You might
> want to consider another form of filtration for long-haul fishkeeping. 

What is the cause of this time bomb? In addition to my UGF, I also run a power  
filter. Is this safe enough?

BTW: I won the battle of the tank!! We get fish instead of reptiles. Now I have  
to figure out which way to go with it. Fresh or salt, cichlid or community,  
etc.etc.etc. I may be looking for some good deals out there on some used  
equipment if there are any offers.....I have a tank with a stand. Not much  
else. Let me know.

**********************************************************
Scott Colbath
Stratus Computer
Phoenix, Az.  (602)852-3106
Internet:scott_colbath@az.stratus.com
**********************************************************
Organization: Penn State University
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 16:39:55 EST
From: Larry Bunge <LLB@psuvm.psu.edu>
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
Subject: Aquaclear 300 problem

I obtained my first Aquaclear 300 and had installed it on an established
75gal freshwater community tank which is heavily planted.

Problems began which I didn't immediately associate with this filter.

Bits of debris and food floating toward the intake would attrack fish and lure
them too close to the intake where some became physically damaged or died.

When I first started the filter I observed a female betta get sucked to the
intake but fortunately she got free unharmed. A day later I found a medium size
angel stuck nose first in the filter and dead. I didn't panic then. Within the
course of a week I found 2 dead neons, a large platy with a deeply cut mouth
(she later died) and another angelfish all dead in an aquarium where I haven't
had any kind of trouble. Finally a white cloud got sucked into the intake - I
then pulled the plug.

A week ago I started using the filter again - but first drilled some 80 5/32"
holes in the lower intake pipe. Everything seems to be alright now that the
the intake suction area has been increased.

NOTE: The tank has an "air-driven" UGF with four tubes. I am only running the
aquaclear 300 about 6 hours a day. It helps keep the water crystal clear, but
if I run it any longer the turbulence seems to stress many of the fish.
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
From: peterbi@microsoft.com (Peter Biddle)
Subject: Moving Help
Date: 08 Jan 93 20:35:06 GMT
Organization: Microsoft Corp.
Distribution: global

I am moving from TX to WA--I need some info;  I have a 55 gal.
tank w/a couple of Angels, some goldfish, and a pleco.  I will
probably be flying (5 hour flight).  I know to not clean out the 
tank; if I get a big bag and fill the air space with o2 will
the fish survive?

Thanks,
Peter
+++++
Xref: sparky rec.aquaria:9895 alt.aquaria:6483
From: assana@polkadot.Eng.Sun.COM (assana)
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria,alt.aquaria
Subject: [F] Spinach leaves: can they over dose on it?
Date: 8 Jan 93 09:11:39 GMT
Reply-To: assana@polkadot.Eng.Sun.COM (assana)
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc., Mountain View, CA
NNTP-Posting-Host: polkadot

Hello netlanders.

I'm satrting to worry about my fish's behavior towards spinach
leaves. A while back, I started leaving some lightly-steamed 
spinach leaves for my monos, in addition to their regular food.
They would bite at it once in a while, but nothing special.

Well, lately, not only the monos are going crazy over them, all my other
fish just attack the leaf and wolf it down! You should see
how much energy the clown loaches spend to stay on the surface!!
I give them 2-3 baby leaves (the very youngest in a bunch) every 
other day or so. So it's not very much.

Now, could someone please shed some light on this: could this hurt 
them? Should I stop? They seem to love it, but I don't want them
to over dose!

Tank info: 
	  (so Oleg won't flame: 1) read the FAQ; 2) no tank info=> no help!)
     School of Cardinals, 5 Monos, 3 Clowns, a few rummy-nose and
     rasbora tetras, a couple of guppies (who don't really care for the
     spincach!).

Thanx in advance.


--
         ^-^
        /o o\
       ===^===   assana@polkadot.eng.sun.com
          -
From: lauram@lazarus.corp.sgi.com (Laura MacKinnon)
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
Subject: Tanks for Sale: Bay Area
Date: 7 Jan 93 03:33:10 GMT
Organization: Silicon Graphics, Inc.

[Apologies to nonlocal readers.  Distribution "ba" doesn't seem to
help much.]

4 Aquariums (w/accessories) all less than 3 years old - freshwater
	Moving - all good condition

* 100g glass aquarium fluor hood, 2 power heads, Fluval 403, wood stand

* 35g glass aquarium fluor hood, 1 power head, 2 outside filters, stand

* 22g tall glass aquarium, fluor hood

* 10g glass aquarium, outside filter

I'd prefer to sell the whole thing for approx. $400/bo.
	Located in Sunnyvale.  Call (408) 739-7121.
	You transport.

--
Laura MacKinnon		lauram@sgi.com
Silicon Graphics		Mountain View, CA
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria