HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: elster@cs.cornell.edu (Anne C. Elster)
Subject: Re: Aquarium Backings
Organization: Cornell Univ. CS Dept, Ithaca NY 14853
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 1992 07:16:51 GMT

In article <Bsxz4J.2FI@news.cso.uiuc.edu> Igor Livshits <igorl@uiuc.edu> writes:
>In article <1992Aug13.204815.14200@watson.ibm.com> , @watson.ibm.com
>writes:
>>Has anyone come up with ideas for home-made backings that look nice?
>
>Spray paint it black.  You just can't go wrong with a black background.

I have a deep-green hand towel hanging as a backing on one of my 10g. tanks.
Looks great -- nice soft look that enhances the look of my fish. :-)
Also, it keeps the heat in, and unlike spray-painting, it's not permanent.

							Anne C. Elster

elster@cs.cornell.edu

Newsgroups: rec.aquaria,alt.aquaria
From: mstephens.520@postman.gsfc.nasa.gov (mark stephens)
Subject: Re: [FILTRATION] Will this work?
Organization: nasa/gsfc
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 92 12:27:18 GMT

I don't think this is such a great idea.  The water will tend to siphon thru the
left one into the wet/dry.  If the right magnum is too slow you get water all over
everywhere and an empty tank.  If it's too fast, you get an empty sump and probably
a very unhappy, dry Magnum.  Using two pumps like this will always be a problem, as
one will be faster than the other.

If the Magnums are similar to Ehiems (the ones I'm familiar with), these units
do not like pushing water up the gravity well.  They are intended to be used in
a siphon loop.  The Magnum on the right may have problems with the 2-4 feet of 
head.  

             mark

In article <1992Aug18.045229.15981@cbnewsm.cb.att.com>, ste@cbnewsm.cb.att.com (Shaun T. Erickson) writes:
> 
> I have a wet/dry filter and two Magnum 350s. I would like to hook them up
> as diagramed below. Would this work? Does anyone see any potential problems
> with this setup? I want to try this as it would allow me to remove the siphon
> box and pre-filter leaving only an intake/output pair in the aquarium, making
> it look MUCH nicer.
> 
>                       <----                          <----
>                      ________                       ________
>                      |      |                       |      |
>                      |  ----|-----------------------|----  |
>                      |  |   |                       I   |  |
>                      |  |   |                           |  |
>                      |  |   |                           |  |
>                      |  |   |                           |  |
>                      |  |   O                           |  |
>                      |  ---------------------------------  |
> TOP OF STAND -------|-------------------------------------|----- TOP OF STAND
>                       \       _____           _____       /
>                        \      |   |  wet/dry  |   |      /
>                         \     | --|-----------|-- |     /
>                          \    | | I           | | |    /
>                           |   | |             | | |   |
>                           |   | |             O | |   |
>                           |   | ----------------- |   |
>  SHELF -------------------|---|-------------------|---|----------------- SHELF
>                         --|---|--               --|---|--
>                         | I   O |               | I   O |
>                         |       |               |       |
>                         |       |               |       |
>                         ---------               ---------
>  BOTTOM OF STAND --------------------------------------------- BOTTOM OF STAND
>                       MAGNUM 350 #1           MAGNUM 350 #2
>                     (CARBON CONTAINER)      (MICRON CARTRIDGE)
>                    (IN RITE-SIZE SLEEVE)   (IN RITE-SIZE SLEEVE)
>       [......]
From: jason@lanai.cs.ucla.edu (Jason Rosenberg)
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
Subject: Re: wet/dry question
Date: 21 Aug 92 22:28:23 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: UCLA, Computer Science Department


you write:

>There was a mention about bubbles accumulating (over a few days)
>in the siphon tube that goes in the pre-filter. Right now I'm
>testing an Aquaclear 802 which a lot of people recommended.
>The water level in the main tank (big bucket) is just enough
>to trickle water into the pre-filter. The trickling causes 
>turbulence which produces bubbles which goes into the siphon tube
>and accunulates. Amazing ! If I stick my hand into the main tank,
>the water level rises and the bubbles are pushed out of the siphon
>tube. The water level is way above the "teeth" of the pre-filter -
>I mean the smaller thing that goes inside the main tank.
>And the water inside the siphon tube is clean, i.e. no bubbles.

>However, I cannot maintain this high water level. After a while
>the water level goes back to just trickling into the pre-filter
>and I'm back to the same problem. It seems that my siphon tube
>is stronger than my 802 so that output from the main tank is 
>more than the output of the sump (small bucket).

Without any personal experience in these things (I am planning on adding
a surface skimmer/sump at some point), I would have thought that you want
the "teeth" of pre-filter to be above the water surface so that you can
effectively remove surface scum.......... 

Jason

-- 
Jason Rosenberg                           Computer Science Department
jason@cs.ucla.edu                         University of California
{uunet,rutgers,ucbvax}!ucla-cs!jason      Los Angeles, CA  90024
-- 
Jason Rosenberg                           Computer Science Department
jason@cs.ucla.edu                         University of California
{uunet,rutgers,ucbvax}!ucla-cs!jason      Los Angeles, CA  90024
Xref: sparky rec.aquaria:6682 alt.aquaria:4673 sci.aquaria:1251
From: black@sybase.com (Christina Black)
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria,alt.aquaria,sci.aquaria
Subject: [M] predators -- how to find and destroy?
Date: 19 Aug 92 23:10:49 GMT

Something is offing my anemones;  I want to know what it is and how to
eliminate it.

The scenario:  60 gallon saltwater tank with a skilter and two
powerheads.  (I know a skilter isn't much for a tank that size;  I'm
experimenting to see if live rock can take the place of heavy-duty
filtration.  If the water chemistry turns bad, I'll add more
filtration.)  Also 2, 75-watt heaters, which haven't been on yet,
California summer being what it is.  Lighting is 2, 4' white
flourescents and 2, 4' grow lights.

I started 2 1/2 weeks ago with 11 lbs live rock from my local fish
store.  This rock had several kinds of macro algae, some bubble
anemones (the largest with 3/4" tentacles) and ringed anemones (the
largest with 2" tentacles), a few fan worms (fans to 1/2" across), and
a roving univalve molusc with a vaguely conch-like shell (1/2" long).
Everything's been thriving -- plants and anemones growing, new bubble
anemones appearing, and no detectable ammonia.  (Except for a baseline
level which was 0, I'm not going to bother measuring nitrites or
nitrates until the ammonia goes up.)  I also have lots of little
crustaceans of under 1/4" length.  

1 1/2 weeks ago, I added 50 lbs of mail order live rock.  Creatures
obsevered when I added it to the tank:

	2 brittle stars (arms 3/4"-1")
	2 starfish (arms 1/4")
	1 crab (1" across)
	2 hermit crabs (shells 3/4" long)
	many fan worms (fans to 1" across)
	fire worm (2" -- I found and destroyed it)
	macro algae

I haven't seen any of these since then except for the fan worms and
algae -- the mobile critters hide during the day.

Ammonia is still 0.

My problem is that my bubble anemones and ringed anemones are
dissappearing!  It seems like each time I look, another one is gone.
They don't look look stressed or unwell before they vanish, so I think
it must be predation.  I think I might have a mantis shrimp, since I
sometimes hear cracking or popping noises from the tank.

Any ideas on what the culprit is, and how I can catch and destroy it?

Thanks.

-- Chris
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
From: jle@cfm.brown.edu (Jon Elion)
Subject: Re: top quality discus?
Organization: Brown University / Cardiac Image Processing Lab
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1992 18:49:28 GMT

Woops -- my first reply got trashed (just echoed original message).
Sorry (and I can't seem to cancel the useless echo.  Sigh).  I'll
try and reconstruct...

>Mark Hortman (hort@ems.cdc.com) writes:

>I am planning on setting up a 90 gallon planted discus tank.  
>I will be using two 4 foot tritons for light, and a wet/dry filter.

Not enough light!  Use four 4-foot bulbs (mixed types).

> One of the books I have says that one way to start your tank...

I suggest you get a copy of George Booth's postings on the Super
Show Tank (SST), and/or read "The Optimum Aquarium".

>My question is what should I do to get top quality discus?

Pick up this month's issue of TFH (Tropical Fish Hobbyist?)
and check out ads by Wattley, Regal Discus, and Marc Weiss.
I have used Regal Discus for supplies and RO unit, but have
cvhosen not to use them for discus because they ship in pH 7.8
water (my tank is 6.8).  Marc Weiss will likely get my business.
All ship overnite (about $40 shipping).

My local stores have meager pickings for discus.  Some appear
to have had colors forced with hormones (beware of overly-red
strains).  Most look like they are in improper water conditions.
If you have a shop that knows what they are doing, USE IT!
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
From: rivan@bnr.ca (Robert Ivan)
Subject: A ridiculously tall, thin octagon tank	
Reply-To: rivan@bnr.ca
Organization: Bell Northern Research Ltd.
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 92 13:21:07 GMT

  DO YOU REALLY WANT TO USE IT AS A FISH TANK.  Sorry i'm being
sarcastic.  Youre post didn't mention the volume of the tank.
But instead of fish you might try just putting an airstone
in the bottom and watch the bubbles rise to the surface.  It
will still loook impresssive.  I'm serious.  I saw just
such a thing on the weekend.  Then If you still want fish
get something that is much easier to keep. 

Or do you like lizzards. A big branch in the tank with a 
lizzard may be ok.  As long as there isn't water in the tank with 
fish in it you wont have to work too hard.

Just trying to help.
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
From: lee@ace.syr.edu (Lee C Brink)
Subject: Help with making stand for 2 55g tanks
Organization: Northeast Parallel Architectures Center (NPAC)
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 92 09:54:23 EDT


  I would like to build a stand for a 55g tank and I need some design help (Ok,
so I'm not a mechanical engineer or a carpenter.  What's a computer geek like 
me supposed to do? :-).  The upper tank would be 3-4 feet off the air, and
underneath on the floor would sit another 55g.  
  I was planning to use 2x4's for the entire construction.  The joints would
be put together with liquid nails (For the initial setting), and then 2 1"
bolts (Or larger if recommended) would be drilled into each joint.
  Where I fall flat is the actual joint construction.  You'd think that
4 joints would be all that hard to figure out, but since I am not experienced
working with wood in such a manner, or all the possibilities, I'm a bit 
foggy (All right, I admit it.  Ignorant. :-).
  Can someone give me some help on this project?

    Lee

PS: If you think this is the last of my questions, you're sadly mistaken :-) 
--
+---------------------------+----------------------------------------------+
| Lee C Brink	            | Office Support Co-ordinator at NPAC	   |
| lee@nova.npac.syr.edu     | Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244-4100 |
|			    | 315-443-1722				   |
+---------------------------+----------------------------------------------+
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
From: stu@mbsdev24.shearson.com ( Stuart Bernstein )
Subject: How Much Heater Voltage ?
Organization: Lehman Brothers
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1992 19:43:20 GMT

 
   What would be the necessary amount of total heat voltage
   required for a 55 gallon tank ?  I plan on buying two
   heaters in case one fails at some time.  

   Do I need a check valve for my Eheim Canister filter to prevent
   back flow in case the power fails.  I want to prevent water damage
   on the floors. ?

   For a community aquarium,  What filter media would be the best if
   I plan to have a wide variety of fish in tank ?


						Thank you
From: efang@pomona.claremont.edu
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
Subject: Oxygenation- re: CO2 notes
Date: 12 Aug 92 23:30:43 GMT
Organization: Pomona College


I was wondering if a skimmer, say a venturi, will produce the same amount of
oxygenation as a trickle filter will (i.e. saturation). My inlcination is to 
say no, but the discussion on Jim's CO2 notes makes me wonder. Opinions?
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
From: cliff@watson.ibm.com (cliff)
Subject: Fluval 403 Filter, Question 2
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1992 13:25:36 GMT
Disclaimer: This posting represents the poster's views, not necessarily those of IBM
Organization: A

The main tubes going and coming from the Fluval 403 filter are described in
their manual as being 14mm hoses.  How is hose diameter measured?
In any case, I need longer hoses because I want the filter further
from the tank than their hoses allow.  Is this a standard hose available
from fish stores?  I was looking for ball valves to add to the tubes
to facilitate media changes (considering the Fluval valves are said to be bad).
In That Fish Place's catalog they have ball valves for various tubes, but
not for the 14mm tubes the Fluval requires.  Any tips?
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
Date: Sat, 15 Aug 92 20:23:34 EDT
From: "John R. Kender" <jrk@division.cs.columbia.edu>
Subject: Algae bloom from trace elements

Anyone else ever get a really wretched bloom of hair algae (the
absolute worst kind, impossible to remove even mechanically, that even
snails won't touch) after adding trace elements?  Now, about six
months later, it is finally dead, although it nearly wiped out a patch
of valisneria by growing on it and killing it.  I seem to recall
someone posting a theory that hair algae need silicon and will die
once it is depleted (and probably went after the val to get the silicon
the val picked up, too.)  BTW, I never noticed any appreciable effect
of the trace elements on the good stuff (val, crypts, acoris, etc.).
They ought to call it algae food.  Comments, anyone?

John

Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
From: shane@psych.psy.uq.oz.au (Shane Brown)
Subject: Re: Wet Dry + UG reverse flow debate
Followup-To: rec.aquaria
Organization: University of Queensland. Oz.
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 1992 15:23:41 GMT

In article <1992Aug20.220243.24714@ncar.ucar.edu>,
murf@spike.comet.ucar.edu (John Murphy) wrote:
> 
> For the last 2 weeks I have been going from store to store seeking advice
> for a reef tank that I would like to set up.  I am planning on buying a
> 75G setup, w/ wet dry filtration.   One of the stores I have been to
> "highly reccommends" taking the return from the wet/dry and running   
> it reverseflow up through an undergravel filter.  Another store that
> I mentioned this idea to said that it was the worst thing you could
> do.  He said that anerobic bacteria would build up and gradually deplete
> the oxygen supply in the water.  He also gave several other chemical   
> reasons for this being a bad idea (he talked like a biologist) that I 
> didn't understand.  The advocate of the setup said how is bacteria going to  
> form when the water is moving up not down and it has already been through the
> wet dry filtration.   Both these guys have 15+ years experience with
> marine setup, but I have know idea which is correct.   Does anybody
> out there have any experience with this????? which is best?  wet/dry
> nothing on the bootom?  wet dry + u/g and coral? wet/dry only and sand?
> what do I do?????????????????????????
> 
> 
> --
> John Murphy			murf@comet.ucar.edu

Hey, please correct me if I'm wrong, but anaerobic bacteria is by
definition bacteria that makes a living out of living without oxygen, so
how is this stuff supposed to deplete oyxgen ? My guess is that you'll get
aerobic bacteria for ammonia-nitrite, nitrite-nitrate conversions.
The question I would ask is if the wet/dry is used to take care of
oxygenation and biological filtration, isn't the UG overkill ?

(o  ) (o  )      ( o ) ( o )      (  o) (  o)  -------------------~
...AND KIDS, FEEL FREE TO       Shane's Opinion: Guaranteed to be ~
   TRY THIS AT HOME !!          worthless or you pay DOUBLE !     ~
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ ~_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-~
From: oleg@Veritas.COM (Oleg Kiselev)
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
Subject: Re: Algae bloom from trace elements
Date: 18 Aug 92 02:52:33 GMT
Reply-To: oleg@veritas.com (Oleg Kiselev)
Organization: Palo Alto Killifish Loft
X-Disclaimer: I speak for myself only unless explicitly indicated otherwise

jrk@division.cs.columbia.edu (John R. Kender) writes:
>Anyone else ever get a really wretched bloom of hair algae (the
>absolute worst kind, impossible to remove even mechanically, that even
>snails won't touch) after adding trace elements?  

Sometimes that happens.  I don't mind hair algae -- I feed it to my 
Ameca splendens.  What microelements did you use?  I ought to try them.
May be more algae will stop these fish from eating the crypts as fast as 
the poor things are managing to grow...

If anyone has any magic formulae for instant cotton algae, I need that too.
My fish seem to prefer cotton algae to just about any other non-moving
foods.
-- 
"Republicans understand the importance of bondage between a mother and 
child." -- Dan Quayle
 
Oleg Kiselev                                             oleg@veritas.com
From: tom@dynamo.ecn.purdue.edu (Tom McCain)
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
Subject: Re: [M][R] Small Reef Tanks
Date: 12 Aug 92 16:04:17 GMT
Organization: Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN

gt6441c@prism.gatech.EDU (Jon Edwards ) writes:

: I would like to hear from anyone out there with *small* reef tanks.
: (small means <=20 gallons)  The latest(?) AFM has an article by Tullock
: about small reef tanks that is quite interesting.  He recommends (as
: an example) a 20g, 40 watts of light (actinic/ultralume), and a skimmer,
: after that he states that hammer coral, elegance, and tridacnas should do
: OK in it.  He also _recommended_ a Skilter.....  

: Anyway, the article revived my interest in small reef tanks (hey, 
: they are economical). I would like to here about successful (and 
: unsuccessful) attempts at small reef tanks.

I've got a 15 gallon reef/micro-reef.  It's been successfully going
for about three years.  Filtration is a modified Skilter, 402
powerhead with a sponge filter and lots of live/base rock!  I have
three 18" "reef" bulbs over the tank, one actinic 03 and two actinic
whites all purchased from URI (see FAMA).  I have lots of stuff jammed
in this little tank although not as much as Julian Sprung (see Sea
Scope, Spring 1992 issue) has crammed in his...yet!  If your
interested I can give you more detailed info.  Let me know.
--

Tom McCain 
tom@ecn.purdue.edu
From: gt7969a@prism.gatech.EDU (DEPUY)
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
Subject: Need advice on ~100gal fresh plant/fish tank
Date: 21 Aug 92 16:17:45 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology

I would like some advice on choosing a fresh-water setup.  I just found out
about this group, so please excuse me if I ask common questions.

I have had an average, simple 29 gallon fresh water tank for about a year now.
The accessories are pretty much the best that Wal-Mart had.  I am now
considering getting a 75-110 gallon tank for fresh water plants and fish.
Basically I want it all:  low price and good quality.  I want to try to keep
the price reasonable, but most of all I want to have great water quality and
low maintainence.

The shop that I go to says a trickle (wet/dry) filter is the way to go.  To
keep costs down I would like to find a used system like this, but no luck
so far.  The setup that I am almost considering consists of:
Oceanic 75gal reef-ready show tank (has overflows), Oceanic 75 trick filter,
Ehiem 1250 hobby pump, three different florescent bulbs, hood, heater, gravle,
and anything else non-living I might need.  The summed individual prices come up
to about $1250, but they said they could probably work out some kind of package
deal.

I would appreciate any suggestions that you may have.  Thanks in advance.

Wynand DePuy
    wdepuy@chmsr.isye.gatech.edu

-- 
DEPUY,WYNAND CRAWFORD
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia, 30332
uucp:	  ...!{decvax,hplabs,ncar,purdue,rutgers}!gatech!prism!gt7969a
Internet: gt7969a@prism.gatech.edu
From: frazier@maxwell (Greg Frazier)
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
Subject: Re: Using peat to lower pH - How to?
Date: 13 Aug 92 17:06:50 GMT
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL4

lee@coredump.npac.syr.edu (Lee C Brink) writes:
: 
: 	1) How much should I use in the Aquaclear 300 (Volume wise) for a
: 		particular pH?  Is this actually possible to figure out?

Not really - the change will be very gradual, so you will have
room to play around w/out risking your fish's lives.
 
: 	2) How long is the peat good for in keeping the pH low?  The pH of
: 		Syracuse water fluctuates from 7.4-7.8 during the year;
: 		assuming that the higher the pH, the less amount of time
: 		the peat is good for, is there a point where the peat will
: 		NOT lower the pH a significant amount before it has to be 
: 		replaced?

If your water has a lot of buffering capacity, the peat isn't
going to do diddly.  That is to say, not until you have used
A LOT of it.  And then you'll do a water change and start all
over again.  I think your fish may appreciate the peat, but
don't expect to see a major pH change.
 
: 	3) It was mentioned to me by Phil Leith that he boils the peat &
: 		adds the extract himself.  Is there any benefit of just
: 		sticking the peat in the filter over boiling the peat
: 		and adding the extract (or vice versa)?

If you just stick the peat into the filter, you'll get a more
gradual pH change (if any!), and none of the nice chemicals
will be broken down (peat apparently contains hormones that
encourage fish to spawn).
 
: 	4) Activated carbon should not be used when using peat (From
: 		what I've read here on these groups).  What do people
: 		do for mechanical friltration (In replacement for the carbon)
: 		if any [Note:  I do not want to start a flame war concerning
: 		the necessity/absoulte uselessness of carbon]?

If the peat has been in the filter for any length of time, dollars
to donoughts the "chemical" properties of the carbon has been used
up, and it has become passive bio-filter media.  Check your package,
it should say how long your carbon is "good" for.  Just don't change
the carbon... or use something else (bio-beads?) in your filter.
 
Note that I am not one of the people who recommended peat.  I am
not at all convinced that your pH is out of the range acceptable
to your fish, and I'd hate to see you go to great lengths on
something that won't necessarily help.  On the other hand, it
definitely won't hurt, and fooling with your tank is what this
hobby is all about... :-)
--


Greg Frazier	frazier@CS.UCLA.EDU	!{ucbvax,rutgers}!ucla-cs!frazier
From: gt6441c@prism.gatech.EDU (Jon Edwards )
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
Subject: Re: pumps in homemade wet-dry filters?
Date: 18 Aug 92 04:45:06 GMT
Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology


I am using a Hagen 802 powerhead in the sump of my wet filter (no dry 
part).  It works good for me, but some say they have a problem restarting.
I've found that as long as the end of the ouput hose is not actually 
submerged in the tank, there is a 100% restart rate (measured over the
last 8 months of using it, with NO problems).  It doesn't pump the
full 250gph(?), more along the lines of 180gph maybe (rough estimate), 
at a 3' head.  

Jon

Organization: Senior, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1992 14:06:16 -0400 
From: Gregory James Legowski <gl11+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: more Fish People

My hobbies, in addition to fish of course :-), are:

comics collecting
audio/visual equipment (I want to set up the ultimate entertainment center,
  piece by piece ;-)
CD collecting (275 and counting...)
computers (well whadda want, I work for Microsoft :-)

The fish are the least expensive hobby of the bunch :-/

--Greg
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria