HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: mark stephens <stephens@kong.gsfc.nasa.gov>
Subject: Re: Are W/D trickle filters worth it?
X-Xxmessage-Id: <A7522C671E01EC3D@mstephens.gsfc.nasa.gov>
X-Xxdate: Mon, 14 Dec 92 12:19:51 GMT
Organization: NASA/GSFC
X-Useragent: Nuntius v1.1.1d12
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 92 17:18:32 GMT

I agree with Geroge.  Canister filters are a great idea only if kept
clean.  I have one on a FW plant tank and as soon as the hair algae
starts up, I know what to do.  Trouble is, that filter weighs a heafty
amount. 

One observation is that this filter is the only one and acts as both
mechanical and biological (as does every surface in the tank, I would
assume).  It seems to me that you could keep the bio-media submerged,
which it is in the canister, and, with a good mechnical filter, have a
great filter.  Note that even if the media is submerged, you still have
to provide even distribution of the water over the media.

  mark


In article <2800255@hplvec.LVLD.HP.COM> George Booth,
booth@hplvec.LVLD.HP.COM writes:
>The prefilter acts as the mechanical filter, trapping detritus.  If you 
>use a drip tray, there is usually a second filter pad over that for added
>protection. 
>
>Since the prefilter clogs quickly, it must be changed once a week.  This
>forces you to remove the detritus before it has a chance to decompose
>and add extra nitrates to the water.  Most canister filters allow you
>to go much longer bewteen cleanings and will begin to act as a source
>of nitrates unless you are very diligent (unlike 99% of us :-). 
>
>Wet/dry filters (more properly, trickle filters) act as excellent 
>biological filters and keep the oxygen levels very near saturation.  They
>are inherently "cleaner" than UGF or canister filters.  Whether or not 
>there is a "better" way depends on your personal situation.  Personally,
>I think they are the best way to go for freshwater systems.  I find they
>are much less "hassle" in terms of maintenance than anything else.  We
>have Eheim canisters on three of our tanks and they are a pain in the
>butt to clean.  So we don't clean then as often as we should.  
>
>------
>George
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria,sci.aquaria
From: jan@bagend.uucp (Jan Isley)
Subject: Re: Blue-green 'algae' are DEAD!
Organization: This space for rent.
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 16:07:22 GMT

sdebol@tsp.med.umn.edu (Steven Debol (Nelson)) writes:
>You seem a little defensive!
Sorry, I just hate it when people loose healthy fish for no good
reason other than following a product's directions.

>If you want to be this way about it... Bacteria DON'T carry cards
>that identify them as gram(+) or gram(-)--they ARE gram(+) or gram(-).
Moral of the story;  I should know better than argue about antibiotics
with a card carrying microbiologist. :)
-- 
Jan Isley   jan@bagend.uucp   gatech.edu!bagend!jan   (404)434-1335
From: gt6441c@prism.gatech.EDU (Jon Edwards )
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
Subject: Re: Wet/Dry madness...
Date: 15 Dec 92 21:49:25 GMT
Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology

IF anyone is in the process of making a W/D for themselves, here is a 
simple mechanivcal prefilter idea that is *very* effective at removing
solids.


----
There are now WD's available that have a mechanical prefilter built into
either the sihpon/overflow box or the actual WD.  IF you decide to build one
yourself, it is relatively easy to make a mechanical filter that the water
passes through before it hits the trickle plate (I don't know how well this
works with spin-bars).  Following is a *simple* side view of a box type
mechanical/chemical filter:



	    |      |                      |  
	    |      |                     -|--- 
	    |      |                <-    |       <- hose from overflow box   
            |      |                     -|--- 
Water to    |      | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |    
drip tray --|-     |                      |    ~ = approximate water level    
    <-      | ~~~~ |                      |  
	  --|-     |     Floss, Carbon,   |  
	    |      |     Poly-Filters,    |  
	    |  ^   |     etc              |  
	    |  |   |                      |    (walls made of PVC,
	    | flow |                      |     acrylic, etc.)  
	    |      |                      |  
	    |      |                      |  
	    |      |                      |  
	    |      |EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE|    E = egg crate  
	    |_____________________________|     


If you are building your own W/D, this shouldn't be too hard to do, if you 
have some left over materials.     
-- 
Jonathan R. Edwards                         "In the darkest depths of Mordor,
gt6441c@prism.gatech.edu                     I met a girl so fair..."
Georgia Institute of Technology                     -'Ramble On,' Led Zepplin
From: AS.CCB@forsythe.stanford.edu (Christopher Bekins)
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
Subject: Re: Fish Transportation
Date: 17 Dec 1992 12:57:29 -0800
Organization: Stanford University
Distribution: usa
NNTP-Posting-Host: morrow.stanford.edu

assana@polkadot.Eng.Sun.COM (assana) writes:
>I was talking to a co-worker about all this talk about fish transportation,
>and he told me that he used to have an air-pump that would plug in the
>cigarette lighter. This is a few years ago, so he didn't know if they still
>exist or when one could buy one.

You can get them in these "roadside auto safety kits".  They typically
have a pump that plugs into the lighter so that you can pump air into
your tires (it's slow, but it works), along with flares, first aid kit,
etc. etc.  Try auto parts stores, etc.
From: mwerling@woodstock.umd.edu (Michael T. Werling)
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
Subject: (F) Fish suggestions
Summary: Fish suggestions for moderately hard water.
Date: 18 Dec 92 18:31:23 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: University of Maryland, College Park

I have recently bought a 20 long aquarium with an Aquaclear 200 power filter.
I am interested in making it a tank containing fish/plants (freshwater) from
one particular region.  I am not partial to any kind of fish, only that they
do well in moderately hard water (sorry, I do not have specific measurements,
but it is not soft and not liquid rock like those folks out west have:).
I don't want to have to deal with a lot of water softeners etc. since that
stuff just stresses the fish and me.

Rather than look through my fishlopedia page by page for plants and fish, I
was wondering if anyone had any suggestions?


I appreciate any response (well, except for flames) to give me a direction
for researching.  So far my experience has been with a 10gal freshwater
for a couple of years.  Time to move up...

Thanks in advance
Mike
(mwerling@umd5.umd.edu)

-- 
--------------------------------------------------------------------
| Mike Werling, Student Assistant |  email:mwerling@umd5.umd.edu   |
| AT&T Teaching Theater		  |  phone: (301)403-4620          |
| Computer Science Center         |--------------------------------|
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria,alt.aquaria
From: rclark@alcor.concordia.ca (Richard Clark)
Subject: Re: [F] How to get rid of snails?
Keywords: snails fresh help
Organization: Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 17:01:15 GMT


I used the product Had-a-Snail to kill snails in my freshwater tank,
it was very effective.  At the time I had only cardinal tetras in the
tank, and I noticed no adverse reactions in plants or fish.  I usually
try to minimize chemical use, but I figured it was easier than tearing
down the tank.  I removed manually as many large snails as I could
find, then used the product (a large number of decaying snails could
be bad news for ammonia levels)

The product contains copper 0.96% from copper sulfate pentahydrate,
other ingredients are inert.  I'm under the impression that catfish in
freshwater tanks don't like copper, and certainly invertebrates in
marine tanks don't (ie., they die).  Given that these precautions are
taken, I think it's a very effective product, and I wouldn't hesitate
recommending it for persistent snail "problems" - my snails were
eating my expensive plants.

rick
-- 
rick clark (rclark@alcor.concordia.ca) | My signature graduated  
           (CIS 70272,3270)            | before me.
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
From: jengagne@wam.umd.edu (Jenny Lynne Gagne)
Subject: {M} [M] (M)  Seeking comments on new 10g setup
Organization: University of Maryland, College Park
Distribution: usa
Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1992 02:36:44 GMT

10 gallon Perfecto tank, Instant Ocean salt, distilled water, UGF with crushed
coral, and about 4 gallons of 1-2 inch lava rock...

The lava rock is very porous (barely sinkable) and so I'm hoping to have it get
colonized by bacteria.  The rock is piled around the 802 powerhead running the
UGF, so it gets plenty of current, yet stops the jet of water from being too
strong in the swimming area.  The lift tube in the other corner has a 6 inch
Piccolo protein skimmer rigged to it, and with the Whisper 400 p
air pump going, it works just like a 12 inch skimmer.  Plus with the powerhead
going on the other corner, it's practically countercurrent. (details later).
The tank has been cycling for 2 weeks with a 2 inch platinum molly and her 
12 babies (surprise!).  I'm planning on leaving it to cycle till at least 
January 16th.  Then I'll do a water change and replace the big molly with a
coral banded shrimp.  I might take out the babies one by one as they grow.  I
plan to get some calcium/iodine supplement when I drive up to That Fish Place
next week.  

Comments?

PS: There's a heater too, of course, and I may have a Whisper C power filter
available soon.  I'm a little worried about debris behind the rocks, but I 
figure I can flush that out with poured water.

Directions on rigging a Piccolo skimmer to a lift tube -=-
Take all the air tubing off/out.  Take cup off and put it on the OTHER end. 
This is a little unstable but won't matter once it's on the tube.  Remove 
suction cups; you won't need them.  Push the two green rings (which are holding
that stiff tubing) close to the airline hole at the "top" (used to be the
bottom).  Make sure the screened bit is off ot
of the top of the lift tube.  Now you can dangle the skimmer over the lift tube
and hook the stiff tubing (held by rings) over the edge of the tank.  A pad of
filter foam may help fill any extra space here, for stability.  The height of
the skimmer can be adjusted by moving the lower ring up or down.  To add the
air, thread the flexy tubing through the hole (which is now at the top).  From
inside, hook on the the stiff tubing and the airstone, enough to reach the 
bottom of the lift tube.  Put the whole thing on as above, and voila! Skimming
and lift.  As an added bonus, this prevents salt spray by forcing most of the
bubbles to pop in the skimmer.

More comments?

jengagne@wam.umd.edu


Newsgroups: rec.aquaria,alt.aquaria
From: pprior@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Paul A Prior)
Subject: Re: Are W/D trickle filters worth it?
Organization: The Ohio State University
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1992 22:38:49 GMT

In article <1992Dec11.013622.12909@bsu-ucs> 01mbmccabe@leo.bsuvc.bsu.edu writes:
>Where does one get mechanical filtration when using a trickle W/D filter?  Does
>one have to spent the exhorbitant amount of money for this thing, and STILL
>have to spen more money for a Whisper power filter too?!?  And whay, exactly,
>does everyone have to spend the bucks/go through the hassle to get a W/D filter
>anyway?  Surely theres a better way...no?

I have filter floss in my overflow, that blue stuff in my drip plate, 
and a sponge (used off and on) in my sump.   I also have a visi-jet 
internal filter tucked away in a corner.  That is the extent of mechanical
filtration in my 150 gallon reef.  Works fine for me.

-- 
--------pprior@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu----(614) 621-8240----------------
Paul A. Prior    Ban anchors, not reef tanks    Nuke Gay Whales for Jesus  
3rd year medical student		        
The Ohio State U. College of Medicine   Tobacco Kills- Please don't smoke!
From: booth@hplvec.LVLD.HP.COM (George Booth)
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 19:58:41 GMT
Subject: Re: Re: Ballasts (was: newsgroups)
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Co., Loveland, CO
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria

In rec.aquaria, steveb@tivoli.UUCP (Steve Benz) writes:

    In article <2800252@hplvec.LVLD.HP.COM> booth@hplvec.LVLD.HP.COM (George Booth) writes:
    >Urban myth, Consumer Reports, Aquarium Products (distributors of Triton)
    >and personal experience indicate that *cheap* electronic ballasts will
    >cause fluorescent lights to die prematurely...

  Yes, but what, exactly, constitutes ``cheap?''  There are some ballasts

Most conventional transformer type ballasts designed to run 2 40w bulbs
are in the $16-20 category.  "Good" electronic ballasts for the same 
are in the $80-120 category.  If you buy a shoplight for less than $20
and it has electronic ballasts, I would call that "cheap". 

-------
George
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
From: bever@csd630a.erim.org (Dave Beverstock)
Subject: Re: ballasts (was Re: newsgroups)
In-reply-to: booth@hplvec.LVLD.HP.COM's message of Tue, 15 Dec 1992 19:10:59 GMT
Organization: Environmental Research Institute of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Date: 16 Dec 92 14:15:10

I found a shop light by Home-Vue for $7.99 at Meijers (a midwestern
dept store)

Try to beat that one!!!! :)

dave

--
Dave Beverstock   bever@erim.org
Environmental Research Institute of Michigan (ERIM)
P.O. Box 134001  Ann Arbor, MI  48113-4001 313-994-1200 x2239
From: assana@polkadot.Eng.Sun.COM (assana)
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
Subject: Re: [F] How to get rid of snails?
Followup-To: assana@polkadot.eng.sun.com
Date: 17 Dec 1992 22:16:39 GMT
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc., Mountain View, CA
Distribution: usa
NNTP-Posting-Host: polkadot

In article <BzDnDx.4vG@news.cso.uiuc.edu> ffujita@s.psych.uiuc.edu (Frank Fujita) writes:
>
>I only have one in my 29gal cardnal tetra tank, and it has decimated my
>snail population.  Am I being terrible by keeping this loach by itself
>-- they are quite expensive as freshwater fish go.

They are seasonal fish, as I understand. Right now they seem to be in
season, at least here in ca. You might be able to get one rather 
inexpensively now.
--
         ^-^
        /o o\
       ===^===   assana@polkadot.eng.sun.com
          -   
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria,alt.aquaria
From: bhaskar@brtph181.bnr.ca (Shaji Bhaskar)
Subject: Re: [F] How to get rid of snails?
Organization: BNR Inc. RTP, NC
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 20:10:03 GMT

In article <1gla3kINNaco@hp-col.col.hp.com> howardr@col.hp.com (Howard Rebel) writes:

>Place a lettus leaf (or other green vegie) in the tank. If it is
>a vegie the snails like they will cluster on the leaf.  As needed remove
>the snails with the leaf.
>
>Once you have removed all the adult snails from the tank there will be no
>new snails.  At this point you are dealing with a fixed population which
>can be removed via the leaf (bait) or simply picked out of the tank when they
>show up.  Any snail too small to see is too small to lay eggs, this makes
>the process possible.

I'll second this.  I buy plants every other week or so (even though my
tanks are already crammed).  Yet, I can keep my plant tanks absolutely
snail-free by picking off every single one I see.  I also examine all
plants closely for snails/snail eggs before I put them into my tanks.

The original poster was talking about a 20G tank, I think.  IMO,
hand-picking is quite feasible with such a small tank.

-Shaji.

-- 
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Shaji Bhaskar     BNR, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709     (bhaskar@bnr.ca)
From: howardr@col.hp.com (Howard Rebel)
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
Subject: I missed the pH meter info.
Date: 18 Dec 1992 23:08:09 GMT
Organization: HP Colorado Springs Division
NNTP-Posting-Host: hplsdum.col.hp.com

The news on our site now expired at two days of age.  I missed
the info on pH pens/meters.  Would someone email me a sumary?

-- 
Howard Rebel hpcsos.col.hp.com 

Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
From: mar@athena.mit.edu (Mark A. Rosenstein)
Subject: fishy story
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1992 22:07:05 GMT

A couple of months back, a story was posted full of puns on fish names.
Does anyone have a copy that they could send me?  And if anyone else wants
a copy, let me know.  Let's not post more than one copy to the entire net
again.

Thanx,
					-Mark
					mar@mit.edu
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria,alt.aquaria
From: frazier@kona.cs.ucla.edu (Gregory Frazier)
Subject: Re: [F] How to get rid of snails?
Organization: UCLA, Computer Science Department
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL5
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 92 00:49:39 GMT

james.j.dutton (jjd1@cbnewsg.cb.att.com) wrote:
: In article <1992Dec15.154659.15964@cbnewsh.cb.att.com> shine@cbnewsh.cb.att.com (stephen.c.shine) writes:
: >I was following-up to your valid recommendation #2 (boiling).  I would no
: >more put chlorox or alum in an "active" tank than you would boil the
: >same active tank.  Chlorox will kill everything, but it is easily
: >neutralized.  Why would I want to pay for anybody's new fish?
:  
: Because if you put diluted chlorox in a tank I proport that tank will
: be nothing but trouble as far as keeping fish alive. In twenty five
: years of keeping fish. Working at wholesalers and retail, breeding just
: about any fish thats breedable in a tank I have to say this sounds
: ludicrous. I don't claim to know it all but has anybody else ever treated
: their tanks with diluted chlorox???????????

Get off your high horse.  He's used chlorox, I've used chlorox, it works.
Chlorox is simply chlorine bleach, pure and simple.  What do you think
is in your tapwater, that you remove with dechlorinator?
   
: Is there an exceptable level of pond snails in a tank? Not in one of my tanks.
: One pond snail will get you a thousand.

If you have a fish that enjoys eating pond snails (such as
clown loaches), then there will be so few pond snails
as to be unnoticeable.  However, yes, they are ugly and
fast-breeding.
  
: Why, why its unnatural. I suggest if you don't want to stress the fish
: stay away from chlorox.
: IMHO.

How can you have an opinion on the use of chlorox when you've
never tried it or seen it tried?  That's just foolish, esp.
when experienced aquarists are telling you it works.  Heck, I
didn't even use dechlorinator after bleaching my tank - I just
rinsed.  I would use dechlorinator if I'd been soaking my
gravel in bleach.  I do not recommend leaving sponge filters
soaking in a bleach solution for long periods of time, however;
they melt.
  
: If somebody else can give a second opinion on this chlorox thing I'll
: apologize for inferring its ludicrous. Not that I'll ever use the method.
: Happy Holidays and all that rot.

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

Greg Frazier	frazier@CS.UCLA.EDU	!{ucbvax,rutgers}!ucla-cs!frazier
From: lydia@tarsal.dsg.ti.com (lydia middendorf )
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
Subject: powerDDDDDower heads
Date: 15 Dec 1992 10:20:06 GMT
Organization: Texas Instruments, Austin, Tx.
Distribution: usa
Reply-To: middendorf@tsd.itg.ti.com
NNTP-Posting-Host: tarsal.dsg.ti.com

I recently aquired 2 powerheads (no instructions), for my 55 gallon
aquarium.  I have had the aquarium and fish in it for 2 years. The
fish include 1 texas chiclid, 1 pica cat, 6 cory cats and 2 plecos.
(I have only had the plecos for a few months). I don't know if any
of that matters. My setup has been an UGF (2 plates) and a wisper
air pump. I got rid of the wisper and installed the two powerheads;
one for each plate. My questions are, 1- which way should the current
be flowing, up, down sideways or does it matter? 2- does it matter
if you have air bubbles coming out of the powerheads, or is this
just a matter of preference. 3- where does the air (or flow?) control
valve go, in the water or outside the tank? 4- while I'm at it.....
does anyone have a suggestion on what other living creatures I can
put in my tank (including fish)? how many more corys can I safely
put in the tank? No more pica cats, the one I have is pretty weird,
and he is always hiding.

Thanks for the help.

lydia


Newsgroups: rec.aquaria,sci.aquaria
From: frazier@kona.cs.ucla.edu (Gregory Frazier)
Subject: Re: Blue-green 'algae' are DEAD!
Organization: UCLA, Computer Science Department
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL5
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 92 16:41:12 GMT

Bill Konrad (konrad@mace.cc.purdue.edu) wrote:
: In article <1992Dec14.195438.27806@bagend.uucp> jan@bagend.uucp (Jan Isley) writes:
: >
: >Bacteria do not carry cards identifying them as usefull.  Antibiotics
: >do not care, either, they try to kill them all.  If you think otherwise,
: >you are simply incorrect.  This is not subject to debate, Maracyn and
: >other antibiotics will kill your filter.
: 
: But there are at least two distinct types of antibiotics which affect
: different types of bacteria: gram-negative and gram-positive. I can
: never remember which is which for the treatment of blue-green algae,
: but my understanding is that blue-green algae is susceptible to one
: type of antibiotic and that bio-filter bacteria are not susceptible to
: that variety of antibiotic. 

There is also the issue of all of that rotting BG algae in the
tank.  BG algae is protein-rich, and when you kill it all in
one fell swoop, you are looking at a nasty ammonia spike -
even if you haven't killed your bio-filter.  Always remove as
much of the BG algae as you can BEFORE starting with the anti-biotics,
and then, when the treatment is complete, again remove as much as
possible.

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

Greg Frazier	frazier@CS.UCLA.EDU	!{ucbvax,rutgers}!ucla-cs!frazier
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
From: tom@dynamo.ecn.purdue.edu (Tom McCain)
Subject: Re: [M] Ozone in da Skimmer...
Organization: Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
Date: 17 Dec 92 22:34:56 GMT

steve@coho.austin.ibm.com (sTeVeN CaLlAhAn) writes:

: Yesterday I bought a protein skimmer for my 29 gallon saltwater tank.
: I really didn't need it since my trickle filter does a great job on
: its own.  However, since I have heard soooo many great things about
: a skimmer....  It seems to do great, already I've collect alot of 
: scum from my tank (hopefully I won't have to clean it as often too).

Glad to hear you bought a skimmer.  Shouldn't take long to notice a
difference.  One thing though, you'll still need to do cleaning!
There is no such a thing as a self-sufficient tank.  

: My question is about ozone machines you can buy that will attach to
: your skimmer.  You can get these things for about $150 and you can
: adjust them for the amount of ozone that they release. 

Why do you need one?  Are you having problems that need to be
disinfected?  If everything in your tank looks good then don't bother.
(Read what Paul just posted about his ozone use)

: Are these things worth it?  I don't have a problem with parasites, but
: if the ozone will help reduce the proteins then maybe I want it.  Is

Your newly bought skimmer will remove the excess proteins.

Basically keep it simple and don't over complicate things.  There are
a lot of gadgets for sale and from experience I can tell you that you
don't need 99% of them.

--tom
--
	    Tom McCain            tom@dynamo.ecn.purdue.edu

 Lubarsky's Law of Cybernetic Entomology:
 	There's always one more bug.
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
From: tmark@cognet.ucla.edu (Terence Mark)
Subject: What do you do when you leave your aquarium for a month?
Originator: tmark@regulus.cognet.ucla.edu
Organization: UCLA Cognitive Science Research Program
 Unfortunately I have to leave my apartment for about a month. I was
Date: Sat, 12 Dec 1992 00:24:07 GMT

I have a couple of rainbow fish, a gourami, a raphael cat,
and a pleco (I think, a venezuelan dwarf).

Thanks in advance.
Xref: sparky rec.aquaria:9514 alt.aquaria:6222