clarke@acheron.UUCP (Ed Clarke) (01/09/88)
Does anyone out there know of a US distributor for 'Tunze' equiptment? This seems to be a German company (don't know if east or west) that produces very high-tech marine aquarium products. To quote from 'Practical Fishkeeping': "For those unfamiliar with Tunze equiptment, an osmolator is a device which replaces water as it evaporates. An unhacked version can be genuinely sensitive to 5ml in a hundred gallon tank. If 5ml of water evaporates, 5ml of water is dosed back into the system." By the way, Practical Fishkeeping is a British magazine that I picked up at a local pet store. It has sections on fresh and salt aquariums, as well as artificial ponds(!) and biofilters for same. Would you believe that one guy was asking for advice on building a 10'x4'x4' salt water aquarium? That's five TONS of water! Hope he lives in the basement ... 'cause he will once he fills that tank. -- +=================================+=====================+ | Acheron: The river of woe which | | | winds through Hades. | phri!acheron!clarke | +=================================+=====================+
jla@inuxd.UUCP (Joyce Andrews) (01/13/88)
> local pet store. It has sections on fresh and salt aquariums, as well as > artificial ponds(!) and biofilters for same. Would you believe that one guy > was asking for advice on building a 10'x4'x4' salt water aquarium? That's > five TONS of water! Hope he lives in the basement ... 'cause he will once > he fills that tank. I'm thinking of such a tank...but I want to build it as a wall. The Florida room on the first floor (the house is on a slab and the slab is on coral limestone) would be a great place for a whole-wall aqaurium. Since I am only a few feet from clean sea water, I would just keep a fresh supply of ocean pumping in and the old stuff pumping out, so I wouldn't have to worry much about biofilters and such, I don't think. I sure would be in trouble if the pump went out, though. How big do you all think it could be? At what point is the glass going to have to be too thick? I have such a wonderful choice of specimens, although I rarely keep anything for a really long time because I like to return them to the reef and get new varieties. But a really big tank would allow me to have a baby nurse shark and a 12-inch ray and BIG moray eels as well as young specimens of the beautiful grouper family. I saw a Nassau grouper the other day (in someone's tank) that was about 5 inches long. It is striped (in a mottled sort of a way) yellow and brownish-black, and it looks like velvet. A really attractive fish. Maybe I should just build myself a commercial aquarium as another tourist attraction? -- Joyce Andrews King ihnp4!inuxd!jla AT&T, Indianapolis
farrens@american.WISC.EDU (Matthew Farrens) (01/15/88)
In article <1124@inuxd.UUCP> jla@inuxd.UUCP (Joyce Andrews) writes: >Since I am only a few feet from clean sea water, > Joyce Andrews King > ihnp4!inuxd!jla > AT&T, Indianapolis I guess I didn't realize Indianapolis was a seaport. Here all along I thought it was in the heartland of America. As for the thickness of the glass, the Monterey Bay Aquarium (most highly recommended!) has multi-thousand gallon tanks. I think they use plexiglass, but never the less it can be done. They also filter during the day and let pure seawater in at night. Apparently pure seawater is cloudy and reduces the opticality (?). MF
richard@gryphon.CTS.COM (Richard Sexton) (01/15/88)
In article <1124@inuxd.UUCP> jla@inuxd.UUCP (Joyce Andrews) writes: >> local pet store. It has sections on fresh and salt aquariums, as well as >> artificial ponds(!) and biofilters for same. Would you believe that one guy >> was asking for advice on building a 10'x4'x4' salt water aquarium? That's >> five TONS of water! Hope he lives in the basement ... 'cause he will once >> he fills that tank. > >I'm thinking of such a tank...but I want to build it as a wall. >The Florida room on the first floor (the house is on a slab and >the slab is on coral limestone) would be a great place for a >whole-wall aqaurium. Since I am only a few feet from clean sea >water, I would just keep a fresh supply of ocean pumping in and >the old stuff pumping out, so I wouldn't have to worry much about >biofilters and such, I don't think. I sure would be in trouble >if the pump went out, though. > >How big do you all think it could be? At what point is the glass >going to have to be too thick? I knew a guy in Hamilton, Ontario, who had a "room tank". His name was Stan Winwood, and he must be about 70 ish by now. He had a small home in a quit neighborhood; you walked in and POW there it was, 8' tall, 8' wide, and god knows how deep. He also had a few 100 gal tanks scattered around his house, all set into the wall. You need better advice than can be had from a bunch of programmers for your glass thickness question, but it will probably be pricey. But worth it. Can I come and see it when it's done ? -- "Early in the morning, just about the break of day, he used to sleep in till the afternoon" richard@gryphon.CTS.COM {ihnp4!scgvaxd!cadovax, philabs!cadovax, codas!ddsw1} gryphon!richard
jla@inuxd.UUCP (Joyce Andrews) (01/18/88)
> In article <1124@inuxd.UUCP> jla@inuxd.UUCP (Joyce Andrews) writes: > >Since I am only a few feet from clean sea water, > > > Joyce Andrews King > > ihnp4!inuxd!jla > > AT&T, Indianapolis > > > I guess I didn't realize Indianapolis was a seaport. Here all along I > thought it was in the heartland of America. > and let pure seawater in at night. Apparently pure seawater is cloudy and > reduces the opticality (?). I'm sorry. I thought the readers in this group knew that I live in the Florida Keys but work in Indianapolis via the miracle of modern communications. I will try to make that more clear from now on. I am REALLY considering this now. At first it was a "gee whiz" wouldn't that look nice, but now it is starting to become a necessity...aren't all "luxuries" like that? Now, about "pure" seawater. I can see to the bottom of my canal right now, and it's at high tide, so I am looking through 15 feet of clear water. When I fill my 55 gallon tank (the one that used to look big before I got THIS idea) with "pure" sea water it IS cloudy for maybe twenty minutes, but clears up right away. Could that be air somehow mixed with the water during the pumping? Or maybe a little bit of fine sand that settles out? I can go out on the reef and count the ripples in the sand 20 feet down (when are all of you going to come down and dive and see your fish specimens in their natural suuroundings?). Do you think there will be a problem with opacity? Anyway, I will let you know how supertank comes along. I am really serious about this, now. -- Joyce Andrews King ihnp4!inuxd!jla AT&T, Indianapolis
halo@cognos.uucp (Hal O'Connell) (01/20/88)
In article <1124@inuxd.UUCP> jla@inuxd.UUCP (Joyce Andrews) writes: >> local pet store. It has sections on fresh and salt aquariums, as well as >> artificial ponds(!) and biofilters for same. Would you believe that one guy >> was asking for advice on building a 10'x4'x4' salt water aquarium? That's >> five TONS of water! Hope he lives in the basement ... 'cause he will once >> he fills that tank. > >I'm thinking of such a tank...but I want to build it as a wall. >The Florida room on the first floor (the house is on a slab and >the slab is on coral limestone) would be a great place for a >whole-wall aqaurium. Since I am only a few feet from clean sea >water, I would just keep a fresh supply of ocean pumping in and >the old stuff pumping out, so I wouldn't have to worry much about >biofilters and such, I don't think. I sure would be in trouble >if the pump went out, though. > >How big do you all think it could be? At what point is the glass >going to have to be too thick? I have such a wonderful choice of >specimens, although I rarely keep anything for a really long time >because I like to return them to the reef and get new varieties. >But a really big tank would allow me to have a baby nurse shark >and a 12-inch ray and BIG moray eels as well as young specimens >of the beautiful grouper family. I saw a Nassau grouper the other >day (in someone's tank) that was about 5 inches long. It is >striped (in a mottled sort of a way) yellow and brownish-black, >and it looks like velvet. A really attractive fish. > >Maybe I should just build myself a commercial aquarium as another >tourist attraction? > >-- > Joyce Andrews King > ihnp4!inuxd!jla > AT&T, Indianapolis ----- News saved at 20 Jan 88 15:16:20 GMT In article <1124@inuxd.UUCP> jla@inuxd.UUCP (Joyce Andrews) writes: >I'm thinking of such a tank...but I want to build it as a wall. >The Florida room on the first floor (the house is on a slab and >the slab is on coral limestone) would be a great place for a >whole-wall aqaurium. Since I am only a few feet from clean sea >water, I would just keep a fresh supply of ocean pumping in and >the old stuff pumping out, so I wouldn't have to worry much about >biofilters and such, I don't think. I sure would be in trouble >if the pump went out, though. > Uh, uh, it just doesn't work like that. I worked at a marine culture station, which is basically aquaria on a grand scale. We were on the sea shore and pumped enormous volumes of water (into 4 buildings with tanks as well as outdoor tanks). The first problem encountered: water lines clogging with silt and debris. It was obvious that the pipes had to be far enough out (and deep enough) to be fairly free of the effects of wave action and tides. This meant over 1000' feet of pipe. The second problem was the effect of storms. I don't thibnk I'll even bother giving details, except to say that storms aren't just destructive, they have remarkable effects on water temperature. They break down thermoclines which form in every aaquatic ecosystem. I've seen ambient water temperature swings of 10 degress (Celsius) as the result of a storm. The third problem is filtration. It definitely has to be filtered, sea water is a wonderland of life, from algae, to crustacea, to worms, to what ever else you might find. A lot of these are not healthy visitors to marine aquaria, where the favourable conditions and small (relatively) volumes would show the worst effects of any infestation. Can you imagine the effect of a dynoflagellate bloom in your aquarium? And what about pollutants? A small oil slick, a common occurrence along the shore, would foul up a tank something fierce. I hate to sound so gloom and doomish, but if you go ahead with your thoughts you'll just become disillusioned with aquaria, and that would be a loss. Of course, if you had $1 million to spend, I bet you could set up one hell of a system. -- Hal O'Connell decvax!utzoo!dciem!nrcaer!cognos!halo Cognos Incorporated P.O. Box 9707 (613) 738-1440 3755 Riverside Dr. Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA, K1G 3Z4 -- Hal O'Connell decvax!utzoo!dciem!nrcaer!cognos!halo Cognos Incorporated P.O. Box 9707 (613) 738-1440 3755 Riverside Dr. Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA, K1G 3Z4
richard@gryphon.CTS.COM (Richard Sexton) (01/21/88)
In article <1132@inuxd.UUCP> jla@inuxd.UUCP (Joyce Andrews) writes: >> In article <1124@inuxd.UUCP> jla@inuxd.UUCP (Joyce Andrews) writes: >> >Since I am only a few feet from clean sea water, >> >> > Joyce Andrews King >> > ihnp4!inuxd!jla >> > AT&T, Indianapolis >> >> >> I guess I didn't realize Indianapolis was a seaport. Here all along I >> thought it was in the heartland of America. > >> and let pure seawater in at night. Apparently pure seawater is cloudy and >> reduces the opticality (?). > >I'm sorry. I thought the readers in this group knew that I live >in the Florida Keys but work in Indianapolis via the miracle of >modern communications. I will try to make that more clear from >now on. > Oh. It was either that or teleportation, and since you dont work for hplabs, the answer had to be a modem. >Now, about "pure" seawater. I can see to the bottom of my canal >right now, and it's at high tide, so I am looking through 15 feet >of clear water. When I fill my 55 gallon tank (the one that used >to look big before I got THIS idea) with "pure" sea water it IS >cloudy for maybe twenty minutes, but clears up right away. Could >that be air somehow mixed with the water during the pumping? Or >maybe a little bit of fine sand that settles out? I can go out >on the reef and count the ripples in the sand 20 feet down (when >are all of you going to come down and dive and see your fish >specimens in their natural suuroundings?). Do you think there >will be a problem with opacity? Well, seawater in the ocean is a living thing. It has phytoplankton and zooplankton and god knows what other living critters in it. When you confine seawater, some of the organisms die off, hence the cloudy color, its probably a bacterial bloom. Hate to be a downer, but there are also parasites in that stuff, and treating the seawater with a ditomacous earth filter and possibly UV light or ozone might be a good idea. Now, I've never done any of this stuff, but this is a capsule summary from what I've read. What you are proposing HAS been done though, find a copy of Robert P.L. Straugn's _The saltwater aquarium in the home_, wherein he describes his experiences in the florida area. -- "...and the morning sun has yet to ride my hood ornament" richard@gryphon.CTS.COM {ihnp4!scgvaxd!cadovax, philabs!cadovax, codas!ddsw1} gryphon!richard