dalka@ihlpg.UUCP (11/30/87)
I have a salt water tank and I would like to get some filter-feeding type invertebrates like anemones or scallops or both. I'm told that what you do is add some liquid type food for them to sift out of the water while turning the filter off for a couple of hours. Also, I'm told that when adding trace elements and using the polyfilter media instead of carbon you should turn the filter off or remove the polyfilter for a day or two until the trace elements "mix up". It recommends this on the polyfilter package. Anyway, I have a canister filter so its difficult to just remove the polyfilter so I assume I should just turn it off but won't the anerobic bacteria die if I turn it off for too long like 2 days? I was considering getting a timer and just turn it off in the evenings for 4 hours or so when I expect be feeding the fish but am concerned about the bacteria dying off..... -- Ken Dalka (Bell Labs) ihnp4!ihlpg!dalka IE 2F-518 (312) 416-7437
ix426@sdcc6.UUCP (12/01/87)
In article <4381@ihlpg.ATT.COM> dalka@ihlpg.ATT.COM (Ken Dalka) writes: >I have a salt water tank and I would like to get some filter-feeding >type invertebrates like anemones or scallops or both. I'm told that >what you do is add some liquid type food for them to sift out of >the water while turning the filter off for a couple of hours. I would be very careful about turning off a filter when you have invert- ibrates in the tank. They are very sensitive to hydrogen sulfide, which is a product of anaerobic processes. Before I knew this, I killed an anemone by running a (noisy) filter only when I was not home. Of course, I compounded the problem by closing the valve to the filter, which really cranked up the anaerobics. I think you will find if you put the liquid food (like sea urchin eggs) in the water with the plastic part of a syringe near the anemone that it will get plenty. >I'm told that when adding trace elements and using the polyfilter I haven't heard about adding trace elements, but one thing you should know is that anemonae are extremely sensitive to copper. If you have ever treated a tank with copper, all the gravel and coral will forever have enough trace copper to harm anemonae. Commercially available test kits for copper will not reveal this as the anemonae are much more sensitive than the test. >media instead of carbon you should turn the filter off or remove >the polyfilter for a day or two until the trace elements "mix up". >It recommends this on the polyfilter package. Anyway, I have a >canister filter so its difficult to just remove the polyfilter >so I assume I should just turn it off but won't the anerobic >bacteria die if I turn it off for too long like 2 days? Don't you mean the aerobic bacteria? I would say that if you turn off a filter for 2 days you should disconnect it from the tank and clean it before reconnection. In that time you could easily get enough H2S that you could smell it. This is very bad for invertibrates.
richard@gryphon.UUCP (12/03/87)
In article <4381@ihlpg.ATT.COM> dalka@ihlpg.ATT.COM (Ken Dalka) writes: >I have a salt water tank and I would like to get some filter-feeding >type invertebrates like anemones or scallops or both. I'm told that >what you do is add some liquid type food for them to sift out of >the water while turning the filter off for a couple of hours. Yup. Thats why they're called filter feeders. They filter small particles of food from the water. >Also, >I'm told that when adding trace elements and using the polyfilter >media instead of carbon you should turn the filter off or remove >the polyfilter for a day or two until the trace elements "mix up". >It recommends this on the polyfilter package. Doesn't make any sense to me, but if thats what the directions say, then follow them. Perhaps they are concerned with the trace elements going into solution s l o w l y. >Anyway, I have a >canister filter so its difficult to just remove the polyfilter >so I assume I should just turn it off but won't the anerobic ^^^^^^^^ I think you mean aerobic. Anaerobic are the nasty H2S producing ones. >bacteria die if I turn it off for too long like 2 days? Well, I would call the polyfilter people and find out why the 2 day deal. If its just to introduce the traces slowly, just throw small amounts in, over a week. > Ken Dalka (Bell Labs) -- Richard J. Sexton INTERNET: richard@gryphon.CTS.COM UUCP: {hplabs!hp-sdd, sdcsvax, ihnp4, nosc}!crash!gryphon!richard "It's too dark to put the keys in my ignition..."
halo@cognos.uucp (Hal O'Connell) (12/07/87)
In article <4381@ihlpg.ATT.COM> dalka@ihlpg.UUCP writes: > Anyway, I have a >canister filter so its difficult to just remove the polyfilter >so I assume I should just turn it off but won't the anerobic >bacteria die if I turn it off for too long like 2 days? I can't imagine any reason for the anerobes to die. Well, perhaps a couple, temperature or overcrowding (build up of wastes). The circulation shouldn't be a factor. Anerobes don't require air (hence the name). In a microbiology lab, anerobes, such as Clostridium sporogenes (or botulinum) are cultured by stabbing media to innoculate it and then placed in an incubator. As long as they have food available (and they live off virtually anything) they thrive, until waste buildup requires innoculating a new culture. -- 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) (12/16/87)
In article <1948@cognos.UUCP> halo@cognos.UUCP (Hal) writes: >In article <4381@ihlpg.ATT.COM> dalka@ihlpg.UUCP writes: >> Anyway, I have a >>canister filter so its difficult to just remove the polyfilter >>so I assume I should just turn it off but won't the anerobic >>bacteria die if I turn it off for too long like 2 days? > >I can't imagine any reason for the anerobes to die. Well, perhaps >a couple, temperature or overcrowding (build up of wastes). > >The circulation shouldn't be a factor. Anerobes don't require air >(hence the name). In a microbiology lab, anerobes, such as >Clostridium sporogenes (or botulinum) are cultured by stabbing >media to innoculate it and then placed in an incubator. As long as >they have food available (and they live off virtually anything) >they thrive, until waste buildup requires innoculating a new culture. > All well and good. The "friendly" badteria that convert waste to inorganic compounds are aerobic (low impact or otherwise :-). Anaerobic bacteria are the nasty little buggers that foul the tank, make black spots, and produce hydrogen sulphide. Ick, yuk, ptui! >Hal O'Connell -- "Well they say, that Santa Fe, is more, than 90 miles away" UUCP: {ihnp4!crash, hplabs!hp-sdd!crash}!gryphon!richard INET: richard@gryphon.CTS.COM