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May 29, 2002
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CO2 Injection (for live plants, Discus system)
Greetings and thank you for your previous advice on the
Eheim 2128 Pro II Thermofilter! And thank you for Wet Web
Media and many hours of dedication to our passion! After
forty years of fishkeeping we're setting up our first
pot planted 60g Discus tank (months in the study, planning
and acquisition of components; sparing virtually no
expense) <Yikes! Am I too old for you to adopt?> and
are debating the addition of a CO2 injection system with pH
controller, solenoid, the works so to speak. I've been
to many sites trying to decide if the CO2 system cost is
valuable enough in controlling pH and helping our plants
and livestock to justify the addition. <It is>
Particularly in maintaining pH for Discus which we will be
introducing several months down the road. If it will assist
in providing a better environment for our future family of
Discus I'll go for it! <You will not be
disappointed> We will be running water into the RO
storage unit and "firing" up the tank in the next
two weeks. Your recommendation as to advisability of CO2
and manufacturers of good components would be most helpful.
Wildriv, AKA Charlie DeLorme <Mmm, do "shop
around" for advice from actual, recent users here. The
various chatforums (ours: http://wetwebfotos.com/talk/) are
invaluable for this. Compare features (e.g. better
needle-valves, larger CO2... at least five pounds) makes,
models and buy the better, bigger... they are worth it. Be
chatting, Bob Fenner>
Filtration question (store set-up) Needed advice
on plumbing tanks for my store. I hope you don't tire
of this question. Basically, 40 breeders drilled (4) tanks
to each sump. I am using heavy duty shelving and plywood,
total of (4) separate systems. I thought it would be
easiest to plumb this way plus I like having separate
systems. I am going to overflow from top (2) tanks into the
bottom tanks and finally to the sump. The sump is where I
am unclear. I want to trickle the water over filter floss
and carbon (probable Polyfilters too) then through some
media probably base rock and then a protein skimmer.
<fine for a light bio-load, but you may have to concede
to extra biological support from bioballs (nitrate and all)
for a heavy fish system> I am looking at the
"Euroreef" you wrote about. Maybe best to skim
first like you say. <absolutely... catch overflown
water into a skimmer chamber first which then overflows
into the sump> Then I want to add a sandbed and
caulerpra (plan to use 55 watt compact). <the
caulerpa is a bit dangerous with a fluctuating bio-load as
it's daily needs grow daily and consistently but your
stores fish/invertebrate load that provides the nutrients
changes weekly with sales and shipments... when the algae
goes vegetative, you could lose everything within 24
hours> I eventually will add UV sterilizes.
<with wild imported weekly shipments...this is one of
the most important devices> Is there a problem if I use
a Berlin sump skimmer with it's own pump?
<yes... quality of skimmate, fluctuating sump level
affecting performance, path of water flow, etc in my
opinion> Instead of piping to main system? The tanks
will @ 6 feet and @ 4 feet. What is best G.P.H pump and
best tank size for the sump? You need to calculate
how much flow you want/need in each tank (dependant on the
animals kept), then confirm that your overflows can handle
it, and then multiply it out. Once you figure that out... I
favor Japanese made Iwaki pumps for store use water
pumps> For fresh I plan to use air bubbler sponges
instead of undergravel. Which do you prefer? <totally
agree... sponge filters are the best filtration!!! just a
little ugly for some aquarists> Finally, where can I buy
metronidazole? <Seachem makes it... available mail
order from most any marine drygoods supplier. Do check with
the advertisers on the Q&A page> I seen it for sale
in pill form for people. <essentially the same, but with
filler...try to find the pet dose first> I apologize for
my poor writing skills. I hope I am not killing you with
all these questions. I appreciate your help and your web
site. It is hard for me to find knowledgeable people who
are not cocky and unhelpful lol! Sincerely, BKL Ps- I hope
all is well! <no trouble at all.. you will make the very
best kind of retailer/aquarist as long as you are willing
to continue to learn, teach and grow. Kindly,
Anthony>
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Batfish in Brackish Tank Hi everybody, how are you
tonight? <very well... thank you. I hope this finds you
in good health and spirit as well> I was in my favorite
pet store today, and I absolutely fell in love with two
little two inch long batfish. I have read they can live in
brackish water. <er... some species and only as
juveniles for a matter of months. They are marine species
and if bought in seawater... seawater they stay in> I
was wondering just how brackish it had to be? <too
heavy for most other brackish species and the tank will
need to go to full seawater in 8 to 18 months> Would I
be able to keep them in my 125 gallon show tank with a few
assorted large cichlids? <hehe... if it was any of
the common Platax batfish species... then without the
cichlids they will still outgrow your 125 gallon in 3-5
years! They are huge ugly adults... reference a picture of
these big grey diamonds as adults> I have about 1/4 cup
of sea salt per gallon in there. About half the salinity of
my salt water tanks. I've had a scat in there for a few
months now, and he's doing fine with that setup. So I
thought maybe the batfish would be all right with it too.
What do you think? <too salty and too big. I'd pass
on it. Batfish make freshwater Oscars look like slow
growing minnows!!!> Thanks for your help, and Goodnight,
Kristen:) <best regards, Anthony>
Brackish fish I am trying to find out if you can
put Lo Vulpinis/Foxface/Rabbitfish and Acanthurus
blochii/Surgeonfish in a brackish tank. I have set up a 55
gallon tank for Brackish fish and am researching different
species to put in my collection. If you know can you email
me at XXX with the answer? Thanx Crystal <These species
are not really suitable for a brackish system... or one of
only fifty gallons. Real brackish water choice information
can be found on the Net, including our section on
WetWebMedia.com Bob Fenner>
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Mollies, Guppies, & Hatchetfish Hello John,
Paul, and Ringo! You know, it's tough to refrain from
coming up with new questions when we all have such a
wonderful trio of celebrities to answer our every question!
I feel a bit like a 'groupie, ugh, I hope it hasn't
come to that! But as you 3 know, this hobby is abundant
with questions!!! Here's mine: I have this lone little
orange molly in my daughters tank full of guppies. I know
mollies like brackish water, and I have even heard that
given time they could live in ocean water. So, with that
said, how 'bout I put her in my reef tank? Happy fish,
or sad fish? <Depends on your other fish in the reef.
Most mollies will be fine will one tablespoon of salt per
five gallons of water. Your guppies should be happy with
that too.> Secondly, my daughter also has a pair of
Silver hatchet fish with her guppies. I have been trying to
find more than just average info on these fish. All I know
is that they have never bred in captivity. You guys did
point me to one little tidbit of info on them, but it
didn't say much. I want to know where exactly they are
caught, what type of water including ph., dh., temp., etc.
etc. AND, is the water in a calm location or is it
turbulent? I think Hatchets are a very interesting species
and I would like to devote a tank to them for study,
possible breeding and at the same time be sure they are
'happy' with their living environment. Kapish?
<Kapish. Your best bet for additional info is the
Baensch's Aquarium Atlas for Freshwater. -Steven
Pro> Thanks so much my treasured ones! Pam
I need info on a fish Hello Bob I have a
problem, <WWM crew member, Anthony Calfo in your
service> my son just came home with 2 gold fish and a
fish he calls (I don't know how to spell it, so I hope
you know what I am talking about) PLATASCUOMUS).
<yes, a tropical Plecostomus catfish...AKA algae
eater> I hope you know what IM talking about. If you do
then my question is does this fish need a filter and
air? <yes, as all really do (without you having to
do daily water changes) but more so than the gold fish in
this case> I would be grateful if you can answer me as
soon as possible. I don't want to kill my sons pets. he
doesn't have much luck with his pets, they usually die
on him or run away.) Thank you so much. Have a great day.
Mikey <talk that little fella into bringing home books
before livestock <wink>. Conduct partial water
changes (say 25-40%) daily with dechlorinated like
temperature water until you secure a proper aquarium and
filtration or trade the fish in, my friend. Anthony>
Re: can you help me find a fish? Dear Mr. Fenner,
<You got Steven Pro this morning.> It's Matt
again writing in regards to the response you gave me about
that freshwater "wolf fish" as I called it. I
looked at the articles you suggested and, honestly, none of
the pictures I found looked anything like the fish I'm
talking about. I'm at a loss. Do you have any other
ideas? <I think I know what fish you are talking about
from your previous description, but I do not know any other
name than the common one, wolf-fish. I was unable to find
it online anywhere, so I suggest you borrow a copy of
Axelrod's Atlas of Freshwater Fish and page through the
section called "Other Families". You need the big
Atlas as the Mini-Atlas does not have this fish.> Thanks
again, Matt Stahura <Sorry I could not be more helpful.
-Steven Pro>
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