NANFA-L-- Predator Free Space

Crail, Todd (tcrail-in-UTNet.UToledo.Edu)
Thu, 21 Apr 2005 22:07:46 -0400

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Hi Gang. Did a harvest of duckweed and frogbit tonight from the 100 =
gallon and noticed something I hadn't seen before.=20
=20
Laura Burbage had sent me some plants and in it was a stringie kind of =
stuff? What is that Laura?
=20
Anyway... I've been ridiculously busy the last month so the tanks have =
been getting reaaally neglected. But food inputs remainded pretty much =
the same, with my 10 minutes of love I can provide to my fishies once a =
day. =20
=20
Detritus was getting kinda ahead of the program, and I keep meaning to =
clean out the canister, shake off the plants, get the excess out. This =
week I just haven't made it into school with some lingering illness I =
haven't been able to shake (to make my life just that much more hectic). =
And so the tank hadn't been fed in 5 days.
=20
To my suprise, ~75% of the detritus was gone tonight (really gross =
approximation used to illustrate my suprise ;). There were patches of =
it in tight places that are usually totally gunked up, even covered by =
films of cyano-in-times... But when the fish flit around, nothing came =
out of their movements. I thought it strange. Then I pulled off the =
floating plants. Hordes of little ostracods and copepods, all flying =
around doing their thing in the stringie plants between the larger, =
rooted plants, where normally I'd find lots of detritus. I need to get =
the steroscope out and see exactly what I've got in there.
=20
Now this has happened a bunch of times in _fishless_ aquaria or in a =
tank where I only had a good sized pickerel... But this is the first =
time I've seen it in one of my "packed to the gills" aquariums with =
darters, cyprinids and topminnows galore. The lil critters have =
probably been there all along, but this time it was far more noticeable =
as they were able to catch up, possibly exceed the supply of food items, =
which had them very active during the photoperiod. There's a bunch of =
different ways to guess-in-it. =20
=20
What I do know is... That by using these floaters in combo with the =
stringie stuff and halide lighting, is a very effective way to utilize =
water space I normally don't use that 1) uptakes nitrogen and phosphorus =
from _inside_ the system while getting carbon from _outside_ the system =
2) providing a physical framework for catching and accumulating large =
organic particulate matter and 3) providing habitat for stuff that eats =
it down into the next level while 4) recyling "used food" into "food =
items" for the fish that normally would have been wasted as water =
change, dumped out on house plants etc. =20
=20
It's like a buffet-in-three different trophic levels :)
=20
So... I'm still not finding any disadvantages in the sand/mud bed =
live-culture method. Only seem to be adding to the list of advantages. =
I'd like to think I'd get some photos this weekend, but I've said that =
so many times now without following through, I'll just tell y'all if it =
actually happens ;)
=20
Horneyhead chubs and southern redbellied dace look like they're about =
ready to go... Will be interesting with all this space and food stuffs =
if I can get fry reared, even in the presence of so many competitors. =
Well, that is, if they got cold enough to produce fertile eggs. They =
only got down to 62 this winter, and a large part of that time they were =
hovering up-in-82 until we figured out who was heating the _entire_ =
basement to heat one stinkin' room for an iguana. Gah. I hate central =
steam heat. Oh well.
=20
Todd
The Muddy Maumee Madness, Toledo, OH
It's never too late to have a happy childhood.
http://www.farmertodd.com

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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"><HTML =
DIR=3Dltr><HEAD><META HTTP-EQUIV=3D"Content-Type" CONTENT=3D"text/html; =
charset=3Diso-8859-1"></HEAD><BODY><DIV><FONT face=3D'Arial' =
color=3D#000000 size=3D2>Hi Gang.&nbsp; Did a harvest of duckweed and =
frogbit =0A=
tonight from the 100 gallon and noticed something I hadn't seen =
before.&nbsp;</FONT></DIV>=0A=
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial color=3D#000000 size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>=0A=
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial color=3D#000000 size=3D2>Laura Burbage had sent =
me some plants =0A=
and in it was a stringie kind of stuff?&nbsp; What is that =
Laura?</FONT></DIV>=0A=
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>=0A=
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Anyway... I've been ridiculously busy =
the last =0A=
month so the tanks have been getting reaaally neglected.&nbsp; But food =
inputs =0A=
remainded pretty much the same, with my 10 minutes of love I can provide =
to my =0A=
fishies once a day.&nbsp; </FONT></DIV>=0A=
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>=0A=
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>D</FONT><FONT face=3DArial =
size=3D2>etritus was getting =0A=
kinda ahead of the program, and I keep meaning to clean out the =
canister, shake =0A=
off the plants, get the excess out.&nbsp; This week I just haven't made =
it into =0A=
school with some lingering illness I haven't been able to shake (to make =
my life =0A=
just that much more hectic).&nbsp; And so the tank hadn't been fed in 5 =0A=
days.</FONT></DIV>=0A=
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>=0A=
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>To my suprise, ~75% of the detritus was =
gone =0A=
tonight (really gross approximation used to illustrate my suprise&nbsp; =0A=
;).&nbsp; There were patches of it in tight places that are usually =
totally =0A=
gunked up, even covered by films of cyano-in-times...&nbsp; But when the =
fish =0A=
flit around, nothing came out of their movements.&nbsp; I thought it =0A=
strange.&nbsp; Then I pulled off the floating plants.&nbsp; Hordes of =
little =0A=
ostracods and copepods, all flying around doing their thing in the =
stringie =0A=
plants between the larger, rooted plants, where normally I'd find lots =
of =0A=
detritus.&nbsp; I need to get the steroscope out and see exactly what =
I've got =0A=
in there.</FONT></DIV>=0A=
<DIV><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D3></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>=0A=
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Now this has happened a bunch of times =
in =0A=
_fishless_ aquaria or in a tank where I only had a&nbsp;good sized =
pickerel... =0A=
But this is the first time I've seen it in one of my "packed to the =
gills" =0A=
aquariums with darters, cyprinids and topminnows =
galore.&nbsp;&nbsp;The&nbsp;lil =0A=
critters have&nbsp;probably been there all along, but this time it was =
far more =0A=
noticeable as they were able to catch up, possibly exceed the supply of =
food =0A=
items, which had them very active during the photoperiod.&nbsp; =
&nbsp;There's a =0A=
bunch of different ways to guess-in-it.&nbsp; </FONT></DIV>=0A=
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>=0A=
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>What I do know is... That by using =
these floaters =0A=
in combo with the stringie stuff and halide lighting, is a very =
effective way to =0A=
utilize water space I normally don't use that 1) uptakes nitrogen and =
phosphorus =0A=
from _inside_ the system while getting carbon from _outside_ the system =
2) =0A=
providing a physical framework for catching and accumulating large =
organic =0A=
particulate matter and 3) providing habitat for stuff that eats it down =
into the =0A=
next level while 4) recyling "used food" into "food items" for the fish =
that =0A=
normally would have been wasted as water change, dumped out on house =
plants =0A=
etc.&nbsp; </FONT></DIV>=0A=
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>=0A=
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>It's like a buffet-in-three different =
trophic =0A=
levels :)</FONT></DIV>=0A=
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>=0A=
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>So... I'm still not finding any =
disadvantages in =0A=
the sand/mud bed live-culture method.&nbsp; Only seem to be adding to =
the list =0A=
of advantages.&nbsp; I'd like to think I'd get some photos this weekend, =
but =0A=
I've said that so many times now without following through, I'll just =
tell y'all =0A=
if it actually happens ;)</FONT></DIV>=0A=
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>=0A=
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Horneyhead chubs and southern =
redbellied dace look =0A=
like they're about ready to go... Will be interesting with all this =
space and =0A=
food stuffs if I can get fry reared, even in the presence of so many =0A=
competitors.&nbsp; Well, that is, if they got cold enough to produce =
fertile =0A=
eggs.&nbsp; They only got down to 62 this winter, and a large part of =
that time =0A=
they were hovering up-in-82 until we figured out who was heating the =
_entire_ =0A=
basement to heat one stinkin' room for an iguana.&nbsp; Gah.&nbsp; I =
hate =0A=
central steam heat.&nbsp; Oh well.</FONT></DIV>=0A=
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>=0A=
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Todd</FONT></DIV>=0A=
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>The Muddy Maumee Madness, Toledo, =
OH</FONT></DIV>=0A=
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>It's never too late to have a happy =0A=
childhood.</FONT></DIV>=0A=
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2><A =0A=
href=3D"http://www.farmertodd.com">http://www.farmertodd.com</A></FONT></=
DIV></BODY></HTML>
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