Software Vault: The Gold Collection/Software Vault - The Gold Collection (American Databankers) (1993).ISO/cdr55/aquaria1.zip/AQFAQ04.DOC

Text File | 1993-05-02 | 125KB | 2,750 lines

==============================================================================
Date: 04-02-93 (10:30)           Number: 3370      Data Warp Premium Comp
  To: ALL                        Refer#: NONE
From: TONY LI                      Read: YES
Subj: FAQ: README and administr    Conf: (550) U_aquaria
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: alt.aquaria,rec.aquaria,sci.aquaria
Subject: FAQ: README and administrivia
From: [e-mail] (Tony Li)
Date: 1 Apr 1993 09:05:03 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail],[e-mail]
Organization: cisco Systems

    Introduction to FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) for *.aquaria

The monthly posting to rec.aquaria and alt.aquaria will consist of this
introduction followed by the FAQ in four additional postings.

The FAQ (and any other useful information that is submitted) will be
available through anonymous FTP on jerico.usc.edu (128.125.51.6),
located in Los Angeles, California.  Login through ftp with 'anonymous' as
your username.  The FAQ files are located in the directory pub/aquaria, and
they currently consist of the following:

File name     | Topics                        |  Last update | Size
--------------+-------------------------------+--------------+------
FAQ.README    | Introduction & update notes   | Mar. 28 1993 | 4XXX
FAQ.beginner  | Beginner stuff and books      | Feb. 24 1993 | 44921
FAQ.filters   | Filters, Air pumps, misc eqip | Jan. 11 1993 | 33934
FAQ.mail      | Mail order and Magazines      | Feb. 26 1993 | 15674
FAQ.plants    | Plants                   | Jan. 11 1993 | 11167
FAQ.water     | Water quality and disease     | Jan. 11 1993 | 10992

Correspondence regarding the FAQ should be directed to Tony Li
([e-mail]) AND Patti Beadles ([e-mail]).  Please
note that we're editors.  We're not experts, we don't know the best fish
for you to rear, we don't conduct surveys and we normally don't write the
FAQ itself.  That's up to you.  We just _edit_.  Thank you -- The
management.

Rev 1.13  2/26/93

Added mail order survey from Dean Fear.

Rev 1.12  2/23/93

Added Drosophila handling hint from Matt Rhoten.

Rev 1.11  1/11/93

Addition from Paul Prior on filtering, esp. cannister filters.  Fixed
spelling errors.

Rev 1.10  1/4/93

Remove dangling pointer to Pat White.  Add address for Vinny Kutty.

Rev 1.9   10/24/92

Added contributions on chiller sizing, fixed minor bug in plants. added
mail order info on live rock.

Rev 1.8   10/10/92

Added contributions on live food, mail order pond places.  Added missing
disclaimer to FAQ.plants.

Rev 1.7   8/21/92

Added plants

Rev 1.6   7/7/92

Removed a contributor per their request.

Rev 1.5   7/3/92

Added contribution from Dave Beverstock on power filters.

Rev 1.4   6/1/92

Added a recommendation to test air pumps under load.

Rev 1.3   2/11/91

Added Oleg's recommendations on books.  Updated phone numbers for mail
order houses.

Rev 1.2   10/4/91

A few other minor administrative changes.

Rev 1.1      6/19/91

Minor administrative changes, ran it through a spelling checker.

Collected the contributors names and addresses into a "phone book" at the
end of this file.  This will make it easier to change addresses when people
move around, as the address is only listed in one place.

Rev 1.0   3/23/91

UPDATE NOTES:  What's changed in the FAQ:
-------------
I thought I would just write this when I enter new stuff into the
four part FAQ.  The newest set of the FAQ (dated 3/23/91) contains:

-    stuff about moving aquaria,
-    yet another modification of the protein skimmer description
     (will we ever get this right :-)
-    a brief (very very brief) description of the history behind
     *.aquaria
-    useful data on weight/volume of water
-    brief description of air pumps
-    miscellaneous stuff.

You may notice that I've begun to include names (and addresses) of
other authors.  I did not include this practice when we were just
booting up because it would have been too confusing, and there were
quite a lot of contributors.

If you would like to be included in a list of contributors (and be
famous through posterity), please re-email me.  (Unfortunately, to
conserve disk space and preserve sanity, I purged old inputs).

Thanks to y'all.

Tim Yiu


Contributors:
Dave Beverstock            [e-mail]
Ron Burns             [e-mail]
Diane DeMers            [e-mail]
Dean Fear            [e-mail]
Georg Jander             [e-mail]
Oleg Kiselev            [e-mail]
Vinny Kutty            [e-mail]
Paul Prior            [e-mail]
Mathew Rhoten            [e-mail]
Timothy Shimeall        [e-mail]
Spass Stoiantschewsky        [e-mail]
Tim Yiu                [e-mail]
???                [e-mail]
-----------------
Newsgroups: alt.aquaria,rec.aquaria,sci.aquaria
Subject: FAQ: Filters
From: [e-mail] (Tony Li)
Date: 1 Apr 1993 09:05:08 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail],[e-mail]
Organization: cisco Systems

                  Filters

Rev 1.9  10/24/92

Prologue:
---------
This monthly series is intended to address some of the frequently
asked questions (FAQ) on the rec. and alt.aquaria newsgroups.  Because
the answers may not be complete, please feel free to ask questions.
This is only intended to address first level concerns, and not to
dampen discussions.  Please see the file FAQ.README for pointers to other
topics.

Please review and send any corrections or inputs to the FAQ maintainers
with "(FAQ)" in the subject line.  You are absolutely welcomed to tackle
(i.e. WRITE) sections that have not been written yet.

I've received recommendations to put email address "pointers" in
the FAQ to vector questions to specific experts on particular
subjects.  If you would like to offer yourself as such an expert,
please send me your email address and the specific topics you want
to host.  Please include an email path that is generally accessible
to the greatest number of people.

FILTERS AND RELATED QUESTIONS:
------------------------------
     Filtration is very important to the welfare of your guests,
and as such there are many different kinds of filters.  Since there
are many brands and opinions, one should post requests for
recommendations.  Equipment that is typically found on advanced
aquarists' systems are also noted.  These are typically more
expensive, and are generally not needed by, nor recommended for
beginners.
     In general, if one needs to rinse/wash filter media, one
should never use soap or hot water (or for that matter, very cold
water).  This would serve to kill the beneficial bacterial colonies
in the filter media.  (See nitrogen cycle).  Use the reject water
siphoned out your aquarium to wash/rinse filter media.
     The following filter discussions are arranged alphabetically,
with related topics grouped arranged separately at the end.

BUBBLE UP FILTERS
     These are specific examples of internal filters.  These use
streams of air bubbles to push water up and out of a tube, thereby
creating a pull of water into the filter through the filter media.
(See INTERNAL FILTERS).

CANNISTER FILTERS
     These are large plastic "cannisters" typically located outside
of and under the aquarium in the cabinet. They are designed with a
powerful pump which draws water through an in-take hose located in
the aquarium, pushes it at a relatively high pressure through the
filter medium, and forces it back to the aquarium through the
return hose.  (Many times, this water is sprayed across the surface
of the water to create aeration).

The question: "Which cannister filter should I buy?" is one of the most
frequently asked FAQs on *.aquaria and each time it comes up there
is discussion of the relative merits of each of the major brands.

General Comments:

Eheims:  The cadillac of cannister filters.  Very solid construction
    and operate virtually silently.  Significantly more expensive than
    other brands (see below).  Eheim recommends smaller models for
    larger tanks than the others and almost everyone buys larger than
    they say (2217 for a 55 gallon tank, for example, rather than the
    2213 which they recommend).  The Eheim cannister is a single
    hollow tube with water entering from a 90 degree tube at the
    bottom and flowing upwards through whatever you've packed in and
    pumped out the top.  They do not come with shut-off valves (a
    must-have for easy cannister maintenance), but these may be
    purchased separately (approximately $30).  Eheims have been dark
    translucent green with green hoses and black motor encasing.  The
    hose-clamping system is very solid.  Other options such as
    pre-filters, surface extractors and oxygen diffusers are available
    (and many will work with other brands).  They can also be ordered
    with built-in heaters (freshwater use only).  Made in Germany.

Fluvals:  Fluval filters have a slightly different design than the
    Eheims. Fluvals have the water enter and exit from the top of the
    filter. The entering water flows down around a central core which
    contains the filter media, and then returns up through that core
    to pass through the media.  The modular media containers which fit
    into the fluval filter allow for easy changing/cleaning of any
    segment of the media without disturbing the others.  However there
    may be some small degree of media bypass from this design.  Flow
    rates are higher than the eheim models.  Fluvals come with
    included on/off valves and a diffuser bar.  They recently were
    changed to a dark grey/black translucent color with beige hoses.
    Slightly older models are brown/tan with orange hoses.  There is
    no difference between the models except the color.  Fluvals are
    also very quiet, though not absolutely silent like the eheims.  I
    sleep with one 2 feet from the head of my bed and can't hear it at
    night, however.  The hose-attachment clamps are screw-down type
    and can be hard to turn.  They are secure if attached correctly.
    Made in Italy.

Magnum:   Magnum recently changed their design from the 200/330 series
    up to the more modern 220/350.  The older models required oiling
    and generated a fair amount of noise compared with the others.
    The new models are magnetic impeller driven just like the fluval
    and eheims.  There is also a new Magnum product called the "HOT"
    magnum (Hang-On-Tank) which I have not evaluated. It appears to be
    an over-the-back filter which has a lower flow rate (250 gals) than
    the bigger magnums, but require no hoses and may be easier to
    set up.  Magnums have traditionally been the cheapest option when
    buying a cannister filter.  Their design has the water entering
    the top of the filter, and being forced through a central
    container from the sides (as compared with bottom to top in the
    fluvals) then to be pumped out the top again.  Magnum filters
    utilize a "cartridge" system which includes  carbon containers and
    micron cartridges.  The micron cartridges can be used with diatom
    powder to provide diatom filtration (see Diatom filters).  The
    filter cartridges are usually covered by a floss sleeve to provide
    coarse mechanical filtration.  Magnum filters provide a high flow
    rate but hold substantially less filtration media than the others.
    Construction is generally considered to be of cheaper materials
    than the other filters, with hoses being held on with rubber
    straps rather than screw down valves for example.  Magnums usually
    are a hot debating point in the cannister filter selection process:
    some people have had wonderful experiences with them and others
    have not been so lucky.  Made in America.

    Some functional information is below.  Numbers taken from
    manufacturers literature.  Keep in mind that flow rates will vary
    depending on what the unit is packed with and how high the water
    must be pumped.  The numbers listed below should be considered the
    maximum possible (they are generally listed with no media in
    place.  Additional backpressure will reduce flow substantially,
    especially on smaller models).

        GPH   Electric   Manufacturers  Cost (FAMA)
               Usage     Recommended    (US$12/92)   Filtering
              (watts)    Tank Size                    Volume
Eheim
------
2211:   80       5w      <40 gal.        $55            1 L
2213:   116      8w      <65 gal.        $70            3 L
2215:   165      15w     <90 gal.        $110           4 L
2217:   260      20w     <125 gal.       $155           6 L
2250:   380      ??      <265 gal.       $240           ??
2260:   500      ??      <400 gal.       $310           ??

Fluval
------
103:    103      7w      <25 gal.        $46            1.18 L
203:    111      7w      <50 gal.        $54            2.22 L
303:    222      15w     <70 gal.        $70            3.70 L
403:    317      22w     <100 gal.       $100           6.48 L

Magnum
------
HOT:    250      ??      ??              $58            ??
220     220      ??      ??              $50            ??
350     350      ??      ??              $65            ??

CHEMICAL FILTERS  (advanced)
     Ion exchange resins are used to deionize new water.  Also,
synthetic resins designed to adsorb specific ions (like phosphates,
or nitrates, or sulphates) are now available.  See ads in FAMA and
other such magazines for new items.  Thiel has chapters on chemical
filtration in his books, so does Moe (see Books).  Carbon is also a
form of chemical filtration.

DIATOM FILTERS  (advanced)
     These can be described as purely mechanical filters.  It relies on the
diatomaceous earth (skeletons of tiny animals called diatoms [Diatom comes
from the Greek: diatomos meaning "cut in two"]) which "cling" onto dirt and
a fine mesh screen to capture the "dirty" diatoms.  Because of the
efficiency, diatom filters are also called water polishers.  These are not
used over long periods (they clog up very quickly), and hence cannot be
considered good biological filters.

Diatom skeletons are composed of silica and there has been some
speculation as to whether usage in marine aquariums will lead to "brown
algae" explosions.

EXTERNAL FILTERS
     Oftentimes, this is used to denote power filters.  But this
not always the case.  (See POWER FILTERS)

FOAM FRACTIONATION
     See PROTEIN SKIMMERS.

INTERNAL FILTERS
     These filters are plastic cartridges that fit inside the
aquarium.  Dirty water is drawn into the filter through slits
located on either the top or sides of the body.  The method of
water propulsion can be motorized, or bubble driven.  Maintenance
of these filters can be difficult.  Many times, as one lifts the
filter out of the aquarium, dirty water backwashes out into the
tank.
     Some designs, like Lee's Triple Flow and similar models by
Penn Plax and Marineland do not have this problem.  They also cost
more, of course :-)  Also, one has to immerse entire appendages
into the tank to access the filter.  This type of filter is only
recommended for up to 20 gallons.  You may be surprised how
inexpensive external power filters (EPF) can be and how quiet they
are.  Always consider power filters unless you are raising fry,
spawning live-bearers or killies in a "natural" setup, or need
minimal flow (for spawning bubble-nest builders).

MECHANICAL vs. BIOLOGICAL
     Almost all filters perform mechanical filtration, and most
perform biological filtration.  The difference between these is
that mechanical filters will capture and remove suspended particles
from the water, clearing the water in the process. (The filter
media obviously becomes dirty, and must be cleaned every once in a
while).  Biological filters provide habitats for beneficial
bacteria that breakdown nitrogen compounds from biological waste
into progressively less toxic forms (ammonia -> ammonium ->
nitrites -> nitrates - > nitrogen).  (This is a gross over
simplification.  See nitrogen cycle in H20 quality).

POWER FILTERS
     This is the common name for filters that hang on the back of
the aquarium.  Two basic types exist.  In one case, water is drawn
through siphon action into the filter media, and expelled by a
pump.  In the second case, water is drawn by a pump into the filter
media and the allowed to trickle back into the tank.  A major
benefit of such a filter is the ease of maintenance.  The location
and design of the filter allows for quick and non-messy removal of
dirty filter media.

PRE-FILTERS  (advanced)
     This are filters used primarily to remove most of the
particles from the water before it arrives at a primary filter,
which may be located in a difficult to clean area.  The filter
media on pre-filters are removed and replaced easily, thus reducing
the number of times one has to change/maintain the media in the
primary filter.

PROTEIN SKIMMERS  (advanced)
     Protein skimmers, also known as foam fractioners, are an
unusual type of chemical filter.  They are primarily used in
marine aquaria, because they require the formation of foam which
form more readily in salt water.  Protein skimmers can be used in
freshwater, but will be less efficient, and may require greater
flows of air to produce sufficient foam.  They remove from the
water a wide variety of organic compounds (e.g.. proteins) that
normally collect on the surface of the tank water.
     These compounds, surface active molecules, are attracted to
the air-water boundary by their molecular structure.  Large amounts
of these compounds are often visible to the aquarist as slicks,
sheens, or thin scum on the tank surface.  In addition to the
presence of films on the surface of the water, an abundance of
these compounds is signalled by increased stability of bubbles
floating on the water.  This stability can result in large rafts of
bubbles spanning the surface of the tank, and very large bubbles
grown from many successive merges of smaller bubbles.
     A protein skimmer consists of a space where fine air bubbles
are encouraged to mix with circulating tank water, and a means for
collecting the resulting foam and removing this foam from the tank.
Typically, a mist of fine bubbles is allowed to rise in a column of
circulating water, forming foam in a small chamber at the top of
the column.  This foam rises upwards through a narrow opening, and
flows into a collection cup which must be periodically emptied.  In
a properly adjusted protein skimmer, some amount of foam is present
all the time in the chamber, but will only rise high enough to
reach the cup and be collected when surface-active compounds are
present in sufficient quantity to stabilize the foam.

REEF FILTERS  (advanced)
     See WET/DRY FILTERS.

REVERSE UGF  (advanced)
     This uses the same gravel plate as a regular UGF except that
water is pumped down an uplift tube (in this case a misnomer),
under the plate, and then *UP* through the gravel.  The water
traveling through the uplift tube must be clean, since it would be
very difficult to clean under the gravel plate.  The water can come
from the output of a filter (cannister filter for example), or can
come from a new generation of powerheads (submersible centrifugal
water pumps) has a "reverse flow" feature which makes it easier to
use them for reverse flow UGF.  (See POWERHEADS).  The powerhead
should be outfitted with some sort of pre-filter such as a sponge.
     Since the mechanical filtration will have been taken care of already,
the reverse UGF is primarily a biological filter.  It has the alleged
benefit of keeping fish filth suspended in the water, or at least not being
sucked down under the UGF plate; allowing for easier removal during tank
maintenance/vacuuming.

     Because most aquarium equipment was not designed to work in
this manner, one typically has to rig up one's own hose adaptors to
connect the output hose to the uplift tube.
     Recently there have been several products designed specifically for
RFUGF use.  Marineland is one company that sells RFUGF units consisting of
powerheads, prefilters and connection tubing.  Other companies sell reverse
flow powerheads, but it is VERY important to use only systems which have
adequate pre-filtration, and not just pump water under the plates.

RO FILTERS  (advanced)
     These purely mechanical filters that are used to purify water
from the tap before introduction into the aquarium.  These devices
use a thin membrane that only allows water molecules (and a few
other smaller dissolved ions) to pass through to the output.  The
unwanted water and materials are redirected to the drain.  This
filtration method wastes water.  RO Filters can also be found at
building supply stores since household drinking water filtration
also uses the same technique.
     There are two common types of RO filters sold.  One uses a
cellulose tri-acetate (CTA) membrane, and the other uses a thin
film composite (TFC) membrane.  The TFC membrane is the best for
aquarium use.
     Because the rate of RO water production depends on water pressure,
temperature, and solute concentrations it is important to realize that
unless you have optimal levels of all those above you will probably
only get 50-80% of the production rate advertised.  Drops in
temperature below the 70 degree range usually measured (winter time,
for example) will drastically reduce production.

SKIMMER (see Protein Skimmer) (advanced)
     This term can refer to surface skimmers as well as protein
skimmers.  Surface skimmers are essentially boxes set just below
the surface level of the aquarium.  Water "spills" into this box
and is drawn out to a filter (by siphon or mechanical means).  This
oftentimes removes the surface "slick" found on marine aquarium.

SPONGE FILTERS
     These are open cell sponges that are connected to some
mechanical device (bubbler, power head, pump etc.) that will draw
water into the sponge.  Because of the large surface area/water
flow ratio, the suction is not strong enough at any given point on
the sponge to trap fry or other small fish (as opposed to, for
example, the intake hose of a cannister filter).  These are often
used for breeding tanks etc.  Fish filth is trapped in the sponge,
which is rinsed every once in a while for maintenance.  Most
sponges are shaped in such a way that, as filth clog up particular
areas, the suction collect waste in other areas.  The sponge also
serves as a biological filter.

TRICKLE FILTERS  (advanced)
     See WET/DRY FILTERS.


TURNOVER RATE
     The number of times the volume of water in the tank should
pass through the filtration system in an hour.  The general rule is
3-5 tanks/hour, unless the fish load is very light, in which case
.5-1 tanks/hour is OK.  Cannister filter instructions suggest 1-2
tanks/hour.  High turnover rates are probably beneficial (more
filtration), as long as the fish are not swimming for their lives
constantly.

UNDERGRAVEL FILTERS (UGF)
     This filter is a plastic plate with holes/slits that is placed
first in the aquarium, after which gravel is poured on top.  Water
is drawn through the gravel, and impelled up and out through uplift
tubes (typically located in the rear corners of the tank).  The
impelling method could be bubblers or power heads.  The gravel
becomes the filter media for both mechanical and biological
filtration.  This means that the gravel should be "vacuumed" every
once in a while.  As the gravel becomes clogged, water bypasses the
clogged areas, and these become sites for unhealthy bacterial
activity.
     There has been much debate over the use of UGFs.

WET/DRY FILTERS (advanced)
     These filters enhance the metabolic activity of the beneficial
bacteria by providing good conditions for their growth.  These are
very much in favor with marine aquarists, especially reef aquarists
whose guests require clean stable water.
     The principle of operation is as follows:  Water is sprayed
(by a revolving spray bar) or trickled/dripped (by a plate with
lots of holes) over a media that is largely exposed to air (i.e.
not immersed in water).  As the relatively random patterns of water
trickle over the media, the large surface of the media is
constantly kept wet with a thin film of water.  The large surface
area can dissolve lots of oxygen and may de-gas (expel) a number of
other things, most notably ammonia (NH3) and CO2.  The media houses
lots of bacteria which takes the oxygen and converts NH3/NH4+ into
NO2- (nitrite), and NO2- into NO3- (nitrate).  This is the "dry"
phase.
     The "wet" section is a submersed media which can be one or
both of the following: a purely biological filter, or a
denitrification filter.  A number of sources have been suggesting
that it contributes more to oxygen depletion than to any meaningful
nitrification.  A denitrification filter is created by placing a
large submerged sponge in the path of the water, allowing some
water to *slowly* flow through the sponge, while most of the water
passes over it.  In the nearly anaerobic cells of the sponge,
nitrites are converted to nitrogen by Pseudomonas and other
bacteria (however, Thiel and others have been very critical of this
method of denitrification); chemical "augmentation" -- a dolomite
or other calciferous material is used to leach calcium carbonate
into the water to replenish  what gets metabolized by plants; and
supplemental filtration, like a bag of activated carbon or some
Chemi-Pure.

     The water which is relatively depleted of oxygen, is passed
into the wet phase, which supposedly converts the NO3- into
nitrogen and some oxygen.  This water then gets pumped back into
the tank.
     Wet/dry filters are not cheap, and because of this, the net
contributors often come up with suggestions for rolling your own.
Keep your eyes peeled for these messages.

Filtration Related issues:
--------------------------

AIR FILTERS
     Some aquarists take the output of air pumps and bubble the air
through water in a closed jar.  The air is then taken through the
lid into the aquarium bubbler.  This serves to dissolve air borne
chemicals (such as mineral oils from the pump) in the jar water
before it gets into the aquarium.  Also useful for households that
have smokers.

GRANULATED ACTIVATED CHARCOAL/CARBON
     These are small pellets of carbon manufactured from organic
material (such as bones).  These pellets contain microscopic
caverns that are the right size to trap certain molecules or ions
(called adsorption as opposed to absorption).  After a period of 3-
6 months or so, the carbon becomes ineffective.  It cannot be "re-
activated" by heating in your home oven unless you have a blast
furnace at home.

OZONE
     Ozone is a highly reactive form of oxygen, and it is bubbled
through water in a special reactor to oxidize organic waste
material and some toxins (rendering them less harmful).  Since it
is so reactive, it is invariably bubbled through carbon (so
leftover ozone forms carbon dioxide) before being released into the
atmosphere.

PEAT
     This is an organic material made of composted forest fibers.
Peat is rich in humic acid and tannin, and is sort of like tea.
Its effect on water similar to tea.  It softens water and leaves
the water slightly acidic (and yellow).  It is used for lowering
and buffering water for sensitive fish.  Peat also helps chelate
some metals and make them usable by plants.  There are two
varieties of peat available: "normal" peat which consists of small
particles (much like peat used in gardening) and *fibrous* peat
that looks like a bunch of long strands and twigs (this is
sometimes referred to as "German" peat and it is nearly impossible
to buy in this country except in tiny, extremely overpriced
packages of Fluval and Eheim brand in aquarium shops.
     Garden peat can be bought dirt cheap in bulk from garden supply
stores.  MAKE SURE IT HAS NO FERTILIZERS OR FUNGICIDES -- these will kill
your fish.  According to Oleg Kiselev, Canadian peat, especially "Sunshine"
brand, seems to be safe.  Oleg has also used "Black Magic" gardening peat
with equal success.  ALWAYS RINSE PEAT BEFORE USING and many books
recommend you boil it a few times, too.  Oleg usually boils peat 3-4 times
and stores it wet.
     Peat is very important for killifish spawning.

POWER HEADS
     These are miniature pumps that draw water through uplift tubes
(associated with UGFs) and impel it into the aquarium.  They often
come with a feature that allows air to be drawn into the outflow
resulting in a fine mist of bubbles.  (This is due to something
called Venturi action).  The water output can usually be directed
in any direction, and up or down.  Some even have a reverse feature
for Reverse UGF systems.
     Although sometimes used as pumps, these are not really
designed to push water up any distance.  They are designed to draw
water and push it out laterally.

UV STERILIZERS
     Ultraviolet light sterilizers are used in series with  filters
to kill water borne parasites (such as ich) and/or bacteria.
Although not strictly a filter, it does ultimately remove harmful
organisms.  When used in reef tanks or breeder tanks where the
occupants depend on microscopic organisms in the water for food,
these should not be turned on during feeding time.

ZEOLITE
     Zeolite is a naturally occurring mineral that can exchange
"hard" metallic ions (like magnesium and calcium) for soft metallic
ions (like sodium).  This softens water.  Zeolite also adsorbs
ammonia.  Zeolite will not work in salt water.  It is reactivated
by immersing it in a strong salt solution for 24 hours.

POWER FILTERS

A power filter is a box shaped filter that is hung on the back of an
aquarium.  An intake pipe projects down into the tank and the output of the
filter flows from spillway(s) on the body of the filter over the side of
the tank and into the tank.  The other major type of filter that is similar
to a power filter is the cannister filter.

Why use a power filter?

1.  Space: These filters can be small relative to the volume that they pump
    thru the filter.  They hang neatly over the side of the tank.  Most
    people put them on the back, where no one can see them, and where the
    space is wasted anyway.  *WARNING* All filters claim to pump a certain
    volume per unit of time.  This figure is sometimes tested by using
    clean (or no) filter media.  The actual volume pumped will start at the
    published value and decrease to zero if the filter media is not cleaned
    or changed.

2.  Noise: Power filters seem to be relatively quiet compared to other
    popular filters.

3.  Cost: The initial cost for a power filter is low.

4.  Easy of maintainance: Most of the filter media for a power filter is
    available prepackaged (but at additional cost).  Power filters provide
    easy access to the filter and media because it's part of the tank, in a
    convenient location.  Disassembly of the filter is straightforward and
    simple. Some filters will also allow you to insert media that was not
    specifically designed for that filter.  Some filters are designed for
    you to throw away your biologically active media if you follow the
    manufacturer's instructions (this is bad, see below).

Major Manufacturers of Power Filters
    (GPH = US gallons/per hour).
    Prices are approximate mail order prices in $US.

        Name     GPH    $    GPH/$
Aquaclear    Mini    100    10    10
(Hagen)        150    150    14    10.7
        200    200    14    14.3
        300    300    21    14.3
        500    428    38    11.3

Whisper        Compact    100    10    10
(Second Nature)    1    150    13    11.5
        2    200    14    14.3
        3    300    21    14.3
        5    400    31    12.9

Penguin        110    110    12    9.2
w/biowheel    160    160    14    11.4
(Marineland)    300    300    22    13.6

Canistar    MX    155    18    8.6
(Penn-Plax)

Supreme Aquamaster PME     120     14    8.6
        Aquamaster PMSW  ?      25
        Aquamaster PLSW 300     29      10.3
        Aquaking        300     32      9.4
        Superking       600     41    14.6

Overview of Perceived Performance.

Mechanical Filtration/Chemical Filtration

The key to mechanical and chemical filtration with a power filter is the
amount of media that the water must pass through.  Ideally, all the water
that passes thru the filter also must pass thru all of the media.

The Aquaclear and Canistar filters should work the best at
mechanical/chemical filtration.  They push all the input water thru all of
the media.  The Aquaclear will allow water around the media if the media is
clogged.  Look for backflow coming out near the siphon tube.  The Whispers
and Penguins (except the Penguin 300) design allow some of the water to
pass by the chemical filtration (carbon, ammo-chips etc.), but all the
water must pass thru the dacron mesh.  The Penguin 300 has a "media
basket", 2 removable containers in the filter body so you can add your own
media to help filter the water, this design addition makes it difficult for
any water to pass by the media.  The diatom water polishing mode on the
Canistar seems to be iffy.


Biological Filtration

The main concern here is whether or not you throw away the bacteria's happy
home when it comes time to clean the filter.  There is probably little
difference in the performance of dacron vs. foam for harboring bacteria.

The Aquaclear has a foam insert to harbor helpful bacteria.  You may rinse
it and put it back in the filter, without ever buying new foam.  No helpful
bacteria are lost if this is done correctly.  Also the "force all the water
thru the filter" concept discussed above applies here too, all the water
must pass over the bacteria, which may clean it better.  A caveat is that
the fast flow through the sponge does lower the ability of the filter to
get rid of NH4 in 1 pass, but the increased volume over a typical cannister
filter may make up for that.  The Whisper's, Penguin's and Canistars'
dacron pad eventually must be thrown out, thus losing the bacteria.
Ingenious solutions have been invented to minimize this problem, but IMHO
the Aquaclear is superior in this regard.  The Penguin is like the Whisper,
except that it has an added device called a Bio-wheel.  It probably helps,
but there are mixed reports on this.  The wheel may need regular,
infrequent maintenance to prevent clogging.

The Supreme models are unique in that they do not use the troublesome
magnetic-impeller water-immersed motors.  Their motors are large industrial
air-cooled ones that sit on top of the filter and run the impeller via a
plastic shaft.  Also, they use siphon tubes to bring the water into the filter
box, and pump the filtered water back to the aquarium, preventing the impeller
from shredding and thus reducing the particle size in the influent.

Other gotchas/Special features

The Aquaclear has good sponge media, and allows the use of media bags so
you can fill your own.  The carbon bags cost a bit, but they seem to use
good carbon.

The Penguin biowheel has a tendency to stop if it gets dirty.  If the wheel
isn't' turning, it isn't working.

Summary

There are no clearly superior filters here, although the Whisper seems to
lose in almost every category (your mileage may vary).  The Aquaclear
series is probably the best overall, however, if you need a big filter, the
Penguin 300 may be better because it has the Bio-Wheel and the media
baskets.

AIR PUMPS:
----------

Keep away from cheap pumps.  Make sure they are UL listed (as you should
with all other electrical devices you are planning to use with your
aquarium).  Listen to the pump (under load!) before you buy it.  If you can
hear it in the noisy petshop, imagine what it will sound like in your
silent house at 2 AM.  It is also a good idea to get a pump that is not too
much more powerful than you need - more powerful pumps are invariably more
noisy.

As a general rule, "adjustable" air pumps are worth extra money
only if the adjustment is electronic, rather than by a by-pass
valve.  The former is more quiet.  Make sure your pump is
positioned above the water level of your tank, because power
failures and other events can cause water to back-siphon into the
pump and flood it.  You can also use "check-valves" available at
pet shops to make certain that this does not happen.

The following is from Spass Stoiantschewsky:

[e-mail]

and the last name is spelled "stoiantschewsky", my system
has it spelled wrong...always has, probably always will...

the address will probably change, but i haven't the faintest
idea when...it should have already changed...

best pump tested at depth to date: tetra luft g
best pump volume (shallow depth) to date: whisper 1000
noisiest pumps: whisper
quietest pumps: challenger (?), followed closely by tetra and
silencer.

best buy in pumps: tetra luft g

noise level measurements are purely by ear.

i'd like to talk to people who have pumps they particularly like
or dislike and anyone who has pumps that haven't been tested (easy
test).
untested pumps: schego, iwaki, wisa, supra
tested pumps: whisper, silencer, tetra, challenger

[Ed. Note.  Spass will post a more complete article soon. ;-) ]

CHILLER SIZING
--------------

Water Temperature Pull Down From Room Temperature (Degrees Fahrenheit) *
               5o      10o      15o      20o      25o
             ----     ----     ----     ----     ----
Horsepower
----------
1/6           200      100       67       50       40
1/5           560      280      187      140      112
1/4           800      400      267      200      160
1/3          1000      500      333      250      200
1/2          1440      720      480      360      288
3/4          2600     1300      867      650      520

                      Tank Size
                  ---------
* Tank sizes represent the maximum volume for each horsepower and
temperature combination.  To provide a margin of safety, add
20 percent to the tank volume when determining chiller requirement.

Reprinted with permission from _Aquarium Fish Magazine_, Vol. 5,
No. 3, December 1992.


Disclaimer:
-----------
Some answers listed above may reflect personal biases of the author
and the FAQ's contributors.  In cases where the answers name
specific products and their respective manufacturers, these are not
to be taken as endorsements, nor commercials for the manufacturer.
Where cost information is stated (magazine subscription rates),
this is based on "street" information, and are in no way binding on
the publisher.  The answers contained in this series pertain to
discussions on the rec. and alt.aquaria newsgroups, and are by no means
exhaustive.  This series is not intended to take the place of good
aquarium books on the subject matter.

Copyright:
----------
The FAQ owes its existence to the contributors of the net, and as
such it belongs to the readers of rec.aquaria and alt.aquaria.
Copies can be made freely, as long as it is distributed at no
charge, and the disclaimers and the copyright notice are included.

Newsgroups: alt.aquaria,rec.aquaria,sci.aquaria
Subject: FAQ: Plants
From: [e-mail] (Tony Li)
Date: 1 Apr 1993 09:05:09 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail],[e-mail]
Organization: cisco Systems

                  Plants

Rev. 1.9 10/24/92

Prologue:
---------
This monthly series is intended to address some of the frequently
asked questions (FAQ) on the rec. and alt.aquaria newsgroups.  Because
the answers may not be complete, please feel free to ask questions.
This is only intended to address first level concerns, and not to
dampen discussions.  Please see the file FAQ.README for pointers to other
topics.

Please review and send any corrections or inputs to the FAQ maintainers
with "(FAQ)" in the subject line.  You are absolutely welcomed to tackle
(i.e. WRITE) sections that have not been written yet.

We've received recommendations to put email address "pointers" in
the FAQ to vector questions to specific experts on particular
subjects.  If you would like to offer yourself as such an expert,
please send me your email address and the specific topics you want
to host.  Please include an email path that is generally accessible
to the greatest number of people.

CO2 in the aquarium
-------------------
     Anyone who has observed the explosive growth of aquarium plants in
response to carbon dioxide (CO2) fertilization must be convinced of the
usefulness of this system.  Certainly, there are thousands of aquarium
hobbyists who do not give their plants any sort of special treatment and
still end up with a fairly nice display.  However, truly luxuriant
growth, the sort that you see on the covers of aquarium magazines and in
pictures of "Dutch aquariums," can only be achieved by fertilizing with
CO2.
     During photosynthesis, plants use light energy to capture CO2.  This
CO2 is used to build the basic carbon structures from which all plant
material is made.  In a poorly lit aquarium, light is likely to be what
limits the rate of plant growth.  The amount of CO2 produced by fish- and
bacterial respiration is more than enough to allow photosynthesis under
these conditions.  If on the other hand, you try to make your plants grow
faster by adding more light, it is likely that there will not be enough
CO2 in your aquarium.  The plants simply can not grow as fast as they
would like to, given the available light energy.
     The easiest way to increase the amount of CO2 in an aquarium is to
buy a tank of CO2 and let it bubble into the water.  Several, mostly
German, companies sell systems for adding CO2 into the outflow of your
cannister filter.  If you buy your CO2 system from someone like Dupla, you
are likely to spend about $300.  That seems a bit pricey, doesn't it?
Fortunately, it is very easy and also a fair bit cheaper to buy a CO2
tank at a local welding supply place and use it to bubble CO2 into the
water.

CO2 in the tank is under high pressure.  A pressure regulator brings this
pressure down to a manageable level, and ordinary aquarium air valves can
be used to regulate the flow to individual aquariums.  The CO2 reactor is
simply a small chamber that allows the CO2 to be dissolved in the water
before it escapes into the air.  Outflow from a filter or a pump enters the
top of the reactor; CO2 is bubbled in from the bottom.  To give the CO2
more time to dissolve, one can add a system of baffles to trap the gas as
it is moving up.  Near the top of the reactor, there should be a small hole
to vent other gasses, which may be present in small amounts in the
compressed CO2.  These gasses do not dissolve as readily in water as CO2
does.
     I purchased my CO2 tank and regulator at Wesco on Vassar Street in
Cambridge.  Their current (May 1992) prices are: 5 lbs CO2, $52.50, refill
$9.74; 20 lbs CO2, $101.75, refill $19.55.  A CO2 pressure regulator is
"$79 and change."  People who have better welding connections than I do
might be able to get things more cheaply than that.  Refills are
generally not a very big expense.  My 20 lb CO2 tank is used on three
aquariums (30, 65, and 110 gallons) and lasts about three years between
refills.  That works out to about $2 per aquarium per year.  Other
possible sources of CO2 that I have not investigated are CO2 fire
extinguishers and the CO2 cannisters they use to but the bubbles in beer
and soft drinks.  Don't bother trying to rig up something with dry ice,
it is too complicated.
     The tubing and valves that I use for my CO2 setup are the sort that
one buys for use with the aquarium air pumps.  It is better to get the
brass rather than the plastic valves, since it is easier to make fine
adjustments with them and they also tend to leak less.  Even a tiny leak
can empty out a gas tank distressingly quickly.  I check all of my valves
and connections with a soap solution and make sure that no bubbles
appear.
     The CO2 reactor can easily be constructed out of any wide bore tube.
I use the lift tubes from an undergravel filter in my aquariums.  Local
aquarium enthusiast Jim Bardwell does well with the top half of a
one-liter coke bottle, with the filter hose attached to where the cap
should be.  It is best to use a clear plastic, so that one can see what
is happening inside.  Baffles, designed to let the water cascade down in
one direction and to trap the CO2 moving in the other direction, are
helpful, but not absolutely necessary.  I make my baffles out of foam
cubes that I cut to the right size and shape to fit inside the tube.  Jim
simply lets the CO2 collect at the top of the reactor, where the water is
coming in.  He does not have a vent and does not seem to have a problem
with excess gas accumulating.
     While a small increase in the amount of CO2 in the water causes lush
plant growth, too much CO2 can prove to be toxic.  CO2 dissolved in water
forms carbonic acid (H2CO3).  With weakly buffered water, like what comes
out of the tap in the Boston area, adding too much CO2 can bring the pH
down to as low as 3.  That is not quite as acidic as Coca Cola, but about
equal to vinegar.  Naturally, this can cause death or other serious
reactions in your fish and plants.
     One can buy CO2 test kits that measure the actual level of CO2 in
the water, but measuring the pH and counting the bubbles in the CO2
reactor works just about as well.  It is best to start off by adding CO2
very slowly (about one to three bubbles per minute) and increasing the
rate until a small, but measurable drop in pH is achieved.  In my
30-gallon aquarium, I add one bubble of CO2 every three to four seconds
to bring the pH from 7 to between 6 and 6.5.  How much CO2 one needs to
add varies from aquarium to aquarium and can depend on several factors:
the size of the aquarium, how fast the plants are growing, the number of
fish, how much food is decaying on the bottom, the buffering capacity of
the water, the types of rock and gravel, and how well ventilated the
surface of the water is.  However, anything in the range of one bubble
every two to fifteen seconds seems to work pretty well.  Bubble size will
vary with the diameter of the tubing.  I am referring to the sort of
bubbles that come out of the end of ordinary, one eighth inch inside
diameter aquarium air tubing.
     By using a CO2 reactor, you are saturating the water with CO2, and
any excessive agitation of the water surface or bubbling of air through
the water will cause the CO2 to escape into the atmosphere, just about as
quickly as you can add it.  Thus, at least during the day, you should
*not* have an airstone or an undergravel filter turned on.  If you have a
plant aquarium, you should probably not be using an undergravel filter,
anyway, since most kinds of plants do better without one.
     When the lights are on, plants use CO2 and produce oxygen.  In my
tanks, so much oxygen is being produced, that I can often see it forming
streams of bubbles from the plants.  At night, on the other hand, the plants
are actually using oxygen (and not CO2)  If there are not too many fish in
the aquarium, then the oxygen produced by the plants during the day will
tide everyone over until the next morning.  However, if you notice that you
fish are gasping at the surface in the mornings, they are obviously running
out of oxygen.  To remedy this problem, you can simply turn on an air
stone when the lights go out.  This will keep up the oxygen level and
remove excess CO2.  I have the aquarium lights and an air pump on two
separate timers; when one turns on, the other one turns off.  It would
also be fairly easy to rig up a solenoid valve for the CO2 supply and
have it turn the CO2 on and off with the same timer that is regulating
the lights.
     The system that I have described here and use is a very basic one
that works well.  For those who like those sorts of things, the
automation possibilities are almost limitless.  My brother Albrecht, who
is an electronics whiz, has his entire aquarium run be a TRS-80 computer.
Among many other things, the computer measures the pH, adds more CO2 if
the pH is above a predetermined level, and sounds an alarm if the CO2
tank is running low.  Fortunately, you don't need all of that to have a
truly great-looking plant tank.  There are more than thirty kinds of
thriving plants in my aquariums;  I have to weed out bunches once a week,
and I have enough extras to supply all of my aquarium friends and still
sell some at the monthly BAS auction.  The fish are also doing well and
reproducing.
     CO2 makes it easy to grow aquarium plants, but it is not a cure-all.
You still have to observe some of the other essentials of proper plant
care.  Aquarium plants need a lot of light.  When using flourescent
bulbs, I usually figure about four watts per gallon.  Wide-spectrum plant
and aquarium bulbs seem to work better than the "soft white" ones that you
can buy at the hardware store.  The amount of iron in most aquariums is
too low for maximum plant growth.  I supplement the iron by adding
"Micronized Iron" to the cannister filter (about one teaspoon at every
cleaning) and "Ortho Greenol" directly to the water (two drops per ten
gallons per day).  Both of these are available at gardening stores.
Other nutrients and trace elements that your plants need are usually
taken care of when you feed the fish and do water changes (frequently).
Also, don't forget the regular sacrifices of goat entrails to the
aquarium gods, at midnight when the moon is full.

Disclaimer:
-----------
Some answers listed above may reflect personal biases of the author
and the FAQ's contributors.  In cases where the answers name
specific products and their respective manufacturers, these are not
to be taken as endorsements, nor commercials for the manufacturer.
Where cost information is stated (magazine subscription rates),
this is based on "street" information, and are in no way binding on
the publisher.  The answers contained in this series pertain to
discussions on the rec. and alt.aquaria newsgroups, and are by no means
exhaustive.  This series is not intended to take the place of good
aquarium books on the subject matter.

Copyright:
----------
The FAQ owes its existence to the contributors of the net, and as
such it belongs to the readers of rec.aquaria and alt.aquaria.
Copies can be made freely, as long as it is distributed at no
charge, and the disclaimers and the copyright notice are included.

Newsgroups: alt.aquaria,rec.aquaria,sci.aquaria
Subject: FAQ: Beginner topics and books
From: [e-mail] (Tony Li)
Date: 1 Apr 1993 09:05:07 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail],[e-mail]
Organization: cisco Systems

             Beginner topics and books

Rev. 1.12 2/23/93

Prologue:
---------
This monthly series is intended to address some of the frequently
asked questions (FAQ) on the rec. and alt.aquaria newsgroups.  Because
the answers may not be complete, please feel free to ask questions.
This is only intended to address first level concerns, and not to
dampen discussions.  Please see the file FAQ.README for pointers to other
topics.

Please review and send any corrections or inputs to the FAQ maintainers
with "(FAQ)" in the subject line.  You are absolutely welcomed to tackle
(i.e. WRITE) sections that have not been written yet.

We've received recommendations to put email address "pointers" in
the FAQ to vector questions to specific experts on particular
subjects.  If you would like to offer yourself as such an expert,
please send me your email address and the specific topics you want
to host.  Please include an email path that is generally accessible
to the greatest number of people.

GLOSSARY OF COMMONLY USED ABBREVIATIONS AND TERMS:
--------------------------------------------------

     AFM     = Aquarium Fish Magazine
     CO2     = Chemical symbol for carbon dioxide
     DIY     = Do-it-yourselfer type articles (somewhat equivalent
               to the FAMA "For what it's worth" column)
     (F)     = Used in subject line to indicate Freshwater
               discussion
     FAMA    = Freshwater And Marine Aquarium (magazine)
     H2O     = Water
     (M)     = Used in subject line to indicate Marine discussion
     MFM     = Marine Fish Monthly (magazine)
     M/O     = Mail Order
     NH3     = Chemical symbol for ammonia (highly toxic)
     NH4+    = Chemical symbol for ammonium ion (not so toxic)
     NO2-    = Chemical symbol for nitrite ion (toxic)
     NO3-    = Chemical symbol for nitrate ion (not so toxic)
     O3      = Ozone.  Highly reactive and unstable form of oxygen.
     pH      = Measure of acidity/alkalinity (See H2O quality)
     ppm     = Parts per million
     RO      = Reverse Osmosis (See filters)
     RUGF    = Reverse UGF
     sp.     = Species not identified; i.e. Cichlasoma sp.
     TFH     = Tropical Fish Hobbyist (magazine)
     UGF     = Under-Gravel Filter (See filters)


Anaerobic    = Without Oxygen.  In aquaria, this typically refers
               bacterial activity in water of low oxygen content.
Bettas       = Siamese Fighting Fish (Betta Splendens).  Often
               named Alpha for annoyingly obvious reasons :-).
               Often misspelled as Betas.
Redox        = Reduction-oxidation potential.  Measured in millivolts
           (mV).  Higher means better water quality.

REC.AQUARIA, ALT.AQUARIA, SCI.AQUARIA:
--------------------------------------
     A common question is why are there three newsgroups dedicated
to talking a aquaria related topics.  The actual story is quite
long and dirty, and will be written up at a later time.  For those
who don't know the history, let me whet your appetite by describing
the history with the name (of my creation):  "The Great Aquarian
Flame Wars."  [or maybe "The Dumb and the Fishless" :-)]
     The simple answer to the reason of why three groups is that
not all sites receive all three newsgroups.  The best solution (given the
existing setup) is to cross-post hobbyist-type articles to both
rec. and alt.aquaria.  Sci.aquaria should be reserved for egghead
discussions of fishy  science in latin :-) (e.g. physiology,
taxonomy, plant biology and ecology ... any topic ending in a "y").
     Although cross-posting will result in some people receiving
duplicate articles (because some newsreaders will not "mark"
articles as being read across newsgroups), this is generally the
best solution).

STARTING A NEW AQUARIUM:
------------------------
     Before one buys and sets up an aquarium for the first time,
one should buy or borrow a good beginner's book on the subject.  A
list of suggestions is included in this message.  The most important
ingredient in a new aquarium is patience.

     In summary, the following is a flow for setting up an
aquarium.

-    Decide on the type of fish and the number. DO NOT RUSH OUT AND
     BUY THE FISH YET!!
-    Decide on real/plastic plants.
-    Read up on the requirements and the compatibility (of flora
     and fauna).
-    Review choice of flora and fauna.
-    Determine size and type of aquarium.
     >>Rules of thumb:<<
     *    12 sq. in. of surface area per inch of ADULT fish (not
          including tail).  This is a very rough rule of thumb.
     *    Tall fish look good in tall tanks.  A tall tank with a
          given surface area will support the SAME number of fish
          as a short tank with the same surface area. (See above).
     *    Most fish prefer long/wide tanks.  We humanoids generally
          prefer tall tanks; they look better.
     *    PLASTIC vs. GLASS:
          Glass tanks weigh more and cost a lot less than plastic
          (acrylic/Plexiglass(TM)) tanks.  Plastic is easily
          scratched; glass can crack and spring a leak, or worst
          yet, shatter.  Fish look better in acrylic tanks (if it's
          quality plastic) because the index of refraction of
          acrylic is closer to the index of refraction of water.
     *    Each gallon of water weighs 8.5 pounds. Make sure your
          floor can support the weight.  Also ensure a stable
          platform.
     *    Larger aquaria are subject to less fluctuation of temperature
          and water quality.  Get the largest you can afford.
-    Choose a filtration system most appropriate for your fish and
     aquarium.  In general, water should be turned over 3-5 times
     an hour depending on fish load.  (See filters).
-    Determine size of heater.
     >>Rules of thumb:<<
     *    2.5 watts per gallon of water (for example, a 10 gallon
          tank needs a 25 watt heater).
     *    When possible, use two heaters to achieve desired wattage
          instead of one large heater (even distribution of heat,
          backup in case of breakage).
     *    Submersible heaters, for the most part, are a better
          choice.  Check the  manufacturers' instructions to see if
          the heater is salt-water compatible if you intend to use
          it in a brackish or salt-water tank.
-    Check prices. (See Mail Order).  Be cautious about "Starter
     Kits" and "Package Deals"; more often than not, they contain
     equipment that is obsolete, or is woefully inadequate for the
     task, or is simply unnecessary.
-    Re-evaluate everything based on budget.
-    Buy and setup aquarium.
-    Some may choose to "paint" the back of the aquarium (black or
     blue at this point.  Others may want to add commercially
     available aquarium backing (poster-like photos of plants).
     It's infinitely easier when the aquarium is dry.
-    If you choose UGFs (see filters), set this up first.
-    If you're using gravel, rinse it.
-    Set up the heater where there is water flow so the heat can be
     evenly distributed.  Do not bury it in the gravel.
-    Do not plug in anything electrical while setting up.
-    Let aquarium cycle for one-three weeks.  (This will allow
     chlorine/chloramine in tap water to dissipate, will allow the
     nitrogen cycle to start, and will let you see if there are
     water leaks).  (Cycle = letting the natural cycle of
     beneficial bacterial growth to establish itself).
Other options:
*         If you have a friend with an established tank (running
     over 6 months and healthy), check to see if you can put an
     easily moved filter (like a sponge filter: see Filters) in
     their tank for a week or so.  This will provide a healthy
     colony of nitrogen-removing bacteria for your new tank. Put
     this aged filter in your tank prior to adding fish, don't let
     it dry out or get too hot or cold.
*         If you will be using a UGF or a filter packed with gravel
     (see Filters), ask your friends to give you some gravel from
     their established tanks, especially if they also use UGFs.
     This will help you start the bio-filtration much more quickly.
     You can also use this technique when you start a new tank and
     you already have an aquarium.
*         If you wish to get rid of chloramines and/or chlorine
     quickly (instead of letting the water sit for a while),
     consider using commercially available de-chloraminators, like
     Kordon's AmQuell.
-         If you get a used tank, be very careful.  Test for leaks
     by filling the tank either in the bath tub or in the
     drive-way/on the lawn, where the leak will do least harm.
     Check all seals and re-seal the tank with *aquarium safe*
     silicone cement (Dow Chemicals and others make that stuff; buy
     it from hardware stores where the price is 25% of what you
     will pay for the same item in a pet shop).  Aquarium safe
     means no fungicides or other poisons which will leach into
     your aquarium and kill your fish.  READ THE LABEL.
-    Plant all plants at the same time before you add fish.  Your
     work becomes much easier if the tank is only half full of
     water.  See Plant Books for more info.
-    Add rock work and decorations after washing these.
-    Introduce fish into the aquarium over a length of time. (i.e.
     don't buy all the fish on the same day and dump them into the
     aquarium.  Spread it out over time.)  Start with the hardiest
     fish.
-    Don't introduce the pet store water with the fish.  Pet store
     water can contain all sorts of parasites and nasty beasties
     which may cause problems later.
-    One technique to slowly acclimate your new fish to your tank
     is to put the fish and its accompanying pet store water in a
     small, clean bucket (one that's never had soap or other
     chemicals in it) and establish a siphon with a piece of
     airline tubing with airstones at either end. This slow drip of
     water should fill the bucket in about an hour, when you should
     then carefully net the fish out and put them in the tank.
-    Change 25% of the water every three weeks and maintain
     filters.  >>This cannot be stressed enough!<<  Regular
     cleaning of your mechanical filter (sponges, whatever) and
     regular partial water changes will allow you to have a
     successful tank with less than *15 minute of maintenance per
     week*.  De-chloraminate water before you put it in your tank.
-    Test water regularly with test kits to ensure water quality is
     acceptable.

MOVING AN AQUARIUM:  Contributor: Timothy Shimeall
-------------------

The best word on moving fish (and in this discussion, fish
includes all aquarium animal life), beyond very short distances, is
DON'T.  Travel is very stressful on fish, and even with the best
precautions you should expect to lose several.  Given this is true,
you may want to seriously consider selling off your stock and
getting new fish at your destination.

If, given the above, you still want to try to move fish, then the
following may help to minimize the pain and loss of fish.

The task of moving fish basically splits into two tasks: moving the
tank, and then (later) moving the fish.  Do not attempt to move the
fish in their tank.

Moving the tank
---------------

The main problem in moving the tank is the filtration system.
After a very few hours (less than a day) without a flow of
oxygen-laden water, aerobic bacteria start to die.  This means that
if you are moving a short distance (an hours drive or so), it may
be possible to preserve your bacteria colony.  But beyond that,
you'll need to restart the bacteria.  (No, bacteria don't die after
an hour, but you need to account for tear down, packing, unpacking
and setup time, and have the total be only a few hours.)  This
leads to the following process:

1) Put your fish in a holding container (more on that below)

2) Drain your tank.  If the move is going to be short, preserve
some of the water to help preserve the bacteria colony.

3) Disassemble your tank.  Aquarium plants will survive a fair
amount of time if their roots are kept wet, so it should be possible
 to bag them with some water and set them aside for hand-moving.
If the move is going to be short, put your filter medium in a
sealed container (preferably a never-used pail or other
chemical-free hard-sided container) without cleaning it.  For long
moves, either clean or discard your filter media.  Pumps, heaters,
etc. can be packed as any fragile appliance.

4) Move your tank.  Don't use a moving company or professional
packers, unless you have absolutely no choice AND you can supervise
them packing the tank and loading it in the truck.  It's far better
to move it yourself.

5) Reassemble your tank at your destination.  If you're doing a
short move you should have enough dechlorinated/treated water
available on arrival to fill your tank and get water moving through
your filter.  If you're doing a long move, then set your tank up as
if it was a new tank-- including a week-long delay before putting
fish in the tank.  Initially, put in a few hardy fish to get the
nitrate cycle established.  After the tank is stable, put the fish
from your old home back in.

Moving the fish
---------------

There are three basic problems in moving the fish:
  - where do you put them while you're moving the tank (a week+)
  - how do you pack them
  - how do you support them while they're being moved

Where do you put them?  Two basic options:
+ A friend's tank
+ A pet store tank

Some pet stores will, for a fee, board fish during a move.  A
signed contract, detailing what responsibilities the pet store is
assuming, is a very good idea.   Some pet stores, for a further
fee, will pack and air-ship the fish to you on request.  This isn't
cheap.

Bear in mind that you'll be leaving the fish there for at least a
couple of weeks.

How do you pack them?

For short periods of time (a couple of hours, tops) you can put the
fish in sealed bags, half-filled with air.  This time can be
stretched somewhat by filling with oxygen, rather than air.  Put
the bags in a padded, compartmentalized container, and ship by air.
(This is basically how pet stores receive their fish).  For larger
fish, or longer trips, one can use a sealed bucket for each fish,
rather than a bag.

How do you support them on the move?

Fish basically won't eat during the move.  They're too stressed,
and you don't want to degrade the water quality by the food,
anyway.  Fish can survive a week or so without food if they've been
previously well fed.

Try to maintain an even temperature, perhaps by placing the fish in
a sealed cooler, or compartmentalized cooler.

For long trips, particularly by car, a battery-powered airpump and
airstone is a good idea (if not a must).

After the move, slowly condition the fish to the new tank location,
as you would in adding new fish to a tank.

GOOD BEGINNER BOOKS:    Contributed by Oleg Kiselev
--------------------
     Most aquarium books are reasonable in their advice.  Do be
careful of older books which were written before some of the more
recent advances in the science of aquaria were made.  Issues such
as the nitrogen cycle will probably not be covered well.  Libraries
are an excellent source of books, and one should go the library
first before spending any money.

Titles:

Baensh's Aquarium Atlas                 ~$22-28
Marine Aquarium Handbook by Martin Moe  ~$10
Vierke's Aquarium Book                  $10-15
Marine Aquarium Reference:
Systems and Invertebrates by Moe        ~$22-25
The Concise Encyclopedia of Aq. Fish    ~$10
     (Dick Mills)

Many of the "Fishkeeper's Guide" Books by Tetra press are quite
good, and are available for around $6-$10.  For plant books,
Barron's and Tetra's (~$5-6) are suggested.

FRESHWATER books:
A decent aquarium reference book need not be expensive or very
detailed.  What it must have is:
    - enough common species to make it usable
      (200-300 species is sufficient for most purposes)
    - recognizable pictures of fish to use as the identification
      guide descriptions of the species including:
        + length the fish will attain
        + typical behavior (and community tank compatibility)
        + spawning requirements
        + dietary needs
        + minimal tank size
        + water quality and temperature
    - some basic suggestions on how to set up an aquarium
    - some minimal info on fish diseases

There are many books that satisfy these requirements.  They are very
inexpensive and there is no excuse for someone to spend $20+ on the fish
that will die in 3-4 weeks instead of buying a book that would prevent
these losses for a lot less money.

For under $10:

Simon&Schuster's "Pocket Guide to Aquarium Fishes" which lists for $7
and can be found for $4 in discount book shops.  Not an "end-all"
reference volume but at least it does not lie too much.  I probably
like it because it has an excellent photo of Aphyosemion filamentosum
that looks just about like the A. filamentosum I have. (ISBN 0-671-25451-0)

At Crown Books and other "remaindered" book sellers, you will find a
book edited by Dick Mills that is called "The Concise Encyclopedia of
Tropical Aquarium Fishes" if it's published by Crescent (and Tetra's
Junior Atlas of Tropical Aquarium Fishes" if it's published by Tetra).
It covers all the basic ideas about setting up an aquarium and has
descriptions and fair quality photos of over 300 species of fish (the
book is not in front of me so can't give you more detail).  It's
published by Salamander Press in Europe and Tetra (Crescent) in US.
(Crescent edition ISBN 0-517-66776-2)

At Tower Books and other "mainstream" bookseller chains and larger book
stores, you will find Barron's series of translation of German aquarium
books, all between $5 and $8, concentrating on specific categories of
fish (Killifishes (ISBN 0-8120-4475-4), Cichlids (ISBN 0-8120-4597-1)),
or breeding (Ines Scheurman's "Aquarium Fish Breeding" (ISBN
0-8120-4474-6)), or general aquarium maintenance, or plants.  All of
these books give a beginner a solid introduction to what and why of the
the filtration, water chemistry and so on.  Any of these books make an
excellent starting point.  They don't have very many color photos,
which probably contributed to the low price, but have a lot of
drawings.

Also near the $10 mark (and a lot less through mail-order), are the
Tetra/Salamander series of "Fishkeeper's Guide To..." books.  They are
available at a number of "normal" book stores and I recommend "...
Healthy Aquarium" and "...Community Fishes" as the better beginner
books.  The rest of the series is quite good as well and any one of
these books should be a great start.

"The Innes Book" -- it is a thick volume that has gone through a dozen
publishers and something like 50 editions.  The newer ones will
probably be a bit more up to date, but the older ones are not bad,
either.  They range from $2 to $15 and my preference is for the oldest
editions.  I am personally looking for a leather bound printing from
early 30's.  Don't expect the fish names to match the current nomenclature
or in some case even the real species -- for the last 40 years "The Innes
Book" has had a picture of A. filamentosum for their Aphyosemion gardneri.

These are the cheapest books.  If you are willing to spend $15-20 (and
you better be willing to spend that much on the books if you are go
to spend that much on the fish!), the number of books is larger and the
amount of information increases.

Between $15 and $20 the books get larger, more colorful and complete:

van Ramshorst's Aquarium Encyclopedia published by HPBooks and sold by
Waldenbooks is a translation from Dutch and at $17.95 is among the
better "shopping list" aquarium books.  It is full of very good quality
color photos, covers over 570 species of fish, 80 species of plants,
all aspects of aquarium design, building, set-up, decor, etc.  Not much
on filtration, but that's all in FAQ, so not a big flaw for a USENET
reader.

Crown Books used to sell "The Living Aquarium", a translation from
Swedish published by Crescent Books.  It's close to $20 and does not
have descriptions of too many species, but has a lot of detailed
diagrams, goes into the black arts of filtration and lighting and
attempts to cover cold water and tropical fresh water, cold water and
tropical marine and brackish aquaria, suggesting the species and decor
for them.  It also has a section on building aquaria, as all European
books seem to.

MORE EXPENSIVE AND/OR SPECIALTY BOOKS:

There are many other books that are not cheap even when you buy them
mail-order (a sure way to save 50% on the price).  Many of these books
cost so much because of the large number of color photos in them and
because of the production values that went in.  You will have to decide
for yourself if it's worth your money to buy these and if you will find
something really worth while in them (I have spent several hundred $$$
on such books over the last few years and do not regret buying any of
them).  If nothing else, these books make great coffee table books that
are bound to get all sorts of comments from house guests.

WHERE TO FIND THE CHEAPEST BOOKS:

Look through the used book stores.  Books from 20-30 years ago may have
wrong Latin names for some of the fish, claim that certain species of
now-common fish are hard to breed, and may have less than adequate
coverage of filtration, but those books are still excellent general
references and (should) cost very little.

WHAT NOT TO BUY:

AVOID any books by TFH that are less than 100 pages or have a word
"Beginner" in the title.  Leaf through the book: if you see lots of
photos of products placed so that brand names are obvious and easy to
read, or you find a bunch of photos of grinning gap-toothed kids
holding up various pieces of equipment or poking their hands into an
aquarium -- put this book away and never look at it again.  These books
are (in my opinion) utter garbage.

There are a few exceptions to that rule in the TFH line: Dr. Jubb's
"Nothobranchius", 2 volumes of Jocher's "Spawning Problem Fishes" and
Windelow's "Aquatic Plants", but they fall into the "specialty"
category).

USEFUL DATA:   Contributor: [e-mail]
------------
Useful numbers for fresh water:

One foot of fresh water depth == .445 psi.

231 cu inches (in ^ 3) = 1 gallon

1 cu foot (ft ^ 3) = 7.48 gallons  =  1728 in^3

1 gallon H2O at 4C weighs 8.57 lbs /* this is derived from the
                          atmospheres/ft number, somebody
                          with a CRC can go get the right number,
                          but this is within a few % */

Example:

44x16x16 tank = 11264 in^3 = 48.76 gallons.

Tank will weigh 418 lbs (roughly) (+ rocks which have an SG much
higher than 1, so you can *roughly* say " + rocks ")

The pressure at the bottom of the tank will be .59 psi, or 85 psf,
roughly  13% more than the standard loading for code
construction,so catch an extra joist or three with the stand!!

Along the bottom strip of the tank, you will have a total
(uniformly spread side to side) force of ( 15.5/12*.445*44 = 25lbs)
pushing outwards against your joints.

The total force on the long side will be ( 8/12*.445*44*16 = 208
pounds).

/* Note:  In general, this is NOT half of the water weight.  This
is a coincidence due to the same bottom and side shape. */

Other useful points...

     Weight = psi at bottom * bottom area
          ( (44x16=704 in^2)  * .445*16/12 = 418 lbs)
Note: If this doesn't give you the same answer as the volume
calculation SOMETHING IS WRONG!

     Standard (new) wood joist floor loading is 75 psf.  This
corresponds to one 14" high tank of any other dimensions.  Before
you build that 30" high tank, think about where it goes!  For odd
houses and houses not to code, this may be worse (or better, who
knows?).

LIVE FOOD    Contributed by Oleg Kiselev and Steve Bartling
---------

The advantages of live foods over frozen and prepared foods are:

1) the uneaten food will not immediately decay and load up
   the filtration system,

2) foods can be raised in controlled conditions and be free of
   disease causing bacteria

3) most importantly, fish LOVE grabbing things that try to run away

Here are some live foods you can easily culture at home, to the extend that
I and some people on the NET have had experience with them:

BABY BRINE SHRIMP  (Artemia spp., usually A. salina)
    Uses:    baby brine shrimp are a food of choice for the newly hatched
        fry of egg-layers and other small fish.
    Culturing:  To hatch brine shrimp, you need very little.  You can
        build a hatchery out of almost anything.  I used to
        use 1 gal plastic water/milk jugs, and now use 12 oz
        soda bottles; Richard Sexton used 2 liter soda bottles
        in a rack; stores sell "shrimpolators" and plastic
        hatching cones.  Everything works, but a container with
        a concave or conical bottom is the best because the
        water flow has no dead spots.  Add air tubing connected
        to a small pump, put a light over it and keep
        temperature around 85 degrees if you want the shrimp to
        hatch faster.

        Ed Warner's book suggests 3.5 table spoons of uniodized
        salt per gallon of water.  He suggests using the
        cheapest salt available, like the water softener salt
        at $3 for 50 lb.  SF Bay Brand recommends hardening
        the water to improve hatching and shrimp survival, so
        adding some Epsom salt and a tiny pinch of baking soda
        may be a good idea.

        To have the shrimp hatch and not die the water in the
        culture has to be vigorously turned over to keep the
        shrimp in suspension.  I do this by aerating the water
        just like everyone else.  I use a 12' length of rigid
        air tubing attached to a 3' tail of flexible tubing
        attached to an air pump.  The rigid section keeps the
        hose from slipping out of the container.  I do not use
        an airstone, mostly because airstones crud up and clog
        too often in this environment.

        To get nauplii (hatched brine shrimp) out, I turn off
        the air, put a piece of rigid air (1/8") tubing with
        2-3 ft of flex tubing attached into the culture, let
        the stuff settle.  The shrimp egg cases will collect on
        top of the water, the shrimp ought to sink to the
        bottom (if the water is not too saline).  Then I just
        siphon the millions of wriggling shrimp off into a brine
        shrimp (fine) net, dump the lot into a cup of water and
        use an eye dropper to dispense to the fish.

        The nauplii will live in the tank for up to 24 hours.

    Sources:    eggs can be bought in most aquarium and pet shops or mail
        order.  Because I use almost 1 tsp/day to feed my fish, I
        buy 1 lb cans, which comes out much less expensive than the
        tiny ampoules sold in stores.  I keep the cans in the freezer
        and hold what I need for 2-3 weeks in a small, tight-lid
        jar.

        Ed Warner insists that the eggs of brine shrimp need at
        least a year of incubation to become ready to hatch.  He
        goes on to say that a low yield from a newly opened can of
        shrimp eggs may be due to insufficient incubation time and
        that the best hatches come from the eggs that had been kept
        for a few years, with the eggs kept for 5 years in a vacuum
        packed airtight container giving perfect 100% hatch rates.


ADULT BRINE SHRIMP:
    Uses:    Just about all fish under 5" long will readily eat brine
        shrimp.

    Culturing:  Don't bother.  The yields from the cultures are very low
        and it's easier to culture Daphnia and buy live brine shrimp
        in the pet shops.

        If you REALLY want to try them, get a large open top
        container (an aquarium, a garden tub, a baby wading pool),
        fill it with real or synthetic salt water and seed it with
        some green water and nutrients (fertilizer tabs or what have
        you) and wait for the water to turn yellow-green.  Throw in
        some baby brine shrimp or the adult shrimp you got in a pet
        shop and wait.  Adding small amounts of brewers yeast,
        APR and other micro-foods will help promote the shrimp
        growth.  It helps to put the culture in a brightly indirectly
        lit place to promote microalgae growth.

    Sources:    See above.

DAPHNIA ("water fleas", tiny crustaceans of Daphnia pulex and D. magna spp.)
    Uses:       these crustaceans are probably the most ideal food for
        the smaller fresh water -- Daphnia do not die in the
        tank and will eat microscopic garbage while they live.
        They come in a variety of sizes -- from hardly visible
        to over 1/8".  This is a typical source of food for
        many fish in the wild.

    Culturing:  I have used everything from betta bowls to 32 gal
        trashcans.  I feed the small indoor cultures various
        algae scrapings and tank sludge, as well as deactivated
        brewers yeast, powdered milk and APR (artificial
        plankton stuff from OSI).  Green water works best and
        that's what I use in my outdoor cultures.  To make
        green water, I use a weak solution of Miracle Grow and
        chelated iron in dechlorinated water, seeded with the
        "pea soup" water I try to cultivate.  If you leave a
        water full of nutrients out in full sun, within weeks
        you will have green water from the airborne algae
        spores.

        I have read that blender-pulverized lettuce works great
        in small amounts, but never tried it.

        For a while now I have been seeding fry tanks and bowls
        with Daphnia -- the Daphnia eat the bacteria that may
        be hazardous to the fry and generally purify water and
        the fry will eat them as they get larger.

        Another thing I tried was dumping freshly hatched fry into
        Daphnia cultures (about 2 fry/liter) and not paying any
        attention to them for weeks.  It worked, but not as well as
        I hoped.  The fry kept in equivalent sized tanks and fed
        more intensively grew faster.

        Use a shrimp net or a fine fish net to catch Daphnia.

    Sources:    catch the Daphnia in a local lake (but beware of parasites
            like Hydra and various carnivorous insects), get a clean
        culture from a local aquarium club or mail order.

CYCLOPS
    Uses:       same as Daphnia, but predatory.  Can damage eggs
        and very young egg-layer fry.  Nauplii can be used like
        brine shrimp nauplii.

    Culturing:  as Daphnia (but less numerous per the same volume).

    Sources:    often comes with the culture of worms or as contaminants
        in Daphnia cultures.  Very hard to eradicate once they
        start breeding in the tank.  Also mail order and club
        auctions, as Daphnia.

MOSQUITO LARVAE:
    Uses:    most adult fish of smaller species love them.  As long as
        fish are bigger than the larvae, they'll eat them.
        Aquatic larvae of flying insects is the main ingredient in
        the diet of many small fish in the wild.

    Culturing:  very simple.  Put a wide-mouth bucket or a barrel
        or a tub of water outside.  Throw in small amounts of
        evaporated milk or grass clippings in a nylon bag to
        seed the water with bacteria and promote the growth of
        infusoria, mosquito larvae's food sources; green water
        works well, too.  Some people even use manure!  If
        there are mosquitoes in your area, 2-3 weeks later you
        will have larva in your water.  I use a coarse fish net
        to scoop up the larva and feed them to the mid-water
        and top-feeding fish.

    Sources:    Wait for the little bloodsuckers to discover your bucket of
        evil-smelling bacterial soup, or go find "floats" of mosquito
        eggs in a nearby lake or puddle.

BLACK WORMS:
    Uses:    these disgusting, bacteria-infested stinkers are among the
        best sources of protein for the fish and are an excellent
        conditioning food for breeding preparation.

        WARNING: frequent feedings will cause the fish to become fat
        and impair breeding.  Also, diseases are far more likely on a
        steady diet of worms.

        ANOTHER WARNING: if you have gravel in your tank, worms will
        burrow into it and hide, fouling up the tank.

    Culturing:    May not be worth it.  Worms will live on the bottom of a tank,
        eating scum and breeding.  I fed them banana peels.  Filter
        water intensively.  Collect them by sieving gravel with worms
        through a net.  Messy, laborious and there are easier
        sources of protein.

    Sources:    most aquarium shops have these uglies.

    (Tubifex are even uglier and stinkier and if you know what's good for you
    you will not attempt to raise them.  It *is* possible, but consider --
    they live in sewage, eating human shit, carrying hepatitis....  Ugh!)

GRINDAL WORMS (very small worms):
    Uses:    these worms are small (up to 1/2") and can feed a variety
        of small fishes.  Because of the way they are raised,
        they are totally disease free.  They do not burrow as
        readily as other worms and live in the water for a few
        days.  Great for bottom feeders and any fish fast
        enough to grab food sinking to the bottom or smart
        enough to look for it (i.e. just about all fish).

    Culturing:    get a plastic shoe box (I get mine at Target on sale for $1),
        fill it with sterile potting soil and peat moss mix (50-50),
        or just potting soil, get it moist, perhaps nuke it in the
        microwave oven for 5 minutes to thoroughly sterilize it, let
        it cool, dump a small starter culture of worms into it
        and sprinkle some high protein cereal powder (Gerber, for
        instance) every time you see all of it gone -- and watch them
        breed!  Put a piece of glass on the soil and the worms will
        crawl on it.  I wash the worms off the glass into a cup with
        clean water and use a large medicine dropper (1 tsp) to
        dispense.  If you use troughs to place food, the glass will be
        free of potentially water-clouding soil.  One healthy culture
        produces enough for me to feed about 100 small fish.

        Remember to keep the culture moist but not soaked and
        soupy.  Spray it with dechlorinated water now and then.

        Cultures like this often get over-run with mites and/or
        gnats.  Both pests can be fed to the fish and are readily
        eaten, but soon become a nuisance.  Should this happen,
        take some worms and keep them in a cup of water for 3-4
        hours.  This will drown the infestation and you can use the
        worms as a new starter culture.  I have had some spotty luck
        salvaging the old infested cultures, but it's occasionally
        worth the effort.

        If the worms are not growing well, try adjusting the soil's
        pH by mixing a bit of baking soda into it to neutralize the
        peat's acidity.

        An interesting technique of culturing worms is used by some
        German killi breeders.  They use open-celled foam that sits
        in a tray filled with water and is covered by a piece of
        glass.  This method is cleaner than the soil/peat one.

    Sources:    friends, local aquarium clubs and mail order.

WHITE WORMS (small worms):
    Uses:    these worms are up to 1" long and are good for feeding
        fish under 3"-4" long.

    Culturing:    Similar to Grindal worms, but these worms fair very badly
        at high temperatures.  Keep them under 70F.  They will eat
        the same foods as Grindals, but a number of sources suggest
        that white bread soaked in milk is a very good food for
        these worms.

        Keep these worms in complete darkness.  They will come out
        of the soil and coat the bread, devouring it shortly and
        clustering in a writhing mass.  Pluck this mass of worms
        off the soil and use it to feed the fish.  The worms will
        hide in the soil as soon as the light strikes them, so be
        swift about grabbing them!

    Sources:    same as Grindals.

EARTHWORMS:
    Uses:    feeding of medium and large fish (over 4" long).

    Culturing:    Here is an excerpt from an article posted by Steve Bartling
        ([e-mail]) over 2 years ago.
    >To raise earthworms cheaply and easily :
    >
    >
    >1) build a box out of wood ( any size is fine, a bigger box
    >   = more worms ) ( apt dwellers can make do with a 1' x 1' x 8" box)
    >
    >   a) attach the top with two cheap hinges
    >   b) drill/cut two 2-inch holes in the front of the box
    >      in such a way as to line up the bottom of the hole
    >      with the bottom of the inside of the box
    >   c) paint the box with any outdoor rated, oil based paint.
    >   d) place a small piece of fine plastic screen against
    >      holes that were drilled/cut. Make sure that you place
    >      the screen on the inside of the box. Firmly nail the
    >      screen into place. The screen will allow the box to drain,
    >      but will not allow the worms to escape.
    >
    >The box is now complete.
    >
    >2) prepare the box for worms
    >
    >   a) buy enough peat moss from a garden supply store or nursery
    >      to fill up the box ( remember the peat moss will compact
    >      after it gets soaking wet )
    >   b) place the peat moss in the box and completely soak the
    >      peat moss ( stir it up until you are sure it is uniformly
    >      wet ).
    >   c) get 6 bricks
    >   d) place one brick at each front corner and two bricks at each
    >      rear corner so that the box slopes forward and can drain
    >      from the holes.
    >   e) place a pan under the holes to catch the future runoff
    >      ( unless you place the box outside ). Note, after worms
    >      are growing, the runoff is great for plants.
    >
    >3) Now, for the worms
    >
    >   a) go buy three or four boxes of the smallest worms that
    >      you can find at a fish and tackle shop.
    >   b) put the worms in the box
    >   c) buy some corn meal ( a small bag will last forever !! )
    >      This is all the worms need for adequate nutrition.
    >   d) every three or four days, sprinkle a LIGHT layer of corn
    >      meal on top of the peat moss. Note : before you apply
    >      each new layer, use a small, tined garden hand tool to
    >      stir up the peat moss and to mix the corn meal left over
    >      from the previous feeding into the peat moss.
    >   e) Wait about a month, and you will discover that you have
    >      literally millions of worms ranging in size from
    >      tiny little young worms to fully adult worms. The baby
    >      worms can be used for small fish and very young fish, while
    >      the larger worms will easily satisfy the live food
    >      requirements of even the most ravenous large fish.
    >   f) this is an infinitely renewable resource !!! You can
    >      not possibly feed your fish enough worms to reduce
    >      or even dent the supply. I have been keeping worms
    >      for fishing and for fish food for 17 years, TRUST ME !!
    >   g) the peat moss must be kept damp by periodic watering.
    >      Don't over water !! Do not allow it to dry out !! The
    >      worms will die QUICKLY if the peat moss dries out.
    >      Fortunately, peat moss retains water very well, and
    >      watering is rarely needed.
    >   h) The worms must not be allowed to freeze. The worms and the
    >      worm box will not smell and can be kept in garages or closets
    >      during the winter. The worms do not like being baked in
    >      the full evening sun in the summer ( you will kill them ).
    >      Place them in a shady location if they are left outside.
    >   i) keep the lid closed, worms like it dark.
    >
    >4) Other uses for Earthworms !
    >
    >   a) potted plants love earthworms !!
    >   b) gardens love earthworms !!
    >   c) lawns love earthworms !!
    >   d) fish love earthworms !!
    >   e) Gorbeshev loves earthworms !!
    >      Well, maybe not :-)
    >

    Sources: your back yard, bait shops, gardening shops, aquarium clubs.

INFUSORIA (microscopic aquatic protozoans)
    Uses:    feeding of newly hatched fry.
    Culturing:    I use green water (i.e. natural algae growth) and banana
        peal.  Others use yeast, drops of milk, boiled lettuce,
        other plant material, alfalfa pellets, etc.

        I feed by using an eye dropper to just add the critters to
        the fry jars.

    Sources:    old tank water, friends, mail order.

MICROWORMS (Nematodes)
    Uses:    these microscopic worms are good for feeding newly hatched fry
        and the smallest fish.
    Culturing:  Get some Oatmeal pablum or Gerber high-protein cereal
        mixed with enough water to form a paste, put it in a
        dish.  Add some live yeast (Fleishman's) or a generous
        portion of deactivated brewers yeast (the latter method
        does not create nearly as smelly a culture as the
        active yeast!).  Seed with a small quantity of
        Nematodes.  In about a week, start "harvesting" the
        Nematodes off the sides of the dish (I use a Q-tip or a
        brush) or place a flat piece of plastic or wood onto
        the culture and scrape the worms off with a razor when
        they become numerous (you can use a piece of a popsicle
        stick as this "collection platform").  Wash them out in
        a glass of clean water, dump them into the tank.
        Remember to keep the culture wet and when it starts
        turning dark and intolerably stinky, clone it to a
        clean container being careful not to transfer any of
        the fouled substrate -- just the Nematodes that had
        climbed up the walls of the container.

    Sources:    friends, clubs, mail order.

FRUIT FLIES, WINGLESS and FLIGHTLESS (Drosophila species):
    Uses:    The fruit flies are the closest analog to the natural diet
           for most killifish and many other small fish.

    Culturing:    I use 1/2 gal fruit juice bottles.  The media is a mail
        order instant mush that seems to be some sort of
        instant mashed potatoes substance that smells like pure
        starch mixed with fungicides.  I use enough to get a
        1/4-1/2" layer of media at the bottom of the bottle and
        add enough water to get it to a sourcream-like
        consistency.  It should be dense enough to not run when you
        tilt the bottle.  Next I place a 2 layer roll of plastic
        "bug screen" mesh into the bottle, so the flies and
        maggots have somewhere to climb out of the wet goo --
        it seems to help their survival.  I dump in a few fruit
        flies, perhaps a dozen.  Finally, the bottle is
        stoppered with a wad of filter floss, so my flies can't
        get out and the wild fruit flies and other critters
        can't get in.

        2 weeks later I have newly hatched fruit flies ready to
        be fed to the fish.  The culture keeps producing for 2
        months or so and should be "cloned" after some 6 weeks
        of operation.  When you see the previously cream-colored
        media become dark and "used up" looking, it's time for
        the new culture.  It's probably easier and safer to
        clone the culture every 4-6 weeks and be ready for the
        eventual crash of the old culture.

        To feed the fish, I sharply shake the bottle to knock the
        flies away from the stopper, open a fish tank cover, open
        the bottle, turn it up side down and give it a few taps,
        shaking out a dozen or more flies every shake.  The media
        gets thick enough by then to not drip out.

        CAUTION!  These flies are wingless/flightless, but not
        legless.  They will walk up the sides of the tank, crawl out
        through the cracks and head straight for your kitchen and
        the bunch of grapes you left out.  They may be fish food,
        but they are still fruit flies.  Feed them to fish in small
        doses.

        There are several different strains of usable fruit flies.
        Some are smaller than 1/8", others are over 3/16".  Some are
        completely wingless or have vestigial stubby wings (wingless),
        others have the wings that are so large that they are useless
        (flightless).  The flies I have now are the huge, flightless
        kind.

        CAUTION!  The "wingless" fruit flies will sprout functional
        wings if they are kept at high temperatures, so keep the
        culture cool.  One advice I have encountered: open the jar
        outdoors, let the winged flies fly away, then make sure the
        rest pupate at a cooler temperature.

        HINT: You can chill a jar of Drosophila in a refrigerator
        for a few minutes to make them sluggish and/or immobile.
        This makes them lots easier to handle when you're breeding
        up a new batch, and also makes them less likely to wander
        off and eat your food.  Your fish might not like to eat
        them cold and still, though.

    Sources:    Same as everything else, friends, clubs, mail order.

Disclaimer:
-----------
Some answers listed above may reflect personal biases of the author
and the FAQ's contributors.  In cases where the answers name
specific products and their respective manufacturers, these are not
to be taken as endorsements, nor commercials for the manufacturer.
Where cost information is stated (magazine subscription rates),
this is based on "street" information, and are in no way binding on
the publisher.  The answers contained in this series pertain to
discussions on the rec. and alt.aquaria newsgroups, and are by no means
exhaustive.  This series is not intended to take the place of good
aquarium books on the subject matter.

Copyright:
----------
The FAQ owes its existence to the contributors of the net, and as
such it belongs to the readers of rec.aquaria and alt.aquaria.
Copies can be made freely, as long as it is distributed at no
charge, and the disclaimers and the copyright notice are included.

Newsgroups: alt.aquaria,rec.aquaria,sci.aquaria
Subject: FAQ: Magazines and mail order
From: [e-mail] (Tony Li)
Date: 1 Apr 1993 09:05:10 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail],[e-mail]
Organization: cisco Systems

           Magazines and mail order information

Rev 1.13 2/26/93

Prologue:
---------
This monthly series is intended to address some of the frequently
asked questions (FAQ) on the rec. and alt.aquaria newsgroups.  Because
the answers may not be complete, please feel free to ask questions.
This is only intended to address first level concerns, and not to
dampen discussions.  Please see the file FAQ.README for pointers to other
topics.

Please review and send any corrections or inputs to the FAQ maintainers
with "(FAQ)" in the subject line.  You are absolutely welcomed to tackle
(i.e. WRITE) sections that have not been written yet.

I've received recommendations to put email address "pointers" in
the FAQ to vector questions to specific experts on particular
subjects.  If you would like to offer yourself as such an expert,
please send me your email address and the specific topics you want
to host.  Please include an email path that is generally accessible
to the greatest number of people.

NOTE:
-----

This section of the FAQ is NOT updated regularly.  It is almost certainly
not up to date.

MAGAZINES:
----------
Freshwater and Marine Aquarium  (monthly)
          P.O. Box 487,
          Sierra Madre, CA 91024
          Phone [phone]

          1yr/12 iss.    $22.00
          2yr/24 iss.    $43.00

          Outside US     $27.50/yr  (no 2 year subscr.)

Tropical Fish Hobbyist  (monthly)
          One TFH Plaza,
          Neptune City, NJ 07753
          Phone [phone]

          1yr/12 iss.    $25.00

          Foreign - add $11.00/yr

     **note:   The edition found in retail stores often does NOT
               have mail order ads; the home subscription edition
               does.  Do not buy one at the store for m/o
               addresses without checking it out first.

Aquarium Fish Magazine  (monthly)

          The following special offer is made by _AFM_ for readers of
      the *.aquaria newsgroups.

*****************************************************************************
As a special offer to readers of *.aquaria, subscriptions to _Aquarium Fish
Magazine_ are being made available at a special price.  You can receive a
2-year subscription for only $23.97.  This offer applies to both new
subscriptions and renewals, and represents a significant savings over the
normal subscription cost of 2 years for $38.00.  In other words, you get 2
years for the price of 1.

To take advantage of this offer, send a check or money order to the address
below.  You must include the subscription department in the address in order
to receive the special price.

                       Aquarium Fish Magazine
                       Subscription Dept. FHNT
                       P.O. Box 6040
                       Mission Viejo, CA 92690
                       USA

Canadian subscribers please add $8 and foreign subscribers please add $12 to
the subscription price.  Please pay by international money order.
******************************************************************************

Practical Fishkeeping  (British mag)
          MOTORSPORT
          RR1 Box 200 D.
          Jonesburg MO 63351-9616

          US     - $42.00 per year

KOI USA (bi-monthly)
          KOI USA
          P.O. Box 1
          Midway City, CA 92665
          U.S.A.

          6 issues per year
          $15 in U.S., US$ 19.50 in Canada


MAIL ORDER:
-----------
     Although prices are lower through mail order, one must
consider the cost of the shipping and handling, the delay time if
product is not in stock, and the fact that the mail order company
will typically not answer detailed questions.  Your local retailer
on the other hand must pay for the overhead of inventory, and often
times are willing to answer questions.  We need to collectively
ensure the survival of good, helpful stores with fair prices.

The following are just some of the larger m/o places.  There are many more
to be found in magazines in ads.

TFP- That Fish Place             800-733-3829
MOP- Mail Order Pet Shop         800-326-7387
PW - Pet Warehouse               800-443-1160
                                 800-443-1176 after 5 & Wknds
DLC- Daleco                      219-747-7376
WTA- Wet Thumb Aquatics          313-725-0960

                TFP   MOP        PW   DLC   WTA
Price           1.5   1.2        2.0  2.5   1.0
Selection       1.6   1.9        2.3  1.5   3.0
Service         1.7   2.3        1.0  2.0   1.0
Processing      2.1   2.0        1.0  1.5   1.0
Completeness    1.6   2.1        1.3  2.0   2.0
Correctness     1.1   1.4        1.0  1.5   1.0
Damage          1.0   1.2        1.0  1.0   1.0

Sum             10.6  12.1       9.6  12    10
# Responses     11    10         3    2     1
Avg        1.5   1.7     1.3  1.7   1.4

Criterion:

Price - total cost of an average order.
1 - excellent, 2 - good, 3 - fair, 4 - pet shop

Selection: do they carry what you want?
1 - anything you could possibly want, 2 - good, 3 - fair, 4 - poor.

Customer service: are they pleasant on the phone? Do the sales
people provide accurate product information? Are printed materials
helpful?
1 - excellent, 2 - good, 3 - fair, 4 - why are you calling and
bothering them?

Order processing: how fast is your order processed? (When does it
leave the warehouse? Not when do you actually receive it, as this
varies with your location!)
1 - same day, 2 - 1-3 days, 3- longer than three days.

Order completeness: they have in stock what you ordered?
1 - rarely a stock out, 2 - occasional, 3 - often items are out of
stock.

Order correctness: they send what you ordered?
1 - never a problem, 2 - minor problems, 3 - common problem.

Order damage: do you ever receive broken items?
1 - never a problem, 2 - minor problems, 3 - common problem.

A Quick and Dirty Five Item Price Check, shipping not included:

                TFP   MOP        PW   DLC   WTA

Python WC       21.79 21.79     21.88 24.95 21.00
AquaClear Mini  9.95  9.99       9.98 13.95  n/c*(Supreme)
H. Cich Gold    5.89  3.89       3.98  5.28 4.35*(Nippon Cich Dlx)
Bio Bags 24pk   10.95 11.29     10.89 16.99  n/c (Ginger 4 packs)
Ebo Jag. 100w   14.29 12.29     14.29 14.25 15.00 (Rena "F")
Stress Coat 16oz 3.95  3.99      3.98  5.95  n/c (Mydor products)

                66.82 63.24    65.00  81.37  n/c

n/c= not comparable, WTA does not carry these exact brands.

***Remember that shipping cost and sales tax (if applicable) must
be considered in your final cost.**

The Big fish:
____________________
That Fish Place
237 Centerville Rd.
Lancaster, PA 17603

Clearly, a favored source for mail order.  Best catalogue (very
useful for ordering from other places).   I received no "horror"
stories, only one minor complaint.

Good Source for: Plants

Shipping: Actual Cost
____________________
Mail Order Pet Shop
250W Executive Drive       1338 North Market Blvd.
Edgewood, Ny 11717         Sacramento, CA 95834

Probably the total lowest cost place for supplies.  However, it
seems that people either love or hate them.  I received several
complaints about service and bulk products being shorted etc.
People like their flat fee for shipping.

Shipping: $2.99 orders <= $10, $5.99 orders> $10

The small fry:
____________________

Pet Warehouse
Dept. FA-122
P.O. Box 20250
Dayton, OH 45420

Not used extensively.  However, I received many positive comments.
People like their quick service.

Shipping:  $30 or <   $3.95
           $30-45     4.75
           $45-60     5.75
           $60-75     6.75
           $75-150    8.50
           $150 or >  10.50

--------------------
Daleco
3340 Land Drive
Fort Wayne, IN 46809-1531

Has many unusual items.  Shipping is included in prices for orders
over $30 but prices still seem high.  Complaint received that back
ordered items was "just forgotten about."

Good Source for: Live Food Cultures, Dupla Products, LaMotte Test
Kits

Shipping: Free, orders under $30.00 require a $3.00 handling fee

--------------------
Wet Thumb Aquatic
52700 Base St.
New Baltimore, MI 48047

Smaller outfit.  Their selection is not great but prices are very
good.  They are more breeder oriented. They ship same day. Free
shipping for orders over $75.

Good Source for: Regenerative Blowers and Reverse Osmosis units.

Shipping:  $25 or <   2.50
           $25-45     3.50
           $45-60     4.50
           $60-75     5.50
           $75 or >   Free

--------------------
Others mentioned but not ranked:

Botany Bay: aquatic garden supplies, order was placed but shipment
had not been received by time of survey. 206-537-5223

Delaware Aquatics Imports: Water grown aquatic plants and supplies.
Many people like their plants. 302-738-4042

Spectacular Sea System: Specializing in marine lighting and
accessories ranked 3,3,1,1,1,1,1 305-941-3792

POND MAIL ORDER:    Contributed by Diane DeMers
----------------
These are from ads in Sunset, Horticulture, and Fine Gardening magazines.
I've tried my best to get all the info correct; I don't have any first-hand
knowledge (yet) with any except the catalogs from Lilypons. Note: these
were all "regular" ads; I didn't look through the classified sections of
these magazines.


Dolphin Outdoors
Fiberglass Ponds for gardens and fish
[phone]
Send SASE for brochure and prices
1808 W. Campbell Ave
Campbell, CA 95008

Hermitage Garden Pools
[phone]
Fiberglass garden pools, rock waterfalls, self-contained redwood
waterwheels; bubbling fantasias
Send $1.00 for color catalog
PO Box 361, Dept. A
Canastoga, NY 13032

Lilypons Water Gardens
pond liners, accessories, plants (lilies, lotus, etc), fish, etc.
100-page Catalog subscription $5.00
[Personal note: I've never bought anything from them yet, but I do
like their catalog]
3 locations:
Dept. 1626
PO Box 10
Buckeystown, MD 21717-0010
[phone]

Dept. 1626
PO Box 188
Brookshire, TX 77423-0188
[phone]

Dept. 1626
PO Box 1130
Thermal, CA 92274-1130
[phone] or [phone] (different ads had different Ph # here)

Paradise Water Gardens
[phone]  FAX: [phone]
Great books on water gardening (too numerous to list here); water lilies,
fountains, pumps, Koi, goldfish, aquatic plants, tub gardens.
Send $3.00 for a 60-page full-color catalog
56 May St. FN06
Whitman, MA 02382

Pets Unlimited
[phone]
Featuring TetraPond products
Send $3.00 for color brochure, price list, plus "Digest for a Successful
Pond"
1888 Drew
Clearwater, FL 34625

Resource Conservation Technology, Inc.
[phone]
Butyl Pond liners. 20-year warranty. Won't harm fish or plants, won't
stiffen in cold weather, resists sunlight better than plastics. Call or
write for literature and samples of the liner and Liner Protection Fabric.
2633 N. Calvert St.
Baltimore, MD 21218

Slocum Water Gardens
Water Lily Catalog: water lilies, lotus, fancy Goldfish
Complete info on tubs, concrete pools, and ponds
Send $3.00
Slocum Water Gardens, Dept. FI592
1101 Cypress Gardens Rd.
Winter Haven, FL 33880

TetraPond
32-mil, flexible PVC liners, 10-year guarantee; accessory products,
fish and plant foods, water treatments, etc.
Write for free "how-to" brochure
Tetra Sales (USA)
Department P-9208
201 Tabor Road,
Morris Plains, NJ 07950

Van Ness Water Gardens
Water lilies, bog plants, info, pumps, filters, maintenance
[phone]   For 56-page color catalog, send $4.00
2460 N. Euclid , Dept. 877
Upland, CA 91786-1199

Waterford Gardens
[phone]
Water Lilies, bog plants, lotus, pools and accessories, ornamental fish
$5.00 for 1992 catalog
74 East Allendale Road, Dept F
Saddle River, NJ 07458

Waterland USA
Fountains for your home, patio, or garden
[phone] Call for free brochure
27071 Cabot Rd., Suite 116
Laguna Hills, CA 92653

William Tricker, Inc.
[phone]
Rare and unusual varieties of water lilies, aquatic plants, fish, etc.
Send $3.00 for full-color catalog
7125 Tanglewood Drive
Independence, OH 44131

MAIL ORDER LIVE ROCK (Contributed by Ron Burns)
--------------------

A listing of all FAMA advertisers Selling live rock in their ads.
From FAMA Sept. 1992

1)  Coral Solutions.  [phone]    [phone] FAX
    Indonesian, Caribbean, Mexican.
    No pricing listed.

2)  Conch Republic Aquatics, Inc.  1-800-TO-CONCH  [phone] FAX
    Macro-Algae coral base rock
    35lb/Box
    <10 boxes  $1.50 / lb   (few of us order more than 350 lbs at a time)
    Ricordea and Gorgonian Rock
    No pricing listed

3)  Caribbean Creatures  1-800-728-3999   [phone] FAX
    Purple coralline encrusted live reef rock
    $89.95 / Box   no info on amount in box

4)  Natural Aquariums Unlimited  [phone]   [phone] FAX
    live rock available   no other info

5)  Reef Rock International  [phone]
    Mexican live rock  Encrusting coralline algae
    35-40lb/box
    #1 grade $124.00 / box
    #2 grade $ 86.00 / box
    #3 grade $ 62.00 / box
        No explanation of grade, or if any of them made it past 3rd grade

6)  Pisces Coral & Fish  [phone]
    Sea of Cortez and Caribbean  Encrusting algaes and corallines
    sizes 2" to 24"
    $1.45 / lb   30 lb minimum   or
    $49.95/box   35-40lb/box

7)  Zoo Tech  1-800-231-9005
    "Weekly live rock specials"   No other info

8)  Reef Displays of the Florida Keys, Inc. [phone]  [phone] FAX
    Fresh and cured live rock / Caribbean decorative live rock
    no pricing info

9)  Exotic Aquaria, Inc.   1-800-622-5877orders [phone] [phone] Fax
    Cured live rock
    30lb/box
    $125.00/box

10) Reef Scapers  [phone]
    Florida live rock
    30lb/box
    Plant rock - $40.00 / box
    Reef rock -  $70.00 / box

11) Canine Cutlery and World of Aquatics [phone]  [phone] Fax
    Live rock
    no other info

12) Brantana Aquatics [phone]  [phone] Fax
    Live Rock
    Christmas worm $6.00/lb
    Halimeda & Coralline Algae $4.00/lb

13) Exotic, Fresh & Reef Enterprises 1-800-882-7489  [phone] Fax
    Live Rock Florida keys rock fresh or cured
    30lb/box
    $70.00/box

14) The Reef, Etcetera  [phone]
    Live aquarium reef rock
    2" to 24"
    35-40lb/box
    $45.95

15) C & B Distributors  [phone]   [phone] Fax
    Live Rock
    Plant Rock
    no other info

16) Cortez Handcaught Marines, Inc.  [phone]  [phone] Fax
    "tank raised, live rock" ???
    No other info

17) Dolfin International Import/Export [phone]  [phone] Fax
    Live Rock by the pound cleaned and cured
    no other info

18) Caribbean Connection  [phone]   [phone] Fax
    Live Rock  /  Plant Rock
    By the pound, from the diver
    no pricing ( "Competitive Priced" )

Disclaimer:
-----------
Some answers listed above may reflect personal biases of the author
and the FAQ's contributors.  In cases where the answers name
specific products and their respective manufacturers, these are not
to be taken as endorsements, nor commercials for the manufacturer.
Where cost information is stated (magazine subscription rates),
this is based on "street" information, and are in no way binding on
the publisher.  The answers contained in this series pertain to
discussions on the rec. and alt.aquaria newsgroups, and are by no means
exhaustive.  This series is not intended to take the place of good
aquarium books on the subject matter.

Copyright:
----------
The FAQ owes its existence to the contributors of the net, and as
such it belongs to the readers of rec.aquaria and alt.aquaria.
Copies can be made freely, as long as it is distributed at no
charge, and the disclaimers and the copyright notice are included.

Newsgroups: alt.aquaria,rec.aquaria,sci.aquaria
Subject: FAQ: Water quality
From: [e-mail] (Tony Li)
Date: 1 Apr 1993 09:05:11 GMT
@DAYBYTES@Reply-To: [e-mail],[e-mail]
Organization: cisco Systems

                   Water Quality

Rev 1.10 1/4/93

Prologue:
---------
This monthly series is intended to address some of the frequently
asked questions (FAQ) on the rec. and alt.aquaria newsgroups.  Because
the answers may not be complete, please feel free to ask questions.
This is only intended to address first level concerns, and not to
dampen discussions.  Please see the file FAQ.README for pointers to other
topics.

Please review and send any corrections or inputs to the FAQ maintainers
with "(FAQ)" in the subject line.  You are absolutely welcomed to tackle
(i.e. WRITE) sections that have not been written yet.

I've received recommendations to put email address "pointers" in
the FAQ to vector questions to specific experts on particular
subjects.  If you would like to offer yourself as such an expert,
please send me your email address and the specific topics you want
to host.  Please include an email path that is generally accessible
to the greatest number of people.


WATER QUALITY, NITROGEN CYCLE AND FISH DISEASE PREVENTION:
----------------------------------------------------------
     Water quality is important to the health of your piscine
guests.  In fact, most diseases and parasitic infections are due to
lowered immunal defenses because of poor nutrition and bad water
quality.  So, if your fish are diseased, the first suspect is
usually your water.
     In the wild, most fish live in large bodies of water that
minimizes the changes in water quality.  (i.e. the ocean remains
very constant in salinity, temperature, etc. because it is so
large.  Therefore, marine aquaria require constant vigilant
care).  So depending on the fish, the constancy of the water
quality is also important.

WATER QUALITY
     Besides the nitrogen cycle and the disposal of organic waste,
there are other factors that influence water quality.  Air pumps
can draw contaminated air (read smoker exhalations) into the water.
Other pollutants include paint, insecticides etc.  Therefore air
should be filtered before being pumped into the water.  (See
FILTERS).  Another major form of contaminants are our hands.  If we
do not wash our hands, we carry Lord-knows-what into the water (do
you know where your hands have been?).  If we wash them, we bring
minute traces of soap which is very bad for the mucous on the fish.
The best thing is to rinse our hands in very hot water.

NITROGEN CYCLE
     Ecosystems absorb and make use of the biological/metabolic
waste.  The waste (pee and poo) from animals breaks down into
ammonia and other nitrogen compounds which are used by other
organisms (such as plants) in the ecosystem.
     Ammonia (NH3) and ammonium (NH4+) exist in equilibrium with
the exact ratios depending on pH (higher pH allows for more
ammonia).  Ammonia is poisonous to fish in just about any
concentration (ammonium is relatively harmless).  It is converted
by bacteria of Nitrosomonas species (among others) to nitrite,
which is also toxic (but less so).  Nitrite, in turn, is converted
to relatively harmless nitrate by the bacteria of Nitrobacter
species (among others).  This is where things usually stop in an
aquarium.
     Despite the mistaken notion promoted by all too many aquarium
books, nitrates are not readily taken up by the plants and actually
stop the plants' growth in high concentrations.  There are two ways
to get rid of the nitrates (which become stressful for fish above
60 ppm concentrations): partial water changes and denitrification.
The former is the easiest and least expensive method.  The latter
can be done by using bacteria of Pseudomonas species living in
nearly anaerobic conditions in very slow flow and long-path filters
or by ion-exchange (see Chemical Filtration).  Both are not at all
cheap or very easy to tune.  So stick to partial water changes.
     Plants are somewhat useful in the nitrogen cycle.  It is now
believed that they absorb ammonium and in doing so, they shunt the
nitrogen cycle by shifting the ammonia/ammonium balance.  This in
turn causes more ammonia to be converted to ammonium to maintain
the balance at a specific pH.  But because a large number of plants
are needed (most fish concentrations in the wild are much lower
than that found in aquaria), one should stick with water changes.

 [The preceding is a generalization.  The real bio-chemistry of the
nitrogen cycle and all its aspects is very complex.  And, of
course, all of this is irrelevant to well-tuned salt-water reef
tanks].

HARDNESS
     The hardness of the water refers to the amount of dissolved
"hard" metallic ions such as calcium and magnesium.  This is
measured in dH. and GH. ????

dH - degree of hardness.  Usually denotes general hardness.  It is
     equivalent to 10 mg oxide of calcium or magnesium in 1 liter
     of water or 1dH = 17.9 ppm.
KH - carbonate (and bicarbonate) hardness.
GH - total (general) hardness.  This is not always equal to the sum
     of the carbonate and non-carbonate hardness because of the
     differences in the way all of these things are measured.

In general, what you need to know about hardness is the following:
     0-4 dH  -- very soft
     4-8 dH  -- soft
     8-12 dH -- medium hard
     12-20 dH -- hard
     above 20 -- liquid rock (Lake Malawi and Los Angeles, Ca.)

Your local waterworks company will give water measurements in ppm.

Carbonate hardness is important for plants' growth and fish
spawning (plants like it above 4 KH, most rain forest tropical fish
like it to be near 0).

General hardness in important for determining the buffering
capacity of your water.


FISH DISEASE PREVENTION
     Nutrition, water quality, and sanitary practices should
prevent most diseases.  Healthy fish have a way of fending off
attacks.
     Good sanitary practices include: not pouring pet store water
into an established tank, not buying diseased fish , not using the
same net between aquaria without first rinsing, and storing the
net in a clean, non-dusty place.
     Many times, live food are the most nutritious (for fish that
are meat eaters), but carry with them a danger of parasites and
disease.  Most notable are live tubifex worms (collected from
sewers and other nasty habitats; buy the freeze-dried variety),
goldfish (these are often sick by the time they are in the store),
pond collected daphnia etc.  One should always inspect the food
before offering it to the fish.

WHEN FISH ARE SICK
     When your fish are sick, you can post for diagnoses
(Consultation of a fish book is probably preferred).  Please
include as much information as you can gather.

1.   Describe the condition of the fish with any externally visible
     growths, symptoms, behavioral modifications etc.  Also, post
     the length of time this has been going on.
2.   Describe the aquarium setup.  How big is the aquarium, how
     many fish, what kinds and how large?  How frequent are water
     changes performed?  Lighting and lack of?
3.   Test the water and post pH, temperature and possible
     fluctuations, color, smell.  (taste? :-)
4.   If you have the kits, test and post the ammonium, nitrite,
     nitrate and hardness levels.
5.   Describe medication already used, and the after effects.

     Some medication companies (such as Mardel) print a diagnoses
chart and include this with the medicine.  Of course they recommend
their own brands as a cure for everything.  Find out the disease
and consult the net for recommendations.
     Many people recommend a hospital tank for isolating sick fish.
The smaller hospital setup has the added benefit of minimizing the
amount of medicine used.  If hospital tanks are not left constantly
running, and are stored away, starting up one of these will be the
equivalent of starting a new aquarium.  A biological filtration
will need to be started, or seeded from the old filters.  (Some
types of treatment makes this irrelevant since the medicine will
kill all the beneficial bacteria).

PLANTS:
-------
Tips on helping plants survive:

0)   Buy a good book or send email to Vinny Kutty.  (See books).
1)   Get rid of the bulb that came with the hood...get rid of the
     hood. Use two strip lights or get a shop light if your tank is
     4 feet long. Under-illumination is the main reason for wilting
     plants.
2)   Change some of that ancient water...and keep changing a little
     bit every week.  (Some plants react badly to dramatic changes)
3)   Get rid of big, plant-eating and other herbivorous creatures.
4)   Change bulbs at least once a year. Vitalite, Chroma 75,
     Colortone 75,Triton, Grolux, Agrolite are all good lights. The
     last two are plant lights and they are pinkish in color, so
     mix them with other bulbs. Stay away from Cool white and other
     cheapies.  Also do not change all tubes at the same time.
5)   Plant densely. Don't try to save a couple of bucks here. Good
     beginning plants are Water sprite (can be floating or rooted),
     Hygrophila polysperma (sold as Hygro), Elodea (needs bright
     light), Vallisneria, Hornwort (floating stemmed plant), Java
     Moss (hardy as hell), Amazon swords (occasionally picky, but
     always recommended). Buy as many as you can and plant each
     species in groups. Be careful not to bury the crown (the
     junction of the roots and leaves) of plants like Amazon swords
     and Vallisneria.
6)   Algae will appear if there is enough light for the plants and
     the water contains phosphates and nitrates. Remedy: increase
     water changes, reduce feeding, reduce number of fish and add
     algae-eating fish like Otocinclus and bush-nose/bristle-nose
     pleco.
7)   You need at least 3" of gravel. 4-5 inches is better.  Of
     course, a 10 gallon tank with 5" of gravel will look odd, so
     you decide how much you need.
8)   STAY AWAY FROM ALL FERTILIZERS!!! Unless you want an algae
     garden.  Just do those water changes and if you want to get
     real fancy, you can add trace elements (Ferroplant etc.).
     Remember that most land based fertilizers are toxic for fish.

Disclaimer:
-----------
Some answers listed above may reflect personal biases of the author
and the FAQ's contributors.  In cases where the answers name
specific products and their respective manufacturers, these are not
to be taken as endorsements, nor commercials for the manufacturer.
Where cost information is stated (magazine subscription rates),
this is based on "street" information, and are in no way binding on
the publisher.  The answers contained in this series pertain to
discussions on the rec. and alt.aquaria newsgroups, and are by no means
exhaustive.  This series is not intended to take the place of good
aquarium books on the subject matter.

Copyright:
----------
The FAQ owes its existence to the contributors of the net, and as
such it belongs to the readers of rec.aquaria and alt.aquaria.
Copies can be made freely, as long as it is distributed at no
charge, and the disclaimers and the copyright notice are included.