Paul
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Posts posted by Paul
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Good thinking man.
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4 hours ago, Yanni said:
I have a pond with rice fish and I am experimenting what plants could do good outside. I want to know if any of you guys have tried to put some aquatic plants in your ponds. Could I try some plants other than anacharis or hornwort?
Dwarf Waterlily and guppy grass will work. Anacharis over wintered well in my Koi/Goldfish ponds in NJ.
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My Apistogramma tank is a 20 long. It's got a Penguin 175 Pro and a sponge for filtration on opposite ends of the tank. There’s enough water circulation so there’s no dead spots in the tank.
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If your heater is adjustable push the temp up to 85/86F for a few days. Ich doesn’t deal with high water temps very well. Do this with whatever treatment you plan on using. Good luck.
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24 minutes ago, Leo2o915 said:
What is the current in ur tank trying to see if my fluval flex 15 is too much water movement for them have the outlet kinda like a wave maker
What size tank are you talking about here?
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26 minutes ago, Jefft51 said:
I set up a shelf in a spare room, now becoming my Fish Room. On it are the 45 gallon, a 10 gallon quarantine tank and two 5 gallon shrimp tanks.
I put about 65 of the catfish fry in the 45 gallon (out of 87) along with a bunch of endler fry. When they grow out a little more I need to figure out how to get rid of them. I will probably not do anything else with the tank until after Christmas as I'll be away visiting my two grandsons. Then I'll probably put either Apistogramma or Kribensis in the tank.
You can’t go wrong with either of them. I keep both. The 1st pix is of my 40 breeder with my colony of Kribs along with Corys, Von Rio Tetras and Brilliant Rasboras. The 2nd pix is of my 20 long it houses 5 Apistogramma nijsseni with some Neon & Silvertip Tetras as well as a couple of Corys and Otto’s. So they work well in a community setup. The thing that both of these tanks share is their proportions longer than tall which gives these two dwarf cichlids the length they’ll use for swimming. I’ve got Nannacara anomola in a 29 and they really only use the bottom 1/3 of the tank. Good luck your tank repair and fish selection.
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4 hours ago, tolstoy21 said:
Couple of questions about the Apistogramma cacatuoides . . .
What is a 'super red'? is that another way of saying either double red or triple red? Or is it some other red variant?
Do they have a specific substrate requirement, or are they more or less happy in any substrate as long as they have plants and wood and a cave and leaf litter etc? Or do they require sand or a small pebble size for a specific reason?
I’ve kept them on gravel and on eco-complete substrate with no issues. Give them a couple of apisto caves to choose from with some plant cover and you’ll be good to go. Just an FYI while these guys are peaceful for the most part they’re still cichlids and can punch above their weight when they need to and like most cichlids they’re smart. Good luck.
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2 hours ago, Rikostan said:
What benefit do they have over regular non-smart timers for somebody who doesn't really leave the house?
And just for the record, I am not a luddite or anything... I was an IT guy for 25 yeas, so I do enjoy using tech, but I am just not really seeing a reason to get any of them.
I only have 5 tanks up and running too, maybe they hold more benefit for people with an actual fishroom.
The biggest benefits are when there’s a time change (DST/STD) or if there’s a power outage the timers automatically reset to the correct time. Also if you have to override your schedule and turn your lights on/off the schedule will automatically resume without you having to crawl around on the floor to get at the timer.I have 5 tanks and all the lights as well as the dreaded Green Killing Machine UV sterilizer are on WiFi timers..
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34 minutes ago, Rikostan said:
I actually have one already that was included in something I bought off of amazon... I can't even remember what it was, maybe a smart scale.
I am struggling to find a use for it though. I have quite a few smart devices in the house already and all my lights on the tanks are either already on timers or are Fluval 3.0s.
Since I rarely leave the house these days, I don't really have a need for something remote.
I suppose I could just put the lights on it, so I could control them via voice...
Putting these WiFi timers on aquarium lights is about as good as the invention of sliced bread.
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So you can’t find anything either that disproves the claims that the currently available UV lights do what the manufacturers are making. If I read something with credible evidence that said that these were a waste of electricity I’d pull it out of my tank faster than you could say UV.
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@Jeremy B just to confirm you did post this correct? The Ultraviolet Lamp emits a germicidal ray which alters or disrupts the DNA or RNA of single celled organ-isms such as algae, bacteria and protozoa. By properly implementing an Aqua Ultraviolet System in-line, these organisms can be eradicated effectivelywithout any harmful residuals.
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13 minutes ago, Jeremy B said:
http://aquaticcommons.org/16352/1/BJFR1.1_001.pdf
Page 6 has a graph demonstrating the UV setup did not eliminate all, with a further reduction of using chlorine and UV. unfortunately the paper is more about usage of chlorine and uv combined but even still there wasn't a full reduction of bacteria
http://www.animalplanet.com/search/algae/
The UV sterilizer utilizes a germicidal fluorescent lamp that produces light at a wavelength of approximately 254 nanometers (2537 Angstroms). The water with the bacteria/algae passes over the bulb (or around the bulb if a quartz sleeve is used) and is irradiated with this wavelength. As the light penetrates the bacteria/algae, it mutates the DNA (genetic material), preventing growth/multiplication of the organism.
These guys sell UV, which I wouldn't hold much weight in due to the sales aspect but they agree:
The Ultraviolet Lamp emits a germicidal ray which alters or disrupts the DNA or RNA of single celled organ-isms such as algae, bacteria and protozoa. By properly implementing an Aqua Ultraviolet System in-line, these organisms can be eradicated effectively without any harmful residuals.
I think you just confirmed what I said earlier. Thanks for finding this.
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13 minutes ago, Jeremy B said:
So can you find me an article with sources that states the opposite? A legit paper not an aquarium blog.
Like I said earlier I didn’t find anything that could refute the claims made about the effectiveness of UV sterilization in aquariums. The advances in technology available to this hobby now are light years ahead of what was available when this study was conducted. Believe me I know I was keeping fish then.
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Thanks for this but you couldn’t find anything more current? This study may have been relevant in the early 80’s but there’s 40 years separating this study from current tech. Think of it as comparing a car from the 80’s and a current model. Newer cars are more powerful and efficient than anything that could of been produced in the 80’s. Isn’t 99.9% kill rate considered sterilized?
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11 hours ago, Jeremy B said:
https://www3.epa.gov/npdes/pubs/uv.pdf
So listed here on the first page it states its just for inactivation
https://www.cdc.gov/infectioncontrol/guidelines/disinfection/disinfection-methods/miscellaneous.html
The CDC also only lists UV for disinfection, and not sterilization.
@Jeremy B You're talking apple and oranges here. Both of these articles are about the use of UV in other applications. Our aquariums are neither sewage treatment plants (the EPA article) or operating rooms (CDC article). Although the CDC article did say this "Bacteria and viruses are more easily killed by UV light than are bacterial spores". The point of my comments are that I did not find a single source that said the aquarium UV sterilization lights don't do what the manufacturers said they do which is kill algae and pathogens of fish that are in the water column. How the UV sterilizer produces that result is irrelevant to most hobbyists. If you can find an article on aquarium UV sterilizers that say otherwise please share it with us.
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@Ken BurkeI wasn’t looking to get in an argument and I’m sorry if it looks that way. After I was called out on my first reply I thought maybe I missed something when I researched UV sterilizers before I bought the unit I now use so I spent over an hour (I was sitting on the beach) reading articles ,avoiding anything posted by a manufacturer, on aquarium VU sterilization and they all essentially said the same thing. Which I posted. Granted it was a long time ago but I did major in Biology in college so I have some idea what sterilization entails. Again I’m sorry if this got out of hand.
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We're not talking about disinfection here we're talking about sterilization. Sterilization is distinct from disinfection, sanitization, and pasteurization, in that those methods reduce rather than eliminate all forms of life and biological agents present. After sterilization, an object is referred to as being sterile or aseptic.
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37 minutes ago, KBOzzie59 said:
"So at the end of the day free swimming pathogens are dead"
No they are still very much a threat until they actually die. Key word here is sterilize! Did you not read what I posted? Like I said I work in water/wastewater treatment and deal with this regularly.
The organisms only die at the end of their life cycle unless directly treated (usually chlorine).
But hey what do I know, it's only what I do for a living.
Look I'm not looking to argue with you about this but this is the information that's out there. I've even found scientific reports that say the same thing just a lot wordier. If you have an issue with the information I posted you can start with these people. They had the most succinct description of how UV sterilization works. https://livingartaquatics.com/how-will-a-uv-sterilizer-benefit-my-home-aquarium/
The accepted definition of sterilize as it pertains to this discussion is
ster·i·li·za·tion/ˌsterələˈzāSH(ə)n,ˌsterəˌlīˈzāSH(ə)n/noun-
the process of making something free from bacteria or other living microorganisms."disinfection and sterilization of surgical equipment"
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As I said earlier everything I've read on the subject says the result of UV sterilization is the the death of the irradiated organism.
This explanation sums it up the best.
A UV sterilizer is a component of your filtration system. You place it last in your filtration line, after your mechanical filter. Water then flows through the sterilizer and is exposed to ultraviolet light. The light sterilizes the water. This kills parasites, viruses, and algae, as well as any other microorganisms in the water.
It works by irradiating these microorganisms with light at a wavelength that mutates their DNA. This mutation makes them unable to reproduce. As a result, the growth and spread of infections are halted. Since it affects only free-floating microorganisms in the water that passes through the device, you don’t need to worry about your livestock.
So at the end of the day free swimming pathogens are dead and no longer a threat to your fish after they pass through the sterilizer and that's all most fish keepers care about.
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33 minutes ago, KBOzzie59 said:
Posts 2 & 3 may have mentioned that. @Daniel nailed it, it does not actually kill the organisms it just renders them unable to reproduce.
I’m going to have disagree with you here. Everything I’ve read on this subject says UV sterilization kills free swimming pathogens and micro organisms.
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No one has mentioned this but the UV light also kills free swimming disease organisms like ICK. So while you may not want or be able to put one in all your tanks you may want to put one in your main display tank especially if you’ve got some expensive fish in it. I use the Green Killing Machine. Just my 2 cents.
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Get a small clear tub with a lid, pop in an air stone and you’re good to go.
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1 hour ago, James Croney said:
Serious question... do your tomatoes smell/taste like fish? I fear that maybe my garden plants will become fishy.
The long and short answer is no your tomato’s will not smell or taste fishy.
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Best Heater... Does A Good One Exist?
in General Discussion
Posted
Ditto that. I’m running Aquatop,Aqueon, and Eheim heaters and they’re all hooked up to Inkbird controllers.