What is this white web-like stuff in my aquarium?
weedwoman
18 years ago
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skygee
18 years agoweedwoman
18 years agoRelated Discussions
Aquarium gravel, any one ever try this?
Comments (13)Veronica, you only use a tiny amount of salts, I just put a sprinkle in the melt. It's all locked up in the glass (much like synrock) and should be completely safe (those old fasioned blue bottles are made with cobalt, a normally quite toxic chemical). So I don't think they would affect the concrete in the slightest. fairy_toadmother, what do you want to know? I did it years ago when I was living at home and had access to a blowtorch. But it is fairly strightforward. I don't know where you get good crucibles, I was given mine from visiting an aluminium smelter. Perhaps you could make one from cement, or use a pottery container (stoneware pottery is usually fired at around 1400C, vitreous hotter still). Apparently glass melts at 1000 degrees C, and a normal butane/LPG blowtorch is about 1300 degrees C. I visited a glass factory when I was at school and they just used natural gas to melt plate glass. I had a quick look around and couldn't find any instructions on the web. The basic approach is the same as used for colouring glazes in pottery. Now I think about it, you can probably get suitable oxides from a pottery store for practically any colour. Some colours, Some more colours You can melt glass in a charcoal, coal, or briquette fire with bellows. Granite won't fade because it is coloured much the same way as glass (although with different base substances, often crystals rather than glass). The colours you get from these 'inorganic pigments' are very long lasting, unlike azo dyes commonly used in food colouring, pens, clothes etc. Granite does decompose slowly in the presence of water, but I wouldn't worry about it (it is slow enough that people make kitchen benches out of it!) or even bother with sealant. The granite will out live the sealant....See MoreNewbie, first aquarium, 2 dead fish, help?
Comments (13)Yes you can leave it fishless and let it cycle on it´s own, your tank already has what it needs in order to cycle, but that doesn´t mean that after cycling on it´s own you will be able to stock it full abruptly. Here´s the catch, in order for your tank to "cycle" you have to seed it with nitrifying bacteria ( from another tank or purchased in freeze dried or liquid form ), that original bacteria pupulation you added will remain dormant until the conditions allow them to become active, that is, until they have "food" ( nitrogenous compounds ) that "food" can be given in several ways, with ammonium ( fishless cycling ) or by adding fish and/or fish food, once the bacteria have something to chew on they will begin multiplying, as they begin to mutiply they will begin breaking down and transforming the ammonia into nitrites and later into nitrates, this process will go on until all the ammonia is consumed ( the levels drop to zero ), then until the nitrites are gone ( the levels drop to zero ) and the only remaining part left are the nitrates. Depending upon how much food the bacteria were supplied with the population will grow to a certain level. You have X ammount of bacteria to methabolize X ammount of fish waste. Everytime you add fish the ammount of waste increases, so new bacteria have to develop to take care of that increase in the waste levels, if you exceed the carrying capacity of the tank that balance collapses and again new tank syndrome appears ( high levels of ammonia, high levels of nitrites ). The way the system protects itself is by eliminating the cause of the unbalance ---> killing fish until the balance is restored to acceptable levels. Some fish are more resistant to increased ammonia and nitrite levels than others, those fish are the ones that survive the meleè, the others don´t. Don´t feel dissapointed, most of us fish keepers learned the lesson the hard way just like you. Did you purchase the tank in an aquarium store ? Most aquarium owners are or have been hobbyists and most offer technical advice when setting up your first tank, the mentality of them is different they in it not for the money ( few get rich selling tropical fish for exception of the dealers and breeders ), they are in it because they love the hobby and what could be better than make a decent living doing what you love ?, on the other hand chainstores and pet stores only see you as a sign of money and the people that work in them is by far well qualified. You say you have a filter with two different kinds of "filters" in it, brand & model ? more specific details are needed, "two" filters tell me nothing....See MoreI want to start my first saltwater fish tank. Help please!
Comments (11)reefcentral.com is a great suggestion. Since you want to start with fish only I would go with a FOWLR (Fish Only With Live Rock). For a FOWLR you don't need a ton of live rock like a reef or live corals, so it is less expensive. Live rock has a good amount of benificial bacterias on it already and will host alot more as it "matures". The thing with any aquarium is to have as much surface area as possible for these detoxiying bacterias to grow. A 1" sandbed is fine to start, use a quality aragonite sand. The sand and the live rock have a good amount of surface area. Most aquarium lights that are sold with the tank aren't good for a reef but will be fine for a FOWLR. However you may have to add an extra fixture, it depends on the wattage of you current setup. A good idea for a larger tank is a sump type filter, they are not that expensive to make but if you buy a commercial one it can be very expensive. It all depends on budget, but 2 hang on power filters would be ok. Just get enough to turn the water over 7-10 times per hour, meaning you have a 60G tank so the combined GPH of the filters should be 420-600 GPH (gallon per hour). If a "quality" protien skimmer is in your budget it is a great addition. Not a necessity now but would be a good future investment. A 250-300W heater, or 2 smaller ones is needed. So if you are going to eventually go with a Reef I would get a few quality pieces of live rock along with some base rock (or dead rock) to keep that cost down. At least 3 watts per gallon of fluorescent light(preferably 67000-10000K). The filters and heater. Go to reefcentral.com and there is a pretty good book published by TFK at petstores, can't remember the title but it has a cardinal fish on the cover, good basic info and more. Also drsfostersmith.com has good deals on sand,filters and heaters. AHSupply.com has good lighting kits for cheap to start....See MoreMy yard smells like a fishtank
Comments (12)The other saying is, "could be your upper lip" my GF used to say that and I would get so upset, hehehehe I'm glad you got your lawn fertilized Lindseyrose Hehehe, PJ, Haven't heard that forever, lol The joke concerns twin boys of five or six. Worried that the boys had developed extreme personalities -- one was a total pessimist, the other a total optimist -- their parents took them to a psychiatrist. First the psychiatrist treated the pessimist. Trying to brighten his outlook, the psychiatrist took him to a room piled to the ceiling with brand-new toys. But instead of yelping with delight, the little boy burst into tears. "What's the matter?" the psychiatrist asked, baffled. "Don't you want to play with any of the toys?" "Yes," the little boy bawled, "but if I did I'd only break them." Next the psychiatrist treated the optimist. Trying to dampen his out look, the psychiatrist took him to a room piled to the ceiling with horse manure. But instead of wrinkling his nose in disgust, the optimist emitted just the yelp of delight the psychiatrist had been hoping to hear from his brother, the pessimist. Then he clambered to the top of the pile, dropped to his knees, and began gleefully digging out scoop after scoop with his bare hands. "What do you think you're doing?" the psychiatrist asked, just as baffled by the optimist as he had been by the pessimist. "With all this manure," the little boy replied, beaming, "there must be a pony in here somewhere!"...See Morebirdinthepalm
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