On Jul 24, 11:03 am, BarrRep...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
wrote:
(...)
> Several years ago many folks claimed excess nutrients > caused algae
such as "excess" PO4 and NO3. I wanted to > know how much excess it would
take for this to occur, > so I added it to see(testing). Some simple test
can
> easily prove these assetions are patently false.
(...)
I hav a parallel test underway in high phosphate, potassium, silicate,
and calcium levels, but I am not conjoining this with high nitrate
levels. That should occur naturally over time with the presence of
fish and aerobic bacteria in my sponge. If the absence of light will
not help my filtration system eat phytoplankton, then you can rest
assured that I'll dump my tank and re****t it on my web page dedicated
to this topic, but I'm quite sure that darkness is the ultimate weapon
against phytoplankton blooming out of control in the presence of
effective filtration or plants. You should know that my filter is
elaborate. It has evolved over several months with thought and
preparation, so it will not likely be available in mass production. A
large element of cheapness and reused or abused materials is in my
design.
I am not interested in proving assertions that are typically correct
to be patently false. It is hard to put enough stress on the
im****tance of aquatic plants. On the contrariwise perspective, if fish
survive with rich plant nutrients, then this im****tance becomes
obvious. I find that high levels of plant nutrients do promote algae,
especially in the absence of greedy plants like Horn Wort or effective
(usually old) filtration and maintenance of that.
Sponges, whether synthetic or natural can, given time,
and more time to adjust to changes in chemistry can serve much the
same purpose as plants. If a fungus in the sponge eats algae and
perhaps even becomes sophisticated enough to release detritus minerals
that can be reassembled into diatomaceous food. Under these complex
conditions I hav what is similar to a lichen, which is a fungus that
feeds on a plant. In this case, the fungus feeds on phytoplankton,
which is the simplest kind of plant, it being unicellular.
Technically, though, it is a bacterium with an operational
chloroplast, so it falls into another kingdom of life. Phytoplankton|
Algae|Diatoms are still food for fish as well, and my evidence is the
long turds that hung from my Minnows and Koi when the turbidity in my
tank got to levels that are higher than my aesthetic taste.
I resist using my filter to manufacturer specifications,
because it contains disposable materials. That is more frequently
disposable materials: activated charcoal and zeolite. Zeolite is a
kind of activated silicate. For aquatic use, the activator is Calcium,
which makes it absorb nitrate and phosphate. As much as I thot that
was a good idea in the first place, I don't want that, anymore.
Activated charcoal would destroy hypocholorite (which is good, even
when overusing dechlorinators). Unfortunately, it would also absorb a
yellow dye that my phytoplankton use to absorb blue light. I can see
that from holding a CD at an angle to my tank, lit at one end with a
fourty-two watt compact fluorescent for nine hours a day (three more
hours of direct sunlight hit it in the morning -- Total: 12). At the
other end, no blue is in the spectrum. From the front, backlit by a
fluorescent tube, this colour is very pale.
The total is much like a plant, and I can only hope that the sum total
of my deviant chemistry, minus sodium and chloride levels that are too
high in my experience...I want this chemistry compatible with aquatic
plants for the simple want of increasing the stability of my tank. So,
my goal of reducing maintenance and sup****ting many fish is what you
would expect -- beginning with plants.
It is like concentrating parts of the world in a relatively
concentrated medium. I cannot eliminate the likelihood of toxicity in
my tank. I hav, for example, put in many more whitecloud minnows than
the three that are left, and I hav no predators. One of them, however,
has lived in my tank with two danios during most of the last five
months, so the problem might be my source or my habituation process in
which I add small amounts of water from my aquarium to the water I got
the fish in.
I don't know where the bodies go. I've seen one in my filter. <a
href="http://ecn.ab.ca/~brewhaha/New_Tank_Syndrome.htm">The
first
option is *not* changing your water over.</a>
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