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Re: [GSAS-Member] Bulk chemicals - help!
If you have fish that dig(the vast majority of cichlids), oyster shell
is not a suitable addition to an aquarium unless it's in a bag in the
filter. They have tendencies to get scrapes in and around their
mouths with sharp substrate and rocks. Also, keeping buffers under
rocks and out of high flow areas greatly reduces their effectiveness.
It's like putting a cup of salt in a jar of water and not stirring
it. The salt won't dissolve into the water unless there's some level
of water agitation over it's surface. that's why old pantyhose sacks
make excellent filter media. Nitrifying bacteria also tend to grow on
buffers like crushed coral, aragonite and shells, effectively
increasing your biofilter. :)
On Jul 27, 2008, at 9:51 AM, Hess, Clay A wrote:
> You need to be careful with oyster shell. It will compact down to a
> very hard substrate and can be a bit sharp to the touch when you try
> to uncake it.
> Clay Hess
> 787 Fuselage Systems Integration Manager and Team Leader
> 425-931-4322
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: macker <macker@gmail.com>
> To: Greater Seattle Aquarium Society member chat <gsas-member@thekrib.com
> >
> Sent: Sun Jul 27 09:48:21 2008
> Subject: Re: [GSAS-Member] Bulk chemicals - help!
>
> You can also put oyster shell flakes in your filter if your looking
> to raise
> the ph (put them inside a panty-hose leg and tie it off). They sell
> the
> oyster flakes at feed-grain stores. From what ive heard you can also
> just
> put it directly in the tank under a rock. They sell bags at feed -
> grain
> stores as it is used for chicken-feed supplicant. Someone on
> craigslist just
> gave me a bag for free.
>
> On Sun, Jul 27, 2008 at 9:43 AM, Laurel Larsen <laurelthequeen@gmail.com
> >wrote:
>
>> As far as I know, epsom salts increase General Hardness (GH) which
>> does nothing but help the fish's osmoregulation, making their tank's
>> parameters closer to their "natural" habitat. Carbonates, like
>> sodium
>> bicarbonate, aragonite, coral, etc. raise the Carbonate Harness (KH)
>> which translates to the water's buffering ability. There is a wide
>> range in the carbonate hardeners as to what pH they hold though.
>> Baking Soda (sod. bicarb) will only raise the pH to 8.2, no higher,
>> whereas aragonite begins breaking down and buffering as far up as 8.8
>> I believe. Crushed coral, afaik, doesn't begin buffering water until
>> 7.6. So if you have a tank that you're trying to keep very hard,
>> like
>> for Tanganyika fish, keeping some crushed aragonite in the filter
>> should help keep the pH very high, whereas for many central american
>> fish, they don't thrive in such high ph, but do require hard water,
>> so
>> crushed coral or other additives are more beneficial to them.
>>
>> My understanding of water chemistry is at best elementary, I've only
>> done research to determine what's best for the fish I keep(Rift Lake
>> Cichlids), so I wouldn't take my word as gospel, I just know that
>> different buffers will do different things to one's water.
>>
>> Laurel
>>
>> On Jul 27, 2008, at 9:24 AM, Steev Ward wrote:
>>
>>> It's mostly because carbonates raise the pH and sulfates don't. So
>>> sulfates aren't
>>> really buffers. But people might have other reasons for avoiding
>>> sulfates. In marine
>>> tanks I think people avoid adding any sulfates. Otherwise Magnesium
>>> sulfate, epsom
>>> salts, is great stuff. I think it is good to add for LOTS of fish,
>>> not just cichlids.
>>> Especially livebearers, goldfish, koi, rainbowfish, "sharks", corys,
>>> and barbs.
>>>
>>>
>>> --- Clifford Miller <clifford@clevergeek.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>> While the topic was up I thought I'd get some opinions on the
>>>> buffering
>>>> agents I'm using. Better to use Magnesium Carbonate than sulfate?
>>>>
>>>> I currently use a mix of epsom salts, baking soda and marine salt
>>>> in my
>>>> cichlid tanks. Nice and cheap, and easy to get at any drug store
>>>> if not
>>>> already on hand. The fish all seem to be doing well (I haven't lost
>>>> any
>>>> fish yet, including the 13 daffodils that I think were from Erik.)
>>>>
>>>> Thanks,
>>>>
>>>> Cliff
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Hmm, interesting... certainly a possibility for the CaCO3 (if not
>>>>> for the
>>>>> MgCO3).
>>>>>
>>>>> As an aside, I did consider going ultra-cheap with something like
>>>>> Dolomite
>>>>> from a garden center... but there I'm worried there might be TOO
>>>>> much bad
>>>>> stuff for the fish. Various web resources seemed to confirm this.
>>>>>
>>>>> - Erik
>>>>>
>>>>> On Sat, 26 Jul 2008, Connie Carlson wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Have you tried any feed stores/livestock supply houses?? I do
>>>>>> not know
>>>>>> for sure but would guess that these are also used as mineral
>>>>>> supplements
>>>>>> for cattle, etc.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> It might be worth an internet search or phone call (DeYoungs in
>>>>>> Woodinville & Sumner Animal Grub in Sumner are ones I have dealt
>>>>>> with in
>>>>>> the past for such things, but there are many others here locally)
>>>>>> and
>>>>>> you could probably get them in manageable quantities if so (ie
>>>>>> one 50#
>>>>>> bag).
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Good luck!
>>>>>> Connie
>>>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>>>> From: Erik Olson<mailto:erik@thekrib.com>
>>>>>> To: gsas-member@thekrib.com<mailto:gsas-member@thekrib.com>
>>>>>> Sent: Saturday, July 26, 2008 4:24 PM
>>>>>> Subject: [GSAS-Member] Bulk chemicals - help!
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> For the past umpteen years, Kathy and I have foregone the pricey
>>>>>> "Cichlid
>>>>>> Salts" and mixed our own formula for our Lake Tanganyika tanks.
>>>>>> This
>>>>>> formula consists of dumping in roughly equal parts Calcium
>>>>>> Carbonate
>>>>>> and
>>>>>> Magnesium Carbonate. It's cheap, it's relatively accurate for
>>>>>> Lake
>>>>>> Tanganyika, and it's not so harsh on plants.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Unfortunately, our umpteen year supply just ran out, and we're
>>>>>> kinda
>>>>>> stumped where to get more. We tried Welch-Allyn, which has
>>>>>> reasonably
>>>>>> decent prices on both, but they cancelled our order because we're
>>>>>> not
>>>>>> an
>>>>>> educational institution. Bah! How utterly annoying.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Anyway, does anyone have any ideas where one might obtain
>>>>>> inexpensive
>>>>>> Mag
>>>>>> Carb and Calcite? Also, if others are interested, I might try to
>>>>>> coordinate a group buy.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> - Erik
>>>>>>
>>>>>> --
>>>>>> Erik Olson
>>>>>> erik at thekrib dot com
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>> GSAS-Member mailing list
>>>>>> GSAS-Member@thekrib.com<mailto:GSAS-Member@thekrib.com>
>>>>>>
>>>>
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>> http://lists.thekrib.com/mailman/listinfo/gsas-member
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>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Erik Olson
>>>>> erik at thekrib dot com
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> GSAS-Member mailing list
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>>>>
>>>>
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