teà i MANUFACTURER OF INSTANT OCEANe - :: Volume 17 - Winter 2000w
Reverse Cartson Surze
This adedescribes the construction of a 'Â¥pus and release" styto surge device that Is, to my best knowtectee, unique In that ft involves no movf parts beyond thou rqu~redto provtoe tow pcÑlur air. Dr. Bruce Carbon Introduced the concept of a simple, reliable su device in the iriy IWS. and dadbedrnan inlcle In the Summer, 1996 Seascope. ThJs system uses a water pum to flll a container mounted higher than an tauarturn. An internal piping arrangement automatically starts a station when the container Is almost full. The container drains rapidly Into the uariun-i, creating a stro current surge. Thtesysum,knownasaCarbon~.t Device (a),Is well known, vary iable, and easy to make and balance, The Reverse Carison Surge Device Insptwt by dw reliability, d lack of moving pans of Dr. s device. It by displacing a ww In *# contafaw by air. types d release of the air, are disease resistant and accept all of sup in an aquarium. food eagerty. of sue of Is accomptbhç useoftimingorteve)wring combined wtth an eleddy S3ed butterfly valve. The circuit and valveare expensiveand prone to have %tier- especially fn You know the damseMsh (family P-). P-). These feisty* generally smaH, shallow waiter marine flsh are universal used for starting saltwater aquariums. AM, more dun 325 described species. you can Imaginethattherelsmoretoddscroupthan totorance for ammonia. This ankle Introduces three spades from an almost mknwn and unpronounceable genus. Ambfyftyphniodoit ,, ,,I - , collection fectoes. Unlike many other damsel species, they are u . . the72OpIlononk witha2000 Olytoint~~rr~tlyth~io about 4 inches). abandoned (he CSD. I feaslUHtyofapush-and-release~devfce 41Gary Dudley at the tenth annual Marine Aquarium Conference of North America, DumÇJfif ---kw+d damsel is d~lta~at~~dl99& Our flrsc unit was femrud foundmKLh- in an Sea. the eastern Indian Ocean, and box, open on the bottom, Intothebackcomer ofthe throughoutMicronesia,kisfoundalong Thetrianfubrboxwas36"onthetworight vertical reef wafc among codand *side* and deep gorronians, and feeds almost exclusively on 36" dmabout zooplanloon. Continued on boge 4 ?(2000 Aquarium Systems.. Inc., Mentor, OH - Printed In USA for w&k refill the AVC This is required to prevent air from from the main banuiddrboxIs5T2ÃIssomenoise 100 gallons. A "U" shaped Air Vent during the transition from venting to Wuw. Construct AV bulk into the box had one Smaller pipe would reduce the noise, but armofthe Lqinsidediebox,mchingto also would reduce the Intensity of die surge. within thru inches of the The other createdbythisdevfceknot arm, outside the box. &-h tank water level. Our or@d calculations indicated that an AVC made from one inch surge also tests for only a couple of second*. diameter PVC ptoe would be sufficient to Movement duri the surge at the far end of run the system. We also the (ankisonlyabout two~nches.~hi pressure outside the boxthouzhc-" wou balance the themiddleddtetankareflattenedbriefly pressure inside the box, making the choice and then sway untB the next sur~ otcmswah mterlal -We In my 20(1 @on tank a the air ic because It is cheap and easy to wplypml~scinedofs hiw 22and we could see what was boxBecameÂ¥cn4tcisdea top sides warp wed-hh at each cych In k a~usudsothatal~~cof31n^ 1 happening through die walk and cop of the many cases the box was destroyed after diameter,-40 inch till lift tubes nans uRfL oneortwo* Wehuiftthe next 3 about 10 seconds before the surge deviceworking; ,L ofepoxycoated3/4Inchplywoodwhh cycles, once SO seconds. If the Kfe reinforced seams. That unit did not cubes are shuofftthe device cycles outtheo booomofthe seconds. -& box. and inr in tha AV~"is pushed, again S3£ ---- air. through the cube and out the top. wCwworkedIn TGimwqedmicew*&< (he of surge December 1998toFebruary,1999,whenk Lmair reaches die bottom of the U, AMmrihtheAVC, amount I was , some wilt continue up the oiher arm of the dbappoind WeupgradedtolSinck2 shook apart the reef structure In the U. This escaping air will displace some waur, l~hçZmdTindia. dl it0 predud reducing the weight of the column of water ibsaimn tmprowemenm In vmdm%* In theouBldearmofdie U and also reducing the back pressure thte column exerts on the air in the box. Once die pressure is reduced more air will escape, redud due pressuremoreand causing more&escape,etc.~hiscreates the dte discharge. l'Hs watermoveswithalotof cascade that eventually drives all the waur kinetic anew. We constructed a box to outoftheAVC.Oncethatoccurs,dieInside capture and the vented air/water of the air^fllted box Is fully exposed to mkvtrtlht'aKSdrat!~nwaterback atmospheric pressure on the water, and th Into the tank. This box Is box vents all the air, resulting In tank warn dm of (he main box. and tc surfing into the box. This incd SUI back comer of the aquarium. floodt die box and the AVC and xec, -. The refill of the AVC cycle was stares again. unrchble dependant on the depth Our theory made sense, but It didn't of the main box below die tank surface. We He work that way. Our biggest error w aTtotheAVCjustbelowthe Xnkiqethat the pressure inside the box water"""£ This resulted in a lot of water on would much the pressure outside it. the telling. To this T we added a 90 decree Although this is true at the surface of the elbow directed into the aquarium, and this water,waterpressurebvariableon thebox reduced the uan* of waits depending on the depth, resulting in a wing3ie pipe ~.nK'Sbok,which pressure imbalance on the walls of the box. created an open arm, resolved the problem a Our wototyoe unft ex~lodedseveral times. entirely. Escapi air will follow a path of provides bubble-free surge in an aquarium lean mimmdThis lift becomes the path of dueshould enhance the healthofsu least resistance when the open arm into the ikpeMfait qanlsms. ~udia device ^uld tank it tonger than the distance from the T beadaptablema of sizes, air supplies, to however high the water muse be lifted. mCYde= Once the ressure In the box Is equalized at the end ofa cycle, the open arm is a conduit Reverse Carlson Surge Device
IT
- 3kedIna2t03ftni wdaydunte of foods 1s suggested.MixrJdoialdiseiso areseldom seen in this genus. Infecdoul and Parasitic I
Dunseffish are P- by several FmrMr. Robin. IWS. T>w contritnuout mirin* tquwte. sped* of w-m Mkrocoim.Shrtuiw.VT. ,roundworms, flukes, ed-Smh disease are compb but damsels ^S?St most part disease resistant when maintained hi a healthy environment. Freshwater dips and low-salinity treatments
I A New Star In tife Universe..$ - .a ' MANUFACTURER OF INSTANT OCEAN* 's'i; yAh
Ltve sand beds have become a popular way 6simultaneouslyprovide9blolo^calfilterDa myto remove and utflfze ftxnss food, a food s&forsuspensionfee4nearriniah,andnew hawfor reef aquaria.These sand beds ham developedfrom thethinsandbymfoundln dm"Berliner"typeofaquarium,IXKtheyhave dw&r thçorçd basis in marine soft SSdtnwt ecology. They are an attempt to set up a "die - of life" that functions as a normal sand ecosystem. In our aquaria, the sand bed organism community is probably the '-ç""- match to any natural reef assemblagt Fortunately, the construction- and rnm of such a bed Is easy and W_ Most reaf acxorisis maketheirsaidbeds'~
&r sand, are generally avoided asw: - toincreas*diatomgrowth.Other* d&t as~ack~wi~~wwk~s~,ari¤ ="-sa-- thew=** lyduringhmating ~=-Wwt@~w 2; Thesmallerspeciesaredw&ttoead substrate. Arqeonfte sand beds may be a fish and crustaceans, possibly swarmbie sped potential source d calcium and buffer for theb like mydd shrimp. Their relatively large jaws ~htif~bdd~lmlanls* would enabfethemtocoroumesomefareer occurring, the system's water chemistry is In the past ten year) reef aquariums have:, ' preyItems21weN. badly askew and this dissolution won't hdp become very popular with marine aquarists. Forthemostpan,thereefbassleemate much. hi general, aquarium organisms don't When people seined keeping corals they outstanding aquarium They are careaboutthecornpositionofthesandbed, hmednuety began lookfng for brightly colored espedaXy well-suited to the mhi-retf system they just need a specific particle size. - fishthatwouldnotharmthesesessile wheretheyswmto'"aporedau"the The mixture of particle sizes Is invertebrates.. One group that gained popularity rwnerous came and crerice*. Important as It facilitates animal a* a result of the reof tank craze was the genus Optimal perf- seems to iMfuvpwrw, which are cwnoronly known as bed composed of parade sizes wfth a ratio reef basslec. These exquisite fish wre found 5:43. The first group b very flne panicles ' to becolorful,diseaseresistant,andthey do between 0.063 and 0.1 25 mttmoMrs (nun). notbotherthemoredesirableinvertebrates, Thtt tflcondepoup te bttweien0.125and0.25' ' with the possible exception of ornamental mm,and thethird0.25 upro2mm.~esT crustaceans. White these fish were often than 2 mm shodd be avoided except at ^ considereddifficulttokeepin iddflsurface layer, no more than 6 mrn thic\e-; fkbaly systems, they thrive in-J& the rd reeftanktheyhkjbefedtwoorthreerime* inarea*ofhid)current. aquariumprobabtvbecausethaneb aweeklnatankwithoutliverocktheyshould Thecorrectmixtureofpal-tidesizes '" " aburxfanceofewesandcrevicexwherethey be fed dally. ifthatwaterpcrcolanithrough6i^,t ' w hhte and usualy also a bck of larger, 4, WhenIntroduced imoanaquarium,a but not too quickly. This results In layers of à 'f basslot may hi& for several days, w long as (ttferwitdissolvedox/genconcentrationsIn -=, A! thes* basslec are secretive and are twoweks, beforecoodngouttotapeathe (he bed. The uppermost layer, two to three -- surroundings-Ahhouriitheymay- centimeters(cm)thick,hasa~levelof t4 found In caves and becomeas bokfasa butterfly ordownfish dissolved oxygen, and contains much d (he ' they win gradually become a more conspicuous a ' beefs animal life. The nwt hyw byer a d panofthçflshconwuntty.Onethbtgthatw loweroxygenconcentrationandbwhere -"I preventacdmmlonisaggressivemkmaros.tf mudiofthebacurtaludhthofnitrogen ' spawning periods when they apparently pair off these basdm are kept with agerewtve fch, the compoundsoccurs.Thalowesttoyer,seldom' - axdusk.ThereIsnoknownsexualdbnorphism basshtswfl often hideand cease to feed. foundinbedslessthan 15ondfo,bdcs inanyoftheUotropoowspçcies,afthoughyo m:-mpage3 - ,-a b$M .* ^,I . 8, ,.- 2c
moçiih)y-exdnneeswfth removalfromthebottom.CJdufnand alkaBnfty levçfwere maintained by means of Roof EvokJtiori* Cakfum Chloride and Sea&Jfhrà adddon& RedBnhidori* Pot- Iodide, Strondum Chloride, and Trace Element suaofainents were added about onu a month.
(Cmvhrio (~.)fpreadso much that rhq were¥voncualtyanuisance.TheykMeddrP
Live Sand Beds, Some Whys and ofdwbacterialsdependentonthecontinual Hows yowriiofthepopulation.Ifdrpopuhdon Continued from pay I ceasescogrowiametabolismofnkrofiwi compoundsdbeseverelycuratedand dissolved oxygen. This is where suMue nutrient levels wM rise. The worms and bw reduction occurs that resutts In dm production continuafly mat bacteria, thu* owning up habitat ofhydrogensuMde.Inanormalsandbçd(h spicefarnowtKKMria.Abo,asaresultofthoir amounts of h/drogan suttdà produced are movement, water can circulate through the nwute,butevçntheslightestbitbevidentb id>bringing(fissolvedfoodtothobacteria. b~~*camryto~~It may seem trivial that spacfl for bicurbl the presence d hydrogen sulfide pmmu no growth Is necessary, but, as with dl other realdangerInanaquarium.EvenIfdwbçJi ormninns,thepopuiationwincoiKhuoto Mvorelydfcturbedanddwodorddierafts expand dyas lorif as condition* are good. As quite strong, it will be harmless, as the amount available space decreases, the bacurfe quk necessarytocauserealhamiisfairlyhrac.The growing rapidly and begin to se- a hard osliniptr-bad.NonTHNrittkiwlypm~ manrfal around themselves.This maurial act* to grains up through the bed and is oxkfaed sutfwe like a due, cemendng Our bed together (her animals feed and grow dwy reproduce whenitencounters~~mfen. Into dumps. This occurs rapidly when the and flood the tank with microscopic eggs, bacteria)- ismanddieanimal spwin>>andlÈrvÈç.Ihamfoundthatmany populationIslow.Ckmpingcueofflargeareas formi are continually In the water of oftheAterbedfromwatercirculation.Tiris aquarium, own though I run a protdn skimmer. Idlbthe~flbadonhthe~and ThesebrvMarecorsdfood.blnuurasmall tk~M~m~lk~dplanktonic animate such as thew am rtf mJor dwomu,bççl,andotheranimabpreven sourcednutrient*foramipolypsmycorals, anovr-abundancedbactfiiandkeepsihe manysoftcorals,andotheranimalsthatfeed -Brine. on suspended muur. So, wtdi the help of your Itmayseemodddnt(Ifmwrnentfof fnsndl/ wonm and buo, once you feed the fish such small animate could be sieiiflcant to water inyourtankyouatohtlromddm circulation,but dm cumulative action is invertebrates, and hi an absolutely natural considerable. Each animal causes the manner. disturbance of about 100 eubk mllllmours of It is no co^Kidence that successful filter bed per &y. In a wall popuhfd sand bad A maws sand bed about (0on deep maincenanoidmanycorabbwwtththe the number of animals Is enormous. I ham adventofthe"Beriintr"wtlçmwith odcufetftd that there are about 100.000 adnub bed produces Bedconstructioniseasyandnqbedone rudlnwttary sand bed. The sand hthefKeerbedofmy45~hgoonrMf.A foodforthehvembrauKandactsasa whemarankissetuporafterlthasbeenh population dus (wee will move about 0.01 cubic bteloricdMur.haweU
mm SuHur at the
MumSpter1-15, lnc., Mentor, OH - Pridh USA My Experiences in Reef Keepin 4-h My Experiences in Reef Keeping
Dçnteri(katkmBawdonSulfarattt Aquartumof- -rn@Pt 10,000KteifofwaterwithWvtew/kwthe lankcomain@ the -swtim,andsowa peakd21qg4nitricafarcmcdayandabw nitratelevelafterthroedays. Thbbud)treatmentcyrbwas+ Ihroeifaws.EÈehOneihftwvn*ankrt^epoa thefirstifayardaloweredlevçlafterthreedan ThethreerepetitionsreÈJtedinadecrease the nitrate concentration dabout lOO q$. Then the tank with the denltrifylw system was connected to the general saltwater drcuhtlon system. Ataflewrateof200Hunperhour,In tlifrceendaysthanhrateconcentration(fcxÈpa that the suftr beads abo brolu down, restricdru from220IT^to lIOn@andremainedudds diewamrflowihnx^)ihç*pbes.TN level.ThefewrrnwasthenIncreasedtoW0 tken per hour. The nitrate oonoentradon droppedforfifteendaptoaablheat20UK/I Fkialy.th~flowratewasiçac1500Kcerspe hour,mdthenjtncftoonocncr*kci0fiHAyou beunen 4 and IOfngfl, dqmdhgon theamount of food that hid been added. DurlftfhdenitrifyingproeoutheWvaried pdyanddropped toabout 6 neartheoutput