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Purchase/Enquiry. Plankton tow nets --
9/22/09 Copepods And Amphipods And Brine Shrimp Oh My! --
05/18/09
Ideal Amphipod Breeding Substrate 04/01/2008 Hello again Crew, <<Hello, Andrew today>> I have a 17g tub that I plan to culture amphipods in. I've heard that Chaeto, liverock, sand, and sponges are good breeding substrates. In your experience, which of these are the best? <<Chaeto, live rock and sand>> Here are the side and top views of my current plan for the container. I intend to make sections out of eggcrate and pump water so it flows through the Chaeto (thus rolling it) and back towards the pump. <<Hope this helps, A Nixon>>
Copepods in a Fallow Aquarium 9/25/07 Or in your case...a nut can find a nut...hahahaha!!! <Yep!? Gotta quick question for ya...in the QT that I had the coral beauty in I have noticed a huge population of copepods. I don't want to dump them. Can I run the tank fallow for a couple more weeks and then somehow transfer them to my main tank? Thanks Scott! Jennifer <Well, I don't see why not...particularly if the fishes in the quarantine system were "clean". Sounds like a plan! Good luck! Regards, Scott F.> Zooplankton vs. Phytoplankton, food, coral nutr. - 07/18/07 Hi, I've read on you very informative website that it is preferable to feed corals zooplankton as opposed to phytoplankton like DT's brand. <Well, that's because the corals we keep don't eat phytoplankton. However, if you have a deep sand bed and/or refugium feeding phytoplankton like DT's will likely increase your tank's ability to produce it's own zooplankton.> I cannot find any zooplankton products for use in my aquarium. Can you possibly point any out for me? <Coral Frenzy is supposed to be pretty good. Cyclop-Eeze might also be considered zooplankton. Liquid life's "coral plankton" has rotifers. Zooplankton is basically just the portion of plankton that consists of tiny (microscopic or nearly so) animals and larvae rather than eggs and algae. So, urchin eggs would be plankton, but urchin larvae would be zooplankton. Copepods, rotifers, shrimp larvae and small crustacean larvae, etc. these are things that could be considered zooplankton. Newly hatched baby brine probably qualify as zooplankton. Another easy way to get zooplankton in your tank is to have some peppermint or other ornamental shrimp that regularly produce larvae in aquariums. Of course, I do wonder if the fish don't eat up all these larvae before the coral get a chance at them.> Thank you so much! <Hope this helps. Best, Sara M.> Amphipod Culturing 6/13/07 Hi, hope all is well with yall! Thanks again for putting in so much time and effort on such an extensive and informative library of information. So, to the point. I have a Scooter Blenny who is starting to look slightly malnourished because, despite many efforts, he refuses all but live brine shrimp. <Sort of sounds like me and my pizza addiction... Needs to be weaned off such relatively hollow-nutritionally food/s... by mixing it with other material/s...> As a result, I am in the process of setting up a copepod culturing system. I am adamant on feeding him his natural diet, despite the other great benefits of these tiny critters. Allow me to describe my plans: bare bottom 10g with a small collection of live rock rubble, half filled with saltwater, green with DT's live phyto, and a slow bubbling on either side of the tank. I have read through all related articles/FAQs and can't seem to find a definitive answer. My question is this: would this setup be suitable for culturing Amphipods as well? <Yes, could be> I suppose I would need to add some Caulerpa or Chaetomorpha, correct? <Mmm, yes> Also, what other types of creatures would be able to flourish under such conditions, and could you recommend a source? <All sorts... though I would increase the sand bed depth... with fine coral sand... Do give Inland Aquatics and IPSF.com a look/see (on the Net)> I would love to have a variety as I'm very aware of the great benefits these little guys bring with them. Within days of getting this fish he single-handedly wiped out the visible population of 'pods. No surprise there I guess! Thank you in advance, -John <Mmm and a read of the articles and FAQs on live food culture here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/maintenance/index.htm The tray near the bottom. Bob Fenner> DSB's/Coral Food - 01/10/07 Hello, <<Hello Ronnie>> I have heard recently that DSB's are not suggested in SPS reef tanks? Any thoughts or advice? <<Hmm... I have 1000 pounds of sugar-fine aragonite in a flourishing 375g SPS reef tank, along with another 300 pounds in the in-line 55g refugium, that might suggest otherwise. Perhaps it is thought the efficient denitrification process deprives the corals of this important/required element. I have heard of advanced hobbyists adding Potassium Nitrate to their SPS systems to boost health/color/vigor. I myself prefer a heavy (within reason) fish load coupled with generous feedings>> I read Deep Sand Secrets and found a lot of great info on it. <<A good/interesting read, agreed>> I have always used one with good results. In my new 75 gallon SPS only tank, I am researching different ways to set it up. <<Excellent! I have kept myself, and have seen, many successful tanks using differing methodologies. But I must say, my greatest success has come when utilizing the DSB methodology>> Also, any thoughts on the new food line called Reef Nutrition? <<Ah, yes...am feeding the Arcti-Pods to my system now. My Anthiines seem to like it fine, as well as the other small planktonic feeding fishes. Can't really say whether the corals are feeding on it, though it does appear to be "small enough" for several of my Acropora species utilize>> I have always used Cyclop-eeze and DT's oyster eggs and phytoplankton for feeding my corals? <<Good selections, but the phytoplankton is of little utility here as most all SPS corals will be carnivores...though it is beneficial for feeding many of the planktonic organisms/micro-crustaceans which "do" provide a rich food source for your corals...and many of which are cultured/generated from/within a DSB>> Thanks, you guys rock. <<Thank you...thank you very much (in my best Elvis impersonation voice)>> Ronnie <<Regards, Eric Russell>> Question: Sweetwater Zooplankton is fresh water Daphnia. 12/25/06 Any thoughts on feeding freshwater plankton to Marine creatures ? I've been using it for 4 years and my fish seem to like it. <Is useful for marine use... has a similar "laxative effect" if fed too often, exclusively... But nutritious, pathogen-free... BobF> Thank you, Chris WetWebCrew Rules !!! Zoo- And Phytoplankton Products 11/10/06 Hello, Cam here, <Hi Cam, James with you today.> If I May ask...What is your opinion about the manufacturers Two Little Fishies? I am considering buying Two Little Fishies Zoo-and Phytoplankton products namely: ZoPlan, PhytoPlan, Marine Snow, Seaweed (red, green (Flakes) <Never used any of their products so I cannot comment here, nor have I heard anyone boast about such.> and/Or Aqua Medic's Plancto? What is the best choice liquid dead?) plankton, dried or frozen? I think ZoPlan and PhytoPlan are dried plankton, I cannot get live plankton? What other supplements should I give, I have mostly soft corals and stony corals? Thanks I appreciate it. Thanks for answering all my previous questions. <Cam, I'm not familiar with, or have used any of these products, therefore it is best for you to place this on our chat forum. In this regard, people who have used these products can comment. You can find the link in the lower right column on our home page. The products I use are made by Liquid Life. There are three, Marine Plankton with Cyclop-Eeze (smaller fish enjoy this also), Bio Plankton, which contains billions of preserved green algae, green flagellate, and golden algae, varying in sizes from 2-16 microns. Coral Plankton, contains 3,000 rotifers and 1 billion pavlova algae per milliliter, ideal for carnivorous corals and Tridacnid Clams. All must be keep frozen or refrigerated. I find these foods to be the least detrimental in increasing nitrate and/or phosphate levels, and the most nutritious of products I have tried. I purchase these at my LFS, but they can be ordered through Foster & Smith or other etailers that carry them. James (Salty Dog)> Plankton Production - 03/01/06 Hi guys, <<and gals!>> long time reader, first post! I currently have a large 60 gallon refugium running inline with a lightly stocked reef tank. <<Cool!>> Do you have any specific tips or advice on what types of macro algae, and possibly supplements or foods to increase/improve the various types of plankton that can be supported? <<Lots... My preference is a vegetable refugium w/DSB. This provides an excellent matrix to foster plankton/epiphytic matter, and my favorite macro-algae for this is Chaetomorpha linum. But there are more choices/other opinions that work well also. Have a look through our refugium data re: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/refugium.htm >> Suggestions on general parameters, feeding & supplementation that can (intensely) effect growth of such plankton? <<A pinch of flake food/a few shrimp pellets every couple of days goes a long way to increasing populations.>> Are there ways to introduce specific sought after plankton? Plankton Substitutes? <<Plankton/refugium starter kits are available from a few e-tailers. A simple Google search re should find them easy enough.>> The system is 100% sponge less, carbonless, powerhead-less. Temperature controlled at 78-81. Each tank (19 inches deep) has a single 150w HQI 20k pendant. Flow rate is approximately 700gph per tank. <<Sounds perfect for the Chaetomorpha/DSB system I mentioned.>> I run a protein skimmer a few days a month. My water parameters has been steady for past 12 weeks at 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and 0.2 Nitrates (1 part per 5 million). Thank you for being the best resource on the web! <<Thank you for contributing!>> George <<Regards, EricR>> Plankton supplies 11/22/03 Hi guys, does anyone know where to purchase a net for collecting wild plankton? I'm talking about one of those long nets you tow or set in a drift. Thanks- D <do try Florida Aqua Farms (do a net search, or look in the bibliog. of our books)... a fine place for such supplies. Else try biological supply houses (like those used by science educators). best of luck. Anthony> Re: plankton net 11/23/03 Thanks, didn't see it on the FAF site but you were right about the other, Carolina Bio-Supply has them. - D <outstanding... best of luck. Anthony> Ozone and its affect on plankton Greetings. <Hello there> I would like to know the affects of ozone on the planktonic stages of the reef critters in our tanks, pods, Stomatella, bristle worms.. etc. Does the Ozone really kill them like a UV would? <Don't have specifics, but beyond a Redox reading of 400 or so I do believe O3 would become more and more toxic to larval forms of invertebrates, fishes> Do they become oxidized by the O3? Cell structure get weakened and they die? Will the use of Ozone wipe out a tank of plankton? Any info you can help or link me to would be appreciated. Thomas <Like "too much of any good thing", too much ozone would be harmful. However, its utilization as an adjunct to improved water quality would be beneficial... let's say to a Redox reading of 300 or so. Bob Fenner> Amphipods, Copepods, and Zooplankton oh my! - 8/19/03 I have had my marine tank up and running for about 2 months now. It is a Juwel Vision 180 bow front running the standard internal filter, a BakPak 2 skimmer <Underskimmed me thinks, but I noticed your from Scotland, and you might be talking about litres in which case you are skimming nicely. =)> and filter, and a Fluval 3 that is packed with Rowaphos. There is also a Microjet in there to create flow in the lower levels of the tank. Lighting is one Marine glow and 2 PowerGlos. Stock is very low just now, consisting of 4 Green Chromis (which have spawned!), <Awesome!> 6 turbo snails and a few lumps of live rock with lovely Coralline algae on it and some macro algae. <Very nice!> The rest of the tank is made up of live sand (not critters, but bacteria) and Ocean Rock. <Cool> I had the normal Diatom problem, and now have nice green algae growing, hence the snails. My problem is this... Last night I was looking at the tank when I realized that the "bubbles" on the front glass were not in fact bubbles, but 1-2mm round "things" with what looks like 8 feather like legs that wave about a bit. I can't find any reference to these in any books. They seem to have appeared over night and are concentrated in the heavier flow. The fish are "possibly" taking the odd one or two, but I don't know if I should be worried or not! <No worries mate. These are likely a type of juvenile copepod or amphipod. Very beneficial creatures to have. Likely breeding in your crop of green alga. Consider yourself lucky. See here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/pods.htm and utilize your favorite search engine for copepods or amphipods for morphological ID> Any help would be greatly appreciated <Thanks for your inquiry. -Paul out!> Rob - Aberdeen, Scotland Tiny.... critters....... in my tank: A Don Ho classic - 7/22/03 Hey guys!! Thanks for all your help in the past, you guys give very sound advice!<Well, we do our best> First off I am cycling a new 120 gallon tank 120 lbs. of live sand, aprox. 30 lbs. of Fiji live rock and 84 lbs. of Kaelini live rock. <Very cool> A Cascade 1500 canister filter, 2 Bak Pak 2 protein skimmers. 3 Maxi-jet 1200 powerheads and 1 Maxi-jet 900 powerhead. <Sweet> My nitrites read 0.5 and my Ph is appox. 8.2. My local Fish store advised me to go ahead and put in a dozen snails and 2 dozen hermit crabs. <Sure they did. Seems like an awful lot to add all at once in a cycling tank> I can account for most of the hermits however most of the snails have passed away. <As I would expect with nitrite in the water. Also, I would expect other parameters to be a bit out of skew. Snails are very delicate to water chemistry. Something to keep in mind when adding them (even when the tank is 5 years old.) A dealers tank may have different specifications than yours. Definitely acclimate your animals (quarantining is the best way)> The problem is that now I have these very, very tiny white bugs coming out of one of dead snail shells (aprox. a couple hundred). These things move about the glass as if there were no water in the tank. Is this something I should be worried about. <Highly doubtful> If so what can be done to cure the problem?? <Absolutely nothing to do here per se. These are more than likely a type of copepod or amphipod. These are great to have flourish in a tank. Pictures? Again, I would not worry about these favorable life forms. Likely they were benefiting from the death of the snail as these guys are typically opportunistic feeders. Likely cause of death here may have been water quality. Give it a week or three, then try again. Take a look on our site regarding algae control and mollusks. -Paul> Thanks for all you guys do. Jason UV effects on plankton? 5/20/03 Good morning everyone!! <cheers> I have heard that if you have corals in your aquarium, you shouldn't use a UV sterilizer, because that would eliminate the things that the corals feed on. Is this a fact??? <a small matter either way. Assuming your tank even produces plankton (few do adequately to feed corals).. the UV will nuke some plankters... yet the dead are still consumed by filter-feeders. Ultimately, though... I see little need for a UV on a display tank... a poor method of disease control (dubious efficacy under practical applications). Ozone would be much better for this purpose and has other benefits> If this is true, then if I were to use a UV sterilizer, and manually feed phytoplankton a couple times a week, would the corals be satisfied?? <agreed> I ask this because I have noticed that UV sterilizers help control unwanted algae. <they certainly do... and very well. Yet, the cause of the algae is excess nutrients. Control the nutrients (aggressive skimming, proper feeding/stocking and water changes, etc), and the UV is still not needed> Pat Marren <kind regards, Anthony> Bula from Fiji Bob! <Bula my friend> Tim McLeod of Walt Smith Int. suggested I email you with a question.... <Hello to Tim and Flower> We have an 800 gal display tank with a 1000 gal reservoir tank, so we circulate 1,800 gallons of salt water through the display. We are building a 400 gal tank in to the system in which we will grow mangrove and bonsai them (see http://www.fukubonsai.com/5a9.html It can be done!!!). <Yes> In this mangrove tank we plan to create an ecosystem and feed the nutrients & organisms in to the display tank to feed the corals. <Okay> This will require us pumping from the mangrove tank to the display tank. We are concerned that using impeller pumps will "mash" the live organisms we created and make the whole exercise pointless, however, we are having trouble finding diaphragm pumps that are a) electric b) salt proof c) continuous duty and d) rated at 400 to 600 gallons per hour. Do you think an impeller pump is out and where could we find the right diaphragm pump if impellers can't be used? <Actually not much of a problem. Some studies have been done which show less than 1% of crustaceans, worms die as a consequence of passing through paddle-wheel like impellers. Those critters are tough!> Appreciate any advice Bob and please come see us when you visit Fiji!! <Will do so Phil. Bob Fenner> Vinaka Phil Felstead Kula Eco Park P.O. Box 823 Sigatoka Fiji Islands Tel: (679) 650 0505 Fax: (679) 652 0202 Email: mitman@connect.com.fj Web Site: www.fijiwild.com Live Plankton Hi, I read a German web site saying that "Just place a little tank (2-5 gallon) next to a window, fill it up with water from your marine tank and wait for a few days. The result will be a wide range of plankton for your smaller horses and pipefish." Is this true? <No my friend> Do I need to circulate the water? Any risk of doing so? Will it introduce parasite? <No need, chance for any culture of the sort, without introducing a starter population, specific media (chemical foods, other organisms as foods)... Please use the Internet here to pursue this idea. I encourage you to read through our coverage and the references posted: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/pipehorsies2.htm particularly the linked sites at the bottom. Bob Fenner> Thanks in advance for answering. Best regards, Manus DIY DT's I want to make my own DT's. From what I have found, all it is saltwater in a jar that sits under light and kept warm for a week or two. The water will turn green and then you have DT's. Is this true? <Not exactly.> If so how can they sell it for $16.00? There has to be more to this. <Please take a look at the following articles: http://www.reefs.org/library/talklog/r_toonen_102500.html http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-07/ds/index.htm> Thanks so much for your time! <You are welcome. -Steven Pro> UV sterilization and live plankton What if any effect does UV sterilization have on the live plankton I put in my tank for my corals? <much, most or all of the plankton that passes through the unit will be killed depending on the flow through rate (and efficacy of the set-up). UV is not recommended on reef tanks. It should not be necessary for disease control with proper QT of all new animals, and it should not be needed to temper green water with adequate nutrient export mechanisms (skimming, water changes, etc). UV's are commonly mis-sold for disease control yet they fail regularly due to improper installation. They need a fine polishing mechanical prefilter on the inlet, tank water needs to have aggressive clarity control (weekly carbon or daily ozone), the contact chamber needs a very slow flow through and a monthly purge to reduce mulm and other built up organics, and the bulb needs to be changed approximately every six months. And even when all of this is done... it can only kill what flows through it. Many larval parasites settle to the substrate and can rise and attack fishes before being drawn into the UV. UV are best run on bare glass bottomed aquaria for this and other reasons. Best regards, Anthony> Plankton in Israel Dear Bob, Looking for a source for buying master/starter cultures of rotifers type S. Can you help ??? Thanks, Zeev Lidovski <Florida Aqua Farms has the cultures, kits, equipment, foods and manuals to support this endeavor. Look here: http://www.florida-aqua-farms.com/ Best regards, Anthony Calfo> Natural zooplankton Hey guys great website! You guys make it a lot easier for the people just starting out in this hobby. <our desire and intent... thank you> I have a tank that is 125 gallons my fish are recovering from an ich breakout that started about 2 weeks ago. The breakout happened the day after I put a bunch of live rock in my tank. I tested the water and everything was normal. <I hope you now own a quarantine tank and will put all new fish, live rock, coral, etc in it first for a proper QT period (2-4 weeks)... really critical husbandry. It saves lives and money!> The day after I put the live rock in I also noticed all these white little bugs crawling around on the front of my glass from top to bottom and lots of them. <excellent! Copepods... a natural live plankton. Very good rock you got there> I have been asking the LFS if these little white bugs maybe came from the live rock and they told me no that these are normal for an established tank to have, I also know that these bugs are not the ich parasite because the ich parasite is a lot smaller. <all correct!> So I decided to set up two hospital tanks and divide up my fish. <you are very wise my friend> I also started using the Kent marine garlic supplement for their food. <OK... I said wise... not a genius <smile>. I stand in a large crowd of very experienced aquarists that hold such products in dubious regard.. at best a preventative, but never for treating a full blown infection> I left the bottom of the tank bare on both hospital tanks but put a couple of pieces of live rock from my main tank in them. <very well> For four days in a row I treated the tanks with quick cure and lowered down the salinity. After I did this the fish started looking really well and behaving normally and so on. In fact I don't think I've seen my porcupine puffer look any better. <excellent and as it should be> So I have had them out of the main tank for two weeks total, 1 week treating them and the other week them looking great no white spots on them or nothing. Now here is the doozy! I woke up this morning and looked in one of the hospital tanks and both my porcupine puffers were dead and my dogface puffer was laying on the bottom with a ghost look on his face breathing hard. <a physical parameter of water quality must have strayed for such sudden deaths to occur... no parasite works that fast> Now until now I have not seen these little white bugs crawling on the front of the glass in my hospital tank and they are all over. <they are detritivores... the population simply flared with increased organics (which also could have cause oxygen depletion or ammonia). Death over night is often oxygen depletion because tanks respire at night and already low O2 by day drops lower at night. A conspicuous symptom. Perhaps overfeeding, lack of water changes and/or lack of aeration> I transferred my dog face into my other hospital tank where everything seems to be ok and left for work hopefully when I get home today he will be ok. Now my big question here is I have asked many fish stores what the hell those white bugs are and all of them don't give me any definition of what they are they just say Oh they aren't anything to worry about every established tank gets them, but all I know is when disaster strikes these little guys always seem to show up <exactly... they are a symptom of rich organics which is often bad (although in healthy tanks comes simply with tank maturity)> and whether they are harmless or not how do I get rid of them because It is hard to enjoy your tank when you have a whole bunch of white bugs crawling on the front of your glass. <they are extremely beneficial and it is a mistake to eradicate them all. Still... if you must... there are many fishes that prey on them. Wrasses and pseudochromids will make short work of them> And also the only thing that I have left in my main tank is my anemones, and my long spine urchin and the white bugs are still crawling all over the front of the glass. Well anyways thanks for listening to me vent for awhile. And thanks again for the great website. Please help if you can. <best regards, Anthony Calfo> Freeze-dried microalgae Hello Mr. Fenner <Anthony Calfo in your service> I am looking to buy spray dried/freeze-dried microalgae Nanochloropsis for the culture of zooplankton. I understand that many pet suppliers do sell these, but I am looking to buy a few kilograms of these alga, not in the small quantities offered. Do you buy any chance know of anybody who sell the spray dried/freeze dried version. <have you tried Argent Labs at http://srd.yahoo.com/goo/argent+chemical/1/T=1023952668/F=45c2029d3ff1ed2996347 aec26eb0fd8/*http://www.argent-labs.com/> Right now I am using microalgae paste but it is getting too expensive to use on a long run. <indeed> Many thanks in advance Joey <with kind regards, Anthony Calfo> Small white things shimming in the tank HELP Hi Bob, I have a question. There are a bunch of small white "things" swimming around in my saltwater tank, What are they? I do not see them on the glass only in the middle. <Probably some sort of non-parasitic zooplankton. Take a look at Marine Hitchhiker/Critter ID page from the WWM links and see if you can make a positive ID. -Steven Pro> Thanks, Darren Microscopic Crawly Things Hi Bob or whoever answers this question. I am setting up a new marine reef tank, it is 3 weeks into the cycle and there has been a brown covering of all the live rock and glass which is no problem. The problem I do have however, is the morning I noticed small (about 1mm and under) crawly things eating the brown algae on the glass. I looked at them with a magnifying glass and they look translucent in appearance with a touch of pink. On the larger ones they have a large white sucker on one end about 1/4 of a mm in diameter. Could you please tell me what these are and if they need to be eradicated. Many thanks, Colin <Probably harmless, but go to the links page and find Dr. Ron Shimek's page and the Marine Hitchhiker/Critter ID page for help with a conclusive ID. -Steven Pro> Parasite? Dear Mr. Fenner, <Anthony Calfo in your service> I have spent many hours reading through your book, and your website and can't seem to find anything that matches or answers my problem. So I thought I might as well ask the expert for a little advice. I have a 125 gallon tank with 135 lbs of live rock and currently only 3 fish 1 maroon clown and 2 damsels. I have approx. 1200 gal/hour flow rate on the system with a protein skimmer and U.V light as well. Recently I have been experiencing a lot of very small (pin head size) white organisms floating as well as congregating on my glass. <yes... copepods and the like. A fine sign. Good zooplankton for many fishes to eat... came from live rock> There are so many free floating it kind of makes the water look a bit cloudy. They are very hard to describe but the best way is to say they are shaped some what like a dart (tiny point with a flared end) the pointy end clinging to the glass. All the water conditions check out great and the fish seem to be healthy. My system just doesn't appear to be normal. <actually it is a great benefit to have these creatures... try a Pseudochromis or dragonet (like a scooter blenny) to eat them if you prefer> I added some floss to the overflow and it turned brown in less than 24 hours. I am assuming this is partially due to whatever it is in my water. Does this sound like some sort of parasite, or something that is beneficial to my tank? Any insight you may have will be greatly appreciated as I am at a loss for how to control this. Thank you, Gavin <the only flag that has been raised is your floss turning brown in 24hrs. If you are overfeeding, that would explain it and the reason for such a large population of copepods. But the 'pods in and of themselves are beneficial... great scavengers. Anthony Calfo> Plankton on the Gold Coast Hi Again Bob, <G'day> I look forward to "Cracking a Tinnie" with you also on your soon visit to Queensland's Gold Coast. I'll fire up the barbie too !!! Anyway.... Tank doing just fine... took your advice and let it sail along for a bit with just the LR. Eventually did go and catch some local fishes from the Seaway (quite colourful considering) which of course I have no idea what they are. But that is not my problem.... Checked out the tank this morning and I have what can only be described as a "Bloom" of Plankton. Small (approx. 1mm in length), white, free-swimming, critters who occasionally stop for a rest on the glass of the tank. Most however are hovering around just on the side of the main return flow from the sump. I had noticed a few of these things originally but now there would have to be close to 100. I don't mind if these things will ultimately be food, but I am concerned that these guys might be parasites of some nature. <Not likely... but might be a good idea to let the system go without adding more fishes for a bit> (remember.... Living so close to the Beach I am using natural seawater). The fish don't seem to be bothered by them and are all in perfect health (if this can be indicated by their frenzied feeding habits). Any thoughts you may have on these little blighters would be appreciated. All environmental indicators are fine except temperature which regularly gets up to 29 degrees C. Thanks Again, Glenn. |
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