Fish 'N' Chips
A Monthly Marine Newsletter
June 2006 Issue
Index
|
From Liz Chem 101 Review |
Caught In The Net Marine News Chips...er...Tips |
Upcoming Events Just for Laughs Newsletter Disclaimer |
Software Reviewer Wanted! I have been trying to add a new section to the Fish 'N' Chips newsletter that would let my subscribers know about software that is fish related. The software would include tank maintenance programs, games, etc. Unfortunately, I simply don't have the time to do this. I'm not looking for in depth reviews, more like a quick listing of information such as title, author/company, platform, price, and where to download. I've got links to 13 games so far, enough for more than a year of issues, and still no time to do them. So, if anyone out there is interested in having their own section of Fish 'N' Chips and playing a bunch of games etc. in their free time, drop me an email or just hit reply.
Mailing List Archives Removed: I've deleted the mailing list archives from the site. I am not talking about the past issues, just the messages that are stored on the site as a result of my actual mailings. The archive system never really handled the issues correctly which is why I never let them be archived so only my miscellaneous messages were listed. Useless stuff really. Who'd want to see those things, so I tossed them.
Chem 101 Section Debut: This issue marks the debut of the Chem 101 section in which articles related to the science behind our tanks will be published. First up, Water Quality Testing: Ammonia by Dan Cole of MOPS. I don't have any other Chem 101 articles set for the rest of the year but I will keep my eyes open for them.
Visit This Month's Subscriber's Tank Showcase: Cedric C. Kirkman's 10 Gallon Reef Tank is this month's Showcase and can be seen at http://www.marinefiends.com/showcases.html. To submit your tank photos and information, visit http://www.marinefiends.com/submittank.html (url dead 03/09/08).
Chem 101
Water Quality Testing: Ammonia
By Elizabeth M. Lukan 06/11/06
What is Ammonia?
Ammonia is a toxic waste that is excreted by fish or caused by decomposing plant matter and uneaten fish food. At low levels Ammonia is stressful for most fish and other inhabitants -- at higher levels, it is deadly. Fortunately, naturally occurring bacteria is present in most established systems that converts this ammonia to nitrite and, in turn, to the less toxic nitrate. This process is known as the "Nitrogen cycle".
Why is it important to know your Ammonia level?
This beneficial bacterium is present in established aquarium and pond filters, but it takes time for it to reach sufficient levels to handle the wastes that are produced. Cleaning or replacing your filter cartridges and other filter material, or using some medications can disrupt this biological process. Adding additional fish and excessive feeding can also overwhelm our filters and result in higher ammonia levels too. Testing for ammonia will tell you if your system is able to handle the biological load or if your fish are at risk. Testing your water is fairly simple and there are a number of inexpensive test kits and monitoring devices available. Ideally your Ammonia should be ZERO.
What do I do if my Ammonia level is to high?
The first thing you'll want to do is to reduce the level of toxic ammonia and you can do so in a number of ways...
The other thing you will want to do is to determine why you have ammonia in the first place. You want to solve the problem and not just continue to treat the symptoms. It might be that your aquarium or pond hasn't had time to establish a good biological filter or you may have disrupted the biological process by using medications or by replacing your filters or cleaning them in water containing chlorine or chloramines. Chlorine and Chloramines will kill the beneficial bacteria we are trying to encourage. It is also possible that your filter is too small for the current fish load or perhaps it just needs to be cleaned. Something is interfering with the "Nitrogen cycle" and you'll want to take steps to correct the problem and improve your biological filter. Products like BioZyme, Stability and Stress Zyme can be used to add beneficial bacteria to our systems so we can get things back on track.
Good luck!
Editor's Comments:
Editing was limited to spelling and grammar corrections if necessary and putting the article into the
Fish 'N' Chips format. The above article was originally published in the MOPS Newsletter which you
can subscribe to by visiting
http://www.mops.ca/. The
links to the products are there so that you can obtain more information on them if you desire, not as
an endorsement of that product or that you should purchase them through MOPS. The products that are
mentioned in the article but are not linked are for freshwater and/or ponds only.
A Short & Sweet Review
ViaAqua OCEANPURE Synthetic Sea Salt
Edited By Elizabeth M. Lukan, 03/17/06
I have had two experiences with this salt and neither one of them have been good.
The first experience I had with it, it got moisture in the bucket. I have never had this problem before with salt, so I do not know how well it mixes at this point. This salt would not dissolve. I have let it go for 48 hours and it still hadn't dissolved all the way. There were still particles floating around.
The second experience I had with this salt was refilling a 300 gallon holding tank. The tank had about 50 gallons left, and I filled it back up with RO water, then put the salt in. After having diatom problems, I tested the silicates in the salt tank, and RO tank. The RO tank was fine, but the Salt tank, was almost off the chart for silicates.
Perhaps, I got a bad batch, but we have gone through two buckets before we tracked down the problem. It may have been just one of the buckets that was the problem. I will be honest, I don't know.
I would hesitate to continue using it.
Editor's Comments:
Editing was limited to spelling corrections and some grammar (capitalizing the beginning
of a sentence, adding a period at the end, etc.). No other editing was done, what you read
was exactly what was posted on the Saltcreep web site.
More information and an image of the product can be found at
http://www.commodityaxis.com/ProductData.aspx?id=61.
Please visit Saltcreep at http://www.saltcreep.com/ for this review, forums, and much more.
New Stuff Found
Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine (http://www.advancedaquarist.com/):
Reefkeeping Magazine (http://reefkeeping.com/):
Seas the Day Ocean Book of the Month (http://www.theoceanproject.org/action/book.php) (url updated 03/09/08, originally http://seastheday.theoceanproject.org/seastheday/book/index.htm)
Ocean Voyager: A Five-Part Journey to Defend Our Oceans
Take a one-of-a-kind online voyage to defend our ocean. You will receive an email once a week for five
weeks which will show you "hot spots" from around the world that are under attack and what
you can do to help stop it. Visit
http://www.oceanvoyager.org/ (url dead 06/17/08)
to sign up.
Wallpaper of the Month
Title: Blue Sea Dragon
Copyright: Vlad Gerasimov, VladStudio
Link to Wallpaper: http://www.vladstudio.com/wallpaper/?267
05/04/06, Marine Conservation Society (MCS)
Local charity gets active to save our seas
http://www.mcsuk.org/press/press_release.php?cust_id=68 (url dead 03/09/08)
05/04/06, Census of Marine Life
Diverse Sea Bugs, Other Life Revealed on Landmark Atlantic Cruise to Census Zooplankton and Animals at Depths to 5 km
http://www.coml.org/medres/zoopla/Final-Census-news-release-05-04.pdf
05/05/06, NOAA News Online
Elkhorn and Staghorn Corals Listed in Threatened Status; NOAA Hosting Public
Information Workshops in South Florida and Caribbean
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2006/s2627.htm
05/05/06, NOAA News Online
US Coral Reef Task Force Announces New Conservation Initiatives Aimed at Reducing
Illegal Aquarium Trade in Reef Fish; NOAA Rules on New Protections for Threatened
Coral Species
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2006/s2625.htm
05/05/06, The Age
Govt to create 13 new marine parks
http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Govt-to-create-13-new-marine-parks/2006/05/05/1146335911371.html
05/15/06, Environmental News Network (ENN)
Alaska Gets Its First Artificial Reef
http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=10453 (url dead 03/09/08)
05/26/06, Marine Conservation Society (MCS)
good beach guide 2006: rain stops play on scotland's beaches
http://www.mcsuk.org/press/press_release.php?cust_id=71 (url dead 03/09/08)
05/26/06, Marine Conservation Society (MCS)
good beach guide 2006: driest weather in ten years brings best ever beach results for the uk
http://www.mcsuk.org/press/press_release.php?cust_id=70 (url dead 03/09/08)
05/26/06, CenSEAM
NIWA Graveyard Expedition 2006
http://censeam.niwa.co.nz/outreach/censeam_graveyard
05/30/06, Marine Conservation Society (MCS)
Have your say on the marine bill
http://www.mcsuk.org/campaigns/campaigns.php?title=have%20your%20say%20on%20the%20marine%20bill (url dead 03/09/08)
Chips...er...Tips
Feeding Tip #6
Edited By Elizabeth M. Lukan, 01/13/06
Know all about the feeding habits of the fish and marine animals you are keeping, what and how they eat in their natural ocean environments.
Only put in small amounts of food at first until the fish figure out that what is put in the tank is a food source. Remove any uneaten pieces of food if not consumed within an hour after feeding time.
Do not overfeed! This can cause poor aquarium water quality that most often leads to various types of algae problems.
Editor's Comments:
Editing was limited to spelling and grammar corrections and putting into the
Fish 'N' Chips format. The above is part of a larger article, How To Tips For
Feeding Saltwater Livestock, which can be found at
http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/fishphotosa_b/ht/feedswfish.htm.
To Submit Your Tip: Visit http://www.marinefiends.com/submit.html.
| Event | Start Date / Time | End Date / Time | Location | Event Details, Notes, and For More Info |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2006 | ||||
| MCS Coastal Challenge | now | Apr. 8, 2007 | http://www.mcsuk.org/support/support.php?title=Coastal%20Challenge (url dead 03/09/08) | |
| Diseases of Warmwater Fish: Specialized Training for the Aquatic Health Practitioner | Jun. 5, 2006 | Jun. 16, 2006 | Ruskin and St. Augustine, FL, USA | http://www.conference.ifas.ufl.edu/ame/wwf/ |
| Marine Bill Conference | Jun. 15, 2006 | London, UK | http://www.mcsuk.org/events/events.php (url dead 03/09/08) | |
| Doctors Foster & Smith 2nd Annual Coral Conference & Frag Swap | Jun. 23, 2006 | Jun. 25, 2006 | Rhinelander, Wisconsin, USA | http://liveaquaria.com/general/general.cfm?general_pagesid=381 (url dead 03/09/08) |
| MarLIN's 2nd Marine Life Volunteer Recording Conference | Jun. 29, 2006 | Jun. 30, 2006 | University of Plymouth and the Marine Biological Association, Plymouth, UK | http://www.mcsuk.org/events/events.php (url dead 03/09/08) |
| July 2006 | ||||
| MASLAC Meeting: Speaker Adelaide Rhodes AKA "Pod Girl" on pods - their care, importance and abundance. | 07/15/06 | Marine Aquarium Society of Los Angeles County: http://www.maslac.org/ | ||
| August 2006 | ||||
| MASLAC Meeting: So Cal Creations will show us how to work with acrylic and take care of our acrylic tanks. | 08/12/06 | Marine Aquarium Society of Los Angeles County: http://www.maslac.org/ | ||
| September 2006 | ||||
| 2006 AZA Annual Conference | Sept. 25, 2006 | Sept. 29, 2006 | Tampa, FL, USA | http://www.aza.org/ConfWork/AC_Intro/ |
| October 2006 | ||||
| Backer's 40th Annual Pet Industry Trade Show and Educational Conference | Oct. 6, 2006 | Oct. 8, 2006 | Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Rosemont (Chicago), Illinois, USA | http://www.hhbacker.com/hhbacker/x06tradeshow.asp |
| November 2006 | ||||
| Second Annual Coral Reef Conservation and Management Conference | Nov. 8, 2006 | Nov. 9, 2006 | James L. Knight International Center, Miami, Florida, USA | http://www.informalearning.com/coralreefs (url dead 03/09/08) |
To Submit Your Event: Visit http://www.marinefiends.com/submit.html.
Just for Laughs
Edited by Elizabeth M. Lukan 05/15/06
What do you call a fish with no eyes? A fsh.
To Submit Your Joke: Visit http://www.marinefiends.com/submit.html. Your joke must be family friendly and fish related. If you can't tell it to your children, don't send it to me and expect to see it published.
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