./plankton
Contents:
- (M) Plankton population
by steve/celia.UUCP (Steve Tyree) (23 Apr 92)
- [M] More on MH lighting
by steve/celia.UUCP (Steve Tyree) (23 Apr 92)
by steve/celia.UUCP (Steve Tyree)
Date: 23 Apr 92
Newsgroup: rec.aquaria,alt.aquaria
In article <1992Apr23.174428.2367-at-cfa.harvard.edu> bookbind-at-cfa.harvard.edu (Jay Bookbinder) writes:
>
>I'm more than a bit puzzled by the existence of plankton in a marine
>aquarium that employs a protein skimmer. I would have guessed that the
>skimmer would be very effective in removing these creatures from the
>system -- especially if it employs ozone. Is this not the case? Also,
>was the removal of the UV sterilizer a key in developing this
>population? Or were there plankton (living, that is) prior to its
>removal? Is the population reasonably stable?
>
When you say "plankton", you are kind of lumping a lot of different types
of species into 1 big category. Obviously these plankton would have a repro-
ductive cycle which is greater then the protein skimmer/ozone kill potential.
The UV sterilizer was removed to be installed in my reef breeding tray farm-
ing system. Also the ick has almost completely subsided. My skimmer has a
slow flow rate. I dont have an exact figure but would say less then 100
gallons per hour. Also, its a 6" diameter skimmer which may not let the
effects of an undryed sanders 200 mg/hour ozonizer running at 100 mg/hour
kill all the plankton. I have an ozone test kit and have never measured any
residual ozone in the tank. The skimmer produces very dark liquid via wet
foam.
It might help if a marine biologists could actually list what is considered
plankton in the scientific community. I have this information but would
need to do more research to find it. Here is some basic info.
Plankton Types -
Picoplankton 0.2 - 2 microns (mostly bacteria)
Nanoplankton 2 - 20 microns
Microplankton 20 - 200 microns
Mesoplankton 0.2 - 2.0 mm
Macroplankton 2 - 5 mm
Megaplankton > 5 mm
Every marine tank has picoplankton in the form of bacteria. The plankton in my
tank that I am referring to are nanoplankton, microplankton and mesoplankton.
I dont have megaplankton and may not have macroplankton. I could provide a
list of familys of species that are in there. I hope nobody though I meant
megaplankton.
Steve Tyree - Practicing Reef Breeder
by steve/celia.UUCP (Steve Tyree)
Date: 23 Apr 92
Newsgroup: rec.aquaria,alt.aquaria
>steve-at-celia.UUCP (Steve Tyree) writes:
>
>>I have a real large plankton population in my tank to. I dont use micron
>>sized mechanical filters of any kind.
In article <1992Apr22.220121.3827-at-cs.ucla.edu> jason-at-lanai.cs.ucla.edu (Jason Rosenberg) writes:
>
>Great! Did you do anything special to cultivate your plankton population? Or
>did it just appear from spores (or whatever) in your live rock. Also, have
>done any special conditioning of your water (additivies, etc.) that may be
>helping your plankton? Is the plankton population anywhere near large
>enough to feed your reef filter feeders? I'm excited, because establishing
>a successful plankton population in captivity is essential for any captive
>breeding programs, especially for fish.
The plankton population must have started from the live rock. Their are some
real fascinating creatures in there. A 100x microscope is a must when viewing
plankton. Their is plenty of plankton for the filter feeders. The best way
to see them is when all the lites are out. When I shine a flashlight into
the tank, thousands of plankton sized organisms are swimming in the water.
I was watching one the other nite in a microscope. It was flat, detailed and
shaped like a pear with a sharp point. The funny thing about it was that it
somehow was just spinning around in circles with the sharp point as the
center of the circle. It was moving by expanding and contracting something
in its center. I was captivated for awhile.
I have been trying to establish marine infusoria or plankton cultures from
the main reef tank. The size range I need is 28 - 56 microns. This is the
correct sized food for centropyge protolarvae. So far the only cultures I
have gotten from the main reef tank is spear shaped diatoms. Centropyge
Resplendens Larvae try to eat them but Centropyge Loriculus dont seem to
like them. I have about 125 Centropyge Loriculus in a 20 gallon tank. Today
is day 5 for them. Day 8 is the usual non-feeding kill off day. They start
trying to eat on day 4 and keep trying aggresively till day 7 when they stop
trying due to weakness and then die off at day 8. I am starting a different
approach I call "everything but the kitchen sink". I am throwing all appro-
piately sized food at these guys in the hopes that they will grow to rotifer
eating size. This is about 10 different foods. Last night I took 1/2 gallon
of the main reef water, filtered in 28-56 micron nets, and added it into
the rearing tank. Taking a chance. Just got to find the correct sized plank-
ton.....
>
>Tell us about your filtration, as well. Do you have any mechanical filtration
>at all? Wet/Dry? Do you rely soley on vacuuming the bottom to remove
>particulate accumulation?
>
I use a wet/dry, protein skimmer, ozone and have recently removed a UV
sterilizer. I use coarse sponges in my overflow chambers. Filter floss and
fine sponges clog way to fast. (no doubt due to plankton). I vacuum the tank
bottom and rocks when I change water. This was done a lot recently due to
a KH fiasco which has been corrected.
PS- Shine a flashlight into your reef tank at night. You may be surprised.
Note - The rapidly moving worms on the surface are bristle worm larvae.
Steve Tyree - Practicing Reef Breeder
The Krib
Marine/Reefs
The Krib