Hey Frassy! HOORAY for Sass Frassington!Hey Parka!
Well, I got a few pics to answer with...What's goin' on in your world?
Well, I had two small holes in the inflatable top ring and it caused me to lose a couple hundred gallons one day, but I'm Okay now, I was so deflated emotionally when i saw that! A Squirrel did it, they were interested in that filter floss that I had placed midway down the flow-out drain pipe and it's my belief that their sharp claws pierced the top ring. Even patched, it tends to very slowly deflate. I keep a bike pump plugged in 24-7 for inflation maintenance, very exciting!You OK?
I also been riding my Boss Bike erry day! It's so stinkin hot though... So I like to go in the early evening after the brutal heat has let up a bit, mostly good times!You've gone silent for over two weeks.
Somewhat occupied rather than busy! A guy like me needs plenty of rest, including loafing off at my convenience.You're doing fine and busy-busy.
Somehow I'm not surprised, that is so cool! You are a He-Man of Nature! I knew it! Now I'm even more convinced it was a squirrel. It really seemed they were interested in that white filter floss, little bits of it were scattered on the ground near where I placed it in the drain. I don't know how squirrels drink water, I think they might prefer droplets, another thing, I have never seen squirrels in the water, or even near the water's edge, do you know if a squirrel can drink out of a bowl or a bird bath? I saw two squirrels today that were over-heating, this was about 5pm and I was riding through the wooded park and these squirrels were laying sprawled out on pavement in the shade, I think they were trying to cool off. And they both moved kinda slow as I passed, I felt for the lil guys. Anyway, I think my squirrel was either trying to get material to line its nest, or it was trying to drink from the filter floss?I had a pet squirrel years ago.
Here is what is happening. When I water change Cleveland into the outdoor pool, after just a day the nitrate test shows zero but the water is green, that single cell algae, is that what it's called?sunlight + nutrient-rich water = algae.
It's just a fun situation the have going on, plus I'm becoming a Legit Mad Water Scientist! Effin Exciting! Listen, I will chatter later, in the meantime, Erry Body wants to say hey!Interesting questions about squirrel drinking habits. "Nut", my pet, drank from one of those hamster/gerbil type bottles with the stainless steel tube and ball bearing. I'll bet they do drink droplets of leaves and such but come to standing water when necessary.
Just a theory on the algae. I'm guessing that the unicellular "green water" algae flourishes in strong sunlight. When transferred to Chicago with less light, it dies and loses its chlorophyll , making the water cloudy. Hair algae spores transferred in with the water capitalize on the released nutrients and began to grow, perhaps because they don't need as much light. Sounds like you can control the hair algae by physically removing it-great that the koi and goldfish enjoy it so much. I agree with the influx of new water. There are always compounds that don't get broken down and tend to concentrate.
Thanks!Akron looks absolutely pristine
I wouldn't mind separating my Koi and Goldfish anyway, I have ten Koi that are going to be three years old this year and some of them are getting large, I might try to re-home re-sell them, maybe. Since I didn't get my next tank built on schedule, The NYC of Plywood Aquariums, even if I keep my Koi, I want to get some other kinds of freshwater fish.Most of the carp family are eating and pooping machines.
Well, my question is, doesn't a skimmer on FW still serve as an important part of filtration? If there is plenty of surface agitation on a FW tank, is a skimmer even important?I wish protein skimming worked in freshwater
And that is just another layer of the hobby that I love! Live plants, in and out of the water.About the best we can do is nutrient export with heavy planting
When I opined on a skimmer, I was talking about a foam fractionating skimmer like they use in marine aquariums. Got to have the salt water to form a really dense, tiny bubble size foam that chemically attracts proteinaceous waste, dissolved organic compounds (doc) and the like to the surface of the bubbles which then rise and overflow into a collection container, removing the waste completely from the system, unlike filters that trap the waste, but it remains in the system and breaks down (in the case of urea to nitrate) or doesn't (in the case of doc) and must be removed by water changes.Well, my question is, doesn't a skimmer on FW still serve as an important part of filtration? If there is plenty of surface agitation on a FW tank, is a skimmer even important?