Leaf consumers?
- Thread starter andyroo
- Start date
Tons of shrimp or a healthy gammarus colony might help break leaves down but but one pleco isn’t going to put a dent on those wind blown leaves. You should just manually remove them. The filament barbs will likely destroy your lilies. Mine demolished several hundred dollars worth of anubius which was absolutely shocking as I’ve never owned a fish that could eat it. Charcoal will take care of tannins
Black mullet are in there now,
Friller2009
- no idea what they're up to, we don't see them much. Also can't see them as they don't bother to swim at less-than Mach2, particularly around the arowana.
Pool-net scooping was working until the lilies got established, but as become cumbersome/damaging so trying to boost mystery snails - juveniles don't seem to appreciate either the depth, the fish (predation) or the pH as we're getting huge spawning but little/no recruitment.
There are a number of native/invasive FW-spawning prawns that we could add P phreeflow , but difficult to ID at smaller sizes and some are quite nasty-predatory. As such, concentrating on snails, pleco & ostracods until I can get proper info on the native FW crab(s) - which I think are shredders but want to confirm before committing to an introduction. Gammarus/amphipods are certainly on the list, but source populations are rare on-island. My fabulous long-term culture didn't survive a recent house move... plus some questionable choices. I did add some remaining sea-sponge media that should have been inoculated, but not seen anything.
Filament barb introduction idea: nixed.
Filter not yet set: plumbing & charcoal-ing the home-made submerged canister has become a thing... Jaebos are working great though.
Q: <https://www.amazon.com/VIVOSUN-Subm...0957K5BVN/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8>? Just needs to keep the edge off on the rainy-cold winter storm nights from X-mas through early Feb., in combination with a rain-tent. Fellows on the next & higher set of mountains just use a tent and report no particular issues with arowana, irid.shark, clown knives etc., particularly as this thing is 6' deep with 2' concrete&cut-stone wall on two sides & earth on the others. I, however, am paranoid...
Friller2009
- no idea what they're up to, we don't see them much. Also can't see them as they don't bother to swim at less-than Mach2, particularly around the arowana. Pool-net scooping was working until the lilies got established, but as become cumbersome/damaging so trying to boost mystery snails - juveniles don't seem to appreciate either the depth, the fish (predation) or the pH as we're getting huge spawning but little/no recruitment.
There are a number of native/invasive FW-spawning prawns that we could add P phreeflow , but difficult to ID at smaller sizes and some are quite nasty-predatory. As such, concentrating on snails, pleco & ostracods until I can get proper info on the native FW crab(s) - which I think are shredders but want to confirm before committing to an introduction. Gammarus/amphipods are certainly on the list, but source populations are rare on-island. My fabulous long-term culture didn't survive a recent house move... plus some questionable choices. I did add some remaining sea-sponge media that should have been inoculated, but not seen anything.
Filament barb introduction idea: nixed.
Filter not yet set: plumbing & charcoal-ing the home-made submerged canister has become a thing... Jaebos are working great though.
Q: <https://www.amazon.com/VIVOSUN-Subm...0957K5BVN/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8>? Just needs to keep the edge off on the rainy-cold winter storm nights from X-mas through early Feb., in combination with a rain-tent. Fellows on the next & higher set of mountains just use a tent and report no particular issues with arowana, irid.shark, clown knives etc., particularly as this thing is 6' deep with 2' concrete&cut-stone wall on two sides & earth on the others. I, however, am paranoid...
All valid points but it still seems manual removal makes the most sense. Like someone said, a skimmer works wonders.
You can also add a net above the pond and make the center a high point so the leaves don’t collect in the middle. If all else fails, you’ll need to do a complete clean out periodically
You can also add a net above the pond and make the center a high point so the leaves don’t collect in the middle. If all else fails, you’ll need to do a complete clean out periodically
What is the tannins-vs-concrete issue to which you refer?
And is a "pH spike" actually a thing? While pH can certainly drop over time as leaves break down and tannins are released, surely this is a gradual process that can't be considered a "spike"?
And is a "pH spike" actually a thing? While pH can certainly drop over time as leaves break down and tannins are released, surely this is a gradual process that can't be considered a "spike"?
Oops, not spike but drop... a downward spike. Sorry, yes.
A big dump of (the wrong species of) leaves can certainly cause fluctuations in pH, as buffered by the concrete tank & coral habitat/decor.
Considering this tree has chemical defences to termites (etc), that'd be another worry to monitor - likely mitigated by filter carbon & indicated by invertebrates, though.
Concrete is decomposed by acid, though it takes a while for tannic acids to appreciably eat new render. Should be good for a decade for two
A big dump of (the wrong species of) leaves can certainly cause fluctuations in pH, as buffered by the concrete tank & coral habitat/decor.
Considering this tree has chemical defences to termites (etc), that'd be another worry to monitor - likely mitigated by filter carbon & indicated by invertebrates, though.
Concrete is decomposed by acid, though it takes a while for tannic acids to appreciably eat new render. Should be good for a decade for two
