co 2 loss

[wilson]

if you have a power head in the tank will it cause your co 2 two fall off. i guss im trying to ask if the saturation falls off due to currant?

 

[Lotus]

Yes, movement on the water surface causes CO2 to leave the water. It's not a good idea to have the surface completely still, but a lot of water movement will cause offgassing.

 

[wilson]

i will try to defuse the power head a bit and see if i can maintain the PH level. What do you think of UV sterilizers? If use one will to get rid of alge will i have to supplement my alge fish and shrimp?

 

[Lotus]

I don't see the need for a UV sterilizer. It doesn't really help with algae, and if you're correctly quarantining, you shouldn't need it for parasites.

 

[wilson]

i went to my local fist store looking for erythromycin to treat the tank per suggestion. he told me that i was crazy and talked me into bying a power head and a UV Sterolizer. said it would kill all the alge and other stuff with out hurting my fish.

 

[Lotus]

I ran a UV sterilizer for a while. There was cyanobacteria growing on the outflow of it. IME, they don't help with anything other than ich, and that shouldn't get into a display tank in the first place.

 

[wilson]

thanks again for your help.

 

[homebunnyj]

Okay, I think I see what's going on here.

You have blue-green algae, which isn't an algae at all, but cyanobacteria. The two treatments for it are either erythromycin or a total blackout for a week. You chose erithromycin, I've always leaned toward the blackout method. I feel it's better than having to medicate my tank.

Did you tell him you have algae, or blue-green algae?

The person recommended the powerhead because poor circulation in a tank can contribute to cyanobacteria outbreaks. Did you tell him/her you have a planted tank? You're running co2 because you have lots of plants and upgraded lighting and all, right? If he knew you're running co2 in a planted tank I'm not sure why he recommended a powerhead, except to boost sales. As for the UV sterilizer, maybe he just thought you didn't have a clue and needed erythromycin for an illness and could use a much more expensive sterilizer instead. I'm not sure that makes sense either, but it's my best guess.

You might look at your filtration and try to discover if you have good water flow in all parts of the tank. Have you read the planted tank forum? I'm sure you could get some ideas there about plants, filtration/circulation, lighting, co2, algae, and other issues related to planted tanks. That's assuming you're running a planted tank.

 

[wilson]

yes he knew i had planted tank. yes he knew i had blue green alge but was not convinced it realy was. yes he knew i have co 2 because he sold me every thing. Thats why i joined this site last week. fish where dieing and plant looked bad so i was chosing to medicate to minamize the losses. it was suggested to to black out or med and here i am. i had a nuff for two doses and then did a water change and went to the store to by more. I just love my tank and enjoy it. Dont want to mess it up and more with miss direction.

 

[Chris_A]

I think ther might be a miss-communication and/or lack of education going on with the UV... They do kill algae, but only free floating single cell algae (phytoplankton). UV is a wavelength of light so it has to come in contact with whatever it's treating (like the free swimming stage of Ich as Lotus said). Because the Cyano is not free floating and therefor can't get inside the UV, it will not be affected.

In *theory* the UV could raise redox enough to have a minimal effect but even if this happend I doubt you would even notice.

Also, I would not run a UV with *any* medications. When the meds are hit by the UV light there is no way of knowing what the outcome would be. It may make them useless... It also might make them toxic. Really it's a crap shoot and not something I would recommend making a bet on .

Chris