aquababy
03/20/2004, 07:50 AM
Some time ago I had contacted a scientific group down in Florida about Dino's, Red Tide, and slime algae. I did receive a personal resonse and a excellent web page that explains the causes and how to deal with such problems. Here is a copy of the email they sent me:
Mr. B,
Mike Henry forwarded your message to me for my input. You have asked a
couple of good questions, one about the red tide organism and the other
about dealing with this if you have these organisms in your tank water.
As you know, "dino's" exist in all bodies of water and can be seen very
easily with a microscope; and I would not be surprised to see them in
some number in every water sample I examine. Red Tide organisms are only
known to be free swimming, and have not been associated with substrate.
Since our aquarium is located in an area that experiences red tide
(Karenea brevis) quite often, we have some experience of having this
organism in our tanks.
What we have found is that we only had significant problems in aquariums
where we have used natural, unfiltered sea water in order to produce a
"bloom" within our aquarium. If water is filtered and organisms are
present, then the cells are broken - thereby releasing the toxin. Our
scientists now predict red tide events in our area so well that we do not
operate our sea water system if the cell counts are high (pretty nice for
us now.)
If red tide does indeed exist in a tank in enough concentration to cause a
bloom, then we would take advantage of the free-swimming nature of the
critters by exposing them to a germicidal UV lamp followed by an activated
carbon filter to remove the toxin. I must also say that in the past 10
years that I have not observed a single red tide related mortality in our
aquariums here at the laboratory; but I have seen many rafts of dead fish
in the bay.
I hope this is of help to you.
Kevin Curlee
Aquarum Curator
Mote Marine Laboratory kevin@mote.org
1600 Thompson Parkway Voice: 941-388-4441
Sarasota FL 34236 Fax: 941-388-4312
We are an independent, nonprofit, marine and estuarine
research and education facility.
Opinions expressed here are not MML policy unless so indicated.
On Thu, 5 Feb 2004, Michael Henry wrote:
> Hi Kevin,
>
> Here is the email I told you about. Thanks
> -M
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------
> Michael S. Henry
> Staff Scientist
> Mote Marine Laboratory
> 1600 Thompson Parkway
> Sarasota, FL 34236-1096
> Phone 941.388.4441 Ext 320
> Fax 941.388.4312
> Web www.mote.org
Here is an excellent page that really discusses algae problems. Note the specific references to nutrients and protien skimming. I am saving this page in my "favorites" folder for future reference and to be able to send it to others who might need this information. Please read it as it is addressed to and written for the hobbyist and is very informative (by A. Thiel).
http://netclub.athiel.com/cyano/cyanos2.htm
Mr. B,
Mike Henry forwarded your message to me for my input. You have asked a
couple of good questions, one about the red tide organism and the other
about dealing with this if you have these organisms in your tank water.
As you know, "dino's" exist in all bodies of water and can be seen very
easily with a microscope; and I would not be surprised to see them in
some number in every water sample I examine. Red Tide organisms are only
known to be free swimming, and have not been associated with substrate.
Since our aquarium is located in an area that experiences red tide
(Karenea brevis) quite often, we have some experience of having this
organism in our tanks.
What we have found is that we only had significant problems in aquariums
where we have used natural, unfiltered sea water in order to produce a
"bloom" within our aquarium. If water is filtered and organisms are
present, then the cells are broken - thereby releasing the toxin. Our
scientists now predict red tide events in our area so well that we do not
operate our sea water system if the cell counts are high (pretty nice for
us now.)
If red tide does indeed exist in a tank in enough concentration to cause a
bloom, then we would take advantage of the free-swimming nature of the
critters by exposing them to a germicidal UV lamp followed by an activated
carbon filter to remove the toxin. I must also say that in the past 10
years that I have not observed a single red tide related mortality in our
aquariums here at the laboratory; but I have seen many rafts of dead fish
in the bay.
I hope this is of help to you.
Kevin Curlee
Aquarum Curator
Mote Marine Laboratory kevin@mote.org
1600 Thompson Parkway Voice: 941-388-4441
Sarasota FL 34236 Fax: 941-388-4312
We are an independent, nonprofit, marine and estuarine
research and education facility.
Opinions expressed here are not MML policy unless so indicated.
On Thu, 5 Feb 2004, Michael Henry wrote:
> Hi Kevin,
>
> Here is the email I told you about. Thanks
> -M
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------
> Michael S. Henry
> Staff Scientist
> Mote Marine Laboratory
> 1600 Thompson Parkway
> Sarasota, FL 34236-1096
> Phone 941.388.4441 Ext 320
> Fax 941.388.4312
> Web www.mote.org
Here is an excellent page that really discusses algae problems. Note the specific references to nutrients and protien skimming. I am saving this page in my "favorites" folder for future reference and to be able to send it to others who might need this information. Please read it as it is addressed to and written for the hobbyist and is very informative (by A. Thiel).
http://netclub.athiel.com/cyano/cyanos2.htm