PlanetCatfish.com

All right, another real nice store (I found out on my recent fish trip to the Hartford/Waterbury, Connecticut; ~6 h from me) is Westside Puppy Center and Aquarium (Hartford). Despite the name not-so-promising for a fish person, they have a superb selection, a great # of tanks, quality, and the personnel is nothing short of wonderful - be sure to speak to Gary and Chuck, but I am sure others are real professional and nice too.

A question for the very (most?) experienced and/or numbers-driven community.

If you look carefully at the photo of my garbage-toter-made-sump (~100 gal, 4.5'-high, and chuck full of ~1500 nylon mesh pot scrubbers with three woven pads on the top), you will notice that the 3" discharge pipe goes all the way to the water level. Actually it is about 3-4" below the water surface. Now that means I created a siphon.

Here is what happens:

-- every time the sump gets full to the brim, the water, of course, too rises up in the upward-going part of the discharge pipe and then starts rushing down into the pond, creating a closed (no air entry/leaks) siphon system.
-- The inlet is 1.5" fed by a 2000 gph submersible pump. The outlet, as I said, is 3".
-- The sump empties 90% of its water into the pond in under a minute, most of it in under 20 sec - the water really RUSHES out of it.
-- The water level in the pond is pretty close to the level at which the discharge pipe is attached to the sump (and close, within 6-8" of the bottom of the sump). When the siphon is running out of the gravity juice at the end of the dumping, some air is sucked into the discharge pipe (despite the pump constantly trying to fill the sump).
-- This breaks the siphon.
-- The pump fills up the sump again, the high water pushes out the trapped air out of the discharge pipe and the cycle repeats itself.

So this occurs every 90 gal/2000 gph = 0.045 h or ~2.7 min give or take. The complete cycle takes ~3.0-3.5 min or ~17 times an hour, maybe 20.

Ok. The QUALITATIVE arguments that I see go as follows:

------ I achieved almost an ultimate water flow throughout the sump and the pads and scrubbies it contains - there is no bypass, no dead, quarter-dead, half-dead, 3/4-dead, or poorly-supplied areas inside - every nook and cranny sees fresh waste-enriched water every time the sump fulls up!!!
------ But I reduced the contact time of each bacteria colony (except for the bottom 6-8" layer that's always filled with water) with the waste-enriched water and the higher they reside in the sump, the shorter the contact time is. Say, consider the top layer of pads and scrubbies, they only start seeing water when the sump is getting really full but then the violent dumping begins and they are again in the air in 0.5-1 min and idle for ~2.0-2.5 min until they see new water - that means they idle for ~40 min out of an hour. This is of course at its worst, the lower you go down the sump, the shorter the idle time is until it is zero at the 6-8" level of the discharge pipe.

****Does anybody know/able to calculate QUANTITATIVELY, which argument wins?
****Does anybody see smth else of significance that needs to be taken into account?
****Should I go on like that or should I raise the end of the discharge pipe slightly above water level in the pond, which will break the siphoning cycling???

Thank you!!
Viktor

two pics
- two 1.5-2' alligator gars "Croca French" and "Croca Baggett" and the larger 2' TSN (really appears to be Pseudoplatystoma fasciatum, not tigrinum) named "Terroristo" (agressive, tries to eat smallish cats, so placed behind the divider); the TSN "Gendos" in the main section is far more docile and tankmate-friendly - if anything, he gets to be chased around a little by others, like the Perruno cat named "Mr. Marbles Sr.", who clearly thinks he owns the place... - 1.5'-2' TSN x RTC named "Evans"...

go here to see what's happening with trying to add Cephalosilurus apurensis aka Apure Jelly Catfish, Orange Catfish to the pond: http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... 854#p19485

3rd update (all about the 2500 gal tropical pond)

I've got new pics and need some IDs. Please see the pic captions below.

Cactus and Yozhyk; Cranky Sr.

Alligator gars, ~1.5-2' TL, behind the divider

Donation from Ivy (Albany, NY) - one-eyed rescue (rescued by Ivy, not me), named "Cyclops", ~1.5-2' TL, most likely Leiarius marmoratus

.....

"Genik" - 7" TSN, the pattern appears to be right for a true TSN, that is Pseudoplatystoma tigrinum

Okay, 1st ID needed: who am I? I thought Pterodoras granulosus (thus, named "Grany") but I have doubts. ~1.5' TL, very tame and as friendly as they get. Eats like there is no bottom to his stomach. 1st to come and last to leave.

one more shot of "Grany"

2nd ID needed: who am I?? Sold as a Perruno cat, I used to think Leiarius Marmoratus but he ("Mr. Marbles Sr.") looks different from the other three L. marmoratuses I have, including "Cyclops". So, who is he/she?????? ~1.5' TL, very active and very tame and friendly with people, a bottomless pit at feedings, chases around (not viciously and not all the time but sometimes-to-often) the L. marmoratus "Cyclops", RTC "Smiley Sr.", smaller L. marmoratus ~10" ("Mr. Marbles Jr."), 1.5' TSN "Yudee", and occasionally some others - clearly thinks he owns the pond, and not I.

3 more shots of "Mr. Marbles Sr."

......

"Jelly" - ~1' or slightly longer TL Cephalosilurus apurensis bought from RiverWonders, 3 weeks ago

What kind of "TSN" is this? "Yudee" - as in ugly duckling - a rescue, ~1.5' TL, one gill is strongly curled, disproportionately short pectorial fins, very small pelvic fins, too wide a body in the leading half

"Terroristo", ~2' TL, rescue. Is this Pseudoplatystoma fasciatum? Not sure at all. A hybrid? Is the color pattern strange? Does not look like stripes as Pseudoplatystoma tigrinum should have ??

Some group shots #1

Some group shots #2

Some group shots #3

Some group shots #4

Viktor Jarikov wrote:"Terroristo", ~2' TL, rescue. Is this Pseudoplatystoma fasciatum? Not sure at all. A hybrid? Is the color pattern strange? Does not look like stripes as Pseudoplatystoma tigrinum should have ??

Judging by the pattern of the stripes, I'd guess this is .

I love your set up and am suprized you have a better half [very tolerant lady]

I can't be 100% sure from pics, but I'd put money on your "Mr. Marbles Sr." being a big old Leiarius pictus.
=high spotted dorsal with a tasel on the spine, marbled belly, a faded 'saddle mark' or lateral band from the dorsal fin spine area. A grand catfish.

Suckermouth wrote:Judging by the pattern of the stripes, I'd guess this is Pseudoplatystoma reticulatum.

Milton, I agree, having studied the pics for recticulatum closer. Nice eye!!!! Thanx much!

grokefish wrote:Lithodoras dorsalis

Grokefish, I think you are correct - this fish has a varying appearance judging from the Cat-eLog pics - but in many of them I recognize my Grany.... well, now, if we both are correct, he will have to bear the nickname "Rocky", which frees the name "Grany" for my 6" TL true pterodoras granulosis in whose ID I am sure. Excellent! Excellent!

naturalart wrote:I can't be 100% sure from pics, but I'd put money on your "Mr. Marbles Sr." being a big old Leiarius pictus. =high spotted dorsal with a tasel on the spine, marbled belly, a faded 'saddle mark' or lateral band from the dorsal fin spine area. A grand catfish.

Naturalart, I think I am leaning toward agreeing with you too. How did I miss the saddle mark??? Cannot believe now that I missed it! It is, though, so faint that I see it in some photos and not in others. I also did not think his dorsal was big and spotty enough for a pictus that have a huge one but it looks like the dorsal-to-body proportion reduces with age, right? I mean that judging from the Catelog pics. Such dark and almost invisible spot pattern does not help recognize L. pictus either. But the snout shape and the eyes are right on the money and distinctly different from marmoratus/longibarbis. So, I think you are right!!

crkinney wrote:I love your set up and am suprized you have a better half [very tolerant lady]

Yes, I know!! Often I am surprised by that too. But then, she is 1/10 as tolerant as she is beautiful, inside and out.

the pond looks brilliant and the outdoor pond is what i am sold out for

the kitties are suhweet and u seem to have a. spatula & l. osseus too, how do the osseus compete against the kitties

the other tanks have some some ghetto stands

all in all very ingeneously done

TIKK: the pond looks brilliant and the outdoor pond is what i am sold out for
VJ: thanks! we aim to please!

TIKK: the kitties are suhweet and u seem to have a. spatula & l. osseus too,
VJ: yes. I am not very good yet with ID-ying gars but here are my thoughts:
* Genus Atractosteus
o Atractosteus spatula—Alligator Gar **** yeah, I have two 2'-ers, French and Baggett
o Atractosteus tristoechus—Cuban Gar **** never seen anywhere
o Atractosteus tropicus—Tropical Gar **** never seen anywhere
* Genus Lepisosteus
o Lepisosteus oculatus—Spotted Gar **** one or two I have may be that, ~1+'
o Lepisosteus osseus—Longnose Gar **** had one called Nosy, ~1.5' TL, sweet-natured, very very tame and inquisitive thing; was killed by the 2' RTCxTSN Evans; curiously, in all my 10 years in Rochester, only yesterday I saw four 1.0-1.5' longnoses swimming and basking in the sun at a local Shumway marina, lake Ontario, or rather right where Genesee river hits lake Ontario
o Lepisosteus platostomus—Shortnose Gar **** seen at LFSs, never owned one
o Lepisosteus platyrhincus—Florida Gar **** one or two I have may be that, ~1+', cannot tell from Lepisosteus oculatus—Spotted Gar (lack of knowledge)

TIKK: how do the osseus compete against the kitties
VJ: see above ; if you mean food, then I hand feed all of the pond inhabitants, one strip of fish or shrimp at a time (except for floating pellets for which my gars appear to have develop a taste for )

TIKK: the other tanks have some some ghetto stands
VJ: do you mean my improvised concrete patio paver turning pillars (in dinette) or the grey concrete cinter blocks in the basement? yeah, either one is a poor man's version but the surprising thing is that my picky better half likes the paver pillars look

TIKK: all in all very ingeneously done
VJ: thanx but you are way too generous.

Sept 15 2010, some updates