>To: rainbowfish at pcug.org.au at INTERNET
>From: Boulet-CSB046 Stephen on Mon, Dec 15, 1997 10:15 AM
>Subject: Calcium solution question
>
>
>Hello rainbowfish folk,
>
>I have been using a product, Kent Marine Liquid Calcium, which is
>basically deionized water and calcium chloride. It's advertised as
>having "bio-available" calcium. I have a
>couple of questions about it:
>
>1) can baby brine shrimp (once they have past the instar-2 stage and have
>developed mouths) absorb this stuff?
>
>2) I soaked some Hikari baby pellets with the calcium chloride solution,
>and my juveline parkinsoni ate it up. Is the calcium available to them and
>is it good for them?
>
>Thanks.
>
>-- Stephen Boulet
>stephenbou at aol.com
>http://members.aol.com/stephenbou/
>
I find with fry having it dissolved in the water is very important. As
I am always playing with my water chemistry out of necessity, I've had
numerous opportunities to see what happens at different levels. My tap
water is very hard (17 DH general) and a ph of 9.5. I normally cut
this down with 30% RO and then drop the pH. But when I started doing
this I started getting almost 100% deformed fry. So I began adding
calcium using HBH balance blocks and the problem went away. This
really didn't give me much data on why I had a problem. And with a
general hardness of still over 10 DH, I wouldn't expect to need and
supplement, so I bought a calcium test kit. What I discovered is my
calcium level is less than 20ppm in my tap water. So though it was
very hard water, most of the hardness was not cause by calcium.
Generally I have torn down an 10 gallon tank and totally replaced the
water before adding a mop of eggs. I'll then drop in the mop and one
HBH balance block. With Melanotaenia, if I have fry with in 24 hours I
get deformed fry. Fry born after this period do not have the fin
deformities exhibited by these early born fry. I have yet to actually
measure the level of calcium added by the balance block in 24 hours,
but it is obvious that not enough has dissolved to supply the needs of
the fry.
I have now began adding calcium chloride to the water, rather than
waiting for the balance blocks to dissolve. I feel this should give me
better control over calcium levels without the lag time waiting for
the blocks to dissolve.
I think it would be very difficult to get the required calcium amounts
into the fry via food in the short time period that fin deformities
can occur. In my opinion, the calcium needs to be there immediately on
hatching. From my observations, the fry's fins are much like a
butterfly's wings, they immediately go though a filling out or
unfolding after hatching. If the required elements are not immediately
available they do not develop correctly. I've also seen and heard many
cases of fin deformities in fry cured by adding calcium, but have
never heard of a case where fry hatched under these conditions could
be corrected by diet.
I'm not saying that calcium in the diet may not help in the marginal
case. But I seriously doubt it could accomplish any results in water
totally devoid of calcium.
Cary Hostrawser
My Rainbowfish Home Page
http://pw2.netcom.com/~caryho/home.html
Rainbowfish Study Group Web Page
http://home.stlnet.com/~gwlange/rainbowfish.index.html