我们海洋水族馆使用各种工具来通过更改或消除所保留动物的废物来帮助保持坦克健康。但是您是否知道我们使用的所有设备最初都是为其他行业设计的?
Ozone
For instance,ozoneis a naturally forming gas found in our atmosphere that helps protect us from the damaging effects of the sun’s ultraviolet radiation. It was discovered in 1839 by Christian Friedrich Schönbein.
Ozone was originally used to purify drinking water and as a health-giving gas. Unfortunately, that health idea produced just the opposite result because the oxidizing effect we can use to purify certain things will also oxidize us, especially our lungs.
臭氧是由闪电形成的,仅是具有额外电子的氧分子。那个额外的电子不稳定,不想在该分子周围旋转,因此它试图逃脱。如果它与其他分子(例如有机物)接触,它可以做到这一点。然后,当它与其他分子结合在一起时,两者都被破坏或变成其他东西。唯一的废物是纯氧。
我们在撇油器使用臭氧减少有机物d toxins, including hydrogen sulfides and toxins produced by bacteria or corals, to something harmless—or at least less harmful than the original molecule.
如果我用深沙床, I would certainly use ozone because of its ability to remove hydrogen sulfide, which is very toxic and can be formed in a deep sand bed. If ozone is used in a skimmer, that changed molecule is now removed from the tank through oxidation, similar to what bleach does. The best part about using ozone is that it works without leaving anything in the water. Very cool stuff!
我们在一个小型臭氧发电机中为水族馆制作臭氧,该臭氧发电机在空气经过的腔室中产生电气火花。然后将这种注入臭氧的空气泵入撇油器中,以使其接触的任何有机分子立即氧化。我们将其用于撇油器,以便在进入水箱并将鱼氧化之前“用光”。许多人从撇码上的撇码中运行废水,以清除多余的臭氧。我不这样做,但是我确实在坦克上的一个长槽上运行它,以确保没有臭氧。
我们需要小心,没有“原始”臭氧进入我们的家中。它会损坏橡胶和任何有机的东西,包括婆婆的照片,这些照片绝不应放在臭氧发电机附近。但是如果正确使用,臭氧是一种奇妙的气体。我已经连续使用了40年,这实际上确保了我在家里没有婆婆的照片。
The protein skimmer
I mentioned “protein skimmers” above, but our蛋白质撇油器s实际上不要去除蛋白质,也不要掠过任何东西。他们的专有名称是“泡沫分馏器”。它们最初是在1960年代用于废水纯化的。在此之前,这项技术是在一个非常相似的称为泡沫浮选装置的设备中使用的,该设备用于将有价值的矿石与不太有价值的矿石区分开。
The thing works because hydrophobic particles attach to the surface of bubbles to form a pneumatic (i.e. rising) foam. In this way, relatively hydrophobic particles can be separated from relatively hydrophilic particles. Froth flotation is typically used to separate coal particles from ash or particles of valuable minerals. Do we have to know that? No. We just need to know that skimmers produce foam and, as Tarzan and possibly a Neanderthal would say, “Foam bad!” The foam then overflows the reaction tube in the skimmer and is removed.
If you live near an ocean beach (and we all should strive for that), you may notice that on a particularly rough day, foam appears on the beach where the waves crash. If you do observe this, find a different beach because that foam comes from pollution, as pure water does not produce foam.
因此,撇渣器是我们的储罐中的一件好事,如果我们向它们添加臭氧,它们会更好。但是,抵制将臭氧软管放在鼻子上进行测试的诱惑。如果您仍在讲话,请致电一个老女友/男友为您做到这一点。
Actinic lighting
当摄影处于婴儿期(尽管他们不仅仅为婴儿拍照)时,精光照明最初是使用的。但是,他们当时使用的电影没有被光化灯曝光。相反,它是在暗室中使用的,因此摄影师可以在原本漆黑的房间中开发图片时可以看到。
Actinic lighting was also used in hospitals to cure jaundice in infants. It still is. Sunlight will also cure jaundice, but hospitals frown on putting newborns, especially weak, premature, jaundiced infants, on a pigeon-infested roof top to get sunlight.
Actinic lighting, which is just light with a range of 420 nanometers, affects our outer layer of skin, forcing us to manufacture vitamin D. This is a good thing and is what babies (and all of us) need, as they used to be born outdoors and run around naked for most of their lives.
We aquarists use actinic lights in our tanks to makeour lighting对鱼类和珊瑚的健康。正如我们的阳光对我们健康一样,它对浅水生物也很健康,而且我们通常在储罐中使用的人造照明通常不足以在正确的频谱中无法对珊瑚具有任何健康益处。
Actinic lighting will cause corals to fluoresce, and it will not contribute to algae growth because plants do not use the blue wavelengths of visible light. Now, especially with LEDs, we are more interested in the colors of the corals and fish than we are in their health. Well, maybe not more interested, but we tend to like pretty things and get distracted by their beauty. Supermodels come to mind.
Reverse osmosis
Reverse osmosis is something most of us rely on now, as our tap water usually contains all sorts of things we don’t want in our tanks and the stuff the water companies use to purify water is fine for us but toxic to aquatic life. Our municipalities use chlorines to kill bacteria, but chlorines are bad for the creatures we are trying to keep. Also some tap water comes from deep wells and water in a well gets there by filtering down over thousands of years through layers of minerals, metals, old bicycles, dead raccoons, Oldsmobile fenders, Milli Vanilli tapes, and other stuff that we don’t want in our systems.
A few years ago I did a换水and almost immediately, my fish started to jump out and my corals wilted. I lost most of my livestock that day, including an 18-year-old cusk eel and a very old mandarin among others. I couldn’t figure out what happened until I called our water supplier and was informed that the town just added zinc orthophosphate to the water to control corrosion in the pipes. I am sure it also killed any corals and fish in the pipes. From that time on, I’ve relied on reverse osmosis and resins to purify my water.
反渗透通常用于从海水中去除盐并使其可供饮用。1977年,佛罗里达州开普珊瑚(Cape Coral)成为美国第一个大规模使用RO流程的市政当局,每天最初的运营能力为300万加仑。到1985年,由于开普珊瑚的人口增长迅速,该市拥有世界上最大的低压反渗透厂,每天能够生产1500万加仑。除了实验外,第一个反渗透植物太慢了,无法用于许多其他事物。
Reverse osmosis uses a membrane that has pores so tiny that only something the size of a water molecule or smaller can pass through. It is a little more complicated than that, but that is all we need to know. Before reverse osmosis, we all used tap water, which, as I said, had some problems.
Deionization resins
Deionization resins are used in industry to make pure water for many purposes, including pharmaceuticals. Deionization is a chemical process that uses specially manufactured ion-exchange resins, which exchange hydrogen and hydroxide ions for dissolved minerals and then recombine to form water. DI resins will remove just about everything that is left after we use reverse osmosis and will leave water as pure as it can be and perfect for our purposes. After the water is stripped of its minerals, we can then add only the minerals we want to produce a healthy aquarium.
Another interesting thing about deionized water is that it is a poor conductor of electricity, so it is used in the semiconductor industry…and for washing makeup off supermodels.