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How to add mulm / silt

Started by Guest_PhilipKukulski_* , Mar 07 2010 08:20 AM

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9 replies to this topic

#1 Guest_PhilipKukulski_*

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Posted 07 March 2010 - 08:20 AM

My Elassoma gilberti have spawned again. I see fry of two different sizes.

What I think are keys to easy success:
1) 14 hours of light per day
2) soft water
3) 1/2 inch plus of mulm / silt on the bottom
4) feed live baby brine shrimp
5) watch for fry, siphon off mulm into a bucket, and then spend days catching the fry.

I do not worry about mulm much because I believe that the mulm is pretty inert compared to rotting fish food; not much BOD. How do I quickly and artificially create mulm?

Peat pellets (made for starting seeds indoors) might work.
The light stuff from washing peat moss seems a bit too heavy.

Please,
Any other ideas?

Edited by PhilipKukulski, 07 March 2010 - 08:52 AM.

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#2 Guest_jase_*

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Posted 07 March 2010 - 11:13 AM

Maybe intentionally kill some Java Moss (boiling?). Would look similar to peat, but perhaps with not quite the acidity.

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#3 Guest_gerald_*

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Posted 07 March 2010 - 12:48 PM

Waterlogged tree leaves and twigs make good mulm. Try sugar maple or black gum, they break down fast. And rather than siphoning out mulm+fry, its easier to move the breeding pair to another tank and let the fry grow up where they were born. IME small fry get picked on and dont grow well in the presence of older/larger siblings. Moving the breeding pair every 4 to 6 weeks will improve survival of the newer kids.

Edited by gerald, 07 March 2010 - 12:49 PM.

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#4 Guest_gzeiger_*

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Posted 07 March 2010 - 03:14 PM

You could take some of those cheap pot scrubbies people sometimes use for filter media and cut or rip them up to produce a wad of large fibers that's completely chemically inert and would be relatively easier to remove from the tank and/or separate from the fry later on.

I don't really see why Java moss would be less acidic than peat. Isn't it just nitric acid from decomposition products?

Edited by gzeiger, 07 March 2010 - 03:15 PM.

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#5 Guest_nativeplanter_*

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Posted 07 March 2010 - 03:55 PM

I'm thinking that part of the reason why mulm might increase success is because it is not chemically intert. All kinds of goodies are growing in it. When these fish are born, they are really, really tiny. Bbs are really too big I think for them until they gain a little size. Then maybe the bbs keep the larger ones from eating the tiny ones.

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#6 Guest_PhilipKukulski_*

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Posted 07 March 2010 - 05:20 PM

Once you try removing the fry, you learn that the fry can quickly dive into the mulm.

Bob Muller used an egg saver. I think mulm is better because it is opaque, which will keep the live baby brine from swimming down into the mulm (and out of the light). The baby brine would fall into an egg saver, thereby removing food from the reach of the adults and leaving excess food to rot where the fry are at.

Yes, there is some (plenty for a few tiny fry) infusoria in the mulm.

I'll look for some Sugar Maple leaves.

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#7 Guest_mikez_*

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Posted 07 March 2010 - 07:36 PM

I suspect tiny critters living in the mulm are feeding your fry.
Can't think of a quick way to make it but nothing beats the mulm formed in a densely planted tank with lots of snails. :cool2:

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#8 Guest_schambers_*

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Posted 08 March 2010 - 09:31 AM

You could squeeze out some filter media in the tank.

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#9 Guest_jase_*

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Posted 08 March 2010 - 01:58 PM

I don't really see why Java moss would be less acidic than peat. Isn't it just nitric acid from decomposition products?

I guess I don't really know. I've always assumed that something to do with sphagnum moss itself or the process of conversion to peat made it more acidic than most decomposing organic matter. I suggested java moss because it already has a very loose, open structure that would quickly resemble fluffy mulm. Seems that tree leaves would need to decompose for quite a long time get that texture.

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#10 Guest_Bob_*

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Posted 08 March 2010 - 02:47 PM

Phillip, what's an egg saver?

Once you try removing the fry, you learn that the fry can quickly dive into the mulm.

Bob Muller used an egg saver. I think mulm is better because it is opaque, which will keep the live baby brine from swimming down into the mulm (and out of the light). The baby brine would fall into an egg saver, thereby removing food from the reach of the adults and leaving excess food to rot where the fry are at.

Yes, there is some (plenty for a few tiny fry) infusoria in the mulm.

I'll look for some Sugar Maple leaves.