DE1757496A1 - Culture device, in particular for water cultures and methods for operating such a device - Google Patents

Description

AQUARIUM SYSTEMS, INC., 1450 E. 289 Street, Wickllffe, 44092 Ohio, (USA)

Culture device, in particular for water cultures, and method for operating such a device

The invention relates to culture guidelines for maintenance of aquatic life, and particularly devices that use bioohemic filtration is used to keep the culture medium in a condition which is essential for the survival of τοη aquatic animals

and aquatic plants of all kinds is most suitable.

They use τοη aquariums to maintain and display various forms of marine life has been very popular in homes, schools, and commercial establishments for many years . In general, such aquariums were very successful in keeping such creatures, but

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problems, especially when it comes to keeping more difficult Aquatic organisms such as invertebrates or mollusks.

for the successful operation of cultural facilities One of the most important factors in keeping the culture medium in good condition. It has been shown that this goal is particularly difficult for rural

to reach
aquariumsAst, welohe marine fish and living in the sea

■ ^ contain invertebrates or molluscs because it it is difficult to replace the seawater if the- * the same is no longer able to keep the sensitive seawater creatures alive

Experience has shown that the Irsohupfung the alkali sohen Reserve in a seawater aquarium is the most important factor weloher the attitude of fisohen and Weiohtieren _f limited and that the näohstwichtigste limiting factor is ammonia because ammonia extremely poisonous * tig for this form of Marine life, the threshold value of the acute toxicity of ammonia fluctuating from a few parts per million to less than one part per million. In addition, there is sufficient evidence that disease stereoscopic phenomena, such as growth retardation and partial irritation, occur within a few days at ion concentrations that are significantly below the deadly aaaonia ion concentrations. Si · überexvaohunf the ammonia ion centrmtio »

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is extremely difficult, as ammonia in an aquarium or the like is constantly caused by deposits in the aquarium living beings and in particular the animals living in the aquarium and duroh collapse of im Organic substances contained in the culture medium are formed during use of the same.

It was previously believed that this function was found in seawater aquariums of the sea, but there were significant differences between seawater aquariums and the sea, especially the following:

1. Both the alkaline reserve and the pH value of the culture medium decrease *

2. Starting from ammonia, nitrogen compounds appear in abundance, which in the nitrate form need to be oxidized,

3. The nitrate accumulates, but it can become one Approach equilibrium value as a result of denitration.

4. The number of bacteria increases enormously, but at the same time there is a decrease in the number of the different types of bacteria.

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5. The total organic content of the water increases.

6. The magnesium content decreases while the content increases KaliuB, KalsiiiiB, phosphate and sulphate are increasing.

Because of these important aspects, the invention does not endeavor to "puncture" in a culture device of the sea. Tielnehr, the invention strives to find the best possible medium for the survival τοη Ocean creatures or aquatic creatures au sohaffen. According to this object of the invention becomes one of the main samples daduroh solved that the alkalisohe Reaerre of the culture medium duroh an acidification of the exhalation or other separation of the contained in the device

■ *

Without living beings it is canceled out that non-living organic materials, which are oxidizing or acids can be introduced into the device.

Therefore the main aim of the invention is to create a culture a device with which the alkaline reserve of the culture medium is effectively monitored and controlled can be.

Another object of the invention is to provide a culture torrent with which their nitrogen content can be effectively monitored and controlled.

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An additional object of the invention is to provide a To create a culture device and a method for holding captive marine life, including the more sensitive forms of marine life can be satisfactorily maintained for extended periods of time can.

Koch Another object of the invention is to provide a culture device which is bio-

chemical filtration for monitoring and controlling the M

alkaline reserve and the nitrogen content of the Culture device used

Other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description and drawings Claims:

To achieve the object according to the invention provided a Kulturvorriohtung and a method for main- λ obtained from captured marine life or marine life using a circulation system proposed, which effectively acid-forming carbon dioxide removed with the circulating water comes with calcareous particles in contact to its acidity to further reduce and to supplement the carbonate-alkali did of the culture medium. As follows

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Is explained in detail, the biohenlsohe filtration is used Not only to 'supplement and davit to control and monitor the alkaline reserve of the culture medium, but also to promote growth of nitrating bacteria, which diminish the toxic effects of ammonia by oxidizing it to assist nitrates.

In the drawing are exemplary embodiments of the Brfin-P Application for further explanation of the same shown, namely shows

Pig. Fig. 1 is an extremely pictorial view of a culture corruption according to the invention »

FIG. 2 shows a section along line 2-2 from FIG.

Fig. 3 shows a detailed view of the bioohemic Filters of the device according to the invention »

Fig. 4 is a general view of another Execution example of the invention »

Flg. 5 is a partially sectioned side view of the device from FIGS

6 shows a block diagram to explain the method proposed according to the invention.

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According to Fig. 1 to 3 of the drawing, the culture device has 1, a housing 2 on which a tank 3 is arranged, in which marine life is kept should. In order to facilitate the mobility of the device, the housing is provided with rollers 4. aside from that Is a door 5 is provided on the housing, duroh which the interior of the housing is accessible. Inside the case 2 is a cooling device 6 accessible through the door 5 is arranged. This cooling device is more common Execution and is therefore not described any further here wrote.

A culture medium 7 is filled into the tank 3. In the illustrated embodiment, there is also a Yorfilter 8 in the tank 3, which preferably consists of a block of foam material such as foamed polyurethane, through which the culture medium can circulate so that particles of organic materials are separated from it, whose nitrogen content λ would otherwise lead to the formation of ammonia Culture medium would contribute.

As can be seen in particular from FIG. 2, the culture medium 7 passes through a number of in the bottom of the Openings 9 provided in the tank 3 into one in the housing 2 Chamber 1o provided at one end thereof. In the-

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On the other hand, this earner 10 is preferably a suitable plastic coated or sit a suitable anetrioh to ensure that the Chamber is watertight and does not exert poisonous fluids on marine life or the like. In addition, there is a Ktihlsohlange 11 and a in the chamber 10 biooheaisob.ee filter 12. The culture medium 7 circulates by the Kaoaer 10 in such a way that it is via the Ktthlsohlan-

O | ge 11 fliefit, which is preferably attached to the plastic

exists to prevent that τοη this Kühlsohlange exerted toxic effects on the culture medium will. The cooling coil 11 is used to maintain the temperature of the bio-chemical filter 12 to regulate. Haoh The Biooheaic filter 12 becomes the Duro step through The filter medium 7 is derived from a pipe 13, welohes preferably runs under the housing 2 in order to facilitate the removal of the filteroediuos. the end the filter medium reaches the pipe 13 in a pump 14,

™ from which a pipe 15 is called back into the tank 3 will. An electric immersion heater (not shown) or a similar heating device can also be used be placed on the filter to raise the temperature of the culture medium 7 if desired, though cooling rather than heating is required for most living things.

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The biological filter 12 consists essentially of Potash material that is on a near the bottom of the Chamber 10 attached wave-shaped and perforated plate 16 rests. The plate 16 lies on one Most of the support rods 17 »of those in the drawing only one can be seen. The holes in the plate 16 are preferably located at the deepest part of the individual waves, and there are across the width of the panels several of these Löoher lined up next to each other, as can be seen from the newspaper, to dead spaces to avoid during the filtration and a complete drainage of liquid from the filter through to enable the plate 16 · In addition, a thermostat 18 is assigned to the filter and the cooling coil 11, which supports the monitoring of the work temperature.

After the water or other culture medium duroh the biochemical filter stepped Hindu, it will again back into the tank and gets into the culture medium located there through a sliding distributor 19, which is provided with a large number of openings 20 is to spray and aerate the culture medium when it is returned to the tank. Daduroh will Removal of carbon dioxide duroh gas exchange with the Medium relieved. The distributor 19 is designed so that it is vertically displaceable in a guide on the tank held 1st so that the water flow is adjusted and

ORIGINAL LÜ

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the aeration of the water or culture medium carried back can be controlled by adjusting the position the openings 20 opposite the surface of the culture medium 7 · You can, however, adjust the ventilation of the Also keep the returned water if you need to The distributor is raised above the upper edge of the pipe 15.

Although the ventilation arrangement shown in the drawing is very effective in practice, and therefore represents a preferred embodiment, other ventilations can also be used according to the invention are like T-shaped pipes with a multitude of outlet openings, Sprühvorriohtungen, a stream of through the liquid hindurohtr et ends air bubbles, a "ventilate" or the like .. These arrangements or measures can can be used as long as sufficient aeration of the culture medium bio is established, us) from the same to remove the carbon dioxide, and as long as one high percentage oxygen saturation of the medium during operation is possible.

In fig. 4 and 5 is another embodiment of the Invention shown. A housing 25 contains a tank 26 in which army creatures are to be kept In this embodiment, the lank 26 is separated by a partition 27 from the chamber, which is a Cooling device 28 receives. Dioht above the bottom of the

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Tank 26 has a biochemical filter 29 attached, which rests on a corrugated and provided with Durohgangöffnungen plate 30. The plate 30 is on Cooling coils 31,

The culture medium in the Hank 26 circulates Sound from top to bottom through the bioohemic filter 29

and
and the plate 30 / "flows over the cooling coils 31, whereupon it is discharged from the tank through a pipe 32. The culture medium passes from the pipe 32 into a pump 33, which reclaims it through a pipe 34 into the tank 26 In the above-described embodiment, a thermostat 35 is also provided in this case to monitor the temperature of the filter medium, and devices for ventilating the filter medium returning to the tank 26 are also provided.

The bio-chemical filter used according to the invention can made of granular calcareous material such as coral pebbles, crushed oysters or mussel shells, natural Marble chips, limestone, dolomite, dolomitic limestone, etc. exist. Particularly good results have been made in keeping various forms of marine life achieved when the calcareous material is rich in magnesium such as coral pebbles or other materials listed above that have sufficient mag-

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nesium content has to the waaserlusliohkeit the calcareous Materials to be increased at the pH value and temperature given here · In general this magnesium content, for example the Hagnesiun carbonate content, should be at least about 4 percent by weight, although the magnesium content depending on the special requirements of the individual material

The particle size of the calcareous material can also vary depending on the desired flow rate of the culture medium through the filter and the entire effective pilter surface, which is required for monitoring the alkaline reserve of the pilter medium, but for most applications it is preferable that the particle size is at least about 2 na, and is usually in a range of about 2 mm to about 5 mm . Calcareous material such as coral gravel is preferred because it is naturally very porous and offers an effective surface for the usual biological and chemical reactions that is much larger than would be expected based on the particle size of the material.

During normal operation of the aquarium with circulating pilter medium, the calcareous material

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subjected to a chemical reaction with the culture medium, whereby bicarbonate ions are formed serve as buffering agents and the alkalinity of the culture medium raise. In this way the calcareous material acts as an ohemisohes filter and overcomes the alkaline one Reserve of culture medium.

Because of the porosity and the large surface of the calcareous material, it also acts as a biological μ filter within the entire device, which has attachment points for bacteria that are supposed to grow, which nitrate the nitrogen occurring in the culture medium in the form of ammonia into the titrate form, in which the nitrogen is relatively harmless to marine life. For the successful maintenance of marine life it is essential that the nitrogen, which initially occurs as ammonia, is first oxidized into the ITitrite form and then into the Hitratform by bacteria in a relatively short time, for which a large effective surface must be available for the bacterial growth, which is brewed in contact with all the water of the docking device. For the satisfactory maintenance of more sensitive forms of marine or aquatic life, a nitrogen content in the culture device in the form of nitrates of less than 50 parts per million parts of the culture medium is desirable.

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_Sin% other environmental factor affecting the Stlokstoffumvandlung the Kulturrorriohtung, the pH "4Tert 1st of the culture medium. For example, a low pH value hinders the oxidation of the ammonia, which is very important if unsatisfactory results are to be achieved. Ss has been found satisfactory results Dafi know are obtained when the pH of the culture medium to a ron · minimum value is kept about 8.0, with a pH about 8.2 m Vert yon is preferable.

Similarly, the temperature of the culture medium is important, because most marine organisms are unable to live at temperatures outside the normal temperature range for the same. Pur the practical operation, the temperature should be maintained in a sound Bereioh about 1 ° to 27 ⁰ C. The upper temperature is approximately the temperature of the surroundings of most of the torches, so that temperature control is generally achieved by cooling.

In the case of the goal sole layer according to the invention the culture medium duroh the entire torriohtung in one Catfish hlndurohgefthrt that it with the calcareous filter comes into contact for a time which is sufficient to control the alkalinity of the culture medium and the waohetum promote the nitrating bacteria,

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The flow rate depends on the size and the effective surface of the biochemical filter, but it has been found that the filter medium should be guided completely through the filter at least about animal eels per hour. In a similar way, the best results were achieved when the flow rate of the culture medium through the calcareous filter is about 0.98 ^{liters per dm 2 of} the surface in the horizontal plane per hour. The ratio of the volume of the pilter to the size of the living beings kept should be at least about 0.0625 m per kg weight of the living beings and the ratio of the volume of the culture medium to the size of the living beings should preferably be about 500 1 to about one kg of the more sensitive living beings, although a larger one Grewioht of living beings can be admitted if they are less sensitive living beings.

One suitable for practicing the present invention Culture medium is described in U.S. Patent Application No. 423,604 entitled "Synthetic Army Water Mixture" described.

The biochemical filters used in accordance with the invention will normally consist entirely of the desired one calcareous material, but they can also - if desired - certain other materials such as charcoal contained as the adsorbent material of the filter

Find use.

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When a large amount of marine life is kept, the prefilter used in the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 3 is preferably used as a The physical filter or the sieve of the device is used to remove stiocoids from the culture medium Remove organic material, which otherwise contribute with their nitrogen content to the formation of ammonia can. In the exemplary embodiment shown, this pre-filter just a Sohaumstoffbloek, Jedooh can other similar materials or devices may also be used · In similar catfish can A kieselguhr filter like any commercially available filter of this type can be used to make such Remove organic particles and clarify the water

Other modifications can also be used for special cultural problems the device is made ». Vessels can be hung on the sides of the tank A large number of small compartments can be used to isolate growing organisms Hylontuoh are applied, which lies on a substrate plate, which is sioh in the main tank, so a soil is created for growing organisms

Claims t

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Claims (10)

Claims ι 1. Culture device for keeping marine or saltwater creatures, marked daduroh, that they have a housing (2, 25), a thank you (3, 26) to accommodate the living beings to be held, one with Device connected to the tank for regulating the temperature of the culture medium (7) in the tank, a bioohemisohes filter (12, 29) made of particulate calcareous material and communicating with the tank Material by which the culture medium to induce an ohemic reaction between the filter and the culture medium circulates to the alkaline Reserve the culture medium to replenish and encourage bacterial growth in the culture medium, and facilities to guide the culture medium duroh the filter and back into the tank, wherein this last-mentioned circulation device provides ventilation of the culture medium returned to the tank, which causes a gas exchange of carbon dioxide and Oxygen facilitated with the culture medium. 2. Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that a prefilter (8) is provided in the tank (3), duroh that the culture medium (7) flows into the bio-chemical filter (12) before it enters. 1098 17/0566 3. Device naoh claim 2, dadiiroh characterized that the peat liter (8) is made of plastic 4 device according to claim 1, characterized by that the biooheeic filter (12, 29) at the bottom of the Tank (31 26) is arranged. 5. Apparatus naoh claim 4, characterized in that near de «bottom of the tank (3» 10 bew. 29) a permeable plate (16, 30) is arranged on the calcareous material of the filter (12, 29) lies « 6. Device naoh Anspruoh 5, daduroh characterized, that the biohenic filter (12, 29) supporting the plate (16, 30) is a water-permeable corrugated plate is. 7 device according to claim 6, characterized by that sioh the office corridors in the corrugated Plate (16, 30) are located at the deepest slopes of the plate in order to avoid dead filtration tears and allow fluids to drain completely from the filter. 8. Device naoh claim 6 or 7, characterized in that it is in the waves of the plate (16, 30) arranged openings over the entire width the plate are arranged distributed. 109817/0566 -3- 9 · Device according to one or more of the claims 1 to 8, characterized) that the calcareous Material has a particle size of at least about 2 mm 10. Device according to one or more of the claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the particulate calcareous material rich in magnesium and selected from the group, the coral pebbles, ζer- ^ Small oyster or muso coals, naturally occurring chalky marble fragments, limestone, dolomite and dolomitic limestone includes * 11. The device according to claim 10, characterized in that that the magnesium content of the particulate material is at least about 4 percent by weight 12. Device according to one or more of the claims 1 to 11, characterized in that in the housing (2) " below the tank (3) one connected to the sink Chamber (10) is provided, which the biochemical filter (12) and a cooling or heating coil (11) records. 13 «Method of regenerating the culture medium in which captured marine or saltwater organisms are kept, characterized in that the culture medium initially flows through a region in which the life 10981 7/0566 " ⁴ ~ beings are held, and then bioohemieoh by one particulate calcareous material is filtered, so that an ohenic reaction swlsohen this material and the iilteraediUB to frieohen the alkaline Reserve of the filter medium takes place, whereby during this filtration the pH value of the intermediate decreases is kept at a value of about 8.0 and the harm of nitrating bacteria in the culture ^ turnediun is promoted, whereupon the culture medium is returned to the area of the trapped and held living beings, with ventilation of the culture medium takes place before introduction into the area of the livestock keeping, un a gas exchange between carbon dioxide and oxygen in culture mediun to facilitate. 14 · 7erfahren according to claim 13 »daduroh characterized in that the culture media is pre-filtered, and particles W of nitrogen-releasing materials from the culture media before the biochemical filtration absuaoheiden. 15 · The method according to claim 13 or 14, characterized in that the culture media in insole to the Pre-filtration and before the bioohenisohen filtration is cooled. 1098 17/056 "" T7 "" 16. The method naoh one or more of the claims 13 to 15, characterized in that the culture medium in the biochemical filtration in a 2 amount of about 0.98 1 per .Ministe duroh each dm the surface of the bio-chemical filter flows. 17 · Method naoh one or more of claims 13 to 16, characterized in that the culture medium at least animal times per hour completely is filtered. 18. Proceedings based on one or more of the claims 13 to 17, daduroh marked that the ratio the volume of the culture medium to the weight of the living beings kept to a value of at least about 0.0625 m per kg of living organism is kept. 19 · Procedure according to one or more of the claims 13 to 18, daduroh marked that the bioohemisohe filtration with a magnesium series material is performed, which is selected from the group consisting of coral sand, crushed oyster or muso halo, includes natural calcareous marble chips, limestone, dolomite and dolomite limestone. 20. The method according to claim 19, characterized by that the magnesium content of the particulate biochemical Filtration material is at least about 4 #. 10 9 8 17/0566