JPH08252407A - Bottom sand for water tank for aquarium fish - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide bottom sand which can deodorize and clarify turbid water to give clear and transparent water and has improved bulk density to be stably laid on the bottom of a water tank by utilizing materials obtained by pulverizing rocks and stones as cores and coating the cores with zeolite powder, and granulating the resultant materials. CONSTITUTION: Bottom sand 1 is a spherical multilayer material produced by utilizing a material obtained by pulverizing rocks and stones as a core and coating the surface of the core with a coating layer 3. The coating layer 3 is a layer mainly consisting of a powdered natural zeolite and is hardened by a granulating apparatus. The coating layer 3 itself has a multilayer structure and consists of a natural zeolite coagulating agent-mixed layer 31 and a coagulating pigment-mixed layer 32 toward outside from the rocks- and stones- pulverized material 2. Poval is used as the coagulating agent. The bottom sand 1 obtained in this way has a bulk gravity density of about 1 and a highly suitable property as bottom sand. Since zeolite absorbs various types of impurities, zeolite can carry out deodorization and remove turbidity. The bottom sand after used can be recycled as a soil improving material by being mixed with soil of flowerpots and farms.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ornamental fish tank bottom sand laid in an aquarium tank in order to reduce or prevent turbidity of water generated from various impurities generated in the aquarium tank and maintain the water quality. Is.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A domestic aquarium for breeding ornamental fish is
If the filtration function of the aquarium is insufficient for the amount of water and the amount of rearing, the water in the aquarium will become turbid even if the water is changed frequently. Such turbidity significantly inhibits development and, in the worst case, can lead to mass mortality. Further, since such an aquarium is usually installed indoors for viewing, it is not preferable that the turbidity gives the viewer an unpleasant feeling.

In order to avoid such a situation, it is general to use a filtering device having sufficient capacity or frequently change water.

[0004]

However, looking at the condition of the aquarium installed, too many or too large fish relative to the size of the aquarium are bred and sufficient filtration is not possible with ordinary filtration equipment. There are many things that cannot be done. In addition, there are many people who do not have enough time to perform frequent water changes.

[0005]

Therefore, the present inventor has achieved the present invention as a result of earnest research in view of the above points, and is characterized in that a crushed rock product is used as a core. The point is that the zeolite powder was coated and granulated.

Here, "rock" includes all rocks conventionally used as bottom sand for aquariums. For the bottom sand of the present invention, this rock serves as a weight for keeping the bottom sand itself at the bottom of the aquarium. That is,
This is because although it is a zeolite powder having a very large adsorption capacity, if it is made into a granular form, its specific gravity becomes small, and it does not become bottom sand by floating in water or floating on the water surface. The crushed point rocks have a specific gravity, and even if the surface thereof is coated with zeolite powder, it can function as bottom sand. Furthermore, it is more preferable to use, for example, a natural zeolite as the rock because the crushed rock portion has a high adsorption capacity.

The degree of "crushing" may be any size as long as it is within the range used for conventional bottom sand. However, there is a range of more suitable size (average particle size). That is, from the viewpoint of adsorption ability, a small one is preferable in the sense that the surface area per unit amount becomes large. However, if it is too small, the relative amount of the zeolite powder to be coated becomes large, so that the specific gravity of the whole becomes small, and it is meaningless to use rock as a core. In that sense, the particle size is 1.5
Approximately 3.0 mm is preferable. Further, it is preferable that the crushed products have a uniform particle size to some extent, but even if the particle size is slightly or considerably different, the effect of the present invention is not impaired and there is no problem.

[0008] Zeolite powder maintains its aggregating action to some extent even with ordinary granulation using only water, but it is suitable because the zeolite powder may come apart in water if the water flow is too large or if it is used for a long period of time. Any coagulant may be used. However, excessive use of the coagulant also reduces the adsorption effect of the zeolite, so it is preferable to keep it to the minimum necessary. Therefore, rather than mixing the coagulant with the total amount of zeolite powder, granulate with water only until the final stage of granulation and add the coagulant at the end, or the coagulant in the powder until the end. It is effective to use a method of forming a coating layer containing only a coagulant without adding the above. The finished bottom sand of the present invention may of course be subjected to additional processing such as coloring.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in more detail based on the embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a bottom sand 1 for an ornamental fish tank according to the present invention.
FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an example (hereinafter referred to as the present invention bottom sand 1), and as is clear from the figure, the present invention bottom sand 1 is a spherical multi-layered structure in which a rock crushed product 2 is a core and the periphery thereof is surrounded by a coating layer 3. It is a structure. The particle size of rock crushed products is approximately 1
The particle size of the bottom sand 1 of the present invention was adjusted to about 2.5 mm using a granulator (not shown) and an automatic sieving machine (not shown). Moreover, in this example, natural zeolite was used as the rock, but other rocks may be used.

The coating layer 3 is powdery (250
This layer is mainly composed of a natural zeolite (containing clinoptilolite) powder of (mesh) and is solidified by a granulator. In the case of this example, the coating layer 3 itself is also a multilayer, and the natural zeolite coagulant admixture layer 31 and the coagulant pigment admixture layer 32 extend outward from the rock crushed product 2.
Has become. In this example, poval was used as the coagulant. The bottom sand 1 of the present invention thus obtained had a bulk specific gravity of about 1, and was suitable as a bottom sand. Next, the following experiment was conducted using the bottom sand 1 of the present invention obtained by the above-mentioned manufacturing method.

[Experiment] Two water tanks (water volume: 145 liters)
A tank was prepared, and 40 koi fish each having a body length of about 5 cm were released in the early morning of the experiment start day for comparative observation. Since the water in the aquarium was made turbid in advance, the filtration device provided was not operated for 24 hours after the 40 carp were released. This filtration device is for home type,
The water absorption pump and the filter are integrated. From the afternoon of the start of the experiment until the end of the experiment, feed the commercially available goldfish bait in this aquarium twice a day (8:00 am and 5 pm).
Each time), 105% of the appropriate amount was given.

After 2 days, one of the tanks (A) has 20 kg of the bottom sand of the present invention, and the other (B) has 20 kg of the commercially available bottom sand.
(Those thoroughly washed with water before the experiment) were added. The pouring was performed while paying attention so that the bottom sand was evenly spread over the entire bottom surface of the water tank and that fish were not stimulated so much. Then, the transparency of water in these aquariums was observed for 4 days thereafter.

The device for observing transparency used in this experiment is called a fluorometer for observing the depth of the mark that can be discriminated by submerging the "mark" in the water tank. To 30 degrees. Using this, the measurement was performed on an hourly basis. However, when adding the bottom sand, once before and immediately after that, 1
When the food was administered twice a day, it was not measured for 2 hours after the administration.

Then, immediately after the carp was released into the aquarium, the water having the transparency of 30 degrees was not operated by the filtering device 2
It gradually became cloudy in 4 hours, and after 24 hours all became 8
It became a degree. After that point, the filtration device was activated,
Turbidity gradually disappears, and immediately before the addition of bottom sand (bottom sand 1 of the present invention and commercial bottom sand) (48 hours after the start of the experiment)
Recovered up to twice.

In the water tank A, immediately after the bottom sand 1 of the present invention was charged, the water became cloudy and once became transparent with a transparency of 9 degrees, but immediately began to become clear, and the water was maintained for 1 hour 4 hours after the test (52 hours after the start of the experiment).
It became 2 degrees (the same degree of transparency as immediately before the bottom sand was added). The transparency was 3 after 24 hours (72 hours after the start of the experiment).
It reached 0 degrees (the maximum value that can be measured with the device used), and continued to maintain 30 degrees of transparency thereafter. Although it could not be measured as a numerical value, it was clear that it was 30 degrees or more in view of the transparent feeling.

In the water tank B, even if commercial bottom sand was put in, the transparency was only 12 to 13 degrees before and after that, and the turbidity did not change at all. After that, the transparency gradually increased, but the speed was very slow, and 24 hours after the commercial bottom sand was added (72 hours after the start of the experiment).
It also recovered to about 17 degrees. Immediately before the end of the experiment (144 hours after the start of the experiment), the transparency was 19 degrees.

Incidentally, in parallel with the measurement of the transparency (transparency),
The removal of ammonium ions and copper ions was also measured, but in both cases, the water in the aquarium containing the bottom sand of the present invention has a very low concentration thereof as compared with the one having only the commercially available bottom sand, and is ideal for the growth of fish. It is thought that a different environment is obtained.

[0019]

As described in detail above, the bottom sand for ornamental fish tanks according to the present invention is characterized in that a rock crushed product is used as a core and zeolite powder is coated and granulated. It is a very advanced invention having various effects as described below.

Since zeolite adsorbs various impurities, the use of this as bottom sand makes it transparent and has odor and turbidity. Since the rock crushed product is used as the core, the bulk specific gravity increases and it stably exists at the bottom of the aquarium. When the bottom sand of the present invention after use is put in a flowerpot, a field, etc., it can be reused as a soil improving material. Since natural zeolite is easy to be colored with pigments, it is possible to easily produce beautiful or unique colored bottom sand.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an example of bottom sand for an ornamental fish tank according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Bottom sand for ornamental fish tank according to the present invention 2 Rock crushed product 3 Coating layer 31 Natural zeolite coagulant admixture layer 32 Coagulant pigment admixture layer

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A bottom sand for an ornamental fish tank, which comprises a rock crushed product as a core, and a zeolite powder coated and granulated on the core. 2. The bottom sand for an ornamental fish tank as set forth in claim 1, wherein the raw material of the rock crushed product is natural zeolite. 3. The bottom sand for ornamental fish tank according to claim 1, wherein the zeolite powder contains a coagulant. 4. The bottom sand for an ornamental fish tank according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a coagulant layer is provided on the outer layer of the zeolite powder coated and granulated.