After many years without a fresh water aquarium I am just getting a second hand 55 gal one ready. The tanks that I used to set up were back in the days long before "the net" with its forums and instant response from fellow enthusiasts thousands of miles away. Such sites as The Krib and MongaBay offer reams of information available at the twitch of a mouse to an extent that makes my brain whirl.
To set up a tank in the 'good old days' I would first plant as heavily as possible with swords, cabomba, vallis etc., add the water and turn on the filter which was a box hung on the outside of the tank filled with charcoal and wool. After a few days when the water was clear the fish were added. I had no knowledge of cycling, nitrite and nitrate levels etc., but amazingly enough never had any major problems.
For some years I kept a 50 gal home built tank, heavily planted and with masses of petrified peat which housed a shoal of happy Silver Angels who regularly laid eggs on whatever leaf they felt inclined, although none ever hatched. I would feed my Angels on mosquito larvae, daphnia and blood worm that I caught in a local pond and guppy fry that I bred in a couple of small tanks. Basically the only care that I gave that tank was a weekly hoovering and a small water change.
I have been browsing countless web sites and reading all the posts and the heart rending pleas for help including a couple from me . . . . I am not questioning modern fish-keeping . . . hmmmm maybe I am
. . . but I can't help wondering if perhaps this most gentle of hobbies has not been complicated by hi-tech commercialism and a wee touch of 'Bull**** Baffles Brains'.
To set up a tank in the 'good old days' I would first plant as heavily as possible with swords, cabomba, vallis etc., add the water and turn on the filter which was a box hung on the outside of the tank filled with charcoal and wool. After a few days when the water was clear the fish were added. I had no knowledge of cycling, nitrite and nitrate levels etc., but amazingly enough never had any major problems.
For some years I kept a 50 gal home built tank, heavily planted and with masses of petrified peat which housed a shoal of happy Silver Angels who regularly laid eggs on whatever leaf they felt inclined, although none ever hatched. I would feed my Angels on mosquito larvae, daphnia and blood worm that I caught in a local pond and guppy fry that I bred in a couple of small tanks. Basically the only care that I gave that tank was a weekly hoovering and a small water change.
I have been browsing countless web sites and reading all the posts and the heart rending pleas for help including a couple from me . . . . I am not questioning modern fish-keeping . . . hmmmm maybe I am
. . . but I can't help wondering if perhaps this most gentle of hobbies has not been complicated by hi-tech commercialism and a wee touch of 'Bull**** Baffles Brains'.
