These days it really is not hard to learn about fishkeeping if you really want to. The internet is full of good advice if you look for it. I think the problem is simply that many folks think you just fill a tank, add filter and heater and fish, and that's it. The ones who really want to succeed at it have a wealth of knowledge available these days. The info is out there if you care enough to look for it.
My aquarist rant
- Thread starter wesleydnunder
- Start date
And now for the good news:
Hey folks. Been gone for a week going to school and just now getting back. Thank you for your patience.
The best news in all this, IMO, is that with a little thought, some physical work (and not much, really), and the inclination to learn and apply that knowledge, the quality and quantity of life for our captives can exceed that encountered in nature. What?!!
Yup...I think so.
Question: What's the first rule of aquatic habitats in nature?
Answer: Eat or be eaten.
As much as some of us don't like to face the harsher realities of the natural world ( from which many of us set ourselves apart ), the fact is, most of the fish which we keep in the aquarium never reach adulthood in the wild. Most of the babies and juveniles get eaten before that. Of those which do reach maturity, the majority don't live to reproduce. They get eaten before that.
When we stock an aquarium, one of our first considerations is not to mix predators and prey. Sometimes we make mistakes but we learn not to repeat them. While it may be a more natural set-up to house neons and other small tetras with predators, it doesn't keep that stocking long. The neons become expensive snacks.
So in that respect, the fish we keep in our tanks tend to have longer lives than they're wild cousins simply because we took a little time to consider their diminutive size and possible consumption by predators before we stocked our aquarium.
Mark
Hey folks. Been gone for a week going to school and just now getting back. Thank you for your patience.
The best news in all this, IMO, is that with a little thought, some physical work (and not much, really), and the inclination to learn and apply that knowledge, the quality and quantity of life for our captives can exceed that encountered in nature. What?!!
Yup...I think so.
Question: What's the first rule of aquatic habitats in nature?
Answer: Eat or be eaten.
As much as some of us don't like to face the harsher realities of the natural world ( from which many of us set ourselves apart ), the fact is, most of the fish which we keep in the aquarium never reach adulthood in the wild. Most of the babies and juveniles get eaten before that. Of those which do reach maturity, the majority don't live to reproduce. They get eaten before that.
When we stock an aquarium, one of our first considerations is not to mix predators and prey. Sometimes we make mistakes but we learn not to repeat them. While it may be a more natural set-up to house neons and other small tetras with predators, it doesn't keep that stocking long. The neons become expensive snacks.
So in that respect, the fish we keep in our tanks tend to have longer lives than they're wild cousins simply because we took a little time to consider their diminutive size and possible consumption by predators before we stocked our aquarium.
Mark
That's 1 of the things I don't much like about breeding fish anymore. I don't mind eggs or tiny fry being eaten by tank mates or parents, nor do I usually want the added work of raising fry separately.
But I really hate having to "cull" fish. Yes, in nature the "less than" fish would be eaten & I know defects are not uncommon...predators only catch the easy ones at first, right?. But to sentence an otherwise healthy looking fish to euthanasia because it's color is "wrong"; or conversely, allowing them to live with what would be a fatal flaw in nature without special care in our tanks (ie stunting; flaws in fins or gills). No one wants those fish, including me.
But I no longer keep big fish to eat those I deem unworthy; diseased fish I can & do euthanize reluctantly, pest snails & old shrimp more easily but not without a pang of guilt as I look away, & even those I don't have efficient predators for anymore. A slow, nibbled-to-death end is not good for them or me.
As I've said many times before, we kept tiny "feeder size 6/$1" neons with male bettas until the neons grew big enough to become betta fin nippers & were moved. Some predation I guess is, or was, ok; less so nowadays; I guess I've become more squeamish after all these years.
But I really hate having to "cull" fish. Yes, in nature the "less than" fish would be eaten & I know defects are not uncommon...predators only catch the easy ones at first, right?. But to sentence an otherwise healthy looking fish to euthanasia because it's color is "wrong"; or conversely, allowing them to live with what would be a fatal flaw in nature without special care in our tanks (ie stunting; flaws in fins or gills). No one wants those fish, including me.
But I no longer keep big fish to eat those I deem unworthy; diseased fish I can & do euthanize reluctantly, pest snails & old shrimp more easily but not without a pang of guilt as I look away, & even those I don't have efficient predators for anymore. A slow, nibbled-to-death end is not good for them or me.
As I've said many times before, we kept tiny "feeder size 6/$1" neons with male bettas until the neons grew big enough to become betta fin nippers & were moved. Some predation I guess is, or was, ok; less so nowadays; I guess I've become more squeamish after all these years.
I fear breeding. My fish breed, sure, but the eggs get pleco/loach munched instantly overnight. Breeding for me would require owning my own house, haha.
Yes ma'am.
Salt:
Here's another point of contention throughout the hobby which crops up regularly. To salt or not to salt?..and I'm referring to sodium chloride, not minerals intended to boost TDS for certain Rift Lake dwellers.
There is no need to use salt prophylactically in freshwater aquaria...period!
The lfs and big box stores regularly tell customers that "Aquarium Salt" is a necessary additive for the health of their fish. Just how much is needed is never exactly determined. The "Aquarium Salt" sold at the store is simply rock salt milled to a slightly smaller grain size. There is nothing special about it.
The reason that none of the store employees can tell you exactly how much is "necessary" is because the whole concept is made up to sell you something; and since it isn't a necessary additive to your freshwater tank, they can't tell you just how much to add.
The only fish which "need" salt are marine and brackish. Any fish which has evolved in fresh water doesn't need salt added.
Even otherwise knowledgeable aquarists fall into perpetuating this myth.
"It stimulates production of the slime coat." Yep...any irritant does. Fish secrete their slime coat as a natural process of living, just as forcing water past the gills is a natural function. They secrete extra slime whenever they feel an irritant or skin parasite. In a healthy, undiseased fish, stimulating the fish to produce more slime than necessary is needless.
"It prevents diseases." Really? Show me the proof.
Salt can be used in conjunction with elevated water temperature to kill the Ick parasite, but the continued immersion of the fish in elevated salinity won't prevent disease. In fact, salt can stress some fish to the point that they are weakened and thereby more susceptible to disease.
One of my favorite articles on this subject written by Robert T Ricketts, AKA RTR, can be found here: http://theaquariumwiki.com/The_Salt_of_the_Earth
Mark
Thank you for the fantastic link! I have been looking for something like this to back up my assertion to friends that you can in fact use table salt to treat ich, and that no it was not "the dumbest decision ever" for PetSmart to quit using salt on a daily basis in their tanks.
I have never used anything but table salt for ich in 35+ yrs....
Pet stores that display overstocked tanks set a bad example. They should post a caveat; Bi-weekly water changes/ Commercial filtration/ minimal feeding/ chiller for low metabolism, etc...and my favorite quote:
"Just because you can doesn't mean you should !"
"Just because you can doesn't mean you should !"
