Calling All Cars! Tank Police Alert!

[SubRosa]

Weird. You're right, not what I imagined at all, lol. Not my style in a lot of ways but cool how it works anyway.

You wouldn't find it in my house either.

 

[Jumko]

I think this supports my theory that those who've been in the hobby longer tend to bend the "rules" more. In my opinion, if it works, great.

 

[SubRosa]

I think this supports my theory that those who've been in the hobby longer tend to bend the "rules" more. In my opinion, if it works, great.

I'm not doing anything with any rules. I simply took over an existing set up that was put together by someone else, and maintain it the way it's always been maintained because that's what the customer will pay for.

 

[allaboutfish]

looks like you are doing a great job regardless. beautiful healthy parrots you got there.

 

[ssuchem13]

I've seen far crazier in friends fish tanks. Small uncycled tanks stuffed with huge fish at several times the recommended stocking levels, on which the only maintenance performed is a full tank tear down, soap and water clean out once a year. Crystal clear water, and no visible discomfort to the fish. These tanks have run on average 5-10 years. Usually they lose a few fish in the beginning (while it cycles), then never experience any problems. Their nitrates are insanely high, but ammonia and nitrite are always non-existent.

Right now I've got a 29g barebottom tank with a Rena XP2 on it, housing around 70 cichlids ranging up to 3 inches each. Been trying to get rid of them for a while, and have nowhere else to house them. I do 50% water changes on it between every 2 weeks and a month. For a short time, it also contained a 10" oscar I was temporarily housing while it's owner resealed their leaking fish tank. Never a dead fish (aside from those the oscar claimed), never a problem whatsoever.

Would I recommend doing any of this? No, not if there were better suited options available. But it goes to show that the "your fish are all going to die immediately" mentality toward stocking levels is often more than a bit extreme. It's one thing to say that a fish would do better in more space, quite another to say there's no way it can possibly survive or thrive in said space (within reason of course, I'm looking at you Mr. Oscar in a betta bowl, lol).

lol but a really big betta bowl? hahahah jk

 

[Piranha86]

I just came across this...

I really do not see what the problem is, especially with the decor. No, it's not a beautiful Amano-style planted aquarium, but it doesn't look that bad. Neither the wood or the plants (I think fake?) look bad. I've seen a lot of tanks decorated much more poorly than this one.

Are the stocking and tank size ideal? No. But the fish have survived for 10 years which is pretty rare.

A very close friend of my family had a feeder goldfish called Rosa in a gallon bowl for 17 years. Rosa is now in somebody's garden pond, but only because they were moving and didn't want to take Rosa with them.

 

[Fishfriend1]

I used to have 6 3-5in goldfish in a hyperfiltered(it was like 500% filtration every hour) 20 gallon tank that was in turn hooked up to a heavily planted 10 gallon half-full tank. Call me cruel, but that was the best setup I've ever seen for plan growth (the 10gal went from bare to jungle in like 5 days) and the goldfish all made it through those dark days (about 5 months) during which I was rehoming them. Would I suggest it? no! Did it work? yea. I'm sure those parrots are EXTREMELY bored though lol.

Parrot1 - Hey Paul, whatcha doin?
Paul - Staring at this pebble.
Parrot1 - How long u been doin that?
Paul - About three years now.

 

[verbal]

One thing about this tank is I bet the owner is relatively restrained in feed even if he isn't with his stocking.

 

[mesto]

Are the stocking and tank size ideal? No. But the fish have survived for 10 years which is pretty rare.

A very close friend of my family had a feeder goldfish called Rosa in a gallon bowl for 17 years. Rosa is now in somebody's garden pond, but only because they were moving and didn't want to take Rosa with them.

I wanted to speak to this...I do think that sometimes, there is more than whether the environment is "bad" or "suitable" or "cruel" for the animal at hand. The genetics of the animal play a big part in how long they live and what they can survive through. Someone who has a parrot who died after 1 year who does QT, stocks reasonably, and does a lot more water changes than described in this set up does not necessarily provide ANY data that if the person with the short-lived parrot had just set up and managed their tank like this for 10 years the same parrot would have lived just as long as these have. Or that if someone tried to set up a similar tank to this one they wouldn't deal with major aggression or other issues this guy apparently never has had. There are a LOT of people who put a goldfish in a gallon bowl and do not have the same experience where it lives for 17 years.

I think the point of this thread is a good one, you know, backlash against too much of a "tank police" or PETA-for-fish attitude by showing an example that no one here would ever advise a person to shoot for in their set up, that is and has been working. It is a very good example for that. It definitely makes you look at what sort of preconceived notions you may have and provides really substantial food for thought.

But without some of the "tank police" posts I have read, I would understand a lot less about good fishkeeping than if everyone always remained completely non-judgmental. There's also something to be said about a time and place...how do you approach a person who already HAS a certain set up with no problems, that you maybe don't agree with aspects of, vs. how do you deal with a person with a poor set up that IS having problems and is asking for advice, vs. how you approach a person who doesn't have a tank set up yet and what they should be thinking about PLANNING for a set up. I really think there is a bigger benefit to "tank police" activities wrt the latter two scenarios. I think where I've seen people get really upset here is when they either don't recognize they have a problem, or were just wanting to show off a set up they were proud of but weren't asking advice about.

Like many of you all my love for fish is just one type of animal I really enjoy keeping and keeping as well as I can. Anyway, I know Subrosa mentioned many times in this thread he personally would never have such a set up, and that's what I think now when I see this tank or a goldfish in a bowl or even an oscar in a 10G tank (I knew one who lived for MANY years on the family kitchen counter like this), regardless of how well it has worked or is working. If no other reason for what FishFriend1 is saying - they may be "fine" but would I feel comfortable with how I'd be forcing them to live? It's the same with any pet, really. I did and provided what I knew at the time. When I knew better, I did better. Obviously not everyone approaches animals this way although many of us here do.