Ok back to the rant:
"Water changes were performed in the same way as the bowls, just not as frequently. We didn't need frequent cleaning. We had a filter; a little plastic box filled with floss that sat in the corner and bubbled. When the layer of black gunk resting atop and within the multicolored gravel got too thick, I'd dip a couple cups of water into one of mom's Tupperware bowls, net the fish out (that's right, I had my own net now) and syphon all the water out into the yard. This was followed by the removal of all gravel and tank decorations. Tank and accoutrements were scrubbed clean and new floss replaced the black floss in the filter. The tank was refilled with fresh water and the conscientious addition of dechlorinator drops. The fish were returned to their sparkling clean home. Deaths inevitably followed."
In post # 28 I described how I was doing water changes in my 20 gallon. This was the wrong way to do things for at least two reasons. The first was the fact that it caused a complete reset of the tank and killed all beneficial bacteria, so the tank had to go through a cycle full of fish. The fish were subjected to ever-increasing amounts of ammonia and nitrite until lethal levels were eventually reached.
The second reason was osmotic shock from something called OTS (old tank syndrome). This is a condition that usually happened to older, poorly maintained aquaria. At that time I was doing the tank resets every 4, 5 maybe 6 months; whenever the clouds of disturbed detritus took too long to settle or mom threatened to throw the whole thing out by the street. During those 4,5 or 6 months I just did top-offs; a pitcher or two of water with a few drops of dechlorinator added. A week later I'd top off again. This succession of water additions to offset evaporation caused the total dissolved solids (TDS) in the tank to gradually increase. By water change time the TDS in the tank was probably 3 or 4 times the TDS of the source water. OK, why does this matter?
It has to do with something called osmoregulation; ahs mo reg yoo lay' shun. This is the mechanism by which fish maintain homeostasis in their environment...another $25 word; ho mee o stay' sis.
"Water changes were performed in the same way as the bowls, just not as frequently. We didn't need frequent cleaning. We had a filter; a little plastic box filled with floss that sat in the corner and bubbled. When the layer of black gunk resting atop and within the multicolored gravel got too thick, I'd dip a couple cups of water into one of mom's Tupperware bowls, net the fish out (that's right, I had my own net now) and syphon all the water out into the yard. This was followed by the removal of all gravel and tank decorations. Tank and accoutrements were scrubbed clean and new floss replaced the black floss in the filter. The tank was refilled with fresh water and the conscientious addition of dechlorinator drops. The fish were returned to their sparkling clean home. Deaths inevitably followed."
In post # 28 I described how I was doing water changes in my 20 gallon. This was the wrong way to do things for at least two reasons. The first was the fact that it caused a complete reset of the tank and killed all beneficial bacteria, so the tank had to go through a cycle full of fish. The fish were subjected to ever-increasing amounts of ammonia and nitrite until lethal levels were eventually reached.
The second reason was osmotic shock from something called OTS (old tank syndrome). This is a condition that usually happened to older, poorly maintained aquaria. At that time I was doing the tank resets every 4, 5 maybe 6 months; whenever the clouds of disturbed detritus took too long to settle or mom threatened to throw the whole thing out by the street. During those 4,5 or 6 months I just did top-offs; a pitcher or two of water with a few drops of dechlorinator added. A week later I'd top off again. This succession of water additions to offset evaporation caused the total dissolved solids (TDS) in the tank to gradually increase. By water change time the TDS in the tank was probably 3 or 4 times the TDS of the source water. OK, why does this matter?
It has to do with something called osmoregulation; ahs mo reg yoo lay' shun. This is the mechanism by which fish maintain homeostasis in their environment...another $25 word; ho mee o stay' sis.
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