Paul B
Well-Known Member
Tank Longivity problems
I feel that our methods of nitrate removal such as changing water is flawed.
In other words, it don't work.
If we have to change water for that purpose, we have failed and our tanks are kind of doomed to too much work when we should be enjoying them. I think people spend way, I mean WAY too much money and time on things that are not needed. I know it's your time and money but I feel this huge expenditure of resources is a major reason people leave the hobby in a few years which is not even the lifespan of a damsel, and a small damsel at that.
There are just too many posts about problems, problems I feel we bring about on ourselves.
I just read a post about some people putting in 6 or 7 fish one after another and they all died in less than a week.
When ever that or something similar happens we hear that my water parameters are perfect. No they are not. It's not the fishes fault if they die, it's ours. It is always our fault, not the LFS, not the parameters, not the test kit but our fault.
Water parameters that we could test with a fish store test kit will rarely if ever give a clue why a fish would die in a few days.
I never ask about water parameters in a situation like that because it has no bearing. Only ammonia which can be tested will quickly kill a fish and it is almost impossable to have enough ammonia in a tank to kill only certain fish and not others.
Salinity variations will also not kill a fish inless it is very far off and we can assume we know about what our salinity is.
High temperature will cause the fish to gasp at the surface and low temperatures will cause most fish to lay on the bottom.
Almost no fish dies suddenly without any symptoms. They will either breath fast, scratch, shake their heads from side to side, swim with their mouth open, stop eating, or swim in jerky movements. And when we find them dead, there are clues, did they die with their mouth agape, were they covered in paracites, do they have bulges where there shouldn't be, are they missing scales, is the body bloated?
I don't think we observe our fish closely enough when they are healthy to know what is going on when they are sick. Most of these things live over a decade, some two and none of them have lifespans shorter than 3 years and thats only those in the sea horse family. (they have kind of a wierd anatomy and I don't know how they even live that long)
I also believe that our tanks are much too sterile and are not aged long enough to add all the stuff we add.
We buy animals that we know we can't properly take care of.
How many times do we read, I saw a pair of moorish Idols eating flakes in a store so I put them in my tank I started last month.
They all eat flake food.
I see orange spotted filefish for sale every day. There is only one person I ever heard of that can feed them (and breed them) but they are almost impossable. We need to learn what these animals do in the sea, not just what they eat but what they do, how much swimming room do they need? Do they school?(tangs) live in pairs,(Moorish Idols) hang out in sea urchin spines?
(clingfish) Do they get huge? (groopers, sharks, remora's, eels)
Don't forget we are trying to keep these living things in an envirnment that they would never choose to live in. Mature fish would never venture into 18" of water, and yes, they know the depth of water they are in. They would never live in close proximity to many of the animals we put with them.
Like I said, just ranting
I feel that our methods of nitrate removal such as changing water is flawed.
In other words, it don't work.
If we have to change water for that purpose, we have failed and our tanks are kind of doomed to too much work when we should be enjoying them. I think people spend way, I mean WAY too much money and time on things that are not needed. I know it's your time and money but I feel this huge expenditure of resources is a major reason people leave the hobby in a few years which is not even the lifespan of a damsel, and a small damsel at that.
There are just too many posts about problems, problems I feel we bring about on ourselves.
I just read a post about some people putting in 6 or 7 fish one after another and they all died in less than a week.
When ever that or something similar happens we hear that my water parameters are perfect. No they are not. It's not the fishes fault if they die, it's ours. It is always our fault, not the LFS, not the parameters, not the test kit but our fault.
Water parameters that we could test with a fish store test kit will rarely if ever give a clue why a fish would die in a few days.
I never ask about water parameters in a situation like that because it has no bearing. Only ammonia which can be tested will quickly kill a fish and it is almost impossable to have enough ammonia in a tank to kill only certain fish and not others.
Salinity variations will also not kill a fish inless it is very far off and we can assume we know about what our salinity is.
High temperature will cause the fish to gasp at the surface and low temperatures will cause most fish to lay on the bottom.
Almost no fish dies suddenly without any symptoms. They will either breath fast, scratch, shake their heads from side to side, swim with their mouth open, stop eating, or swim in jerky movements. And when we find them dead, there are clues, did they die with their mouth agape, were they covered in paracites, do they have bulges where there shouldn't be, are they missing scales, is the body bloated?
I don't think we observe our fish closely enough when they are healthy to know what is going on when they are sick. Most of these things live over a decade, some two and none of them have lifespans shorter than 3 years and thats only those in the sea horse family. (they have kind of a wierd anatomy and I don't know how they even live that long)
I also believe that our tanks are much too sterile and are not aged long enough to add all the stuff we add.
We buy animals that we know we can't properly take care of.
How many times do we read, I saw a pair of moorish Idols eating flakes in a store so I put them in my tank I started last month.
They all eat flake food.
I see orange spotted filefish for sale every day. There is only one person I ever heard of that can feed them (and breed them) but they are almost impossable. We need to learn what these animals do in the sea, not just what they eat but what they do, how much swimming room do they need? Do they school?(tangs) live in pairs,(Moorish Idols) hang out in sea urchin spines?
(clingfish) Do they get huge? (groopers, sharks, remora's, eels)
Don't forget we are trying to keep these living things in an envirnment that they would never choose to live in. Mature fish would never venture into 18" of water, and yes, they know the depth of water they are in. They would never live in close proximity to many of the animals we put with them.
Like I said, just ranting