My aquarist rant

[wesleydnunder]

LAZY PEOPLE SHOULDN'T KEEP AQUARIA

...or any other pets, for that matter. Successful fishkeeping takes work...period. If you're not willing to contribute the physical labor involved, find something else to do. Hopefully the something else doesn't involve the care of another living thing. I've seen people expend more thought, effort and time trying to figure out how not to do the work than it would take to just do the maintenance on their tank(s) in the first place.

Now, don't get me wrong...I'm all for making aquaria easier to maintain. When I used my first python back in the late 80s I was turning cartwheels! Improvements in equipment have made the whole hobby much more enjoyable; for me, anyway. And how did these advancements materialize, you ask? The same way the washing machine did...by taking a chore that had to be done, and making it easier to do. For those folks with the wherewithal, (the brains, imagination and drive to invent) who continue to make life easier for us and ultimately better for our charges, I'm ecstatic that they are part of our world (read, hobby). For the rest of us, let's use all of these wondrous inventions to the maximum of their potentials and then roll up our sleeves.

We keep our captives in these very small, artificial environments in which they must continually live in their own waste products; an admittedly unhealthy condition in which to exist. So we filter the water...we learn that there are necessary mechanical and biologic processes which help us to keep the water unpolluted and our fishies healthy. Unless we're keeping a Walstad system, and very few of us do, our wet pets need for us to replenish their water with frequent replacements of fresh water. Remember...in nature the vast majority of fish are living in systems where their water is constantly replaced. The pollutants normally present in aquaria are so diluted in natural bodies of water as to be nonexistent.

...to be continued...

Mark

 

[wesleydnunder]

So how do we know how much water to replace and how often? In the early posts of this thread I described how I was doing water changes on my first 20 gallon. Each time I completely emptied the tank and scrubbed everything down I was essentially doing a complete system reset. The inevitable fish deaths which followed were a result of the tank having to go through a cycle each time, as well as other reasons I'll get to. It can be hard to determine how much water to change and how often, because we're dealing with not only the end result of the nitrogenous compounds which naturally occur from fish waste, expelled ammonia and anything decaying in the tank (uneaten food is a big culprit here), but also with things we can't see or really test for called dissolved organic compounds (DOC) and some fish even emit hormones which, in our closed systems, can build up to unhealthy levels.

If all these things accumulate at roughly the same rate, we can use something we CAN test for to gauge when to do our partial water changes. We can use a nitrate test. OK, so how much nitrate (along with the rest) do we allow before we do our partial. Here opinions vary. Some say 10 ppm is the max threshold, some say 20ppm. Factors in the equation include stocking density, the presence and density of live plants (these will consume nitrate so the rate of increase ratio between nitrate and DOCs becomes less linear) and the presence of nitrates in the source water. It quickly becomes difficult to know just when to do and what to do, especially for someone new to the hobby who is diligently researching and willing to learn how to keep their new friends healthy and happy. I try to always keep in the back of my mind, when making this decision, that the best case scenario is continual new water; or, zero nitrates and DOCs (in a perfectly pristine body of water), versus polluted conditions; say, 20ppm and up. If we keep an upper limit of 20...wait a minute! in the other forum where they grow plants in tanks they said it was ok to add nitrate all the way up to 20 ppm. True...but there's a difference in artificially adding nitrate until 20 ppm is reached and nitrate rising naturally in the aquarium, ALONG WITH EVERYTHING ELSE to 20 ppm. But 20 ppm may be an arbitrary number...I don't know and don't have the empirical evidence myself to know if 20 ppm is a low, acceptable value, a middle, less acceptable value or a high, completely unacceptable value. I know that what I was taught by the knowledgeable aquarists that I've had the privilege to learn from that 20 ppm is an upper permissible limit. If I trust them that this is ok, and my fish seem to agree (by not showing signs of trouble, like death), then anything kept below that is ok...right?

Here the lack of more formal training rears it's ugly head...for me, anyway. If someone can present the experiments and results that define this value for us, please do.

Meanwhile if 20 ppm is the acceptable upper limit, we need to test for nitrate often to see how long it takes to accumulate that much. If it takes a week, we know we can do our partial water change at least weekly. For me, I'll do a 50% partial which will drop the total nitrate to 10 ppm and also cut DOCs and everything else in half. Then, I'll test nitrate and track the rise until it reaches 20 ppm again. It's only risen 10 ppm in this time span but it has reached the threshold. If a week has transpired since the last partial, then I know that a weekly 50% partial will keep my pollutants below threshold levels provided that no changes to my tank occur. Partial water changes in my tanks involve vacuuming substrate, cleaning glass, cleaning prefilter sponges, filter maintenance, etc.

It takes work, weekly, which I owe to the inhabitants of my tank.

 

[wileycoyote]

LOL after a big meal of course you roll over on your back.....

 

[evil wizard]

and take a big long nap

 

[SnakeIce]

Yeah, I've seen some people go obsessive with getting nitrate alone reduced, without considering whether those methods used (algae scrubber, veggie filters) addressed the other contaminants that nitrate testing stands in for.

 

[wesleydnunder]

Once again, let me reinforce that I don't consider myself an authority on anything...except maybe the janitorial services required by the inmates in my 125 gallon.

Your cat needs its litter box scooped, your dog needs walking, your fish need fresh water...git bizzy.

Mark

 

[wesleydnunder]

DISENGAGE THE AUTO-PILOT

So many of us stumble though life somnambulistically unaware of the world around us. Our sole conscious act during our day may be the effort we put into taking the perfect selfie...then desperately posting it on our favorite media outlet(s). I understand; how else are the people from Planet Look-At-Me, Look-At-Me supposed to combat anonymity?

This is, however, not the way we must pursue our hobby. For the seriously addicted; and you know who you are; we must disengage the auto-pilot and actively employ that knot in the end of our spinal cords. I urge everyone to learn everything they can about fishkeeping. Heck, make a life's work out of it. Become marine biologists and come back and dispel some of the myths under which we toil. But think...always. Ask tons of questions; then, challenge the answers you receive (maybe not too publicly before you acquire a basic understanding and some personal experience to go along with it) and make the respondent think as well.

And don't get itty bitty feelings because you didn't receive the response you wanted when you ask, "Am I over-stocked?" Often we learn more from information we DON'T expect because our brain unconsciously (or consciously in a very few cases) chews this cud somewhere back there in a dark recess and indelibly ingrains itself in the gray matter. Before you know it, against all effort to the contrary, you've learned something...and so have others.

Learn...research...and learn some more. Soon some of the cause and effect aspects become memory. If "A" happens, "B" usually follows.

If I fully stock my new 20 gallon the first day without cycling it, deaths will usually result. So, I come to an aquarium forum, ask questions, learn and don't make the same mistake when I set up the next one.

And all it took was some active thought...

Mark

 

[OrionGirl]

By request, a good read regarding how scientific 'facts' can become entrenched beyond their useful life from the masterful Stephen J Gould. The Case of the Creeping Fox Terrier Clone.

 

[wesleydnunder]

Thank you OrionGirl!

Mark

 

[OrionGirl]

Looks like that link didn't work...let's try this one. https://books.google.com/books?id=pzj90slTTEIC&lpg=PA155&pg=PA155#v=onepage&q&f=false