* "a First Glance At Fish Keeping " * Editing Of Soon To Be Ar

[agusf]

{Not part of article: Hello! a couple of weeks back i said
I was going to write an article about fish not being the
easiest pet to keep. well, i finished it, and I decided
Im going to post it here, titled as "a first glance
at fishkeeping" on the newspaper the actual title was
"fish - the easiest pet to keep? " although I feel as
If it is uncomplete. so this topic is for people to edit
the article and add paragraphs if they want to. on the
earlier topic some one said that i should include
a mythbusting section, although im not good with facts
but if anybody wants to do that just add it in a reply.
so heres the article: }


Agustin Ferreira
2010-09-09
Fish – the easiest pet to keep?

Generally, when people think about keeping fish as pets, they don’t think it is difficult to do, right?
Well, after much research, it’s obvious that fish are definitely not the easiest pets to own – and this article will explain to you why they aren’t the easiest pet own.
First of all, water condition. People usually don’t take concern for the condition of the water as much as they should – especially beginners. Personally I think that Water condition Is the most important aspect of fishkeeping. It is what makes fishkeeping hard – so to speak. Basically, all the waste of your fish and rotting fish food is eaten by a type of bacteria which Converts it into a deadly poison – ammonia (NH3). This is What Grows algae in your tank, kills plants and if in high quantities (more than 1 ml per 200 Liters) kills your fish. So how do you get rid of ammonia? Another special type of bacteria living in your filter (Nitrosomonas) “eats” ammonia and converts it into another deadly poison, Nitrite (NO2). Aquarists are usually more concerned about nitrite than ammonia because it is less stable than ammonia and harder to keep control of. This poison Is just as lethal as ammonia, so we need to get rid of this chemical quickly too. A third type of bacteria (Nitrospira) “eats” Nitrite and once again converts it into another chemical, Nitrate (NO3). This chemical is not lethal though, but is still bad for your tank. It will not kill your fish or plants, but is the perfect food for algae. So we remove this last chemical by changing the water in your tank. (NEVER 100 % - depends on your aquarium, but it should be in the range of 10 – 40 %) You should check your aquarium water condition regularly once a week (unless you just began your aquarium) using a test kit which you can buy in your local fish store.
Second of all, Fish compatibility. Beginners to fish keeping don’t even know not all fish are compatible with each other, and usually set this issue aside if ever mentioned. Fish, just like all other animals, Can be aggressive, and will be. The most desired fish are usually the most aggressive. For example, angelfish. This fish is one of the most popular in the world – There truly is no other fish with the long fins and shape of the angelfish. But this fish needs a VERY big tank for its long fins, cannot be put with other fish its size or bigger and, A very common mistake, cannot be put with small group fish such as the popular guppy. Choosing which fish to keep in your tank is a very difficult decision, and usually is not made correctly, which finishes in fish dying. I assure you, if you are planning on owning an aquarium, fish compatibility will get you on the end of your nerves and annoy you a lot.
Third and last of all, Aquarium costs. Since fish aren’t interactive pets, meaning that you don’t need to walk them and feed them and train them, most people presume that the costs for them will be reduced on a large scale. If costs for a normal household pet such as a cat, dog, rabbit or fox were compared to costs of an aquarium, you would notice that the starting cost within the first few weeks of owning an aquarium would be much higher than the starting cost of owning a household pet, ranging from 1500 – 3000 CHF where as a household pets starting cost would range from 500 CHF to 1500 CHF, depending on which pet, although the cost of sustaining a household pet after the first few months would be slightly higher than the cost of sustaining an aquarium, once again depending on your aquarium and which household pet.
So – are fish actually the easiest pet to keep? My answer, and an answer you will receive from many other people you ask is – no. Although if your mind is still set on getting an aquarium, I recommend you to go to www.fishforums.net, a very good forum website where you can get direct answers from aquarist professionals and do more research on fish keeping. And if you still want an indirect aquatic pet (meaning a pet you don’t directly interact with, such as pet, walk, feed and play with) I recommend getting an aquatic turtle. I have owned turtles before and you get only about 10% of the hassle you get with fish, and interacting with them is optional. They are also stunning to watch and don’t generally need big tanks to live in, so costs go down a lot more than fish.

{i wasn't able to upload the word document but if anybody needs it email me at [email protected]}

 

[ian]

Ammonia doesn't kill plants, plants actually are a bit partial to a bit of Ammonia.

also in a planted tank the plants will compete for nitrate and win, which is why many planted tank keepers dose the tank with nitrate. Its an old myth that to much nitrate will lead to algae in a tank with plants.

BTW if this gets published you'll need to reference the facts in your article.

 

[markandhisfish]

just to point out , where you say angels cant be put with other fish the same size or bigger is innacurate too , this can be done easily with the right trankmates .

angels can be mixed with many other new world cichlids , large tetras etc .

 

[JoshuaA]

Ammonia can be lethal to fish in any amount it really depends on what fish it is. If you give guidelines like that to a noob then they end up playing with it those guidelines a little.

Say if I knew above 1ppm and fish might suffer I wouldn't bother water changing up to that point which is bad.

Anyway as Ianho said you'll need to reference these facts otherwise it's a form of plagiarism, though I believe you still need some work on this before it would complete your aims and objectives, in its current form I believe it to be failing to achieve such but it is a good start.

Sorry it sounds kind of brutal though if you do intend to "correct" peoples minds you have to ensure you are in fact correct.

The end gets a little bit sloppy as well when it comes down to recommending the turtle and then acting like a turtle is a breeze and doesn't need caring for in a sense.

 

[coldcazzie]

Thoughts:
1. Plants like nitrate and will outcompete algae for it in high levels. Also, even the most sensitive fish are alright with nitrate levels up to several hundred ppm.
2. Ammonia should be below 0.25ppm, not 1ppm. As should Nitrite. In fact they should be as close to 0 as possible.
3. While I agree that regular maintainance water changes are not usually as high as 100%, a 100% (or near as) change is not neccessarily a bad thing - after all, in the natural habitats of most fish their water would be replenished constantly, which would be akin to a 100% water change every couple of hours... right?
4. Angels need tall tanks, are fine to be kept with other fish larger than themselves, in fact that is probably preferable to the neons which they are commonly kept with (after all, they are a nautral predators of neons). Perhaps it would be better to talk more generally about temperature ranges and fast/slow filter flow as areas in which fish can be incompatible.
5. Writing the whole article in a kind of factual sense, and then ending with an anecdotal claim that turtles are easier is not good. Maybe it would be wiser to end the article by saying that while fish may not be the "easy as pie" pets that some people think, most fish keepers will say they are worth the extra work.
6. As mentioned before - references are definitely needed, to avoid plaigarism, and to prove to people that you aren't just making these claims up.

Good start though you're aiming in the right direction, and wanting to improve people's knowledge is an honourable goal!