Maintenance Adaptod or Routines for Plants and Fish.

[Mazain]

Does Fish and Plants get Adopted to Routine Tank Maintenance.

 

[Colin_T]

If you do it every day they probably will but most people do water changes once a week and the fish don't adapt to that. the best thing to do is make sure you move slowly around the tank when cleaning it. If you move suddenly the fish can panic and swim into things.

 

[GaryE]

I reverse the question. Do we have the ability to adapt to doing the water changes the fish need?

A surprising number of fishkeepers are not able to adapt, and their fish die as a result. It's a sad and curious thing. A lot of the fish species we keep were here before modern humans, and they aren't going to change in one generation.

 

[Mazain]

I reverse the question. Do we have the ability to adapt to doing the water changes the fish need?

A surprising number of fishkeepers are not able to adapt, and their fish die as a result. It's a sad and curious thing. A lot of the fish species we keep were here before modern humans, and they aren't going to change in one generation.

Let me rephrase the thread. Would you or would you not do a water change if the variables in the plants and parameters of the fish is looking healthy.

 

[Magnum Man]

usually if they have a support system, things get better...
I have a couple fish, that are pretty schizoid... both Tin Foil Barbs, & Silver Dollars are known to freak out... having a group big enough can be challenging, as both of these are larger fish... I have 5 Tin Foil barbs, as that's as big a group as I thought I could fit in the tank, & IMO, that is a minimum, as I still see them get freaky once in a while, & I've had them a little over a year... Silver dollars don't get quite as big, & in another tank, I have 7 of them... & in 6 months they are a little better than the tin foils, probably because of the bigger support group... in reality, some fish never get totally comfortable, but if they are going to live, they, or we need to find a way to do needed maintenance & keep their scales on...

 

[GaryE]

Ah, that's clearer.

Yes. I follow a time based routine. There are parameters our little test kits don't address, and if we use test results to determine when to do water changes, we are forgetting how much they leave us blind to a lot of what water contains. Have your fish released fright hormones, or hormones to limit the growth of other fish? Have plants depleted certain minerals they need? No test kit designed to look at one important but not everything process, the nitrogen cycle, can really tell us about our water. No tool we have can..

 

[Essjay]

Many years ago I worked in a hospital lab. We tested urine for many things not just urea (the human equivalent of the ammonia that fish excrete). Fish excrete the same or very similar things that humans excrete and these things will build up in the water if water changes are not done to remove them.

 

[gwand]

As someone once posted in this forum the aquarium tank is like a big toilet. It Has to be flushed frequently.

 

[Mazain]

Ah, that's clearer.

Yes. I follow a time based routine. There are parameters our little test kits don't address, and if we use test results to determine when to do water changes, we are forgetting how much they leave us blind to a lot of what water contains. Have your fish released fright hormones, or hormones to limit the growth of other fish? Have plants depleted certain minerals they need? No test kit designed to look at one important but not everything process, the nitrogen cycle, can really tell us about our water. No tool we have can..

Good advice on gutt intutiveness. I always trust my gutt when I smell fish business.