Why Listen?

[pongo]

With so much conficting advice from people who already keep freashwater tropical fish and from forums, why listen. People like the litmus paper test kits some like the liquid test kits, Who cares . Its what ever works best for you. People ask what fish can i put in my tank. well think about it and dont put aggresive fish with non aggresive fish. Some people say that certain fish arent suitable for a tank. Well again,  my 11 year old has a 26l starter freshwater tropical tank all cycled. he has had this since November. Now we have 5 fish in it, 2 Golden Neons, 2 Koi Angelfish and 1 Sunset Platy. People say 'Stop you need to rehome these fish now'. Why?? i ask. Some say thats a nice selection of starter fish. These fish are not even an inch big yet so why need to rehome. Of course i will rehome or sell theses fish before they out grow the tank common sence tells you that. They swim around happily, they feed well and all seem to get on well, never seen them have a go at each other.  
 
So the question remains, Why listen when all you keep hearing is conflicting advice??
 If its not broken dont fix it!!!

 

[fluttermoth]

All these things are important.
 
If you're going to the bother of testing the water (and good quality water is essential for the health and welfare of the fish), why wouldn't you want the most accurate tests you can get? Liquid/tablet type tests are recommended because they're the most accurate. For instance, the paper dip strip kind of tests often don't test for ammonia, which is one of the main killers of fish. I've seen and heard of people having trouble with their tanks and, according to their dip tests the water is fine, but when it's tested properly they have had very high levels of ammonia or nitrite which has been killing their fish.
 
As for keeping fish in tanks that are too small for them...well....fish are very prone to phenomena called 'stunting'. This means that the fish never gets too big for the tank, as it can't grow properly. It causes the fish to become deformed and suffer long term health issues.
 
This is what stunting does to fish;
 

 

 
By the time you realise that the fish isn't growing properly it is already too late and the damage will have been done; although the fish can improve if moved to a decent sized tank, it will never recover, or grow as big or live as long as it should have.
 
Keeping fish in tanks that are too small is a bit like keeping a Great Dane in your bathroom, or a horse in your garage and never letting it out (as someone on another forum nicely put it). They will suffer, in the long term.
 
As with nearly all hobbies/interests, you will get conflicting information, but that doesn't mean that there are no right or wrong ways of doing things. You have to find the accepted consensus, between the majority of people.

 

[Stimo]

 If its not broken dont fix it!!!

 
it's not broken YET so you have nothing to fix..............YET

 

[majerah1]

With so much conficting advice from people who already keep freashwater tropical fish and from forums, why listen. People like the litmus paper test kits some like the liquid test kits, Who cares . Its what ever works best for you. People ask what fish can i put in my tank. well think about it and dont put aggresive fish with non aggresive fish. Some people say that certain fish arent suitable for a tank. Well again,  my 11 year old has a 26l starter freshwater tropical tank all cycled. he has had this since November. Now we have 5 fish in it, 2 Golden Neons, 2 Koi Angelfish and 1 Sunset Platy. People say 'Stop you need to rehome these fish now'. Why?? i ask. Some say thats a nice selection of starter fish. These fish are not even an inch big yet so why need to rehome. Of course i will rehome or sell theses fish before they out grow the tank common sence tells you that. They swim around happily, they feed well and all seem to get on well, never seen them have a go at each other.  
 
So the question remains, Why listen when all you keep hearing is conflicting advice??
 If its not broken dont fix it!!!

Terrible way to look at things. Not broken, dont fix it. That is not a good analogy for living creatures, because things can go wrong when you least expect it. 

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Well, I am going into my 14th year of keeping fish and there are folks here who have been at it much longer. I am downsizing from 20 tanks. I have kept angels and spawned them. Why would you want to listen to anything I might suggest since it may conflict with some 13 year old with 3 months as fish keeper who is suggesting something else?
 
Your job is not to evaluate the conflicting advice but rather to evaluate the source of that advice. You are allowed to ask a poster if they have hands on experience with something or if they are just repeating what they have heard or read elsewhere.
 
So I will tell you that tetras need to be kept in greater numbers, angels do not belong in tanks your size and the platy needs more space. However, there are fish you can keep in your tank size which will do well there. If you are willing to change your stock, I am sure plenty of folks who know can suggest fish to you.
 
And as for test kits, most of the ones available to the hobbyist are not all that accurate. There are test strips that will give you a more accurate reading than the liquid reagent or tablet based hobby kits. But can most afford to use them?
 
A quality ammonia test strip kit would be one from Hach, it measures ammonia-nitrogen (the is a different scale than the total ion scale hobby kits use). A container of 25 tests will run you  $21.45 plus shipping. A 25 test Nitrate strip kit will run you $19.95. Their low end pH test strips are $11.25 for 100 tests. They don't offer nitrite strips but there cheapest decent test kit for this is $78.95 and does 100 tests. Their low end pH test strips are $11.25 for 100 tests. So you can see where this is going. I can buy the API Master kit on sale for $17.75 it will come with tests for "low range pH, high range pH, ammonia, nitrate, nitrite." (If you are curious about quality tests poke around here http/www.hach.com/ )
 
So $17.75 vs $131.60. Oh yes that $131.65 wont get you to extremely accurate, it only gets you to way more accurate than API and the other hobby kits. None of this has anything to do with anybody's opinion or preference. It is simple, in laboratory grade research, they need accurate and they can afford it.

 

[lrhodes]

Why listen?
If you're not going to listen to people who are trying to help you and your fish, why ask for advice/help in the first place?

I have learned that people with the best advice tend to be people with lots of personal experience. As stated above, you need to know where the source of your information is coming from!

As for the stunting issue, there are plenty of articles on the web. Not just articles from forums either! Stunting even happens in the wild due to over population, not enough space, etc. So if you aren't going to take it from a hobbyist, take it from an environmentalist.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it..... but it is broken. Just because a glass with a crack in it isn't leaking, doesn't mean it won't eventually.

 

[star4]

people that dont listen to good advise often come back later with "oh please help all my fish are dying" and yet again those with experience will do their best to help. If YOU are allowing a child (11 year old not an adult) to keep an unsuitable tank, they you are teaching them it is OK to abuse them in this way because they are just fish. Would you keep a kitten locked in a small cage. The statement of "Of course i will rehome or sell theses fish before they out grow the tank common sence tells you that."   just goes to show that for you fish are just a trinket to be admired and if their conditions are unsuitable so, who cares! Well buddy the poor person who buys (if they dont die before hand) your poorly brought up fish will care when they drop dead on them, or someone like me who rescue's fish and has to try (mostly in vain) to attempt to get them back to a healthy state, sadly by the time fish come to me they are too far gone. Just because you do not care does not mean that all fishkeepers do not care about their fish. Those people who listen, well they actually give a damn about their fish.   

 

[frapadoodle]

Why listen?
Two things come to mind. Did someone move over from yahoo answers?
And more importantly...Duct tape!

 

[Puffer_Nat]

Yes people will give you differing opinions when you ask for advice. What you have to do is make an educated decision based on the information available to you and the reliability of those sources 

 

[looking-glass]

There is a lot of conflicting advice with this hobby, sometimes one way will work better than another way or sometimes both ways will work as good as each other. The main thing is the welfare of the fish.
 
Its always good to come on places like here if there are certain things your unsure of

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I've been wondering if I should weigh in on this or not... well, obviously I decided to remark.
 
 
Why listen if you get conflicting advice?
 
Because some of the advice is right and some of it is wrong.
 
 
 
How do you tell the difference?
 
Independent research aside from 'hobbyist' forums.
 
 
 
Is it appropriate to keep koi angelfish in a 26L tank?
 
No.  A few quick searches brings up lots of sites with slightly varying statements for a minimum... 20 Gallon Tall being the smallest I saw.  30 Gallons being another value I've seen listed.
 
 
 
Let me ask you this question:  What happens if you run a car engine without oil?  It will run... for a while.  But, if it runs, why bother to put more oil in it?  I mean, it seems fine.  It runs, everything is going well.  The answer is simple, because there WILL be a MAJOR problem sooner or later. 

 

[Gruntle]

Not only would you never keep a horse in your garage and never let it out, but you wouldn't put a wolf in with it and never feed the wolf, and you wouldn't keep the horse there and never clean the manure and never change the drinking water. Fish in a tank cannot move to a cleaner part of the stream or hide in a cave from a predator, so we as keepers must do our utmost to ensure the long term health of the animals we care for.