Bewildered

[pat3612]

I hope Iam posting in the right section, when I was a teenager I used to breed fish, mollies,swordfish, and guppys we didnt have all the new stuff thats out there now mollies didnt need salt all our filters were in the tank and fish didnt seem to be so delicate is it me or is it so much breeding bring strains down. This was 35 years ago and with all my fry I didnt lose much. I just got back into fish and decided to read up first on a forum now I have a tank cycling, sure does seem alot of trouble nowadays lol.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Its true things have become more complex but its not really that difficult to memorize the important things once you know what you need to know, the main thing is to understand;
a. How the nitrogen cycle/water quality works, at the least the basics of it anyway, all is explained in the link below ;

http/www.fishforums.net/content/New-to-t...-tank-syndrome/

b. Know your fish- so that you are certain you are providing the right care and habitat for them, especially in the long term etc.

c. Always handy to know how to identify certain common diseases and parasites, and what things to look out for in a healthy fish of the particular specimens you keep, so you know what to do when things go wrong .

d. Know how to maintain/clean your tank properly and how to go about it and how often etc.


And thats basically it. People have progressed an awful lot in this hobby over the last 35years, in the past, few people understand how the water quality in their tanks worked and in the past fishkeeping for a lot of people was successful fishkeeping was just random luck and quite a hit and miss matter- a lot of the time, people would just stick a load of cheap random fish in when the tank was set up and see which ones survived over the next few weeks, then the owner would continuously add more fish as they saw fit etc.
For a lot of people unfortunately this is still the case as pet shops still give just as bad a advice as ever at times and a lot of people still unknowingly go on that bad advice, but the main thing is that you know your stuff before you go into the pet shop so you know what you're doing when you buy stuff and don't need to ask questions on keeping the fish you're about to buy etc. Less people are buying tankbusting fish now days due to the more access to better research sources, and less people are losing fish while cycling their tanks etc.

With common livebearers like mollys, guppys, swordtails etc, they used to be a lot hardier in the past, people used to recommend them a lot a the ideal beginner fish as they could survive through almost anything, but unfortunately now days a lot of common livebearers are becomming increasingly weak (namely guppys, from too much inbreeding) although most are still pretty hardy, not just that but they are a lot more naturally fragile/sensitive varieties commonly available in pet shops, so people need to pay a lot more attention to the proper care of such fish if they are to survive and lead a good quality of life and health etc.

But yeah, in a way, i actually think its a probably a good thing that there's a lot to learn about fish keeping, because i think not only does it make the hobby more involving and interesting, but people can keep fish a lot more successfully now days on success that isn't purely luck based but rather success that has come about from thorough research and knowledge by what the owner is doing, and also know for sure that their fish are leading a good quality of life and are in good health etc .

 

[pat3612]

Its true things have become more complex but its not really that difficult to memorize the important things once you know what you need to know, the main thing is to understand;
a. How the nitrogen cycle/water quality works, at the least the basics of it anyway, all is explained in the link below ;

[URL="http/www.fishforums.net/content/New-to-t...-tank-syndrome/"]http/www.fishforums.net/content/New-to-t...-tank-syndrome/[/URL]

b. Know your fish- so that you are certain you are providing the right care and habitat for them, especially in the long term etc.

c. Always handy to know how to identify certain common diseases and parasites, and what things to look out for in a healthy fish of the particular specimens you keep, so you know what to do when things go wrong .

d. Know how to maintain/clean your tank properly and how to go about it and how often etc.


And thats basically it. People have progressed an awful lot in this hobby over the last 35years, in the past, few people understand how the water quality in their tanks worked and in the past fishkeeping for a lot of people was successful fishkeeping was just random luck and quite a hit and miss matter- a lot of the time, people would just stick a load of cheap random fish in when the tank was set up and see which ones survived over the next few weeks, then the owner would continuously add more fish as they saw fit etc.
For a lot of people unfortunately this is still the case as pet shops still give just as bad a advice as ever at times and a lot of people still unknowingly go on that bad advice, but the main thing is that you know your stuff before you go into the pet shop so you know what you're doing when you buy stuff and don't need to ask questions on keeping the fish you're about to buy etc. Less people are buying tankbusting fish now days due to the more access to better research sources, and less people are losing fish while cycling their tanks etc.

With common livebearers like mollys, guppys, swordtails etc, they used to be a lot hardier in the past, people used to recommend them a lot a the ideal beginner fish as they could survive through almost anything, but unfortunately now days a lot of common livebearers are becomming increasingly weak (namely guppys, from too much inbreeding) although most are still pretty hardy, not just that but they are a lot more naturally fragile/sensitive varieties commonly available in pet shops, so people need to pay a lot more attention to the proper care of such fish if they are to survive and lead a good quality of life and health etc.

But yeah, in a way, i actually think its a probably a good thing that there's a lot to learn about fish keeping, because i think not only does it make the hobby more involving and interesting, but people can keep fish a lot more successfully now days on success that isn't purely luck based but rather success that has come about from thorough research and knowledge by what the owner is doing, and also know for sure that their fish are leading a good quality of life and are in good health etc .

Thanks that makes alot of sense and I know about shopping for fish asked the other day about rainbows and the guy said yea they only get 2 in you can put them in your 20 gal then came back here and checked no rainbows for me , not till I get a bigger tank anyway.

 

[Colin_T]

How big is your tank Pat? I ask because you can keep rainbowfish in a 20gallon tank. There are heaps of rainbows available, some that grow to 5 inches, others only an inch or two. Melanotaenia praecox and M. papuae are small and will live comfortably in a 20g. You can also look at the blue-eyes (Pseudomugil sp), Rhadinocentrus and Iriatherina. They are all small fish that would be fine in a 20G.
Depending on where you live will determine what rainbows are available. A couple of German companies provide huge numbers of rainbows to Europe. In Australia there are heaps of species readily available. And in the USA there are quite a few New Guinea varieties but you would be better off getting in touch with rainbowfish societies in that country.
As for fish not being as tough as they used to be. You are correct. Inbreeding and drug resistant diseases have taken their toll on many fish bred in Asia. Livebearers are weak now compared to fish available 20 yrs ago.

 

[pat3612]

How big is your tank Pat? I ask because you can keep rainbowfish in a 20gallon tank. There are heaps of rainbows available, some that grow to 5 inches, others only an inch or two. Melanotaenia praecox and M. papuae are small and will live comfortably in a 20g. You can also look at the blue-eyes (Pseudomugil sp), Rhadinocentrus and Iriatherina. They are all small fish that would be fine in a 20G.
Depending on where you live will determine what rainbows are available. A couple of German companies provide huge numbers of rainbows to Europe. In Australia there are heaps of species readily available. And in the USA there are quite a few New Guinea varieties but you would be better off getting in touch with rainbowfish societies in that country.
As for fish not being as tough as they used to be. You are correct. Inbreeding and drug resistant diseases have taken their toll on many fish bred in Asia. Livebearers are weak now compared to fish available 20 yrs ago.

My tank is 20 gals the rainbows at the shop were tourquise rainbows cute little guys but someone here said I need at least a 3ft tank.

 

[backtotropical]

Hi Pat,

I'd agree that Turquoise Rainbows (Melanotaenia lacustris) are unsuitable for your tank. They are one of the larger species of rainbows, attaining an adult size of around 4 inches. I would suggest that they require at least 30 - 40 gallons. (Any excuse to get a bigger tank)

Cheers

BTT