Digest For The Successful Aquarium

rdd1952 · Mar 2, 2008

From what I have read, it seems the "weaker" fish are partly/mostly a result of inbreeding. As for testiing, I never test any more but I did when I was getting my tanks up and running. I think the 2 go hand in hand though. Because of the weaker fish (what ever the reason may be), they aren't as tolerant of bad water conditions. That's not to say that people back then had bad water parameters on a regular basis but more that the fish were able to tolerate the ammonia and nitrite spikes in the beginning better than they can now. Even then though, as I mentioned in another thread, I'm sure a lot of people tried the hobby back then and were turned off because they kept losing fish and didn't have the resources we have today to figure out what was causing the deaths and how to fix the problem.

pat3612 · Mar 2, 2008

rdd1952 said:
From what I have read, it seems the "weaker" fish are partly/mostly a result of inbreeding. As for testiing, I never test any more but I did when I was getting my tanks up and running. I think the 2 go hand in hand though. Because of the weaker fish (what ever the reason may be), they aren't as tolerant of bad water conditions. That's not to say that people back then had bad water parameters on a regular basis but more that the fish were able to tolerate the ammonia and nitrite spikes in the beginning better than they can now. Even then though, as I mentioned in another thread, I'm sure a lot of people tried the hobby back then and were turned off because they kept losing fish and didn't have the resources we have today to figure out what was causing the deaths and how to fix the problem.

I agree with you there and I think the tests are a must for a newbie I still test about once a month, and I have to say I certainly think fish and plants are healthier with all the new filters etc.

abzorbd · Mar 2, 2008

That's pretty awesome. Nice find. :good:

ICEEGRL · Mar 3, 2008

What I want to know is how people kept fish in tanks with no filters or air stones or anything and got them to stay alive... My lights got out and in just one day they are all falling over...
Is there a trick to it or what?
:blink:

fredgarvin · Mar 3, 2008

ICEE, the fast answer is that fish become dependant on aeration. But overall, although I am something of a luddite,(I REFUSE to own a cell phone) I am all for keeping more and bigger, and healthier fish. But those who use technology to keep their tanks "on the edge" may well be one power failure away from disaster. Also, if cycling helps to keep the fish in better condition, go for it. But, MY hobby was tropical fish. NOT chemistry. My program was simple. Change the filter materials, keep the glass clean, siphon the detrius from the bottom with some airtubing, replace the water removed, (that's MY water change)and keep a close eye on the bodies and behavior of the fish. When in doubt; less fish. Also I think some of these bizarre and resistant diseases are the result of the over use of anti biotics. I'm sure no one hear would ever use the progressive salt treatment, but don't dump in powerful anti biotics every time a fish has a frayed fin or swims funny.

wslinky · Mar 3, 2008

Another note about the "Good old days" is back then there were no plastic plants so I would think more people would have used live plants. The live plants are a great bio filter, as well as produce the O2 the fish need. Now days many people think plants will be difficult to keep so they add fake plants, which means they need some other form of bio filtration and some way of adding O2.

I think if you can get the right balance of fish and plants you could never have to do water changes and eventually could remove most of the filtration. You could have your own little ecosystem.

Another problem now days is over feeding, but I wont get into that...

fishyfreak · Mar 3, 2008

Great book! My grandfather got me into tropical fish when I was a kid (13-ish, around 1990) he gave me a 5 or 10 gallon tank, I forget now, but I do know it had chrome edges and a slate bottom. I thought nothing of it until you guys just mentioned it in this post. He also gave me an older book, I'm going to check the date in it when I get home tonight.

Thanks for the flashback!