Fish Myths

[One_Trick_Pony]

i am still eniterly new to fish, most of my post have been asking questions, and responding to answers, so this thread is really useful great idea phantom.

i must say i find the idea of internal organs carrying on growinw when the external has stopped a little bizzare, i guess i would point to the tradion of feet wrapping in some tribes, they wrapp the feet so they can't grow, the feet saty small as do all the bones nerves muscles etc inside they foot?

OTP

 

[CatLover]

Ohh, great thread, Phantom!

I, too, have never heard anyone go against the internal organ growth idea. Now that I think about it, it really doesn't make sense. I guess I always assumed that fish had this special way of growing.. or something

Sorry to get a bit off subject, but One Trick Pony, the foot binding doesn't keep the foot small, it keeps the foots deformed. The women start the binding at a young age. The binding is used in order to keep the foot permanently arched, thus appearing small, which is the goal. So basically their foot is folded in half, and tied so it will stay like that.
I have seen pictures and diagrams of how they arch the foot, and it lookd incredibly painful.

 

[boozybears]

Ok, I have absolutely no scientific proof for #1, however common sense would say that although a fish may be able to survive in a tank that's too small for them, their quality of life would be incredibly diminished which would in turn lead to increased stress and increased susceptability to disease. Can you put a baby in a box and expect it to grow to an adult? Yes, probably so. But... what would that adult be like? i don't think the question is CAN they survive, but rather, WHY would we want to put our babies through that stress?

just my 2 cents

 

[ddm18]

1) http/fins.actwin.com/nanf/month.200110/msg00104.html
http/www.bestfish.com/tips/020598.html
http/www.fishontario.com/articles/bassho.../northwest.html
Proof that it exists.

sylvia, I don't mean to argue, but that isn't proof in any way. It's simply some other people agreeing with the original point, but they also offer no actual proof. Proof would be some kind of scientific study, detailing the methods they have used and the results of their tests.

Anyway, it is, of course, completely academic - keeping fish in a tank too small for them is cruel regardless of whether it stunts their growth!

 

[OohFeeshy]

Hey, whether it's true all not, I don't really care. I think we should all agree to disagree and say that whether the internal organs grow or not, you really shouldn't keep a fish in a too small enviroment.

 

[Fish Buddy]

Wow, what an interesting topic!!

Carbon, ok. In an old book of mine that I was reading (Tropical Fish, A complete pet owner's manual. Written by Helga Braemer and Ines Scheurmann in 1983) it mentioned that 'charcoal' can only be used for up to 3-4 days before it starded leaching toxins back into the aquarium. Now the products that I am using for my tank say 'activated carbon'. It must be different because the manufactrer says to change it every 30 days. (and companies like to make money so having the customer change it every 5 days would be better for them so therefore that 5 day thing must not be true-if I'm making any sence)
These companies that said the 30 day thing were: Aquarium Pharmaceuticals, Inc "replace SUPER ACTIVATED CARBON every 4-6 weeks; Fritz "Replace carbon every 4-6 weeks"; and Hagen "Replace the AquaClea Activated Carbon insert once a month or sooner if required."

 

[Fish Buddy]

More to say:
The girls in China have their feet bound in a special way. I did a research project on China for school and one of the things I learned was 'foot binding'. Basically at the age of 5 these young girls would get all their toes broken except the 'papa toe', then bound very tightly. They did this because they the culture wanted ladies to have small feet after one of the 'princesses' who her-self had small feet naturally. I don't know if they still do this as part of their culture but it is apart of thier history.

Sorry to be off topic, but I just had to clear that up

 

[Fish Buddy]

About Iodine:
I did a search on google.com (iodine + toxic + aquarium fish) and all the web sites that I visited said not to use iodine. I guess this has been discovered though trial and error because I could not find any scientific support. Just don't out iodine in your tank ok?
I know that one should never touch or breathe in pure iodine. A forensic inverstgator came to my law class and did a test with iodine and finger prints on paper and he said that they don't do this test any more becuse it is so dangerous to use iodine. So...

 

[Undawada]

About alleged myth #1,

The reason I understood fish to stop growing is they secrete small amounts of a growth stunting hormone. That's why a big fish in a small tank will remain small.

This may not be true, perhaps someone with more education in this field could confirm?

 

[lovebuzz]

Maybe we should give our fishies the proper lives and let them grow in an environment big enough as in nature, after all we are trying to make up an artificial habitat for them that resembles natural.

 

[freddyk]

9. peacocks,haps and mbunas can mix

Very carefully - beginners are better off assuming they can't be mixed until they've done extensive research on the subject. Many haps will eat mbuna, many mbuna will harass many peacocks and some haps. Some mbuna are strictly herbivorous and would be impossible to cater to with haps. etc. etc.

Iodine: Iodine is actually an important element in water and fish use it beneficially, however most tap water already has appropriate amounts, and iodized salt will add too much.

Cycling with fish: It absolutely CAN, but that doesn't mean it WILL.

Bacteria in the filter: The reason the filter holds more is simple - water is forced through them at a fast rate, exposing the toxins and oxygen to the filter media before it has a chance to meander into the gravel. Also Smaller gravel and sand is oxygen deprived a certain distance below the surface making it impossible for bacteria to form there.

I'm very skeptical about the internal organ growth idea, but I don't care about the biology of it all - cramped quarters kills fish. Period.

 

[Phantom Thief]

We all know that fish can and will die from being kept in too small an aquarium. But what i am wondering, is WHY? Is the internal organ myth really true? Or was it used to have some kind of a "shock" factor so that others don't do it?

P.T.

 

[SirMinion]

Carbon removes metals ond other toxins from the water by chemically bonding with them as it has a high valiance for these compounds.

Only by placing the used carbon with a substance that has a higher valiance for the toxins would the carbon release them.

ergo, used carbon does not leak.

The only reason toxins suddenly increase in a tank with old carbon is that the carbon is no longer absorbing them

 

[sylvia]

Right I didn't finish my earlier post because I had to leave home but I have done some research and found some interesting things. I'll finish my post now

What I was posting before (the links) were simply proof that stunting exists and that others have experienced it (so it isn't just the people on this board).

Why it would have evolved I believe is covered here: http/ideas.repec.org/p/wop/iasawp/ir99050.html (the link to download the pdf file is on this page anyway)

Somewhat simpler info : http/www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/GrwLmtChems.htm

No matter how hard I try though, I can't seem to find what actualy happens to the fish . I'll keep looking though.

Make of that what you will - Personaly, I am very confused after reading hundreds of articles but none of which contained quite what I was looking for There realy doesn't seem to be anything on what happens to the fish. Everywhere I look it just says 'stunted growth'. I did find some pictures of what was supposed to be a severely stunted goldfish but I lost it (the link) when I left home.

Oh and something about myth 8 - - this may stem from the fact that catching food in a tank with a strong current would be more difficult for young fry. How aplicable this is to platies is a totaly different story.

 

[LoachLover]

1) Fishes grow to according to the size of their tank.

Kind of true, but also not true

Like some species will have their growth stunted, while other won't.