if fish could talk, what would they tell you, about your aquarium???

[Magnum Man]

caffeine thought of the day...so, fish know what they like... I can't tell you how many times I've gone fishing, in what looks like the perfect spot to me, only to never catch any fish there... it's been proven that fish "can" survive through a wide range of what we call aquariums, but would it be the choice spot they would choose to live in similarly in the wild??? do you guys change around tanks decor for the fish, or for your tastes???
how do we find those "sweet spots" the fish prefer???
for example, I made my South American Tetra tank to have a certain look, and attempted to make it for the fish, rather than for me, and it's decor is the same throughout the tank, best I can tell the water flow, lighting, temp, and living conditions are the same for the full 4 feet of the 55 gallon, yet all the fish spend the bulk of their time in 1/3 of the tank, so obviously there is some unseen to me, difference they prefer, in that 1/3 of that tank...
it would stand to reason, if the fish are "happiest" in a tank, that they would live longer, would breed better, interact more naturally... so, how do we get from a good tank for the fish, to a tank the fish would actually choose, if they could swim amongst all your tanks... how do we define what makes that 1/3 of the tank, better than the rest of it, or what is it about that spot the fish choose to hang out in, in the wild, and how can we duplicate that at home???

 

[GaryE]

What would fish tell us?

"Dear everyone,
This is a tank? What?
I was hatched on a fishfarm and spent my younger days in an antibiotic haze, during my schooling. I was shipped, ultra economy class, away from my warm country to a place like a mall or an airport lounge, where we got picked off one by one. I ended up left with the kids I'd been too cool to hang with in the schooling yard. Charlie over there has red nematodes hanging from his butt, and I mean, really?
The blurry mammal outside has a decent set up. Nice garbage on the bottom and some plants I've never seen before. We didn't have anything like this back on the farm, so it'll do."

" Dear TFF,
I grew up in the wild with a hungry Crenicichla behind every tree trunk in the flood zone. Danger is my middle name, though my friends call me Cardinal Newfish. So throw whatever at me. There are only three of us, so I guess whatever has eaten the tens of thousands of us that used to be around will get me eventually. I don't fear unchanged water, flakes that are like McaDonald's food or the lack of good shade. My parents were eaten at seven months, and I've already lived for six. Eat, drink and be merry."

"Dear TFF,
The lumpy hairy mammal isn't a bad one. It reads about habitats and species. It pays attention to natural history, and how I evolved, rather than thinking I was created to be a plaything. It works on this tank, trying to arrange it so I can act naturally. We've all talked about it and decided to make the best of it. I mean, whatever that thing is, it tries. We get weekly water changes with good water. Filters are kept efficient, and there's even live food. Is it freedom? No, but that's out of fashion anyway. We have it reasonably good, and while the thing that feeds us is terrifyingly ugly and we lack eyelids for when we have to look at it, we have no options but to try to keep on keeping on."

I don't know if what we do is especially ethical, but I think if we research fish, research habitat and recognize this is a learner's hobby, we can do our best.
The arrival of more and more underwater in nature video on youtube is a good start.

 

[Archerfish]

If fish could talk they would say, "What we've got here is, failure to communicate!"

 

[emeraldking]

If my fish could talk... They'd probably say: Keep that ugly face from our tank...!

 

[WhistlingBadger]

"Boy...sure is wet in here."

 

[GaryE]

"It's not the heat, it's the humidity."

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Send more food!

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Send more food!

They communicate that just fine.

 

[anewbie]

Where is the way out of this tiny box ?

 

[MattW]

My fish = "stop with the damm plants!"

 

[gwand]

My fish would say, “What’s this nonsense feeding us every other day?”
“We want three squares every day.”

 

[Colin_T]

CLEAN THE FUPLIE TANK

 

[anewbie]

My fish would say, “What’s this nonsense feeding us every other day?”
“We want three squares every day.”

Your fishes are like kids who don't know what is good for them.