Naturalistic approach

[Rusty_Shackleford]

A new approach to fish keeping?
I ran across this today and it very much fits my point of view of fish keeping. We can't replicate nature, but we can imitate it.
Take 10 mins to read this and let's discuss.

"Operating" our aquariums with seasonal and ecological practices. - Tannin Aquatics https://share.google/U0ZxPhy8MhnMB8ISq

 

[Uberhoust]

My little outside ponds work this way, because there are "seasons" I can plant a lot of native plants in the pond that have their cycles, buckbean one of my favorites, in the spring they do not have much in the way of foliage but by time summer approaches they cover most of the pond and reduce the water temp during a critical time. I would like to do the same with my inside fish tank but I believe it would take more time than I have at this point.

 

[Rusty_Shackleford]

My little outside ponds work this way, because there are "seasons" I can plant a lot of native plants in the pond that have their cycles, buckbean one of my favorites, in the spring they do not have much in the way of foliage but by time summer approaches they cover most of the pond and reduce the water temp during a critical time. I would like to do the same with my inside fish tank but I believe it would take more time than I have at this point.

Outdoor ponds do go through all the seasonal changes because they are outside and we can't manipulate that environment or only very minimally manipulate it.
The idea is to replicate.those seasonal changes in our indoor aquariums. I don't think it would take much time daily or even weekly.

 

[GaryE]

I have done this to a degree. I've had difficulties with decaying leaf litter as it has fostered Oodinium parasites. They may or may not be common in nature, but they are very common in aquariums and hard to wish away.

Even though our seasons don't correspond to life at the equator, I do change things seasonally in my tanks. Now, they are very warm with the room sealed up against the freezing cold, but when those windows open in a few weeks, the change is enormous. Foods change, lighting changes... it's another approach.

 

[Rusty_Shackleford]

I have done this to a degree. I've had difficulties with decaying leaf litter as it has fostered Oodinium parasites. They may or may not be common in nature, but they are very common in aquariums and hard to wish away.

Even though our seasons don't correspond to life at the equator, I do change things seasonally in my tanks. Now, they are very warm with the room sealed up against the freezing cold, but when those windows open in a few weeks, the change is enormous. Foods change, lighting changes... it's another approach.

I think the approach is interesting and one way of doing things.
I've never thought about changing light angles, that might be hard to do. I don't change flow rates or lower the water level. In our relatively small tanks I don't know that it would make a difference .
I do vary my tank temperatures. I have it planned out every 6 weeks and 3 days the temperatures go up/down. A low of 70 in January and a high of 79 in July.
I don't feed live or frozen foods till the temp hits 74. Below that fish only.get fed 3x per week.
I do larger water changes in the warmer months using cooler water.

 

[fishorama]

OK, I skimmed through that article, but I do an unintentional seasonal variation. I have high windows that change sun angles with the seasons that can encourage some algae. & we lower our house temp in winter; higher in summer. Not enough to stress fish or people. I have been lax as to keeping track of temp variations, I only heat 1 tank, but unheated tanks don't drop below 72F, usually a bit warmer.