To Much Stress...

[snige]

Hi, I really need to now something. It's about stress. How much is to much when I clean the tank or put something back in place. Can these things severly stress the fish. Or don't I really need to worry.
I also need to now about adding rocks,shells,etc. Will theses affect the fish or can they be toxic.

 

[AMS]

Well, all arrangements of decor are stressful, but they arr usually not stressful enough to worry about.

Shells and rocks will have an effect on pH and hardness. Many rocks will make the water harder thus raising the pH, though many rocks are inert. Due to vinegar test as a rough guide. Seashells have a profound effect on pH as they are made of mostly calcium. Brackish water dues naturally have a high ph, so many rocks and shells wont have a profound effect on chemistry than it would on freshwater.

And I dont really think this topic best suites the brackish forum. Perhaps tropical chit chat?

 

[nmonks]

I agree with AMS -- while fish can get stressed, and continual stress does make them prone to sickness, one-off things like re-arranging ornaments in a tank don't seem to do any long-term harm.

I've done things like removed all the plants and then added new substrate into tanks already stocked with fish, with the result that the water went totally cloudy for a day or so. No fish died or got sick. Their habitats in the wild are very changeable, especially freshwater ones. If you think about the effects of heavy rainfall (silt) and drought (drop in water level), then what we do in aquaria is pretty benign.

Broadly speaking, any shells or rocks obtained from a tropical fish store will be harmless.

Shells collected from the beach are safe, provided they are clean. I tend to smash the ends of large snail-type shells so that water can flow through the shell. Partly this makes sure there's no dead matter in the shell rotting away, but also some fish can get trapped in the end of snail shells. I have lost a Corydoras in exactly this way.

Don't use snails from the garden (risk of pesticide residues).

Rocks and stones from garden centres are useful, but ensure the material does not have any metallic seams. Metals can be toxic to many fish (most notably, puffers). If in doubt, use "safe" varieties such as slate, granite, and flint.

Raising the pH and hardness of brackish water aquaria is useful in some, but not all, cases. With low salinity fish (SG 1.005 or less) then only moderate hardness and a pH of 7.5 is required. Examples include figure-8 puffers, bumblebee gobies, glassfish, killifish, and halfbeaks. Your sea salt should handle this for you, and adding calcaerous sand or rocks is not required and possibly harmful. Sea shells should be used only moderately. Mid- to high salinity fish (SG 1.006 or more) like monos, scats, etc. will benefit from a pH of around 8 and a high level of hardness. These fish appreciate some calcareous minerals in the aquarium. At the very least, add some coral sand to the substrate. Add as many shells as you want.

Cheers,

Neale