Tank maintenance with predictable results.

I like doing maintenance on my tanks and has always seen it as part of the way I keep fish and aquatic plants,you can almost say I love doing maintenance.Cleaning the front glass,gleaning the filter,doing water changes,everything.It just feels good knowing that I am in control of the tank and know what is going on.

So this weeks hot topic:Wiped out my fish in 1 water change... instantly drew my attention.I followed it for awhile,reading the thread and the comments and realised this could be a very important thread,if it is "handled" correctly and unfortunately it wasn't.The usual messages of commiserations was overshadowing the real issue.Only @AquaS http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/showthread.php?12485-Wiped-out-my-fish-in-1-water-change/page3 really got to the point and was subsequently "reprimanded".Very predictable.

At this time I employed what you can call "a method with predictable results".Snazzy
Now TASA is a great forum but very aware of the "tone" and "vibe" members conduct themselves with,very politically correct.Don't make waves and please don't step on any toes.So I threw a pebble in the pool to see how big the waves will get http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/showthread.php?12485-Wiped-out-my-fish-in-1-water-change/page5.With the predicted results.
I even lost some rep points/power.Predictable

So why did I do this?
I've seen that on most forums,including TASA,the members like a bit of controversy.The more heated the discussion gets,the more views the threads get.Starting a fight is a good way to draw attention to a important issue.And it worked well enough.Very predictable.

The whole thing only cooled down when @Marco joined in.Predictable.Why?Because some members opinion carries more weight than others.So his "acceptance" of a point almost convinced the jury.Predictable.

What does this have to with tank maintenance?I'll get to that.

 

You should've called this thread Fish keeper psychology 101 :cheesy:

 

This brings back memories of a certain "excel" thread where the "little guns" would get shot down when speaking against the heavy hitters. If you can put it that way, non the less I am interested to see where you going with this.

 

Hi Rudi firstly I would like to say there is nothing wrong with being everstocked, AD Konings observed 70 specie in a 1sq m block of water in the lake, but as I stated you need more than sufficient filtration. I asked the question about the rate he has, got a reply on the model number of the cannister filter. 600l tank should be around 2500-300l/hr.
I also said when I do a clean on my cannister filters I do not wash the bio-balls but rather rinse them off in the tank water. Why, so as not to kill off the bacteria that are already established. I then add in a new lot of Qorganic Aqua B-Bac as a boost.
When one experiences a crash like this one should test for everything one can so as to know what is the state of your water. When I do have this type of thing happening, not often, I do all the tests I can on the water so I know exactly where I stand before moving forward.
35 fish in 600 l is not a lot of fish. I would put that amount in a atandard 90cm, 110l, with 800-1000 l/hr filtration. Have had numerous of them without a problem.
I also enjoy doing the cleaning work, do this in my 12000l of water in my shop, as it affords me the opportunity to take a relaxed look at the fish I have.

 

I think your "pebble" had bigger waves than you realise and you admitting that it was your little experiment is not very appreciated.

 

Guys, we must not loose site of why it is we join a site like this one. The aim is to share experiences and information so we can all benefit from it. Ultimately we want to enjoy our hobby to its best.
It is therefore imperative, when someone has an experience like Envir..... did that the correct questions are asked so as to get the correct information back so that those with the greater knowledge and experience can advise. If it is felt, and I find it to be such, that the so called big guns are shooting down the so called little guns then I will be the first to with draw from TASA.
People must stop speculating as to what they feel might have gone wrong without asking questions. Questions will get answers which is information and one can only draw a conclusion with the correct information.
I do not ever want to be described as being a so called big gun as I am always willing to learn. I do not profess to know everything but I do have direct access to some people who have far greater knowledge than most people on this site. I talk of people who have made fish farming their life. Some of which are well travelled around the world advising people.
Let us rather then attack the problems and ultimately we will all benefit which inturn means the hobby and industry benefits.

 

Aquarium maintenance, that includes all types, planted tanks, fish only tanks, should be done the same way with no exceptions. One method with predictable results. The method should be like a cake recipe.
Skip an ingredient and the cake does not taste right, add to much of one ingredient and the cake flops. Stick to the recipe and you will have predictable results, every time. Cleaning the filter: What does this mean?
To clean a filter does not always include the filter media. To clean the filter impeller, the housing and all the piping will increase the lifespan of the unit and increase water flow and efficiency.
Better water flow means more oxygen flowing over the filter media, more oxygen over the media allows the beneficial bacteria to do their job more efficiently. Never be scared or reluctant to clean the filter.
Filter media is a different ball game all together. Beneficial bacteria is the only the thing that allows us to keep fish the way we do. Bacteria is the most important, can we call them organisms?, in the aquarium.
All possible actions and precautions should be taken to safe guard and protect them. Filter media must never be washed in water containing chlorine and/or chloramine, never. Always rinse, not wash,f ilter media in aquarium water.
Water changes are my favorite. There are so many ways to do this and just as many wrong ways to do it. What works for me may not work for a person living in Gauteng.
@Zoom summed it up very well htttp://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/showthread.php?12485-Wiped-out-my-fish-in-1-water-change/page5" "I add water straight from the tap"; will not have predictable results simply because we don't know what our local municipality is adding to our water supply from day to day.
The only way to water changes and have a predictable result is:
1) Test the pH of the tank water that needs to be changed. Easy.
2) Fill a container with tap water.
3) Add declorenator. Always add dechlorenator to the tap water. Very important.
4) Test the pH of the dechlorinated water in the container. If the pH of our tank water is vastly different from the pH of the water in the container action must be taken.
Raise or lower the pH of the water in the container to an acceptable level, never try and to this in the aquarium.
5) Heat the prepared water to the same temperature as the aquarium.
6) Remove a predetermined amount of water from the aquarium. Do not guesstimate this. If we prepared 10 litres of new water, don't remove 15 litres and then top the difference up with chlorine tap water.10 out,10 in.
7) Slowly add the new,prepared, water to the aquarium. The slower we do this the better.
8) Test the pH of the aquarium water, it should be the same.

 

Or you are not getting my point.

 

@Rudi really enjoyed your thread :blink1:, and you have good pointers on water changes, which to some is common sense, but maybe not so common.. :amuse:

 

If I only reach one person,it will be a job well done and rep power/points gladly sacrificed.Thanks Naomi.

 

haha. And here I was sitting, thinking you were inspired by Riekie Louw!

Quite different from what you said when throwing your little pebble?

Sorry to hear about the negative rep. I honestly hate that feature on this forum.

I still think Riekie had a hand in this....

 

Negative rep is there for a reason. If you going to be a controvercial person and openly admit to throwing pebbles, expect it.

Rudi has always enjoys a good arguement, some people just argue differently. I know you like a good debate too tom. All im saying, this is an online forum. You may think you going into a boxing match, but dont be surprized when someone kicks you, cause they think they in a kickboxing match

Sent from my GT-P1000 using Tapatalk 2

 

(whistle) to think this all started with a mistake that I made:amazed:

 

shoo this is an intense thread... I'm going to go look at the pictures of Discus fry

I think there are 2 points to consider here (very Important points!!)

1. I totally agree that we need to try and be the best fish keepers we can be and try and make the conditions for the fish the best they can be, some people are more passionate about this than others. At the end of the day though, I don't think anyone intentionally wants to be cruel to their pets, and that is probably the catalyst for them being here, to learn and make life good for the fish. The fact that they are here is a good thing.

2. For 99% of the people on here, this is a hobby. This is the thing they do to escape the busy work day, the family, the TV and all the other stresses of every day life. When you get k*kked out from a dizzy height on the forum, you are making someones stress reliever into a stress builder.

Now I am not saying that you should not tell people when there is a problem, all I am saying is that maybe things should be done in more diplomatic way. I can assure you that nobody is here for "Tough Love", we get that in bucket loads in all other aspects of daily life.

 

@TomK,exactly my point.Many members gives advice in that very same fashion.They will tell you what they do and what they don't do and it is not always what you should do.
@Zoom,you guys are taking this all wrong.Sorry to see.
@EnviromentalBro,I don't want to make you into a whipping boy.Your experience is unfortunately a perfect example how not to do aquarium maintenance.Nothing personal.

On a different note,a bit off topic.I was a bit taken back by admins reaction,thought they would know me by now.

 

And what happened to post #7? When I typed it, it looked good, paragraphs and links and mentions, but now.... eish.:worried:
@TomK posts a quote and looks good again,what the .....:suspicious:

 

Just goes to show, some are treated as favorites around here.... I am a blue eyed boy you see.

Hehe, just kidding mate! I saw your intentions and edited the post in my quote. You probably did the post in Word or something, then copy and paste it here. The Word codes is not understood by the forum software and then looks like garbage with all the <br></br> and things. What you should do, is first paste it in a simple text editor, correct it there and then copy and paste to the forum.

Or use Opera. The build in spell as you go spell checker makes Word unnecessary.

 

Hehehehe this 'hot topic' didn't even get close to out of hand in my opinion! Controversial topics will always get a little heated. That's why they are controversial. So long as there the tone remains largely respectful there shouldn't be any problems. As a small fry getting back into the hobby I appreciate reading different opinions and the rationale behind them. All in all I learnt quite a bit from the thread in question. Surely that is what counts- it was educational. Admin on an online forum- nothing new!

My Z$0.02

 

Hey, some interesting points here. My one cents (opinion's not worth 2 cents yet) is that @Rudi's points weren't over the top or rude, BUT I'm really glad nevertheless that the reaction was generally "don't make the guy feel worse". Why? Because I've been trawling around a lot lately on a certain Discus forum, where a couple of members have a habit of #@##ing on unsuspecting newbies from a dizzy height for making particular mistakes that they happen to have a pet hate for. Or, because they didn't read the person's post properly, they think they made those mistakes. Or dropping acerbic one-liners into someone's fluffy "look at my pretty fishy" thread simply because they don't like the look of someone's fish on a particular day. Now, don't get me wrong, that forum is VERY educational. That's what's important, right? True, but - and this is a big but - I never plan to join that forum. Too much grief potential. And even if I did, I'd probably be lying half the time to keep on the right side of the forum police. So, lots of controversy, tough love, telling it like it is - great for an educational resource for the casual lurker. If you actually want to build a community... best to coddle people a little bit.

 

So, that's what I did wrong for over 40 years! Lol!

Please! Before someone throw me with a bucket of cold, chlorinated water! This is just to break the tension...