At one time or another we've probably all fancied a species of fish to keep in our tanks and then, after researching the fish, it recommends they are kept in groups. This could be for any number of reasons.
So, we decide that we are going to be responsible fish keepers and we buy a group of whatever fish we have chosen. For this exercise, and mainly because i've currently got them in my tank, I will use dennison barbs as an example. It is recommended to keep a minimum of six individuals, so I went out and bought six, this was four years ago.
Fast forward to present day, I now only have three left as three have died over the past four years. Now here's the dilemma. Because they should be kept in groups should I have gone out and replaced each fish that died with another fish to maintain the "ideal" shoal of six? I haven't, and so does that make me a cruel and irresponsible fish keeper? What if you've decided that, well, i've kept that fish, i'll move on to something else, you know, trying new things, which is a perfectly natural progression in the hobby.
If you were to do the "right" thing and maintain the recommended numbers then you'd always have the same fish in your tank.
My three seem perfectly happy, though it is a worry because they swim together, never leave each others side. What happens when i've only one left?
Can you see what i'm getting at? And let's face it there's hundreds and hundreds of similar shoal fish that are doomed to the same lonely fate as my dennisons.
So, we decide that we are going to be responsible fish keepers and we buy a group of whatever fish we have chosen. For this exercise, and mainly because i've currently got them in my tank, I will use dennison barbs as an example. It is recommended to keep a minimum of six individuals, so I went out and bought six, this was four years ago.
Fast forward to present day, I now only have three left as three have died over the past four years. Now here's the dilemma. Because they should be kept in groups should I have gone out and replaced each fish that died with another fish to maintain the "ideal" shoal of six? I haven't, and so does that make me a cruel and irresponsible fish keeper? What if you've decided that, well, i've kept that fish, i'll move on to something else, you know, trying new things, which is a perfectly natural progression in the hobby.
If you were to do the "right" thing and maintain the recommended numbers then you'd always have the same fish in your tank.
My three seem perfectly happy, though it is a worry because they swim together, never leave each others side. What happens when i've only one left?
Can you see what i'm getting at? And let's face it there's hundreds and hundreds of similar shoal fish that are doomed to the same lonely fate as my dennisons.
