Most important thing to remember about fishkeeping:

[balton777]

The most important thing to remember about fishkeeping is post at MonsterFishKeepers.com

With a freshwater tank....I would go with water changes first, then filtration, stocking and lighting last.

 

[USMCtanker]

water changes

 

[Scorponok]

The most important thing to remember about fishkeeping is post at MonsterFishKeepers.com

With a freshwater tank....I would go with water changes first, then filtration, stocking and lighting last.

What if you don't remember to stock your tank?

 

[msl4]

I have had heavily planted tanks that i didn't need to change the water on for a year or two. Just topped it off. Then a 5 day power outage in december killed it but the reason it worked was because I stocked accordingly. So stocking trumps WC in my opinion.

 

[niblit]

the most important thing to rember is to leave room for furniture and bed

 

[BIGgourami]

You can compensate under filteration with WC
You can compensate over stocking with WC

But you can't compensate WC with either, unless you have a denitrator.

So WC is the most important. It's like the rain in nature for the river to replenish with clean water. Filteration is like the plants and bacteria in the water to elimiate pollutant.

i'f i have 1 minnow in a big planted tank i doubt i'd have to do water changes...

proper stocking means more than know when is too many.. it's keep LESS than that

 

[BIGgourami]

What if you don't remember to stock your tank?

nothing wrong with a glorious decked-out planted tank, or full-blown reef tank with no fish

you have to get down and appreciate the details more often, man...

 

[BIGgourami]

I have had heavily planted tanks that i didn't need to change the water on for a year or two. Just topped it off. Then a 5 day power outage in december killed it but the reason it worked was because I stocked accordingly. So stocking trumps WC in my opinion.

Don't start adding medication to the tank or tossing in salt or raising the temperature when you see a blemish, torn fin or you see the fish scratching. It has been my experience that these symptoms and behaviors usually mean nothing. The fish can be stressed and damaged much more by the remedial measures than by what is incorrectly assumed to be a disease. I mention this because it is often very difficult to fight the instinct to start medicating.

SAGE!!!

the most important thing to rember is to leave room for furniture and bed

#1 enjoy the hobby

lets rephrase that to... Enjoy being broke

also kinda sage

 

[Scorponok]

nothing wrong with a glorious decked-out planted tank, or full-blown reef tank with no fish

you have to get down and appreciate the details more often, man...

The OP or topic specifically points out fishkeeping. So I guess you're derailing if no fish is kept.
Also, keeping one minnow in a big planted tank doesn't constitute fishkeeping, when all the rules (again, the main point of topic) involving fishkeeping aren't applicable.

 

[BIGgourami]

The OP or topic specifically points out fishkeeping. So I guess you're derailing if no fish is kept.

arguing semantics at best
Fishkeeping- homonyms; aquaculture, mariculture, aquarism... person who does; aquarist, fishkeeper, aquaculturist, fish hobbiest, aquarium hobbiest

Also, keeping one minnow in a big planted tank doesn't constitute fishkeeping, when all the rules (again, the main point of topic) involving fishkeeping aren't applicable.

how does keeping a fish in a tank not constitute fishkeeping, exactly?

PC696 please chime in if im off topic...