Understanding Water & Tropical Fish

[sassyfishwater]

Know Your Fish and the water it came from ?
85% of America has hard water of one type or the other. There are 2 types of hard water, (Temporary or permanet hardness)
Water Hardness effects the tropical fishes Osmoregulation in which effects the Metabolism of the fish. Osmoregulation is the active regulation of the Osmotic pressure of an organism's fluids to maintain the homeostasis of the organism's water content. (Freshwater fish drink little to no water they get it thru Osmosis)
Osmoregulation actively control salt.

Metabolism is the set of chemical reactions that happen in living organisms to maintain life. (eat) These processes allow organisms to grow and reproduce, maintain their structures, and respond to their environments.
A fish placed in the wrong water will start one of two conditions in the fishes red blood cells. ( A Hypertonic condition where the red blood cells are being crushed Osmotic pressure to high)
(A hypotonic condition where the red blood sell are swelling Osmotic pressure to low) Know what water the fish came from.

 

[krichardson]

A large portion of the fish that are sold in the hobby are captive bred in the state of Florida and parts of Asia.I don't know which steps are taken at these facilities to replicate the waters of the fishes foreparents but there could be a connection with some of the wild caught fish that don't seem to live very long in captivity...Hydrolicus Scomberiodes comes to mind.

 

[knifegill]

Or buy captive bred fish that have grown accustomed to tap water.

 

[Z Rex]

This is why we acclimate fish. Cells actively pump ions in and out to maintain the balance. Fish used to soft water don't die when put in hard water, their cells adjust their ion content to match their environmen and prevent this.

 

[Pomatomus]

Most of this information (and more) can be found, verbatim, on wikipedia.

 

[sassyfishwater]

This is why we acclimate fish. Cells actively pump ions in and out to maintain the balance. Fish used to soft water don't die when put in hard water, their cells adjust their ion content to match their environmen and prevent this.

Active ion uptake is thru the gills of a fish, water absorption is through skin. Ions move thru the gills and out the body. The fishes body has a salt content higher than the surrounding water ( creating Osmosis) The salt content of the fish remains the same at all times and maintained from the ion movement thru the gills. As osmosis takes place pushing ions from the body of the fish and giving the fish a more dilute urine.