What if one of my norms isn’t right for the fish I want to keep?
An example might be…..I want severums, or uaru or wild caught angels, but I have hard tap water?
This one parameter (the hard water) may in itself not be crucially problematic.
It can be over come by providing all the best care with positive factors, and knowhow the aquarist does have to work with.
In nature severums, and Uaru are primarily vegetarian.
So this does not mean a heavy diet in Tilapia fillets would be appropriate. Hardly!
What it does mean is that a pellet high in Spirulina algae or high percentage of aquatic vegetarian products may go a long way in providing good health for these species.
Water quality….. all the species mentioned come from waters with almost undetectable nitrate. So to counteract the hard taps water, and the minerals that tend to build up in a closed system, and ….the bacteria that hard mineral rich water encourages, the aquarist may need to do an excess of water changes to keep nitrate down, and minerals from accumulating.
This may also mean standard recommended water change of 40% or 50% once per week may “not” be enough.
Tannins (hummic acids)…the above cichlid species come from waters that are “seasonally” inundated with tannins, from leaf littler, submerged wood, and other substances in the flooded forest. These tannins are somewhat anti bacterial, and the cichlids have evolved in these acidic waters that can protect them from some parasites, and bacteria.
So if these can in some way be provided to the tank, these conditions can go a long way to providing a healthy environment. We can add tannins by using fallen leaves as substrate, by adding bags of peat to filters and sumps, or even adding tea bags (not any tea with clove added) to HOB filter outflows.
Tank mates…..These South American cichlids mentioned above, are normally slightly less bellicose and territorial than their Central American cousins.
So combining hard water loving, aggressive Central American species with more docile, soft water South Americans, can add that extra stress that may be the straw that determines success or failure, health or illness in a tank.
Any one of these factors alone may not be enough to cause a tank to crash, or cause illness in an individual to show up, but combine 2 or more, over time, and chance of success lessens greatly. Many of these stressors do not kill fish outright, but can be chronic factors causing disfiguring diseases that may take a year or 2 to show up, like HLLE or bloat. Stress is the most common factor in fish disease (beyond an infectious addition from not using quarantine), so reducing even one of the above factors goes a long way .
An example might be…..I want severums, or uaru or wild caught angels, but I have hard tap water?
This one parameter (the hard water) may in itself not be crucially problematic.
It can be over come by providing all the best care with positive factors, and knowhow the aquarist does have to work with.
In nature severums, and Uaru are primarily vegetarian.
So this does not mean a heavy diet in Tilapia fillets would be appropriate. Hardly!
What it does mean is that a pellet high in Spirulina algae or high percentage of aquatic vegetarian products may go a long way in providing good health for these species.
Water quality….. all the species mentioned come from waters with almost undetectable nitrate. So to counteract the hard taps water, and the minerals that tend to build up in a closed system, and ….the bacteria that hard mineral rich water encourages, the aquarist may need to do an excess of water changes to keep nitrate down, and minerals from accumulating.
This may also mean standard recommended water change of 40% or 50% once per week may “not” be enough.
Tannins (hummic acids)…the above cichlid species come from waters that are “seasonally” inundated with tannins, from leaf littler, submerged wood, and other substances in the flooded forest. These tannins are somewhat anti bacterial, and the cichlids have evolved in these acidic waters that can protect them from some parasites, and bacteria.
So if these can in some way be provided to the tank, these conditions can go a long way to providing a healthy environment. We can add tannins by using fallen leaves as substrate, by adding bags of peat to filters and sumps, or even adding tea bags (not any tea with clove added) to HOB filter outflows.
Tank mates…..These South American cichlids mentioned above, are normally slightly less bellicose and territorial than their Central American cousins.
So combining hard water loving, aggressive Central American species with more docile, soft water South Americans, can add that extra stress that may be the straw that determines success or failure, health or illness in a tank.
Any one of these factors alone may not be enough to cause a tank to crash, or cause illness in an individual to show up, but combine 2 or more, over time, and chance of success lessens greatly. Many of these stressors do not kill fish outright, but can be chronic factors causing disfiguring diseases that may take a year or 2 to show up, like HLLE or bloat. Stress is the most common factor in fish disease (beyond an infectious addition from not using quarantine), so reducing even one of the above factors goes a long way .
