Re: [GSAS-Member] Fish & temperature

[John Ruhland <john@drruhland.com>]

Most of the fish in my tanks are cichlids. Part of it must be that they 
are in new environs here. Most I have for about one month now. I tend 
to overfeed as well, so they don't spend most of their day just 
anticipating being fed. I do often wonder if it is fair to keep them in 
these tiny (relatively) tanks. It always makes me sad to see parrots in 
small cages where they can't fly, for the same reason. My young child 
sometimes says "I need more space." What if fish could speak to us - 
what would they say?

To minimize the chance that this confinement is torture, I'm trying to 
at least make sure the fish can count on their meals - using automatic 
feeders for one of their feedings per day - so they can count on that, 
and feeding them by hand once per day. Of course, prisoners have that 
in most cases.

My oscar could eat three or four times per day, I'm sure. Do fish live 
longer if they are thinner, like humans?

John



On Apr 2, 2005, at 7:48 AM, auntie.fran@netzero.net wrote:


That's an interesting observation, John.  Are those fish by chance 
cichlids?  We have three tanks and the only one that are, as you say, 
skittish, are the cichlids.  The other two either ignore us or beg for 
food.


Growing old is inevitable; growing up is optional.

-- John Ruhland <john@drruhland.com> wrote:
I've been reading a bit about prisoners rights, criminal justice, etc.
Our fish are kind of like penned prisoners. Other than my Oscar, most
of my
fish tend to be skittish when I walk by, except when they are hungry.
I put a bit of epsom salts in all the tanks to help them relax a bit.
John




On Apr 1, 2005, at 8:05 PM, DELPHILABS@aol.com wrote:

Hello all,

I am glad that I started this thread -- some good  observations.

My own theory is that our fish in tanks are much more stressed  than in
nature.  Try as we might, the environments we create are no  substitute
for nature.
  I think that our aquarium fish are much more  susceptible to disease
than
the same fish in nature.  Sudden temp changes  could be the straw that
breaks
the camels back.

Also, using Clay's fine analogy, the kid that lives in the  Pacific
Northwest
and is in and out of doors all day long is much more robust  and
acclimated
to endure a wide range of temp change.  A kid that spent his  whole
life in
Hawaii puts on a coat when it gets below 70 degrees.  Maybe  if we
cycled the
temperatures in our aquariums the fish would become more  tolerant?

This is fun, how about a couple more? Has anyone had a fish  that hangs
around a hot heater like you would expect of a cold blooded reptile?
I've never
seen that in my tanks.

Also, my observation diving all over the world, is that most  species
are
always in pairs (or schools) in nature.  You especially see  this in
Butterfly's
and Angels. I used to keep a lot of single fish when I did  saltwater
aquaria
years ago.  If I ever get back into it, I will ALWAYS try  to get
pairs.  I
wonder if any of my fish ever died from "loneliness"   :-(
Keith

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Keith Anderson
Olympia, WA

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Dr. John F. Ruhland
The Natural Health Medical Clinic
4002 - 25th Avenue S, Seattle, WA 98108
206-723-4891
www.drruhland.com
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Dr. John F. Ruhland
The Natural Health Medical Clinic
4002 - 25th Avenue S, Seattle, WA 98108
206-723-4891
www.drruhland.com
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