RE: [GSAS-Member]fish & temp

["Paul M. Wallace" <pwallace@u.washington.edu>]

Keith:

Your point about variations in natural environments is well taken.  I am
trying to think of a body of water that is a stable as an aquarium and I am
drawing a blank.  The closest I can come up is the middle of the ocean but
there are ocean currents...

So to speculate further: the health of a fish decreases with the amount or
stress and increases with "the ability to respond."  So the best I can come
up with on the ability to respond front is the predator/prey relationship.
On the open reef there are many "prey" fish that are doing just fine and not
being eaten.  This is due in part to the ability to duck under cover.  In an
aquarium the ability to hide decreases dramatically so having both predator
and prey can be tough.  This also applies to territorial fish that bully
others.  The bully fish is saying "Mine! Go Away!" which would be fine in
nature but the confines of an aquarium there is just nowhere to go.  Another
HUGE consideration is that fish are able to move about their environment and
find the spot that suits them best.  In your diving trips you might find
fish in very chaotic environments like the surge zone or the mouth of a 
river where the water changes drastically.  But the fish that are not
happy/able to deal simply move away and find a better place.

So the stress part is aggression/water parameters/waste buildup and in the
ocean in particular fish are able to get rid of there waste products by
dilution which can be tough in a captive environment.

The next idea I would like to introduce is breeding.  Adult fish are
generally very adaptable to water conditions and will live out a health
live.  For breeding however most fish IMHO need "special" water conditions.
For example hard water interferes with the fertilization of blue ram eggs
from what I have seen.  So the point of that is there are limes/situations
where fish can be very picky about their water conditions.  Cycling
temperatures etc. can be an importaint trigger for spawning.

Second plug for plants>
All of my tanks are planted which likely has a positive effect on the water
quality and give the fish many places to hide.  I put some shrimp in there
but I rarely see them as they love to hide in the grass (likely a safe thing
as the angels are getting large).  So because my tank is large and
(over)stocked with a variety of plants I bend some of the stocking/water
quality rules. I do not take much care in matching temperatures or
dechlorinating during the biweekly WC on my 60 gal tank because I just do
not see large changes in temp or fish behavior.  As to dechlorinating, I
have lots of organic plant matter to oxidize and again the fish do not act
stressed (but be sure to check your water).

So I would like to end this by commenting (like others) that providing a
natural environment such that your fish feel comfortable and able to respond
is the way to go.  I feel that going planted is a very large part of the
equation for fresh water tanks.

I am still waiting for HAP/BAP posts to start rolling in...  Next 2 people
to post win a large bag of clippings from my tanks!

-Paul


Subject: [GSAS-Member] Fish & temperature

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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