Think "Fish"

Think "Fish"

Written by Andreas Iliopoulos Wednesday, 15 November 2000 01:00

PDF | Print | E-mail

Many times, during the last fifteen years that I have worked with either food or ornamental fishes, I have been called to face problems related to fishes and their tanks.

Sometimes, I have had to deal with disease. Other times, I have been asked to build a tank.  Most of the time, though, I have got an emergency phone call for a non-visible problem that I have named "the set up problem". When I have to deal with disease, I quite often find things rather easily. As I have been involved with fish for some time, I am used to matching some diseases with some fish species and their origins. I have also "habituated" in prevention, understanding changes in behavior, detecting symptoms, and in using the necessary drugs. So, with a careful look, I am often able to successfully determine the disease and use the right treatment to eliminate the problem.

Normally, I use Aquarium Pharmaceuticals® products, which I find to be user and fish friendly, as well as filter friendly. They are powerful drugs, though. When I do not have access in these products, I buy the substances from pharmaceutical companies and mixed them the way it is written on Aquarium Pharmaceuticals' packaging (that makes the product so reliable), or I used treatments I have found in books, papers and sites, as well as treatments I have practiced under an Ichthyopathologist's supervision, or that I have experimented with on my own during a fish's breeding period.

Building a system from the beginning is the most interesting thing in keeping water systems. I have to deal with several parameters such as space, species, equipment, construction, etc.  This makes the whole effort a hell of a challenge. I have to do a lot of measuring, thinking, "charting", reading, and looking for the right equipment. This situation perhaps gives me some nights of insomnia, but it also creates a lot of excitement and satisfaction. I derive great satisfaction when such a tank works perfectly.  In this situation, the fishes, as well as their keepers, are happy.

I have a principle that I follow to avoid making mistakes or defaults during the building of a tank and its set up. I use different methods for different kinds of set ups, depending on what kind of system they are going to be (i.e., display tanks, tanks for keeping trade fishes, tanks for keeping food fishes, or ponds) and which species are going to be kept in these systems. This way, I have in mind the needs and the natural habitats of the species. Fortunately, I am also offered the vast diversity of high quality equipment and materials that are offered on the market to achieve an efficient water system and a good resemblance of nature itself.

Usually such tanks are made for hobbyists and they are ordered in a very significant way, because hobbyists are used to getting information before they attempt to keep organisms in tanks and closed systems. They are in love with keeping aquatics, and they really want to access as much information as possible about them.

This kind of keepers work with their aquaria and read a lot. The sometimes-heavy costs of such aquaria are not wasted at all. There is nothing missing from the set up if the keeper is involved on a more personal level. To explain myself, if someone spends a lot of money to build a reef tank, for example, but he/she does not know how it works, the use and function of the equipment, the water chemistry and is not interested in the species biology, then he/she cannot work with the tank and will have a difficult time keeping it without a great deal of help. This is an unpleasant thing that can happen, but on the other hand, a way for me to earn some extra money in steady basis. It is very disappointing, though, to face very well equipped tanks or ponds that are lacking the personal care of the keepers themselves. I use the word "keepers" because "owners" is rather rough word and I do not like to think of someone as an owner of life forms kept in captivity.

And, at last, the third reason to get involved with a tank. When the keepers are not involved, I can assure you, I hate even the guts of it.  In this situation, I receive a phone call from a desperate man or woman that has an unknown problem with a system. I pay a visit and I have to deal with some disease, infection, or unexplainable casualties in the system, but I can do nothing except watch the tank mates die, one by one, as the capacity of the filters cannot support the already heavy environment.  It is not possible to give an efficient treatment. If the tank mates are incompatible, and the whole set up is so wrong, the only way to restore the system is to start over from the beginning, with great cost for the keeper. It is the darker side of my relationship with aquatic species kept in captivity. Normally, the owner of the tank has already paid a lot, but as ignorant as he/she was he/she paid for nothing, as either the materials or equipment are poor quality or are not suitable for his/her system. Also, the expensive fishes and other inhabitants, if incompatible, cause a great problem that it is difficult to encounter, especially when I see them in poor and unacceptable environments.

So do yourself a favor:

• Before you do anything that has to do with keeping aquatic species in captivity, become well informed. There are a great number of books and multimedia that are available.
• Find out any possible exclusion, apply severely the basic rules of tank or pond keeping and learn from watching, reading, asking and practicing.
  Work with them yourself and you will learn.
• Try to see through the fishes', aquatic plant's and invertebrate animal's eyes.
• Try to understand that if you were a fish yourself, you would appreciate a high quality and variety of food supply, enough space to live in or to isolate yourself, and a clean, clear, and appropriate environment to breed.
• Do not define a fish as a disposable item, that can be replaced any time you want.
• Respect their natural habitats and the specifics of aquatic species, and try to provide them with an optimum environment, as it is needed to keep them in captivity with dignity and no problems.

Thanks to all of you that follow and advocate this way of keeping aquatics. I also thank the good friend and hobbyist, Dr. Reclos, who gave me the opportunity to air my views concerning aquatic life forms in captivity. Keep up the really good work.