I had a conversation with a long time planted hobbyists some months ago about my tanks when he stopped by from out of state. He was most impressed with the general look of the tanks, but the fish and plants and the gardening all equally so.
This got me wondering, why add a few small fish for a scape, that is suppose to be optimal for them..........., but really is not? I mean.....what us really optimal for fish as a Biologist's perspective? We all are Biologist in a sense.
In general, a good plant grower is able to reproduce the plants, you are a good "grower". I think this same metric applies to fish hobbyists. Can they and do they reproduce?
I have had numerous breeding events in the last month with fish species that many would like to breed. But there have been many others over the years, and I use to breed Cichlids before I got into plants so much. If the fish can and do breed, I think that is a good indication they are happy and doing well. If not......well.......then perhaps something else would be the problem.
In some of my tanks, the community of fish likely eats some of the fry, others? They do not. Looking at environmental parameters.....I find with increased water changes and good growth, and with good O2, particularly at night........fish in general......breed at higher frequencies.
This is correlation only, but I start there........I can say the conditions that cause fish to breed in my tanks and in the cases I've had, but it's hard to falsify this type of thing.
Breeding = happy fish
Not breeding= many many things could be why. Hard to rule out all of them
Still, if my fish breed and I have many species.......then I can say what is not causing the issues. Dosing ferts, NO3, or PO4 ppms etc.....CO2 ppm's, pH change or large water changes, etc.
I'd like to be able to say that excess CO2:O2 ratios inhibit breeding, or that plants help breeding etc.......nor sure if I can get evidence to support it though
Regards,
Tom Barr
This got me wondering, why add a few small fish for a scape, that is suppose to be optimal for them..........., but really is not? I mean.....what us really optimal for fish as a Biologist's perspective? We all are Biologist in a sense.
In general, a good plant grower is able to reproduce the plants, you are a good "grower". I think this same metric applies to fish hobbyists. Can they and do they reproduce?
I have had numerous breeding events in the last month with fish species that many would like to breed. But there have been many others over the years, and I use to breed Cichlids before I got into plants so much. If the fish can and do breed, I think that is a good indication they are happy and doing well. If not......well.......then perhaps something else would be the problem.
In some of my tanks, the community of fish likely eats some of the fry, others? They do not. Looking at environmental parameters.....I find with increased water changes and good growth, and with good O2, particularly at night........fish in general......breed at higher frequencies.
This is correlation only, but I start there........I can say the conditions that cause fish to breed in my tanks and in the cases I've had, but it's hard to falsify this type of thing.
Breeding = happy fish
Not breeding= many many things could be why. Hard to rule out all of them
Still, if my fish breed and I have many species.......then I can say what is not causing the issues. Dosing ferts, NO3, or PO4 ppms etc.....CO2 ppm's, pH change or large water changes, etc.
I'd like to be able to say that excess CO2:O2 ratios inhibit breeding, or that plants help breeding etc.......nor sure if I can get evidence to support it though
Regards,
Tom Barr