Topic: Tiger Pleco

[TheLadyWithin]

hehehe yep, I AM too young...there's a punchline there, but my lips are now sealed. 
 

[OCP]

Women are too hung up on age.  Most, like a fine wine, only get better and more desirable with maturity 

[Ezekial]

I agree.  You are who you are and that includes your age.  I don't subscribe to the idea that i'm certain age therefore i should act a certain way.  I am who i am and many people when they first meet me tell me i act more like i'm 25.  If it wasn't for all the gray i might actually be able to convince someone i am 25.   

The sad thing is i had no gray until 6 months after i was married.  Now i have so much gray i can't even pretend it's not there.  So i blame my wife for putting too much stress in my life.   Man it is a good thing she doesn't frequent this site or i might be in trouble.  She hates it when people mention my gray and ask how early i became gray.  I have to tell them the truth   It's not my fault if they then think my wife must be a controlling nag or something is it?

[OCP]

All that Salt and Pepper    hair of mine came on suddenly also.  Blame it on the "X"    I am OK with the color as long as it is there. 

[stilllearnin]

but it was Zebra I'm lookin into

But a tiger could eat a zebra right?   

[Gerry]

 
  Never did water changes.  Didn't know about it.  Had minimal filtration because that was all that was available.  Like they say, ignorance is bliss.    Seemed the biggest problems you could have was over feeding, Ick and a heater screwing up and boiling your tank.   

 
 
 
How true, My first tank was put together (52" X 15" x 12",,,1 internal corner filter,,a heater and a thermometer) filled with water and in went the usual community stuff (Guppies, neons, algae eaters ect), Then I see an Oscar at the pet shop "is it a peaceful fish"? I ask, "Oh yes" comes the reply, Peaceful!!!! Yes, REST IN PEACEful for my little squad of community fish as they disappear at an alarming rate . 
 
So I get some more Oscars,, These poor fish had the tank cleaned out every week, This included them being taken out the tank, Put into an old baby bath full of clean tap water, Tank, Filter scrubbed clean and the fish put back in to the tank now full with,,,Yes you guessed TAP water. 
 
How on earth these poor fish survived I'll never know. 
 
I've learned a little since then,,,,honest 

[OCP]

I think the majority of fish are a lot more adaptable than given credit.  They seem to survive well in nature with no help from humans.  Almost any where you live they are subjected to temperature changes they cannot always escape from.  On ocassion there will be a mass kill due to farm chemical runoff yet the species survive.  Heavy rains or influxes of different water chemistries inundate their homes but they survive.  Other fish take bites out of them and they heal.

OK, keeping them in tanks it is our obligation to maintain their environment as close to nature as we can.  There is no water coming down a river to wash away the waist matter with more water that already contains waist yet the volume of water resolves the problem.  On our part to duplicate nature we do it artificially with an ever growing assortment of filters and filter media.  Each combinatation reported to be better than the one before.  Merchandising is a wonderful  thing    We try to keep the water sparkling clear even though most species never live in beautifully clear water.  Obviously there is good sound logic for providing the highest volume of water to fish as possibal.  Many of us load our tanks with ornamentation.  I am sure I use too much in an effort to obtain a natural setting.  Problem there is we design what is pleasing to our eyes and the fish in many cases could care less about.  They are probably much better off with a minimal amount of objects in the tank.  Not to forget that everything we add to the tank in the way of adornment takes up space that water would otherwise occupy.  More water less fish equals easier to maintain. 

In reality, most of us like a large variety of fish.  To do it properly we would have to maintain many tanks or limit ourselves to just a few compatible species.   Personally I would like to have a tank with a few hundred neons, a tank with another pair of big black lace angels, a tank for Discus and many tanks for assorted pairs of Cichlids and on and on.  That would take a lot of commitment and a lot of space and funds.   Reality being what it is I will have to settle for just a few tanks and constantly consider if I should get rid of the Cichlids in one tank and replace them with beautiful Discus.   I love my Cichlids but the colors available in Discus has a lot to say for it.

Don't know wether I made any points or not.  Just some thoughts about the nature of keeping fish and why I do such things as calculate average needs got groups of species...

You are al great and I thank each of you for letting me learn from you.


"When I was a child everything was good or bad.  There was no in between.  I never saw skin colors, religions or places of origin.  I didn't worry about peace on earth or know what a job was or what war is.  Now I am old and I see all these things every day.  At times I just want to be a child again.." I want to see the world again through  innocent care free eyes.  The struggle to see things with the eyes of a child yet face the reality of adult hood may be the hardest thing we can ever do in life."

Mike

[mrbigfish]

What'd I tell ya Dan.We all have the Bug and never seem to stop looking at bigger and better

[Dan]

Ummmmm! What?