Now Once Upon A Time,
A long long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, I used to have a single 125 gallon tank. (circa 1985) This was back in the day when I cared not so much for the fish itself, but was more interested in watching the carnivors chase down and eat their dinner. Yes boys and girls, I admit I did not care so much for the water temp, or ph level or the hardness, nor did I give a rats anal cavity about the overall water condition, I just wanted to see the carnage the big boys could produce after chasing down their next meal. I remember having several species of meat eaters, Jack Dempseys, Green Terrors, Texas Cichlids, Arrowanna's, Tire Track and Fire Eels, and yes of course Oscars. I would buy a few dozen feeders from the local pet store about 3 times a month and toss the live food into the tank all at once and sit back and watch the mayhem.
Now the point in this little piece of nostalgia is that I never gave a whole lot of thought and consideration to the fishes environment. I followed the recommendation of the LFS owner and purchased two good sized Fluvals and one air pump with bubble wand and installed them in and on the tank.
And that was that....I had no internet at that time of course, and needless to say no group of fellow boxers to inquire about fish keeping. So again, back to my point, how in the heck did my fish do so well for so many years without the muss and fuss I put into all my tanks now. I never did a "water change" on my tank back then, all I would do is filll it when I noticed the water level was getting close to three or four inches from the top of the tank. Never did I imagine actually testing the water for it's current parameters....heck, I betcha I had not even heard that word/term "parameters" except for maybe once or twice on TV.
SOOOO>.....just how did my fish survive and seemingly flurish (my severums where always producing fry) back in those days? How could someone like me who never gave a second thought or was even aware of a nitrogyn cycle, maintain a 125 gallon tank without losing every fish I put in there?
I sure feel for those fish back in those days, but maybe it was the "less is more" factor, maybe my lack of experience and or knowledge was somehow a blessing to my "pets/entertainers" back then??? For even though I had no clue what I was doing, I had far fewer deaths in those days then I do now. I'm sure it is the many many types of fish I now attempt to keep and the mixing of certain species that I should not attempt to keep together, but again, it was a much more trouble and guilt free experience back then, and for that I am truly thankful.....and the point to all this rambling again....the saying "Ingorance is Bliss" was stuck in my mind after seeing it here on the box somewhere recently.
But to be honest, I did get motivated eventually and started to think more about the water conditions in the tank, I guess that was about the time I noticed the Severums having eggs piled up all over my flat stones.....so I did change my evils way after all, it just took a little more time for me to wake up and smell the tank water......I started to clean the tank, change the filters carbon and clean it's media, heck I even developed my own under gravel filter system using pvc and nylon window screening. Get this, back in those days, a dozen gold fish was like a dollar....and I paid about 3.99 for a five inch Oscar, or 2.29 for a three inch Green Terror....and I remember splurging a whopping 8.00 for my first arrowanna.....oh heck....I need to hit the sack.....
thanks for your time.....Gnite...
CF
A long long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, I used to have a single 125 gallon tank. (circa 1985) This was back in the day when I cared not so much for the fish itself, but was more interested in watching the carnivors chase down and eat their dinner. Yes boys and girls, I admit I did not care so much for the water temp, or ph level or the hardness, nor did I give a rats anal cavity about the overall water condition, I just wanted to see the carnage the big boys could produce after chasing down their next meal. I remember having several species of meat eaters, Jack Dempseys, Green Terrors, Texas Cichlids, Arrowanna's, Tire Track and Fire Eels, and yes of course Oscars. I would buy a few dozen feeders from the local pet store about 3 times a month and toss the live food into the tank all at once and sit back and watch the mayhem.
Now the point in this little piece of nostalgia is that I never gave a whole lot of thought and consideration to the fishes environment. I followed the recommendation of the LFS owner and purchased two good sized Fluvals and one air pump with bubble wand and installed them in and on the tank.
And that was that....I had no internet at that time of course, and needless to say no group of fellow boxers to inquire about fish keeping. So again, back to my point, how in the heck did my fish do so well for so many years without the muss and fuss I put into all my tanks now. I never did a "water change" on my tank back then, all I would do is filll it when I noticed the water level was getting close to three or four inches from the top of the tank. Never did I imagine actually testing the water for it's current parameters....heck, I betcha I had not even heard that word/term "parameters" except for maybe once or twice on TV.
SOOOO>.....just how did my fish survive and seemingly flurish (my severums where always producing fry) back in those days? How could someone like me who never gave a second thought or was even aware of a nitrogyn cycle, maintain a 125 gallon tank without losing every fish I put in there?
I sure feel for those fish back in those days, but maybe it was the "less is more" factor, maybe my lack of experience and or knowledge was somehow a blessing to my "pets/entertainers" back then??? For even though I had no clue what I was doing, I had far fewer deaths in those days then I do now. I'm sure it is the many many types of fish I now attempt to keep and the mixing of certain species that I should not attempt to keep together, but again, it was a much more trouble and guilt free experience back then, and for that I am truly thankful.....and the point to all this rambling again....the saying "Ingorance is Bliss" was stuck in my mind after seeing it here on the box somewhere recently.
But to be honest, I did get motivated eventually and started to think more about the water conditions in the tank, I guess that was about the time I noticed the Severums having eggs piled up all over my flat stones.....so I did change my evils way after all, it just took a little more time for me to wake up and smell the tank water......I started to clean the tank, change the filters carbon and clean it's media, heck I even developed my own under gravel filter system using pvc and nylon window screening. Get this, back in those days, a dozen gold fish was like a dollar....and I paid about 3.99 for a five inch Oscar, or 2.29 for a three inch Green Terror....and I remember splurging a whopping 8.00 for my first arrowanna.....oh heck....I need to hit the sack.....
thanks for your time.....Gnite...
CF
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