How TPF taught me to be a good fishkeeper.

[kcartwright856]

I guess that explains that, huh?

Are there any good general aquarium forums? I glanced at the one that JP linked, but it seemed like pretty much 1 or 2 people knew all the answers to everything. Or at least thought they did.

[RTR]

I was a long-time member of AC, but I left immediately after MFK took over the site. That would be the next-to-last place I would ever post anything. MFK itself would be the last.

The issue is one of quality of life and also one of water quality. It is the same issue as betta housing, or gisnt fish housing. Yes, a pair of DPs can and will survive in a 3. They may even breed there. But water quality will not be maintained well or stably. The same pair in a 5 will be better in a 5 and better still in a ten. In that ten you can have one male and a couple of females. In a 15 you can have a trio of females with a single male. In a 33KL you can have a small colony and regular breeding w/o stresses or degradation of water quality. MFK sites do want to hear about quality of life or quality of water. Both of those issues are non-starters to those folk and I will not ever offer them the benefit of any info or knowledge I have.

I am sorry for the folks who know no better, but as I have said repeatedly, you cannot fight city hall. Those hobbyists will have to learn the hard way. I did. Refer them here. If they come here, they might even become real fish-keepers rather than fish-killers.

All JMHO.

[J-P]

You must be talking about subroasa .... well he is correct in a way and incorrect in others.

Note how many times he says "if". Although this should be moved to another thread, it is not really the bioload of the puffer itself that requires a min of 5 gals, it is also the swimming space (mine hunts in all 30 gals he has), and the destruction they leave behind. The partial bodies can foul the water very quickly. Eliminate the "ifs" and you eliminate the variables. "Will" becomes the optimum solution. Anything can happen on an "if". Think along these lines: "If I do this", what is the next logical statement? Would it be "This will happen..." or "This should happen.."? Since the person is talking in abstracts the latter is logical. The person can't know what "will" happen "if" it hasn't. Am I confusing you yet?

The statement should have read "3 gal tank will work, when you provide x% of plant coverage, x amount of filtration, x% of weekly water changes and x% of food". The poster dealing abstracts can't provide that information. Here these guys and gals KNOW what WILL work. There are no abstracts, but there is a little wiggle room for experimentation.

[RTR]

The fact remains that MFK sites favor simplistic and inadequate responses and quick fixes. They show no consideration for the fish's water quality or quality of life.

My aims are quite different from theirs. Therefore I elected not to participate on their playgrounds and left AC when they took it over. They get along without me quite well.