I’m starting to think that everything that is documented about everything is about 50% crap and 50% baloney.
Take for an example, my tropical fish tank. I’ve read up on what should be in a tank, the ideal temperatures, tank biomes, the benefits of live plans versus plastic plants, filtration systems blah blah blah blah blah… crap.
I had 2 aquariums for a while – a 10 gallon tank with a regular filter that I changed about once a year, and never changed the water in which I had about 30 guppies (no kidding), and a 36 gallon tank with a filter, a heater, air stones, etc. in which I kept less than 1” of fish per gallon of water, and I changed about ¼ or the water about once a month. According to all the literature, the smaller tank should have been floating dead fish and poison water constantly, and the big tank should have been thriving. Not so.
The little tank water was crystal clear forever, and the fish only died when I changed the water. The big tank, however, was constantly turning green and fish were dying like they did when I sprayed Windex in our fish tank when I was a kid. (Yes, that was mean. My little brother freaked out. I think he needed therapy at some point because of it. Maybe not. I feel bad. A little. But not really, it was a long time ago. I hope PETA isn’t reading this.)
I now have the big tank in my office. I have both an under gravel and a regular filter on it, and an LED light because I read that live plants will help keep ammonia down in the bowl. Which doesn’t seem to be so – the ammonia levels are about the same now as they were when I had plastic plants. (about $200.00 of plants and lights ago.) According to all the literature, my fish should all be dead now, and the water should be green from algae and toxins. Not so. Water is crystal clear, fish are multiplying and thriving, and every now an then (rarely) I get a glimpse of one of the cherry shrimp that I have in there. Oh yeah – and the only water change that happens now is me adding a couple of gallons to replace the evaporated water when the noise from the water coming out of the filter starts really getting on my nerves.
Moral to the story here – most of the advice you find online is crap. Yeah Yeah – I knew that too, I’m just ranting.
After killing hundreds of fresh water tropical fish in my 90 gallon tank I finally came to the conclusion that I am toxic to the fish. I switched to salt water and have never looked back. I decided to leave the tank maintenance to professionals although expensive, the results have been outstanding. They come in twice a month test, clean, change water and resupply my tank. I have a automatic feeder so when I’m away my little buddies still get fed. I have very happy fish and I am very happy to watch them swim around.