Aquariums are Soothing!

[Gershom]

Fantasyland:

Fish tanks are so calming. Lower your blood pressure, right? Peaceful. Just watch the fish, feed them occasionally, while they grow, and maybe start families.

But they don’t have hundreds or even just dozens of babies, because that would mean special feeding, a grow-out tank, then trying to sell the juveniles. (Or maybe a frat party, doing the goldfish swallowing thing, but I’m nearly 70, so most of my frat buddies must be dead—oh wait, I never went to a fraternity…) No, these parents only have 2 or 3 babies, who grow normally, go to college, become productive members of society and send money home every month to help their parents.

That is the kind of aquarium that I imagine; so relaxing.

Realityland:

Well, I have a 55 with new fish (young tiger oscars and green terrors, all between 2-3 inches). And somebody is being aggressive, causing torn fins and open bite marks on bodies. I think it’s one of the oscars, which chases the terrors some.

I have some previous experience with oscars; a couple mated pairs and some juvies, including two batches of fry spawned and raised. And I always thought of them as mild-mannered, non-aggressive, but not these.

So I try isolating the aggressor, and my BP drops back for a while. Then I have time to watch the tank with young red devils and blue devils. I wonder what I will see over there?

 

[jjohnwm]

When you want an aquatic wonderland of peaceful, happy fish...don't buy species whose names contain clear indicators that they don't play well with others.

Devils...snakeheads...gulpers...terrors...knives...wolffish...tigerfish...I mean, come on, how much more of a hint does one need to know there will be trouble? Cichlids in general among the worst bad actors as a group. They know they're jerks, and that other fish just don't like 'em...so when it's time to breed...and with cichlids, it's always time to breed...they change from mere jerks into complete a-holes. They lay 5000 eggs, and are hell-bent on ensuring that every single one of them hatches, survives and grows.

They think that the other fish are planning on eating every one of their fry...well, duh! Their tankmates know dang well that more cichlids in the tank will result in more fighting, so of course they want to prevent that. The cichlids respond by over-reacting, by beating up and killing their tankmates, usually keeping them herded into one corner of the tank so that they are easily accessible when the time comes to kill another one. This sets a pretty poor example for the cichlid fry; they see Mommy and Daddy being completely antisocial...and they learn to imitate that, growing up into another generation of buttheads.

Aquarist blood pressure soars; stress levels are off the charts; what are those idiotic fish going to do next? I'm not even a "cichlid guy" per se. Sure, I have a couple species, and they usually are the source of most of my aquarium-related stress. Jeez, I can feel a blood pressure spike coming on every time I even see a new FINWIN thread; more thug adventures in Goon City; so much bopping and whacking and smacking and butting and chasing and hiding and...AAAAGGHHHHH!!!! How does she live in that house without having an aneurysm?

Peaceful, relaxing "fantasyland" tanks do exist; just be careful what you stock and you can have one too. No cichlids; nothing with prominently visible teeth; no species with names that include reference to dangerous predatory animals that are known to eat people. If you're buying privately, steer clear of fish whose previous owners have christened them Chopper or Buzzsaw or Killer.

Relax. Don't worry. Be happy.

 

[esoxlucius]

My whole fish room is about as soothing as you can get. It's nice and warm, for my plants, and the lighting from my tanks and grow lights add to the ambience.

The gentle sound of water being pumped back to my 360 along with a bit of music courtesy of Alexa and I could sit in there for hours.

And of course the main soother is watching the fish themselves. No aggro in any of my tanks.

However, going off the number of threads we see regarding fish compatibility, especially with cichlids, I think some people's tanks are as far away from soothing as you can get!

 

[FINWIN]

When you want an aquatic wonderland of peaceful, happy fish...don't buy species whose names contain clear indicators that they don't play well with others.

Devils...snakeheads...gulpers...terrors...knives...wolffish...tigerfish...I mean, come on, how much more of a hint does one need to know there will be trouble? Cichlids in general among the worst bad actors as a group. They know they're jerks, and that other fish just don't like 'em...so when it's time to breed...and with cichlids, it's always time to breed...they change from mere jerks into complete a-holes. They lay 5000 eggs, and are hell-bent on ensuring that every single one of them hatches, survives and grows.

They think that the other fish are planning on eating every one of their fry...well, duh! Their tankmates know dang well that more cichlids in the tank will result in more fighting, so of course they want to prevent that. The cichlids respond by over-reacting, by beating up and killing their tankmates, usually keeping them herded into one corner of the tank so that they are easily accessible when the time comes to kill another one. This sets a pretty poor example for the cichlid fry; they see Mommy and Daddy being completely antisocial...and they learn to imitate that, growing up into another generation of buttheads.

Aquarist blood pressure soars; stress levels are off the charts; what are those idiotic fish going to do next? I'm not even a "cichlid guy" per se. Sure, I have a couple species, and they usually are the source of most of my aquarium-related stress. Jeez, I can feel a blood pressure spike coming on every time I even see a new FINWIN thread; more thug adventures in Goon City; so much bopping and whacking and smacking and butting and chasing and hiding and...AAAAGGHHHHH!!!! How does she live in that house without having an aneurysm?

Peaceful, relaxing "fantasyland" tanks do exist; just be careful what you stock and you can have one too. No cichlids; nothing with prominently visible teeth; no species with names that include reference to dangerous predatory animals that are known to eat people. If you're buying privately, steer clear of fish whose previous owners have christened them Chopper or Buzzsaw or Killer.

Relax. Don't worry. Be happy.

LOL. well even the gob smacking tanks have their quiet times. Many times I would drift off to light sleep watching my finny friends. The new boxy tank will have calmer residents. I have made a discovery with reducing cichlid aggression, what I call the 'top down' method. I find one of the reasons sight breaks don't always work is because they're usually at one level, the bottom. But by layering decor all the way to the top, fish have more areas to claim/hide/nest in. Plus it encourages them to use all of the tank. I leave one open are for activity and 'exercise'. There are around 12 or so big male hrps in the 125 and with this method, aggression has been reduced to very minor levels. They still posture but that's mostly it. Prior to that it was nonstop pushing/shoving/chasing and liplocking. So it seems as though

1. Territory
2. Sheltering
3. Space

are in order first. Then party time and food! Plus its hard to fight when you're navigating through stuff and can't get a clean shot.

 

[jjohnwm]

LOL. well even the gob smacking tanks have their quiet times. Many times I would drift off to light sleep watching my finny friends. The new boxy tank will have calmer residents. I have made a discovery with reducing cichlid aggression, what I call the 'top down' method. I find one of the reasons sight breaks don't always work is because they're usually at one level, the bottom. But by layering decor all the way to the top, fish have more areas to claim/hide/nest in. Plus it encourages them to use all of the tank. I leave one open are for activity and 'exercise'. There are around 12 or so big male hrps in the 125 and with this method, aggression has been reduced to very minor levels. They still posture but that's mostly it. Prior to that it was nonstop pushing/shoving/chasing and liplocking. So it seems as though

1. Territory
2. Sheltering
3. Space

are in order first. Then party time and food! Plus its hard to fight when you're navigating through stuff and can't get a clean shot.

Aaah! So, the idea is to have numerous small individual compartments...sort of like office cubicles, or maybe we'll call them "cells"...that go all the way around the tank and are stacked vertically right to the top. Then, in the middle, an open exercise yard where the inmates can go to fight and liplock and shank each other.

I'm constructing a mental picture here...

 

[Gershom]

LOL. well even the gob smacking tanks have their quiet times. Many times I would drift off to light sleep watching my finny friends. The new boxy tank will have calmer residents. I have made a discovery with reducing cichlid aggression, what I call the 'top down' method. I find one of the reasons sight breaks don't always work is because they're usually at one level, the bottom. But by layering decor all the way to the top, fish have more areas to claim/hide/nest in. Plus it encourages them to use all of the tank. I leave one open are for activity and 'exercise'. There are around 12 or so big male hrps in the 125 and with this method, aggression has been reduced to very minor levels. They still posture but that's mostly it. Prior to that it was nonstop pushing/shoving/chasing and liplocking. So it seems as though

1. Territory
2. Sheltering
3. Space

are in order first. Then party time and food! Plus its hard to fight when you're navigating through stuff and can't get a clean shot.

Where did you read about this? I think I like the concept!

 

[FINWIN]

Where did you read about this? I think I like the concept!

An experiment that has been mostly successful. I did have one shank job done to one of the big males. His body was placed front and center as a display. I was doing a water change, came downstairs to check on the drain and a body was leaned against the glass...creepy and strange. Almost like "Get rid of it now."

 

[SilverArowanaBoi]

Aquariums are soothing.... I love to see evidence of that! (in all fairness, that is coming from someone who changed his tank..I don't know...500+ times? LOL)