Tank birthday, 47+ years

[ingchr1]

So Paul it looks like you have no parasites present...

Do the results indicate no parasites in the sample locations or no parasites what so ever in the entire tank? Are parasites and everything else reported in the sample results uniformly distributed throughout the tank?

 

[Freenow54]

The medica profession has the attitude along with a lot of other people that stress is the killer for us , so it was stressful for Paul to call me a wimp for using a treadmill and I too am exhibiting spots on me this morning

 

[Paul B]

Do the results indicate no parasites in the sample locations or no parasites what so ever in the entire tank? Are parasites and everything else reported in the sample results uniformly distributed throughout the tank?

I am an electrician and not a geneticist or barista in Starbucks so I would not be the person to ask. I assume that being this is not a parasite test, but a parasite DNA test that would confirm there are no parasites present and has not been any in a while.

But I am sure Jay knows so I am waiting for him to explain it to me.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

its not just the fact Paul's water sample showed no sign of disease or parasites but the fact he will almost certainly introduced them with new purchases. Those diseases and parasites seem to have died out pretty quickly, perhaps in hours. The question is if so why. What is it that triggered such a remarkable event?

Yes, that is the still unanswered question, IMO.

I don't think it is justified to list everything you or Paul or anyone else does or hypothesizes and say ALL of those matter. Clearly, if you do ALL of those things, folks will hopefully attain similar results.

If you do some subset of those things, is the result essentially the same? Only trying that can tell.

 

[Freenow54]

Seriously It makes absolute sense that stress will kill things . Have you ever watched a bird " worry " anything ? We had a killer cat and it was hatching season and baby rabbits as well. It just loved killing not eating . So I put a collar on it and tird it to a small apple tree in our yard . I checked back and a blue jay was above it squawking as only a blue jay can the cat was all scrunched down and its ears were flat . Another time I watched a cooper Hawk case a bird into a dense bush at the back of the yard , I went and opened the bush up the hawk ( which eats birds was about 2 feet away and a small bird was sitting there frozen in what I describe as fear . I have seen things worry things to death without ever touching them. So back to stress that is why I wont Quarantine anymore either. Maybe it is because of ignorance that I don't do it properly but I killed one fish and that's enough for me . I recently fed my fish frozen but outdated flakes . It I believe killed one of the fish . It took me weeks for the remaining ones to attempt to eat. I got new food and all is good now . My tang has been hiding for three weeks finally just coming out again now. Yesterday I was target feeding coral with zoo plankton which was for the second day . The Tang which is Large 5-6 inches was coming right up to the end of the acrylic turkey baster like feeder and eating it right out of the end of the tube . I was worried about losing it too all attributed to not trusting me and the obvious stress of not eating

 

[Freenow54]

Agreed, and what a few of us have been saying. This along with the right foods and environment all aiding reduced stress aquariums Personally I think it's the biggest factor in producing a disease aquarium.

There is much more research required to confirm this of course. However that could take many years with multiple identically set up reef tanks.

There has to be a cumulative. reason a small number of us never have issues with not just diseases but also parasites practicing similar ways to our reefkeeping.

Maybe we aren't as nutty as some may believe.

I don't think research is required logic prevails as far as I am concerned

 

[atoll]

I think we can mostly agree.
1/ Stress is a killer.
2/ QTing is stressful to fish.
3/ medicating with the likes if copper is stressful to fish
4/ The environment we create for our fish plays an important part in reducing stress.
5/ The lack of predators reduces stress.
6/ A healthy diet is important to the health of out fish.
7/ Other tank mates carefully chosen and reduce stress or heighten it.
8/ cramped conditions adds to stress.
9/ poor water quality can also be stressful.
Am not going to add a tenth.

 

[atoll]

I don't think research is required logic prevails as far as I am concerned

Am long with prolonged experience.

 

[Paul B]

I agree stress is the biggest problem in this hobby and being most of us can't read the expression on a fishes face, it's hard to tell if it is stressed. But I'm telling you that almost all fish in captivity are stressed, and it is our job to keep the tank as stress-free as we can.

I think eliminating stress would do much more for the health of the tank than trying to kill all the pathogens.
This seems very simple, common sense to me, and I think all of the very old, non-quarantined yet disease-free tanks all have reduced stress in common.

Quarantine, unless it is done in a tank as large as your DT and set up as well, is extremely stressful, which is why so many posts are about sick fish in quarantine. Just look on the disease forum. It is the act of quarantining that is actually causing these diseases to attack our fish, and if medication is used, that compounds the problems because we can't know how the fish feels after being in a bath of medication.

I know how I feel on medication, and I never drank a medication if I had a skin problem, but most disease threads are about parasites or some sort of skin problem. When we try to kill or cure those "skin" conditions, we are forcing the fish to drink all those poisons, and we are hoping that it will kill the parasites. We can't rub copper on a fish to try to kill a parasite.

If we get a rash, we can put some calamine lotion on it, but try drinking it.

Copper is a toxic poison to us and fish. Yes it will kill parasites, but apparently less stress also kills them and their DNA.

The tank transfer method also has to be extremely stressful because fish need to feel secure, and keeping them in a small tank with PVC elbows and transferring them constantly must be terrifying for them unless they work in Home Depot.

 

[Paul B]

 

[MikeReefs]

Need to start my white worm culture. Weather is perfect to order them now. Next coming weeks will be in the 50-60 here in Ny. My house is around 70 year round is that too warm for them?

 

[atoll]

Need to start my white worm culture. Weather is perfect to order them now. Next coming weeks will be in the 50-60 here in Ny. My house is around 70 year round is that too warm for them?

I use 2 sandwich boxes, soon to be 3. I rotate feeding the worms from each. That way you can feed WWs once day.
They are OK at 70 but you don't want them much higher if possible keep them in a dark cool place if you can. 55 to 65F is ideal.

 

[MikeyZo]

What are white worms?

that’s a loaded question…

 

[atoll]

What are white worms?

that’s a loaded question…

Worms that are white in colour. Well you did ask lol.

OK, they are tiny thin no more than 1mm and around 10 to15mm approximately length. I have never tried to measure them.
They are usual cultivated quite easily at home and used to feed many fish both tropical FW and marine. Mostly small to medium fish. There are lots of how to's on YouTube
Here is a quick video of my tank being fed them.

 

[Freenow54]

How can you predict the developement of a fishes personality . I had a Yellow Tang That was so mellow i thoght it was on the devils weed . I now have a Vlamingi Tang that would give Trump a run for being a Bully . Sorry Boys

 

[Boo Baker]

I would take the " Trump Bully" any day over the druggie fish

 

[MikeReefs]

What are white worms?

that’s a loaded question…

It’s what Paul feeds his fish. White worms are powerhouse live food for your fish packed with nutrients proteins and healthy fats. The live bacteria in them is what he swears keeps his fish so healthy and immune. If you cultivate them right you will have an endless supply of live food.

 

[Paul B]

My house is around 70 year round is that too warm for them?

Yes, they prefer about 60 or a little lower

How can you predict the developement of a fishes personality . I had a Yellow Tang That was so mellow i thoght it was on the devils weed

So he was Mello Yellow? They used to call me Mello Yellow.

 

[atoll]

Yes, they prefer about 60 or a little lower

So he was Mello Yellow? They used to call me Mello Yellow.

I keep.my WW cultures in the bottom of a cupboard in the dark. Not sure where I shall keep them in summer. Maybe a small secondhand wine cooler.

 

[Freenow54]

I should do a video of it licking the zoo plankton up . Like a kid with an ice cream cone