Tripdad, Thanks for posting. Unfortunately Old School is near dead and so many people rely on other people's experiences for knowledge instead of experimenting or discovering things on our own. There is also so much scientific writings out there on things like bacteria, antibiotics and immunity that there is little need to ask an employee of an LFS for information when that kid probably last week was washing the floor at Burger King and never had a fish tank. I am not saying we should not read these forums, I read them, but read them with common sense. If you want to know about a specific fish, find someone who has had many of them over many years, not someone who got one last Tuesday and posts that he has great luck feeding it apple pie and hamburger helper.
There are some very talented people on here with healthy beautiful tanks, take advice from them. Some members have tanks I am jealous of. Very nice and most people here are extremely nice and helpful. Search them out.
I also don't think that every spot on a fish warrants some type of medication. Every time I get a cut, I don't put an antibiotic on it. As a matter of fact, I don't think I ever do. That's why I have an immune system. My close friend walks around with that hand sanitizer in her hand. She is always sick, I wonder why!.
I don't make a lot of friends talking about my methods and I think that is because most people started a few years ago and are in the internet generation where there is so much free information. No one checks it, but it is easily accessed and people will eventually find what they want to hear. Many people, even on here wished that I would just go away. I am old so I will soon. :confused:
I run a reverse undergravel filter which has been running with no maintenance or problems for over 40 years. People ask me all the time If I were to set up a new tank would I use a more modern, "better" system?
Like, is it me? Is there a "better" more modern system that has lasted longer or has less maintenance? Why would I do that?
I don't advocate UG filters for obvious reasons, people would laugh and tell me about that nitrate factory thing so I don't say anything. I just read about tanks crashing all the time, tanks that don't have UG filters.
I talk a lot about immunity and try to tell people how to get their fish immune. You would be amazed how much flack I get about that. So, again, I just read about all the tanks crashing from parasites and all the medications used. Lately I have not gone on disease threads because I don't feel fish should ever get sick so I would be the wrong person to answer questions about that.
Of course in 60 years of doing this I have encountered every disease and can cure most of them and I have in stores and wholesalers but if I presented my Ideas on a forum, I would hear nothing but arguments so I stay out of it.
I do however love to see a fish in an LFS that is covered in Parasites so I can get it for close to free. I can cure it in a day and have a great fish. (Not that I want to see a fish with parasites, work with me here)
I use things like diatom filters, something that very few people have heard about but it will remove parasites "from water" as well as most other things. It is old school and people would rather rely on medications.
Old school copper with formalin will kill any parasite in a day or two along with a diatom filter. If you add quinicrine hydrochloride to that, it will kill the parasites in less than a day. If I wrote a thread about that, how many people would put up that ich life cycle chart? I am tired of seeing that chart.:eek:
I wrote a book so I could print my theories and experiences without any drama. Now people just throw eggs at my house. :D
One of them even landed in my tank.
