Of Fish and Fun

Alright, so first actual proper post...

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There are many reasons why one would set up an aquarium, and toss some fish/plants/corals/amphibians/reptiles/kids in there. What I find though, is that for the most part people will base their purchases upon one simple ideal: looks. I'm sure many, if not all of us were victims of impulse buys, back when we saw some nice looking neon tetras and decide to shove 20 of them all into a 2 litre tank. For most of us, that time would have gone (I hope), and now if we ever do it, it's with very careful deliberation.

For me specifically, I keep fish partly for their looks, but what truly interests me is their behaviour. As a scientist, I'm piqued by such diverse behaviour, interactivity and developments that each fish goes through.

So since the first times I've ever kept fish, turtles and the likes, I've spent hours on end staring at them, observing the fish' movements, behaviors, etc.

This has at times caused me to be at odds with fellow aquarists, where their viewpoints differ greatly from mine. My experimental affinity pushes me to experiment often, and whilst I would never do something if it is just pointless and completely unethical, I would push boundaries from time to time. Then again, what is pointless or unethical would depend upon each person's viewpoint, so I guess that was not too great of a statement to make. Anyways, my fish (and other live stock) really are subjected to two different treatments - either I meddle with them often, or I leave them alone.

In most cases, what interests me is observing fish and what they want to do - rather than getting them to do what I want them to do. I think this is where many fish keepers have major issues - they have a perceived idea as to how their fish should act, or really want their fish to act a certain way regardless. I find that this is a major source of problems in a tank.

To give an example, it can be as simple as trying to place an anemone in a pre-dictated spot and forcing it there. For the most part this will lead to the anemone just uprooting and floating off to where they'd want to be. If they were then be left alone, there's no issues. But if the anemone was constantly picked up and moved back, it's either eventually be so stressed that it'll die, or eventually end up as circulator fodder. Usually that will also end up in the tank being 'nuked'.

Or perhaps, one will get plenty of cichlids and see a lot of chasing around. Not inderstanding or accepting that it's natural, they'd remove the alpha male. The beta male then steps up and the same thing repeats, eventually leading to the belief that a large tank can only house one or two fish. If one had understood how cichlid aggression work though, one'd realize that when there is plenty of cichlids to spread the aggression around. This means that most fish will be picked on, but none will be completely stressed out. There are exceptions of course - there always is.

My point is... fish and these other creatures are in the end, living beings. They are not robots, machinations with a preprogrammed guide to life that will always work in a specific way. And if you're expecting that, well chances are that you'll be disappointed.

So what do I do? I tend to leave my fish be. When I first got cichlids I didn't realize just how much rescaping they were capable of. But rather than returning the aquascape back to how it was, I decided to leave it. Leaving the cichlids relatively uninterfered, I found that they did much better - they became much less skittish and showed behaviours I'd never even known. I never knew Thorichthys maculipinnis would dig themselves into the gravel when they were spooked, or that they become efficient hunters when the opportunity presents. I didn't think baby cichlids would use the tiny, tiny dents in lava rock to hide themselves effectively, or that Borneo Sucker Fish circled each other as a mating behaviour. If I simply followed guides and meddled with the tank everytime something was 'not according to standard', chances are that I'd miss all these interesting behaviours. So there is a merit to letting all thesewonderful creatures do whatever they want to do. Sometimes taking a step back and relax is the best way to bring out the best in these creatures, and my experience absolutely supports this.

This is not to say I never become meddlesome. I've breed plenty of fish, on purpose, the most recent being a hybridization attempt between the Ellioti (T. Maculipinnis) and Convict (Amatitlania nigrofasciata). And yes, I am absolutely completely fascinated by cichlids, hence all these scientific names. Chances are that these scientific names will be changed in years to come, but for now, they are what they are.

During the hybridization process, I meddled a lot. I changed aroundthe aquascape, moved this and that, varied their diet, but even then I still let them be. I simply watched the interactions between the cichlids, seeing how they reacted to each other (and the changing environment).

Fish are fascinating creatures, and there's much to learn if one takes a step back and just observe them. I'm not saying that one can't ever interfere, and for the most part we can never really completely not meddle, because well, we do. Our aquariums simulate the wild, but it's not the wild. We have to feed these beings, we have to maintain their surroundings, and sometimes, we have to take care of the dead for them (before the water fouls up and killing everything).

Sometimes, it's true that leaving them be can end badly - some fish are just naturally aggressive, and with undue care, everything will be killed.

So where's the balance? I guess perhaps we will have to all find our own tipping points...

I am still pushing my boundaries, so my balance seems to be ever be encroaching the 'oh god you're crazy' side of things. Thanks to that though, I don't just have a simple tank of colours that does nothing besides... having said colours. I'm finding out plenty of cool things, and whilst that's still happening, I still like to continue pushing boundaries. :)

Well I guess this is a good time to end the first blog post. I apologize if there's not really any format to this or the likes. Not entirely sure if anybody will even read this.

I'll continue posting anyways. Even if for no one else, I still find an use for this.

So So Fishy...

So where to start... well, let's go with this.

Hi guys, I am Azedenkae, an avid keeper of fish and other aquatic critters. My top top top favorite fish of all time would probably be the Herichthys carpintis var. Escondido, or 'Super Green Texas Cichlid' to most people.

This blog will be the place for me to express my opinions, my viewpoints, my ideas and everything about the hobby. It may be right, it may be wrong, but it'll be my opinions. :) Surely there will be some things that people will disagree with me about as well, and that's cool - I'd love to hear your own opinions too.

This is really just a short, introductory post.

Anyways, yep!