How to convince an otherwise well meaning fish owner

[pentiumburner]

I have tried both the diplomatic as well as the direct approach with a co-worker in regards to what to us is a very basic maintenance part of aquaria. The person I speak of has a 100 gal. tank and she is convinced that PWC'S are not necessary.

As a last resort I am going to let her borrow my Master Test Kit and maybe she will read the enclosed information on the reasons that this is such an important part of fish keeping. The tank is definitely been going for quite awhile and she has 8-10 inch Balas as well as 2 large 7-9 inch plecos.

It is depressing to me that she thinks she has a "natural environment" and PWCS are not needed. She is otherwise an intelligent individual but in this aspect really ignorant or stubborn. Any other suggestions are welcome since I want her to realize that this is impacting her fish since all she does is top off the tank after evaporation (hence condensing the water)..

Thanks

 

[Andos99]

It sounds like you are doing what you can at this point. Maybe email her some information about the importance of PWC's. If she is reasonably intelligent like you say, she shouldn't have a problem reading some helpful facts if they are handed to her. It is sad to say, but she may have to wait until a few balas die before she realizes you were right. You can always tell her about this website.....that way she can have a few hundred people trying to convince her

 

[PsiPro]

Until i got my own fish tank, i didn't think they were nessary becasue my parents never did them on our tanks at home. Now when I go home I do them for them... so they get water changes twice a year

 

[IceH2O]

Some people won't listen. My friend has a 46 gallon bowfront. I took my test kit over and showed him nitrates were off the chart. Amazingly Am and Ni were fine. Told him he needed to do pwc daily to get the levels down and then he could do weekly to keep them there. He has mostly bottom fedders and they're messy fish. Also his intake tube is only about 1/4 the way down his tank. Told him to buy an extension for it.

So in about 3 months time he hasn't bought the extension and has done a few pwc. I'm sure not enough to counter the nitrates. Its a shame because he has 1 fish that cost like $15 and even that doesn't motivate him.

 

[Jchillin]

Perhaps this will help. A very in depth discussion on what an aquarium needs:

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=75162&highlight=eco+system

 

[pentiumburner]

I think I may have the answer

I asked her to bring me in a water sample so I will personally run all the tests and show her the results vs. the recomendations in the literature.

Hopefully this and another co-worker who told her she was "insane" for not doing PWCS will convince her. Thank you to all

 

[Zagz]

You are doing everything you can. Unfortunately some people will not change their views. Giving her reading material is another excellent option. Maybe it will help. Good luck.