Aquarium hobby misconceptions and myths!

[KeithnHarry]

An inch of fish per gallon, conversely 10000 gallons for a minnow mentality- one cannot totally recreate the ocean lol!

[aqua_chem]

Originally Posted by Pandicorn

The theory is so that the organism can become more sexually mature as a last desperate attempt to breed, as the body recognizes it is in less than ideal conditions.

Who's theory is that? It doesn't make much sense, being as many species reach sexual maturity at relatively small sizes and then continue to grow.

[Old Scales]

Note also that we condition many of our fish with optimum water & food to get them to spawn, not starve or stress them. OS.

[Pandicorn]

Originally Posted by aqua_chem

Who's theory is that? It doesn't make much sense, being as many species reach sexual maturity at relatively small sizes and then continue to grow.

I dunno, some guy told me this

[VioletGoby]

Myth: proper aquarium maintenance means emptying out everything, scrubbing the deco and putting in 100% new water.

[jlk]

Originally Posted by VioletGoby

Myth: proper aquarium maintenance means emptying out everything, scrubbing the deco and putting in 100% new water.

Be careful with this one as its not a myth but a standard practice in the art of fancy goldfish that has been in existence for well over a thousand years. Its very important to point out here that "cycling" tanks is not part of this practice as 100% of the water is changed daily. I follow a variation on this of frequent 75-100% wcs but I also keep everything cycled and the majority planted as well.

A similar practice of 100% wcs/disinfecting a tank daily is also used for quarantine by many advanced aquarists that keep high end fish. A fish will be moved from one completely sterile environment to the next every single day as part of quarantine.

Both practices are very labor intensive and require more than just a general knowledge of the hobby, water chemistry, etc. For most aquarists, these practices are not realistic and may even be dangerous in the hands of the uninformed.