My plants prefer water changes, tho, even when the fish are fine without. A
year is a long time, even in a system such as you describe. A good friend of
mine (and on this list) maintains all sorts of heavily planted and lightly
stocked tanks, and she not only does w/out filters, but also w/out air. Her
tanks and fish are gorgeous and the fishroom is so quiet it's unreal. ;-p.
Considering how hectic her life gets, my guess is she also does not do as
many water changes as one would normally recommend. Not sure how many or
what kind of bows she keeps any longer, but she used to have a few. Bows do
tend to appreciate some current tho, and her tanks mostly don't have that.
I also keep plants in tanks (tho not "planted" by any stretch in most of
them) and I understock for the most part. I find the H2OQ stays good for
longer than if I did either differently. As I said, tho, with all but the
hardiest of plants (Java Moss/Fern, Anubias) I do find that the plants need
a water change before the fish do, as the micro-nutrients tend to get low as
they use em up.
Julie <'><
>From: "Lyndon Giles" <lyndongiles at optusnet.com.au>
>Reply-To: r_m_l at yahoogroups.com
>To: <r_m_l at yahoogroups.com>
>Subject: [RML] Mycobacterium
>Date: Wed, 15 Jun 2005 15:04:41 +1000
>
>Large water changes are NOT needed at all. I spend a lot of time in Ron
>Bowman's fish room. I'm sure most of you are familliar with the name. He
>very rarely does water changes. Tanks can go a year without changing water.
>Ron NEVER has a problem with Mycobacterium. This is how he looks after his
>fish.
>
>1. Doesn't overstock his tanks.
>2. Most tanks are planted.
>3. Keeps Malayan burrowing snails to clean the substrate.
>4. when adding a fish to a tank, he puts it in a small container with 4 pin
>holes in the bottom ,then places that in the tank so there is no pH shock.
>
>Added to this he DOES NOT use filters in his tanks. Just airation. Each
>tank
>is a self sustained mini ecosystem except for the addition of food. Now I
>don't for a moment suggest everyone adopt this system but it is an
>interesting one that has worked for decades. Ron has been keeping fish
>since
>the 1930's (as a boy) and has develped it over that period. It works!
>
>P.S. Now lets see the flames roll in! :-)
>
>Lyndon
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: <r_m_l at yahoogroups.com>
>To: <r_m_l at yahoogroups.com>
>Sent: Wednesday, June 15, 2005 1:18 AM
>Subject: [RML] Digest Number 109
>
>
> >
> > There are 2 messages in this issue.
> >
> > Topics in this digest:
> >
> > 1. RE: Mycobacteriosis article and one picture
> > From: "Matthew Stanton" <matthews at sf.nsw.gov.au>
> > 2. Re: M. lacustris eggs wanted
> > From: "JEFFREY FOX" <jeffanddeena at msn.com>
> >
> >
> > ________________________________________________________________________
> > ________________________________________________________________________
> >
> > Message: 1
> > Date: Tue, 14 Jun 2005 16:30:19 +1000
> > From: "Matthew Stanton" <matthews at sf.nsw.gov.au>
> > Subject: RE: Mycobacteriosis article and one picture
> >
> >
> > I have to agree with Gary. :o
> > I have seen aquarists be careful and fail time and again. Rainbows get
> > disease if they are stressed; and stress comes in all shapes and sizes.
> > If you were going to test every supplier of fish, you would probably
> > find FishTB in all of them, (assuming that you had a method of thorough
> > testing).
> >
> > my 2 cents worth,
> > Matthew
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: r_m_l at yahoogroups.com [r_m_l at yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
> > Gary Lange
> > Sent: Sunday, June 12, 2005 12:17 PM
> > To: r_m_l at yahoogroups.com
> > Subject: Re: [RML] Mycobacteriosis article and one picture
> >
> >
> > Hi Diane,
> >
> > I took a quick look at the article and one thing I didn't seem to see,
> > not a zip squat natta on how often you change the water in your
> > rainbowfish tanks. One of the things that those of us that have kept
> > them over the years know that nitrates are a stress point for rainbows.
> > So are temperatures above 80 degrees, probably because of lower O2
> > levels. I'm sure that there are a lot of other things that we can't
> > measure in water quality that also stresses them. pH swings, which can
> > occur (I think I remember NC water being pretty soft and low KH
> > (buffering capacity) this causes stress on rainbowfish. WHEN they pick
> > up these stresses they tend to be susceptible to Myco. Without the
> > stresses and any character with open or active sores the problem
> > absolutely goes away. THe problem is that Myco is everywhere and it's
> > probably a silent carrier (just like Ich) which only pops up when there
> > is a major wrong happening in a tank. It's carried on plants, Corys and
> > any other fish you might think about putting in your aquarium. I really
> > don't have time for a full discussion about myco but if you want to keep
> > it from your aquarium then you need to perform LARGE water changes.
> > David B (TFH editor) has a great talk on why your water changes should
> > be 50% or larger. Math and tables but it makes it pretty easy to see
> > the reasons. People will go to some extreme methods to avoid performing
> > water changes and end up blaming their fish deaths, (not necessarily on
> > Myco) on strange and weird diseases. If they just bucked up and did the
> > required water changes (LIKE WHAT HAPPENS IN NATURE) then they wouldn't
> > have the problem. Lose the stresses lose the myco. (I've also heard
> > this from people at the public aquariums for other types of fish). The
> > rainbowfish can now resist the disease. It's taken me a long time to
> > come to this conclusion but I think I've probably been keeping bows
> > longer than most on this list and I also have the experience of keeping
> > many tanks of them.
> >
> >
> > cheers,
> >
> > Gary Lange
> >
> > blueredorganic <blueredorganic at yahoo.com> wrote:
> >
> > Dear Bow Lovers,
> >
> > I posted finally finished and posted article on my experience
> > with
> > Mycobacteriosis.
> >
> > I also posted a recent photo of my 55 gal, which contains
> > Yellow,
> > Turquoise, Red, and a pair of M. trifasciata (Goyder River).
> > All are
> > infected with Mycobacteria. It was killing the fish one-by-one,
> > but
> > the dying has stopped since I added a UV sterilizer. More info
> > in the
> > article.
> >
> > Hope this helps!
> > Diana Walstad
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ________________________________________________________________________
> > ________________________________________________________________________
> >
> > Message: 2
> > Date: Tue, 14 Jun 2005 08:57:07 -0600
> > From: "JEFFREY FOX" <jeffanddeena at msn.com>
> > Subject: Re: M. lacustris eggs wanted
> >
> > Lilly,
> >
> > I can get you a turquoise (M. lacustris) mop delivered for $22.50. I
>also
>have many other varieties if you are interested. This lacustris strain is
>from Tanner.
> >
> > Jeff
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: FiestaCranberry<fiestacranberry at webtv.net>
> > To: r_m_l at yahoogroups.com<r_m_l at yahoogroups.com>
> > Sent: Friday, June 10, 2005 10:49 AM
> > Subject: [RML] M. lacustris eggs wanted
> >
> >
> > Hello,
> > I am looking for a mop of M. lacustris eggs. I saw some on Aquabid,
>but
>I can't pay $40!!! Can anyone help me out? I'd like to keep it under $20
>with postage (priority mail).
> > tanx,
> > Lilly
> >
> >