Topic: Fishkeeping Myths

[Cholly]

This first post is dedicated to Sauce_Packet, because it was her frustrated venting post that inspired it.
Thanks also go to Essabee and helenf for their ideas.

Myth:"Because my small tank came with pictures of goldfish on the box, it must be suitable for goldfish."

Truth: Goldfish, even the least demanding space-wise, require a minimum 10 gallons each, filtered and cycled. A smaller tank is a deathtrap for goldfish. Goldfish have very primitive digestive systems and produce comparatively huge amounts of waste.

Myth:"Stunting kills because the guts keep growing"

Truth: Stunting generally leads to death mostly because of the conditions that led to the stunting; stress, malnourishment, lack of space, poisons from inadequate filtration/water changes...

Myth:"Fish only grow to the size of the aquarium"

Truth: With adequate filtration and food, fish will grow to near normal adult size unless stunting and stress from stunting kills them. This is where the term "tankbuster"(a fish whose adult size is much too large for a given aquarium) comes from.
Several tankbuster species are(but not limited to): Pacus, clown knife, clown loach, common plecos(actually several different species are called "common plecos", but most, if not all, are tankbusters), red tailed catfish(5 feet!), shovelnose catfish, arrowanas, oscars, jack dempseys.

[Cholly]

Myth: Male Bettas are vicious.

Truth: Bettas actually make good community fish, just don't put any other bettas with a male unless it's a female and both have been conditioned to breed. Females will generally get along once dominance has been determined. I wouldn't recommend putting other long finned fish with a male betta, but have have had excellent luck with glolight, serpae and neon tetras, rasboras, cories, numerous species of loaches, plecos, danios, swordtails, platies, even a dwarf gourami with a particularly laid back betta. Actually, it's usually the betta that gets picked on by certain tetras, keep an eye out for fin nippers.

Myth: Bettas like small containers.

Truth: Haven't you noticed they look extremely bored in tiny containers? Just because they can be kept in a small container doesn't mean they won't be happier in a larger aquarium. Mine are in 20 and 29 gallon aquariums, range all over them and appear to be much happier. Try it. They'll like it.

Come on long-time keepers, bold a Myth: and a Truth: surely you know a myth that tweaks your tailfeathers, debunk it.

[helenf]

Myth:    Large water changes are dangerous to fish.

Truth:   It depends on the situation. 

In a healthy tank, many small water changes will keep the water chemistry more stable than fewer large water changes.  It is better to do regular water changes more often and change less water, than to do them infrequently and do larger changes.  The latter risks a large change in the water chemistry, which might stress the fish and cause ozmotic shock.   Though, if you are up to date with your water changes, large water changes are generally fine.  Many fishkeepers change 50% weekly with no problems at all. 

However in an unhealthy tank, by which I mean one with measurable non-zero ammonia or NitrIte, large water changes are the fastest, cheapest and easiest way to reduce the danger of killing your fish with poor water quality.  Small water changes will have little or no effect because they leave most of the toxins still in the water, and you would have to do many many repeated water changes to remove enough of the toxin to make a difference.   In this situation, while a large water change may harm the fish, not doing large water changes certainly will harm the fish, because the water will stay toxic for longer.   So if your tank is unhealthy, large water changes are definitely the way to go. 

[Fish r Friends, Not Food!]

This is very late, but...

Myth: Fish have 3 second memories

Truth: Fish have 3 month or longer memories. They are very very smart.

[jenazen69]

Myth- I have one fish tank and I know what I'm doing

Truth- I have 3 tanks, and as my taste in fish and decor changes so does the amount of knowledge I need to keep up with it.

I find I spend months deciding on what I want to do in my tanks, as I made some early mistakes, and have found a passion for other fish than the ones I started with. I don't think I will ever know 100% of all I need or want to know about my fish, and other fish as well.

Myth- All cychlids are killers.

Truth- All fish that are not complete herbivores can be killers, and some cichlids can be down right shy and timid.

When I started keeping fish I saw the aggressive label on the cichlid tanks, and decided I didn't want to get involved with them as I wanted a community tank. I am now trying to put dwarf cichlids in 2 of my tanks, and using the 3rd tank to raise guppy fry to feed to the other tanks.

[Guppyguy]

Myth:If I have a live plant, it must be a healthy addition to my tank.

Truth:You have to check!!! Some plants can be poisonous to your fish.

Myth:It's ok to have 24 goldies in a 5 gallon

Truth:It's NOT OK My response:Oh, yeah, sure. WHY NOT PUT A BLUE WHALE IN THERE WHILE YOU'RE AT IT?!?!