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Originally Posted by puppyrjjkm  It's actually that exact stocking list just without the swordtails and 2 leaf fish. Haha I wanted to switch everyone over to a bigger tank. Plus a snail. Everyone is doing very well together. It's been this setup for about 3 months now.The leaf fish will be upgraded here anyway in the near future as well. That's why I was surprised by some of the responses! |
Perhaps I can explain a bit. "doing well together" is not so easy to determine. You've no idea, nor do I, as to what exactly the fish "feels" in the way of stress. Sometimes stress is easily seen in behaviours, attitude, appearance--but often it is not. If stress is present, it weakens the immune system; at some point down the road, the fish may develop some health issue related to this that it would not otherwise encounter, or it may just die "for no reason" as some would say. It is like the effect of ammonia and/or nitrite; fish may appear to survive cycling, but it has weakened them internally and this cannot be seen externally--until they suddenly get sick or die from some insignificant issue.
Second point is that nature created these fish in a certain way. They evolved over thousands and even millions of years. Ichthyologists studying the species can determine what is natural or normal for the species, i.e., what we can "expect." We cannot always explain why some fish might not be as obvious in their behaviours or reactions as others in the same species. All animals, even humans, are like this. What we
do know is that certain factors can cause aggression to be intensified more often than not. Responsibility means researching the species, and providing what it is known to require and avoiding what may cause stress. This approach is more likely to result in healthy, "happy" fish, and that means a more successful community aquarium.
Here's another parallel. Smoking causes cancer, not in everyone, but the risk is high that if you smoke, you may well eventually contract cancer of some sort. Common sense tells us that if we avoid smoking, we remove the probable eventuality.
Byron.
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