It never ends

Our small, local news paper has a "Pet Talk" section. Usually it's
about dogs, cats and birds.
Last Wednesday there was a small piece about fish tanks and how "A
slimey tank isn't a bad thing", but of course..the common myths had to
fly as well.
Their info came from a "Dr. Donald Lewis, professor in the Department
of pathobiology at the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical
Sciences at Texas A&M University".
The artical goes on to say that most people buy a fish tank and add
the fish the same day.
Yes. This is often the first mistake newbies make.
However, he goes on to say that this "Instant plunge causes the fish
to secrete mucous as a way of protecting itself from the high level of
ammonia found in the tap water resulting from the breakdown of organic
matter."
Are you already saying "HUH?" I was. If you put a fish in a tank that
was set up the same day, why would it have high ammonia levels
already? What organic matter was breaking down?
The "Dr." goes on to explain to how to set up a tank for the first
time.
He suggests "an under gravel filter, gravel, rocks, and other
accessories. Then add water into the tank."
No mention of dechlorinator. I understand chlorine would dissipate,
however, chloramine does not.
Then he goes on to tell people to let their tank sit (after filling it
tap water) for at least 2 -3 weeks before introducing fish. What the
heck for?? I can undertsand a few hours to check for leaks, or even
several for the temp to adjust. But 2-3 weeks?!?!?!? ::shakes head::
It's not doing anything for the tank to just sit there.
Is he thinking that it's starting to cycle?
He also tells people to add Oysters or sea shells to the tank to keep
the tank slightly alkaline.
Yeah, this is going to really help those with hard, alkaline water to
begin with! Sheesh!
Mind you....this is supposed to be a professor at a veterinary college
in Texas (USA).
= O

"Tynk" wrote in message
oups.com...

brevity snip

Mind you....this is supposed to be a professor at a veterinary college
in Texas (USA).
= O

=====================
Now you can see why some of us take everything we read by so called
"professionals" with a grain of salt.......
--
ZB....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö ~~~~ }((((({*

uh huh, and those named carol with an even smaller frain of salt....


On Sat, 27 Jan 2007 14:09:33 -0600, Zëbulon
wrote:


"Tynk" wrote in message
legroups.com...

brevity snip

Mind you....this is supposed to be a professor at a veterinary college
in Texas (USA).
= O

=====================
Now you can see why some of us take everything we read by so called
"professionals" with a grain of salt.......



-------
I forgot more about ponds and koi than I'll ever know!

Unbelievable - I just can't fathom how someone with a veterinary
background could write stuff like that.

Interesting reading!

Muddy

"muddyfox" wrote in message
ups.com...
Unbelievable - I just can't fathom how someone with a veterinary
background could write stuff like that.

Interesting reading!


The only way I could interpret the thing about ammonia in the drinking water
is if he's talking about decaying organic matter in the water supply, as in
the reservoir. We're talking very small amounts of ammonia, I would think
too small to detect by smelling, so is it possible that the drinking water
has the trace ammonia in it? I don't know if water treatment plants remove
any ammonia or not.

dwhite

"Dan White" wrote in message
. ..
The only way I could interpret the thing about ammonia in the drinking
water
is if he's talking about decaying organic matter in the water supply, as
in
the reservoir. We're talking very small amounts of ammonia, I would think
too small to detect by smelling, so is it possible that the drinking water
has the trace ammonia in it? I don't know if water treatment plants
remove
any ammonia or not.
============================
Since there are fish in reservoirs I wouldn't think there would be much
ammonia.
--
ZB....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
Troll free pond and fish Forum:
http://www.karlsforums.com/forums/fo...ay.php?fid=104
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö ~~~~ }((((({*

"Dan White" wrote in message
. ..
"muddyfox" wrote in message
ups.com...
Unbelievable - I just can't fathom how someone with a veterinary
background could write stuff like that.

Interesting reading!


The only way I could interpret the thing about ammonia in the drinking
water
is if he's talking about decaying organic matter in the water supply, as
in
the reservoir. We're talking very small amounts of ammonia, I would think
too small to detect by smelling, so is it possible that the drinking water
has the trace ammonia in it? I don't know if water treatment plants
remove
any ammonia or not.

Water treatment plants add ammonia in the final stage to turn chlorine
into chloramine. But, I think the author of the article probably just mixed
up and misquoted what the professor was saying....

"Tynk" wrote in message
oups.com...
Our small, local news paper has a "Pet Talk" section. Usually it's
about dogs, cats and birds.
Last Wednesday there was a small piece about fish tanks and how "A
slimey tank isn't a bad thing", but of course..the common myths had to
fly as well.
Their info came from a "Dr. Donald Lewis, professor in the Department
of pathobiology at the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical
Sciences at Texas A&M University".
The artical goes on to say that most people buy a fish tank and add
the fish the same day.
Yes. This is often the first mistake newbies make.
However, he goes on to say that this "Instant plunge causes the fish
to secrete mucous as a way of protecting itself from the high level of
ammonia found in the tap water resulting from the breakdown of organic
matter."
Are you already saying "HUH?" I was. If you put a fish in a tank that
was set up the same day, why would it have high ammonia levels
already? What organic matter was breaking down?
The "Dr." goes on to explain to how to set up a tank for the first
time.
He suggests "an under gravel filter, gravel, rocks, and other
accessories. Then add water into the tank."
No mention of dechlorinator. I understand chlorine would dissipate,
however, chloramine does not.
Then he goes on to tell people to let their tank sit (after filling it
tap water) for at least 2 -3 weeks before introducing fish. What the
heck for?? I can undertsand a few hours to check for leaks, or even
several for the temp to adjust. But 2-3 weeks?!?!?!? ::shakes head::
It's not doing anything for the tank to just sit there.
Is he thinking that it's starting to cycle?
He also tells people to add Oysters or sea shells to the tank to keep
the tank slightly alkaline.
Yeah, this is going to really help those with hard, alkaline water to
begin with! Sheesh!
Mind you....this is supposed to be a professor at a veterinary college
in Texas (USA).


A great post !!

The Prof has one thing right.... an awful lot of people set up a tank and
add fish the same day.....

As for the rest.... I will be generous and assume he said loads, but it
got edited to 250 words by a journo who had no idea what chlorine and
chloramine do.. probably thought such terms would bore readers.....

--
Rich

http://www.richdavies.com
http://www.richdavies.com/fishkeeping.htm
http://www.richdavies.com/tropicalfish/

"Rich" wrote in message
news

The Prof has one thing right.... an awful lot of people set up a tank and
add fish the same day.....
==============================
There's nothing wrong with that as long as a dechlorinator is used. Or
something to remove the chloromines (sp?).

--
ZB....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
Troll free pond and fish Forum:
http://www.karlsforums.com/forums/fo...ay.php?fid=104
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö ~~~~ }((((({*

"Zëbulon" wrote in message
...

"Dan White" wrote in message
. ..
The only way I could interpret the thing about ammonia in the drinking
water
is if he's talking about decaying organic matter in the water supply, as
in
the reservoir. We're talking very small amounts of ammonia, I would
think
too small to detect by smelling, so is it possible that the drinking
water
has the trace ammonia in it? I don't know if water treatment plants
remove
any ammonia or not.
============================
Since there are fish in reservoirs I wouldn't think there would be much
ammonia.

Good point. I suppose a reservoir is cycled.

dwhite