The Natural Approach

[puffer21]

Natural is the way to go. I work at a LFS and I can't tell you how many people I see with their arms full of 10 different bottles of 10 different things, half of which I doubt the person knows what it does. I am always seeing people with a bottle of aptaisax or red slime remover, or the bottle reading "œinstantly cycle your tank". In the ocean there are no chemicals every issue is solved naturally.

Try to use the natural approach first and check to see why you have this issue. I love it when someone is coming in to buy green hair algae remover, and I ask what there nitrates and phosphates are at and they don't know. Or they are buying aptasiax and only have a few aptasia and haven't tried a peppermint shrimp first. If you have five small aptasia then add a peppermint shrimp, I see them eat it all the time like I see the kids I baby sit eat cookies. Yes if you have a aptasia the size of a carpet anemone then a peppermint shrimp really can't eat that, but you might be able to take the piece of rock the aptasia is on and pick him off.

If you just started a tank and are getting brown algae you don't want to go out and buy brown algae remover, it will go away. You have cynobacteria, did you check your water parameters, what about flow. A lot of this stuff will come during the first year, don't think you need to panic and buy 10 different algae removers. There are sea slugs (brain fart I believe that's what there called), and some eat green hair algae. Emerald crabs have been known to eat bubble algae, I don't think there is a chemical for that but my point is try an animal that will eat it.

The main point is before you buy all the lfs chemicals try a natural approach, also some of theses chemicals your tank can become addicted to like PH buffer . And instead of trying to fix the problem figure out why you have the problem. In my home tank the only things for chemicals that have ever entered my tank is sachem alkalinity, calcium, magnesium, and iodine buffers. If I ever have algae issues or any other issues I try to solve it with the most natural approach.

 

[puffer21]

bump, want to make sure people are able to read this

 

[trondsbr]

Good post, while I do agree with 90% of what you are saying the only counter to this is that we don't have oceans with billions of gallons of water and a hugely vast ecosystem to maintain this balance. I believe this is why people think that supplements are needed. I only supplement elements that my salt doesn't supply in between water changes line iodine (lugol's). One thing I see is the marketing efforts of a lot of companies has changed making us think we need to add a product when in reality proper husbandry would take care of the issues. Water changes, filtration, and lighting account for the 90%, the other 10% is most likely stuff that we do not know the science related to the issue like bacteria, protazoan, and other issues that occur in our tanks, that is where additives come in, for example ich treatments. Just my opinion.

 

[puffer21]

If you have a diesease then yes i believe in giving the fish mediacation. I do believe in supplimenting the tank with calcium, mag, and alk. My main point was not to add "red slime remover" and "aptasiax" with out trying to cure it naturally first.

 

[trondsbr]

I agree, the problem I see everyday is that people have a hard doing proper research before buying livestock. They are either too lazy or too excited to just throw stuff in their tank and then they wonder why it dies. I got a copperband after reading about them and their requirements from various sources for 6 months. I could have bought aptasiax but the more "natural" way, as you state, is much better by finding the source of the problem and correcting it or adding diversity to help control the problem. Natural is the way to go when it is possible.

 

[Lynnmw1208]

great post :thumbsup: I agree with you totally! I believe in not messing with your tank too much as this can also disturb things. Not a lot of people try waiting it out to see what happens before they try to alleviate the problem with some "miracle" chemical. I still hear people talking in fish stores about problems and the employees just selling things they think will work. It's terrible! No one takes the time to describe the nitrogen cycle to people and let them know when it is not time to add fish. Instead these people come back with high nitrites and nitrates and want some chemical to "fix" it. I find myself giving my $.02 at fish stores because the employees don't have the guts to do it themselves lol. I hate chemicals and will only use them if necessary for things such as disease treatments in QT tanks, but never in DT.

 

[trondsbr]

You stated that you work at a LFS. When people ask you about these products or tell you about issues they are having do you recommend they read up on the causes and natural resolutions before buying a product or do you sell them a product to make money? Just curious about LFS ethics. In the city I live we have 3 fish shops that sell saltwater stuff, 2 of the 3 would rather sell you a product, have your fish die, and sell you more fish so they can make money, the other would rather see the fish live and help you through the process of figuring out the issue and a proper resolution. Just asking out of curiosity as it seems many stores have different ethics involved.

 

[trondsbr]

A good example is one of the shops I spoke of earlier sold a woman the tank, slat mix and the fish in one purchase. She was so happy to get home and fill the 10 gallon tank with tap water and put her new Regal Tang, or as she called it "Dori" on her window ledge.

Made me so upset, I haven't stepped foot in that place since because the owner and salesperson were more than happy to make the sale.

 

[puffer21]

I am always one of those people who say that there is no mierical cure for that problem. And that we need to find out why they are having a problem. I have never told anyone to buy a chemical, unless I have tried everything else with them to fix a problem. And yes I do use chemicals in hospilization tanks, ammonia blocker and stuff, but only for QT or hospital tanks
A few customers think I am a little bi***, while other people love the fact that I blurt out the truth. I will tell someone that what they want to add will die, that they doing something wrong. I am always saying don’t buy that fish he just came in and shouldn’t leave yet. I tell people that fish wont live in there tank.

 

[trondsbr]

I am always one of those people who say that there is no mierical cure for that problem. And that we need to find out why they are having a problem. I have never told anyone to buy a chemical, unless I have tried everything else with them to fix a problem. And yes I do use chemicals in hospilization tanks, ammonia blocker and stuff, but only for QT or hospital tanks
A few customers think I am a little bi***, while other people love the fact that I blurt out the truth. I will tell someone that what they want to add will die, that they doing something wrong. I am always saying don't buy that fish he just came in and shouldn't leave yet. I tell people that fish wont live in there tank.

Thank you for being that way, too many shops would fire you for not making a sale. :celeb1:

 

[puffer21]

Nope, my boss doesnt mind me telling people they are stupid. But I typically try to say it in a nice way, unless i dont like the person lol

 

[puffer21]

One last Bump

 

[injektion]

The problem I see in adding livestock in your tank to cure of natural problems like algae and aiptasia is that people usually don't know or want to take care of it. Take a peppermint shrimp as an example. Sure it'll thrive in a 150g tank that has been established for 2+ years, but in a 30 gallon tank that has not even been up for half a year should not have a shrimp in it solely for the purpose of cleaning out aiptasia. Chances are it won't even touch the aiptasia (mine never have) and if it does it will run out of food eventually. So unless your the type of person who will bother to feed your shrimp manually (which most people aren't), the natural approach isn't always the best one. I've also had a peppermint shrimp take a chomp out of my zoanthids. Not a very common occurrence, but it is a risk I would not take again.

The same goes for algae of any type. Sea hares and pretty much any kind of animal that do eat algae tend to only eat algae, be it from natural algae growing from your tank or nori feeding. Getting the right amount of food to feed them can be tricky too, as too much can pollute your tank, while too little will starve the animal to death. Fish that eat algae (most commonly tangs) also tend to need bigger tanks to thrive in so that restricts some choices. Most of the time algae can be dealt with by changing water, adding more flow, feeding less, etc.

I'm not saying the chemical way is the only solution, don't get me wrong. What I am trying to say is that it is an option for a reason. Some people won't get it that's for sure, and they'll come running back to the store crying foul when they dosed their 2 month old reef with copper to take care of an ich problem. But to outright tell them not to use chemicals to solve the problem would be a bit shortsighted. People should be informed of the consequences of adding things to their aquariums, from chemicals to animals.

Just as a side note, I've never used algae removing chemicals or instant cycle stuff because I know it won't work. So know now that I am not a pro-chemical hobbyist. Things like coralline algae boosters are just not needed if you already dose with calcium and magnesium, have the right pH, etc.

So while I do agree that we as responsible hobbyists should seek more natural paths to maintain our aquariums, in many cases it just won't work, especially for newer hobbyists. I have worked at a fish store myself, and I do not blindly sell livestock simply for the money, which I do not profit from anyway. I'd never sell anything to anyone without asking the proper information first. In most cases, people want to buy a clownfish because it reminds them of Nemo (which in itself is quite ironic if you've watched the movie), and they end up treating them like goldfish feeders and stick them in a bowl of tap water with table salt. Some people will be discouraged from keeping fish if they found out how difficult it is to actually take care of it, and they should be. But they'll probably come in the next day or whenever your shift is over and talk to the next employee who turns out to be one of those idiots who don't know or care about the stuff that I've already explained to the customer, and end up selling him a wild caught Mandarin Dragonet that is so emaciated it probably won't survive being introduced to yet another crappy tank/fish bowl.

Anyway my point is that we as experienced keepers should share our knowledge of the hobby with newcomers and inform them of the consequences of their choices. They definitely need to research into what they are looking to purchase, but sometimes we need to point them in the right direction, otherwise it's like searching for "How to set up a salt water aquarium" in Google and trying to figure out which website is the best one out of a million. What they end up doing, I can't do anything about it. If you've done what you can to warn them, good. But you shouldn't lay the blame on chemicals because most exist for a good reason. I would like to think that most companies that produce and sell aquatic goods do it for the benefit of the animals we take care of, and not solely for profit.

Thanks for reading