Negative impacts on fish being in non lake conditions

[krellious]

just curious. What impact if any is there on a cichlid who is not in their 'natural' habitat. EG if a WC fish is slowly drip conditioned to un buffered sydney water is there any health impact to him. And much the same as any fry they may have. Does evolution dictate they need lake water to survive or are they fine not having ever been in the lake water? Hope this makes sense

[PlecoSam]

I read an article recently which suggested the lifetime of African Cichlids in non lake conditions is severely shortened, the article did not state any documented data but was from anecdotal evidence.

[intangcity]

shouldnt 'drip condition' fish to un buffered water to begin with and any fry they have should be fine but yes there is an impact on lifespan over time and a long time id say it could be possible to have those wc fish in water of lesser value as to what they came from but yet that happens regardless when we purchase them from exporters/importers

[krellious]

Not saying i have done this. But just an example. Does the different water put stress on them internally. To many arguements on fb about africans being in unnatural conditions. i just wanted to get some facts so i can prove myself or others wrong. I figure if a fish has never been in lake conditions it doesnt need to be in bufferd water to have a healthy and longer life but others say the opposite.

[Josh]

If any fish is kept in a tank, it isnt kept in natural conditions. We can get it close, but we dont really have the ability to replicate their environment.

Changing any fish's environment could be detremental to its health. We have had non-importable fish in Oz for a long time and they are still going strong. Wild caughts may be differnet, but they still do breed constantly when here, in our tanks, so we cant be doing to much damage.

I was under the impression that fish last longer in aquariums than they did in the wild. Certianly mortality rates in juveniles would lower becase of the reduced risk of preditation in our tanks (if fry are raised in their own tanks). I have been told fish grow larger and have better color, in aquarium, than they do in the wild due to the diets we feed them.

This is only what I have heard and noticed in the 20 odd years I have kept fish. Nothing I have said is based on scientific facts.......

[Buccal]

I'm going to keep this explained on basic short cut terms (abstract).

Because one thing always causes the next thing to be explained.

Osmoregulatory systems in fish.

This is basically the regulation between the concentrations of the inside of the fishes cells and the outside environment (water).

Concentrations being salts, elements and various other components.

Many of these components are needed for healthy supplement and functioning.

Typically taking Malawi for example, the lake has many salts but the main salts are:

Calcium

Magnesium

Potassium

Sodium

Iodine

Iron

Naturally the fish has evolved amongst these salts and other components, these naturally make up part of the cells inside the fish.

Osmosis is a natural occurring effect that is in constant of the inside and outside of cells wanting to continiously even out in concentration.

Sooooooo,,,,,,,, if there are to many salts and unneeded components, then concentrations of these excess salts will move into the fishes cells and be far to high in concentrate.

Adversely,, if the outside environment was deficient in salts and various components,,, the inside of the fishes cells will leach out trying to even out concentrations with outside via osmosis.

The fish then becomes deficient in the needed components.

Ultimately the fish becomes open to disease, color fades and quality of life lessons depending on severity.

Water from the tap has many of these needed components, but often in the wrong measures and missing certain things.

Usually not making some sort of effort to maintain a correct chemistry will show at some time in a fish keepers life, and may not even be realized as to why certin issues have arrised.

Have you ever noticed your fish twitching or rubbing after you introduce them into your tank as new fish ??

Have you noticed fish twitching after adding buffers (maybe to drastically) ?

Or even twitching after a heavy water change ?

Usually this is the osmosis process taking place in the cells a little to quick.

It's funny, I see people keeping fish for a year or two then fighting hard for what they think.

Mother nature is mother nature,,, work with it and not against it.

People with short term experience would not have yet seen differences in resilience between young fish and very well matured fish.

Young fish from 3months to 2years old are very forgiving and resilient.

But much more mature riftlakes are a lot more susceptible to inadequate conditions and become sick easy.

I hope this is easy enough to understand.

[Buccal]

Fish that are cared for by a experienced aquarists, receive highly balanced diets and never suffer lean times like the wild.

Competition of that encountered in the wild can be taxing on wild fish.

Therefore managed by a experienced aquarist, the fish lives its life with very low stress levels with everything at optimum,,,,, this is why domestic fish grow larger, brighter and live longer.

It's only poor practices in general that detracts from the fishes health and lifespans.