Yesterday we went to visit our daughter. Number two grandson has exactly the same tank as us.
He has had it running now for about four months.
Since he and his brother gave us our tank I have been surfing the web, joining this site and generally trying to absorb as much info as I can so that when our tank is eventually cycled we know what we are doing.
I've been disappointed to find that there are very few fish that will comfortably fit into this tank, an AQUANANO 22/30 according to this site's and others community creators.
Now I was a bit sneaky yesterday. As I have been fretting about his tank I took my liquid ammonia and nitrite tests over and in the course of a conversation while the pair of us were looking at, and honestly on my part, admiring his setup and fish, he agreed to let me test his water.
He had near perfect results. NO nitrites at all, the barest trace of ammonia, nitrates lower than I presently have.
In this tank he has
One red tail shark
One corydora (the other disappeared)
Three rummynose tetras
Eight neon tetras (3 of which are young and small)
I know from all I've read that this tank is grossly over stocked and that the shark (sold to him by PaH) shouldn't even be there, let alone the amount of fish in the tank.
Now, he does NO maintenance, other than topping up the water due to evaporation and even then I've had to remind him that the conditioner goes in first or he risks his bacteria
His water is crystal clear, the water parameters I would be dead chuffed with.
He bought a plant from PaH last week that took off to the extent that within a few days he was having to trim it because it was out of the water and spreading across the tank. (~I bought three plants and they all died!!)
He has an ornament that looks like it's covered in bacteria.
When the last lot of neons went in they initially shoaled, which I told him was a sign of stress due to the shark, so shoaling wasn't something he should be viewing with any pleasure.
I downloaded some info for him when he got the rummy nose to let him know that they will probably get stressed in this little tank and not to be surprised if their colouring faded, and that they were the equivalent of a miner's lamp underground. They can be the first indicator that something is wrong.
I accept that we cannot know what is in the mind of a fish but from my observation yesterday, deliberately watching for problems, I can honestly say that the fish appear to be very happy.
They look healthy, they feed well, he has never had white spot, fungus or anything like that. The rummy nose have lovely red noses and striped fins. I didn't see a single instance of clamped fins and believe me I was looking so that I could say "I told you so" !!
He has never lost a fish through illness, just a couple when he first set the tank up and they were so small they got caught in the filter.
He also lost a couple due to jumping out of the tank with the help of the oversize filter that comes with the Nano and the stupid positioning of the finger hole. (No deaths I say, although it's a puzzle what happened to the cory- no sign of it at all)
Yes, the shark does come out of his hideyhole and chases them, but they don't shoal and once he goes back into hiding they continued as if nothing had happened, no sign of nervousness or anything, they even went back to feeding. The remaining corydora even goes in an out of the hideout while the shark is in there.
Grandson has agreed that he needs to, and will, rehome the shark so I feel easier in my mind about that.
After all this long post, I suppose what I'm asking you experts is - WHY?
How can he have almost perfect water, and I'm talking here ammonia colour that I had to really squint to find a trace of because I wanted to find it to prove my point!
He is not a stupid lad. He is 18 years old and happy go lucky. (surviving inoperable cancer at 13 has probably got something to do with that attitude)
He has always been sensitive to others, never a bully etc and would be horrified to have it proven that he was unkind to the fish, or that he was keeping them in horrendous conditions.
When the fish look good, appear happy and not stressed in any accountable way, can his stocking really be that bad. I know the filter (400litres an hour)probably allows for a little extra stocking but I've been trying to find something suitable for my replica tank and been disappointed.
I pretty sure the reactions on here are going to be of horror but I've seen this tank and believe me,
for a small tank it looks good