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Primitive or techie?

Hobby As fish keeping evolves, don't get lost in technology

TATA TO TECH Clear water and healthy fish are the surest signs

Gizmos, technology and chemistry can get pretty addictive if you are an aquarist. It is easy to graduate from watching the thermometer and adjusting the timer switch to reading chemistry notes learning about alkalinity and acidity and watching strips of paper turn violet or blue. Once this stage is reached it is very difficult to back off and take the same personal interest as the pioneering aquarists. Which is the better bet for your fish as well as you?

Of course technology helps. Or how else do you maintain the right temperature in the aquarium if you cannot have that strip of thermostat and thermometer combination? But beyond this reliance it can be a dicey business as the love affair becomes a mechanical affair.

Instead of "hey! fishy, fishy" the routine can change to "what's the ph (the hydrogen ions in water which show acidity or alkalinity) today? Oh my God!" this is quite a change.

How to keep it simple? Observe the aquarium everyday, see the changes in the water colour, health of fishes, plants.

Talk to the fish (sound travels better in water than in air) and see your fish get interested in you. Snap your fingers before you feed them and the next time you snap your fingers they will come swimming to you.

But then how do you keep track of the changes in the aquarium? Keep it simple, if you know your fishes are not dying, plants are not withering and the water is clear then all is right with your aquaworld.

SERISH NANISETTI

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