which is why i said i would be very wary of using this kind of sand. it might work out cheeper but if it causes the death of any of your fish how cheep is it then ?

It's an interesting thing tho'

Thinking back on our Hybrids discussion, but with sand as the subject. These Catfish live in a habitat where there is a bed of sand.

This implies a reasonable speed of running water. Which is precisely why the sand is there. All of the smaller particles, and bonding particles, have been swept away.

And the catfish actually aid this process. When they nose about, finer particles get lifted into the water stream, and are carried away.

We know that enough running water causes pebbles to 'round'. The same goes for sand. So the sand in this habitat, is fairly lovely stuff.

I doubt what we provide them with, comes anywhere near it.

not to mention fine gravel, clay/mud and leaf litter.

i was thinking of doing a Glaswiegan river biotype but i dont have a tank big enough to fit a shopping trolley in.

Thats what I was thinking. Who know what kinda crap the fish put up with in their natural environment. Weekly water changes and constant food, our fish have it made.

have they ? think about it. they are prisoners if you like they cant just swim where they want as we confine them to a tank where there swiming is governed by the size of the tank also unless you keep an exact replica of the conditions that the fish come from can you say they are better off ? funky like me you keep plecs now most plecs live in fast flowing rivers hence the shape of the mouth so the constant flow will remove a lot of the detrius in the sand bed yet we as aquarists have to keep raking our sand so as to stop any nastys building up in it

My hypan's keep my sand stirred up. I didn't realize they would burrow in the sand. L129, both L333's and L260 burrow under the DW and rock.

I have quite a bit of current with 2 802 and 1 501 powerheads. I will soon move the magnum 350 to the 135 gallon with addition of another magnum 350 and another emperor 400 to create plenty of current and to keep the water sparkling and detritus free.

Our fish don't have to keep an eye out for predators, they don't have to forage for food. We, as aquarists, have to maintain these optimal conditions. If we didn't, they would be better off in the wild where they belong. The fish being prisoners, is why I got a 135 gallon. I wanted to do the best I could to give them enough space to feel somewhat free. Maybe I can do an indoor pond later in life for them to feel even more free. You want to talk about animals that shouldn't be prisoners, it would be the big cats, elephants and extremely large animals at zoos. That's a prisoner to me.

It'll remain one of those philosophical paradoxes until it all comes to head, I'd guess within the next 200 years or less.

We are the self-appointed top of the food chain. In regard to just our hobby fish, what's the choice? Live out life, hopefully in a tank that's properly cared for, or be eaten, by us.

In a good size tank, a fish will coast about looking for food. Does it make a difference wether it has to explore an area the size of a footy field, or do laps of the same three feet. As long as the food is found.

And there's the Matrix angle. What if you're not aware that you're in a prison ?

did not mean to stir up the ethics of keeping any live stock what ever it might be all i was trying to say is unless you have a tank set up as a species only tank are we as aquarists actually giving our fish all that they require ? think comunity tank now over the years i have seen some very diverse mixtures of fish with differing needs and conditions to other tankmates but the fish seem healthy enough but before you think i am stiring anything up remember i keep water that fish can live in