PART 33: THE JUDGMENT!

<< Previous It is absolutely easy to imagine and understand that every method of fish keeping is not for everyone. The choice of a particular method is usually based on a philosophy and a goal. It is about how I look at it and what I want to achieve. No method, like most of the things in life, is perfect. Every method of fish keeping has its own set of advantages and limitations. And, the DPM Natural Method is no exception. I have talked enough about the strengths and benefits of this method of Fish Keeping. It is, probably, the right time to throw a little light on the limitations of this new natural method. One may like the DPM Natural Method for its massive set of advantages.

However, I would NOT choose this natural method:

1. If I do not like natural methods of Fish Keeping, in general.

2. If my Fish Keeping hobby is more about working on my Aquarium(s) | Fish Tank (s) | Fishbowl (s) than enjoying my Aquarium(s) | Fish Tank (s) | Fishbowl (s) and Fishes. That is, I would like to keep working on my Aquarium continuously and I do not really mind if I do not get adequate amount of time to sit back and relax while enjoying (watching) my Aquarium (s) and Fishes. I just want to work and I do not care whether or not I get sufficient opportunity to enjoy the results of my work! I believe, this hobby is all about just changing water and cleaning the aquarium!

3. If I really do not care if a few my fishes die because of improper water conditions and care. I just love to visit the Pet Shop | Aquarium Shop again and get new fishes to compensate for my loss. I just do not care if I lose a couple of fishes as long as I can just visit the Pet Store | Aquarium Shop to get a few new fishes for my aquarium. Change is the essence of life, I truly believe.

4. If my fish live really long, it becomes uninteresting and monotonous for me. I cannot look at the same set of fishes every day!

5. If am absolutely more concerned about how my Aquarium LOOKS than how my fishes FEEL about their little environment inside my Aquarium. I do not care much if it feels good or bad to my fishes. But, at the end of the day, my Aquarium MUST look magnificent.

6. If I believe, an Aquarium is really not a little ecosystem. It is just a piece of functional furniture for home decoration.

7. If I really do not care whether my Aquarium is natural, silent, energy-efficient, low-tech, low-light and low maintenance. I just love to see as many instruments | gadgets attached to my Aquarium as possible to make it LOOK really high-tech and modern! I just want it to be the talk of the town. Owner’s pride and neighbors’ envy!

8. If I believe in “what you see is what you get”! If I do not see air bubbles coming out of an air-stone in my aquarium, I do not believe that the water is sufficiently oxygenated!

9. If I love an aquarium that produces a lot of sound. That is just soothing music to my ears.

10. If I believe that existence of a miniature ecosystem in an aquarium is next to impossible.

11. If I think, natural way of doing things or lettings things happen are the most ineffective and inappropriate ways of accomplishing specific goals.

12. If I do not believe that a truly sustainable Fish Keeping method is a possibility.

13. If I believe that the more money I spend on my aquarium, the better it feels to its inhabitants!

14. If I am really not interested in watching how fishes behave in a near-natural environment.

15. If I do not like smaller fishes in my aquarium and I just like relatively bigger fishes.

16. If I do not mind catching my fishes as many times as required. Because, I think, catching those little guys is never a stressful affair for them!

17. If I believe, without a plant (or more) to care for, an Aquarium is incomplete.

18. If I believe, an aquarium cannot remain in a good state without a mechanical or other kind of artificial filtration system.

19. If I think, an aquarium without a heater is not a real possibility. And, if I know that my room-temperature is too low to be easily described as too cold for any practical purpose (heater-less Aquarium).

20. If it is not possible on my part to expose my Aquarium to a little direct | indirect sunlight to promote Green Algae growth.

21. If I believe complete water change and a full aquarium cleanup is really a MUST for my Aquarium.

22. If I believe frequent water changes is the only way to go!

23. If I think cleaning my Aquarium has to be a really a big deal.

24. If I cannot tolerate a certain degree of Green Algae growth in my Aquarium and the resultant graceful natural look.

25. If I do not like the fact that I need NOT buy | maintain | repair | replace the following ever: Filter, Air Stone, Power Head, Air Pump and Heater.

26. If I do not like the way a DPM Type Natural Fishbowl | Aquarium helps a pregnant fish | Fish Fry | Fish Eggs.

27. If I do not like the No-Plastic philosophy of DPM Natural Method.

28. If I like my fish to eat only when I want them to eat and not when they want to eat.

29. If I do not care about the water quality becoming bad because of uneaten food-residue in my Aquarium.

30. If I do not like the fact that DPM Natural Method absolutely makes it easy and quick to move over to another method of Fish Keeping, in case I decide to do so.

31. If I think the nutritional value of Green Algae is more fiction than fact.

Well, that’s quite a long list. And, I hope, that makes the picture really clear. DPM Natural Method is neither a product nor a service that I am trying to sell. And, that’s exactly why, I have all the liberty at my disposal to critically analyze this natural method of Fish Keeping. My goal is to spread awareness to make our lives and the lives of our fishes better. I hope, I have done the job reasonably well. Please feel free to ask a question, in case you have one, on this method. Let us take a quick look at a few interesting discussions | questions (and the answers to those questions) about the DPM Natural Method next. NEXT >>  << Previous

PART 33: THE JUDGMENT! by Debi Prasad Mahapatra is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

PART 32: STEPS IN DPM’S WATER RESTORATION METHOD!

<< Previous Q U E S T I O N: What are the steps involved in DPM’s Water Restoration Method?

A N S W E R:  This procedure is performed in iterations | cycles | sets of steps. Following are the steps involved in the first iteration of this this procedure.

Step 1. Just wipe clean the algae on the walls, if any, with a little piece of cloth | algae scrubber suitable for aquarium-use. There is no need to take the fishes out of the Fishbowl I Aquarium. There is no need to take the substrate or anything else out of the DPM Type Natural Fishbowl I Aquarium for cleaning.

Step 2. Gently stir the water well for a minute using your hand. The flow so generated, by stirring the water, releases the Fish-waste | Mulm locked within and under the layers of substrate.

Step 3. With the clean pipe | hose | siphon, drain 50% of the water and collect that water in the bucket. Theoretically, close to 40% of the total Fish-waste | Mulm volume goes out of the Fishbowl | Aquarium, with the outgoing water. If the bucket is relatively smaller for this purpose, you may consider draining a smaller percentage of water volume from the Fishbowl | Aquarium into the bucket.

Step 4. Inspect the water collected in the bucket for presence of Fishes | Fish Fry | Babies | Eggs. If you find any of those in the bucket, put that back into your aquarium | fishbowl.

Step 5. [Case-A] In case, it was already time for a water change and the water quality was checked and found bad before this procedure, throw the water, so collected in the bucket, away. You do not need that water any more. Fill the bucket with the same volume of suitable water already prepared for this procedure.

[Case-B] In case, it was NOT already time for a water change and the water quality was checked and found GOOD before this procedure, do NOT throw the water, so collected in the bucket, away. And, this step (Step 5) is not required to be performed, in this case.

Step 6. Let the water transferred to the bucket sit for some time (Around 20 minutes!). That will allow a substantial portion of the Mulm | Fish-Waste to settle down at the bottom of the bucket. The more time you allow for the Mulm | Fish-Waste to settle down, the lesser the number of iterations of this procedure you will need to perform. 

In case of [Case-A] of Step 5, you do not have to wait at all in the very First Iteration of this procedure. For, in that case, it is the fresh and clean water you have with no Mulm | Fish-Waste in it.

Step 7. Once a large portion of the Mulm | Fish-Waste settles down at the bottom of the bucket, carefully transfer the relatively clean-looking portion of water from the bucket to your Aquarium | Fishbowl without disturbing the Mulm | Fish-Waste that has settled down at the bottom of the bucket.

It is usually easy to achieve this by placing the bucket at a higher level than the Aquarium | Fishbowl and then using the pipe to transfer the water from the bucket while taking care not to let the receiving-end of the pipe reach the area | level | depth of the bucket where the Mulm | Fish-Waste has settled down. 

You can induce the flow of water from the bucket to your Aquarium | Fishbowl by following the steps mentioned below and letting gravity run the show. You do not need a pump or other motorized device for this purpose.

Step 7-I. Fill the pipe with the water from your Aquarium | Fishbowl.

Step 7-II. Keep both the ends of the pipe closed with your fingertips.

Step 7-III. Take your fingertip off the receiving end of the pipe while you gently place the receiving end of the pipe in the bucket. When you do this, take care to place the receiving end of the pipe at the upper level of the water in the bucket. That way, it does not get a chance to suck in the Mulm | Fish-Waste that has settled down at the bottom of the bucket. Take care not to allow the receiving end of the pipe to come out of the water.

Step 7-IV. Place the other end of the pipe in your Aquarium | Fishbowl and release your finger. Because the bucket is placed at higher level than your Aquarium | Fishbowl, the water flow gets started and continues.

Step 7-V. Monitor the level of the water in the bucket. Take care to gently readjust the position of the receiving end of the pipe in such a way that it does not get a chance to suck in any air to disrupt and stop the flow. You need to keep gently readjusting the position of the receiving end of the pipe along with the diminishing level of water in the bucket.

Step 7-VI. When the water level in the bucket drops to a level where it is not possible to continue the flow | transfer without disturbing | sucking in the Mulm | Fish-Waste that has settled down at the bottom of the bucket, stop the flow by taking the receiving end of the pipe gently out of the water in the bucket.

This is the end of our first iteration of this procedure (DPM’s Water Restoration Method) and we have already transferred a good volume of Mulm | Fish-Waste from the Fishbowl | Aquarium to the bucket. We may repeat Step 1 through Step 7 over the next iterations till we reach the desired state.

Here is the DPM’s Water Restoration Method explained in the form of a set of equations. Each of the subsequent Iterations yields you a smaller result compared to the result of the previous Iteration! However, each of the iterations absolutely takes you closer to your goal. That is what the set of equations illustrate. So, it is efficient for you to get done with the procedure in the least possible number of Iterations. 

Xn = Initial Volume of Mulm in the Aquarium | Fishbowl at the beginning of an Iteration, 
Yn = Volume of Mulm transferred to Bucket through water-change in an Iteration [Yield], 
Zn = Volume of Mulm remaining in the Aquarium | Fishbowl at the end of an Iteration

Iteration 1: X1 - Y1 = Z1 

Where, (X1 = Z1 + Y1)

Iteration 2: X2 - Y2 = Z2 

Where, (X2 = Z2 + Y2), (X2 < X1), (Y2 < Y1)

Iteration 3: X3 - Y3 = Z3 

Where, (X3 = Z3 + Y3), (X3 < X2), (Y3 < Y2)

Iteration n: Xn - Yn = Zn 

Where, (Xn = Zn + Yn), (X(n) < X(n-1)), (Zn ≠ 0), (Xn = (X1 - (Y1 + Y2 + Y3+ …+ Yn))), (Y(n) < Y(n-1))

This method | procedure may seem | sound complicated. However, you realize that it is really a simple and easy to perform procedure only when you actually do it. And, it is not really a lot when you do this once in a year or more | longer! This procedure tries to help your fishes by giving them the feel-at-home feeling (by keeping the water quality | parameters relatively stable in an absolutely natural way) when you try to get rid of the Mulm | Fish-Waste from your Fishbowl | Aquarium. Let us talk about something really interesting on DPM Natural Method next. NEXT >>  << Previous

PART 32: STEPS IN DPM’S WATER RESTORATION METHOD! by Debi Prasad Mahapatra is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

PART 31: DPM’S WATER RESTORATION METHOD!

<< Previous You may use DPM’s Water Restoration Method when you want to get the Mulm | Detritus out of your DPM Type Natural Aquarium | Fishbowl. Mulm | Detritus is the organic debris that builds up in and on the aquarium substrate. Mulm usually constitutes of fish-waste and uneaten portions of food. In a DPM Type Natural Fishbowl | Aquarium, Mulm has an important role to play. It supports the growth of Green Algae and colonies of beneficial bacteria that help maintain the quality of the water in your Aquarium | Fishbowl. However, there could be cases in which you may want to get rid of a small or substantial part of the Mulm volume in your Fishbowl | Aquarium.

DPM’s Water Restoration Method is generally used in the following cases:

A. If and when you want to switch over to another method of Fish-Keeping in which Mulm has no role to play.

B. You do it as a part of your Annual Maintenance and Cleanup Routine.

C. If and when the volume of Mulm far exceeds the desired and required level | quantity.

D. When Mulm starts to impact the appearance of your Fishbowl | Aquarium.

Q U E S T I O N: What is the distinct advantage of DPM’s Water Restoration Method?

A N S W E R: DPM’s Water Restoration Method is a technique of changing water in which you get rid of a substantial volume of Mulm without actually changing a proportionate substantial volume of water. That results in relatively less variance in how the water feels to your fishes after the restoration is done. In the context of DPM Natural Method, actually changing a huge portion of water is never a good idea, in general, unless it is absolutely required. For, in case of a huge water change, the water feels very different to your fishes. And, that may lead to stress in your fishes.

In nature, in case of a natural lake or pond, a huge water change does not usually happen, anyway. During the rainy season, a water change may happen. But, that is a gradual process in which the water change happens gradually. The process does not change the water parameters suddenly substantially. That is what we try to achieve through DPM’s Water Restoration Method when it becomes absolutely required to get rid of the Mulm in your Fishbowl | Aquarium. In case of DPM’s Water Restoration Method, your fishes do not experience a sudden substantial change in the water parameters (quality).

Q U E S T I O N: What do you need to perform the procedure involved in DPM’s Water Restoration Method?

A N S W E R: You just need:

1. A clean Hose | Pipe | Siphon (Common Names: Clear Flexible PVC Hose, Clear PVC Pipe, Transparent PVC Soft Tube, Clear Flexible PVC Tubing, Transparent Flexible PVC Tubing)

2. A bucket (or any large vertical container) suitable for aquarium use. The bigger the bucket, the quicker you will be able to perform this procedure.

3. Appropriate volume of suitable water. That is around 50% of the volume of water that exists in your aquarium | fishbowl. The water must not contain any trace of chlorine, chloramine, any chemical, detergent, soap and oil. This third element (Water) is not required in case it is NOT already time for a water-change and the quality of the water in the Aquarium | Fishbowl is checked and found GOOD!

4. A little piece of cloth | algae scrubber suitable for aquarium-use.

Let us talk about the steps involved in performing this procedure (DPM’s Water Restoration Method) next. NEXT >>  << Previous

PART 31: DPM’S WATER RESTORATION METHOD! by Debi Prasad Mahapatra is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.