TheSwissAquarist Journal 2.0

[Theplatymaster]

@TheSwissAquarist usually (This will kill dwarf anchor catfish) a 1tablespoon per 5gallon ratio is enough to get a disease, but not to hurt plants. (Do you use tablespoons in europe? Sorry im uneducated on some parts of the metric system).

[Theplatymaster]

On 2/4/2023 at 8:59 PM, Theplatymaster said:

Bad, Atrocious, Rancid,Food.

@nabokovfan87 that reaction is fitting. I was joking, but thats what it feels like with a name like BARF.

i do like Born And Raised Free, but why choose BARF as your acronym.

[TheSwissAquarist]

The BARF website says it stands for Biologisch Artgerechte Roh Fütterung. In English: Biologically Species-Appropriate Raw Feeding.

🤮

[Theplatymaster]

On 2/5/2023 at 7:18 AM, TheSwissAquarist said:

Raw

correct me if im wrong but one of those boxes advertised chicken in it. is Ecoli not dangerous to dogs or something?

[TheSwissAquarist]

Sometimes my own ideas for a BBS hatchery border on stupid: 

[Theplatymaster]

On 2/5/2023 at 10:02 AM, TheSwissAquarist said:

Sometimes my own ideas for a BBS hatchery border on stupid: 

im SO confused, please explain your design, and who knows, you might be a genius.

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 2/5/2023 at 4:03 PM, Theplatymaster said:

im SO confused, please explain your design, and who knows, you might be a genius.

Plastic bottle turned upside down in a cylindrical Whisky box-thing. Hole cut in the top for air. Light comes from the tank next to it. I doubt its genius, but it works! 😅

[Theplatymaster]

On 2/5/2023 at 10:40 AM, TheSwissAquarist said:

Plastic bottle turned upside down in a cylindrical Whisky box-thing. Hole cut in the top for air. Light comes from the tank next to it. I doubt its genius, but it works! 😅

nice! can you get the Ziss one in your country? Im pretty sure Ziss is a south korean company.

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 2/5/2023 at 4:49 PM, Theplatymaster said:

nice! can you get the Ziss one in your country? Im pretty sure Ziss is a south korean company.

Not sure… 🤔 either way, we’ll see how this works! 

[Theplatymaster]

On 2/5/2023 at 12:04 PM, TheSwissAquarist said:

we’ll see how this works! 

for sure, definitely post your results here, im rather curious about it myself.

[nabokovfan87]

On 2/5/2023 at 3:15 AM, TheSwissAquarist said:

Could I treat this with salt? If so, what concentration? 

Fungal? (Looks fluffy like cotton)

If you're not sure start with 1/3 cup per 10G. I usually default to 1/2 cup per 10G.

On 2/5/2023 at 4:18 AM, TheSwissAquarist said:

Biologisch Artgerechte Roh Fütterung

Makes sense now. Totally get it. Those goofy Germans and their humor.

[The endler guy]

On 2/5/2023 at 12:31 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

 

Makes sense now. Totally get it. Those goofy Germans and their humor.

German always sounds angry, perfect language to pull out when you are losing an argument though! 

[Theplatymaster]

On 2/5/2023 at 1:05 PM, The endler guy said:

German always sounds angry, perfect language to pull out when you are losing an argument though! 

when you are losing an argument the perfect trick is speak in ANY language your openant doesn't understand. It leaves them confused and can give you more time/a advantage.

[Schuyler]

On 2/5/2023 at 4:18 AM, TheSwissAquarist said:

The BARF website says it stands for Biologisch Artgerechte Roh Fütterung. In English: Biologically Species-Appropriate Raw Feeding.

🤮

They have to know though... Right?

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 2/6/2023 at 8:11 AM, Schuyler said:

They have to know though... Right?

🤷‍♂️ It makes sense in German…

It’s basically all the off cuts from abattoirs.

[TheSwissAquarist]

Frogs in the morning be like: Where’s breakfast? 

[nabokovfan87]

On 2/5/2023 at 11:11 PM, Schuyler said:

They have to know though... Right?

Oh they know. It's "comedic" I would imagine. Very subtle humor. That one is pretty blatant. 😂

Shadenfreude... Enough said.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 2/3/2023 at 6:34 AM, Theplatymaster said:

@TheSwissAquaristim just going to remind you this is a FISH forum... 😆 LOL, you probably have more dog pictures than fish pictures on this journal.

Well, that was my fault. I told @TheSwissAquarist to post a lot of dog pics because the dogs are cute!

On 2/3/2023 at 7:04 AM, TheSwissAquarist said:

Everything works in this light apart from the brackets

Is there any way to flip the brackets so they sit on the rim?

[Theplatymaster]

On 2/7/2023 at 5:15 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Well, that was my fault. I told @TheSwissAquarist to post a lot of dog pics because the dogs are cute!

that post was a joke, im serious about the dog pics though.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 2/3/2023 at 10:52 AM, TheSwissAquarist said:

80 x 35 x 40 divided by 1000= 112 litres 

Just right for neons and Apistogramma??

Just be careful it’s not a “reptile” tank. They are not meant to hold water. I can’t remember why. Thinner glass, seals not as good, something like that..

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 2/4/2023 at 12:06 PM, TheSwissAquarist said:

Froggin picture 🐸

Ahem. Froggin is the name of @Guppysnail’s frog. How about Jimminy Ribbet?

On 2/5/2023 at 7:44 AM, Theplatymaster said:

correct me if im wrong but one of those boxes advertised chicken in it. is Ecoli not dangerous to dogs or something?

@Odd Duck would know. @Odd Duck we are talking about a raw dog food. 
 

I think salmonella is associated w/ chicken and E. Coli w/ beef?  Supposedly cats can eat raw stuff because they have a short digestive track and it exits the system before they get sick? Hence tigers can eat a raw steak, etc. But don’t listen to me- this is just something my husband told me. @Odd Duck is the animal doctor and is probably gonna say I’m full of it! 🤣

Edited February 7, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[nabokovfan87]

I'm sure they mean raw in the sense of "actual ingredients you know of" and there is food standards like using a sous vide or something to cook the product.  I've never used food products like that, definitely an interesting question.

[Odd Duck]

On 2/7/2023 at 4:27 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Ahem. Froggin is the name of @Guppysnail’s frog. How about Jimminy Ribbet?

@Odd Duck would know. @Odd Duck we are talking about a raw dog food. 
 

I think salmonella is associated w/ chicken and E. Coli w/ beef?  Supposedly cats can eat raw stuff because they have a short digestive track and it exits the system before they get sick? Hence tigers can eat a raw steak, etc. But don’t listen to me- this is just something my husband told me. @Odd Duck is the animal doctor and is probably gonna say I’m full of it! 🤣

Ugh.  You might regret getting me started on RAW/BARF diets.  I did NOT go back and read through this thread, so I’m sorry if I step on anyone’s toes.  I’m not trying to offend anyone, but I certainly hold very strong opinions on this that are based on reading of scientific journals over the last 3+ decades.  I’m just starting right from here.

I see so many gastrointestinal problems from RAW diets that it’s ridiculous.  It’s a pet peeve of mine the crazy stuff people feed their pets and all the goofy advertising BS that happens out there.  “By products are bad.”  “We don’t have by products in our food.”  Yeah, well, that nasty little lawsuit says differently about by products in their food.  Not to mention that “by products” are mainly organ meat and trimmings - fat, skin, etc, from the human food chain.  Nothing wrong with them and a lot right with them.

One thing we need to remember is that little Fifi, after a few hundred generations away from their wolf ancestor, may not have quite the same nutritional needs or the same immune system.  Plus wolves don’t live as long as long as pets despite what humans have done to destroy some dog breeds.  Has anybody ever slept next to any type of bulldog?  Does that seem like restful sleep?

Not to mention that RAW diets are rarely truly balanced and often deficient in certain nutrients.  It takes A LOT of WORK to balance a diet and I can almost guarantee that most owners are not doing it well.  Most people are feeding muscle meat and bones but rarely feed organs.  Guess what wolves go for first when they take down a large animal?  Organs.  “Nasty by-products” that’s the best thing in the carcass nutrient-wise.  Not to mention that wolves eat lots of mice, rats, voles, moles, etc, and eat them whole including the gut contents.  What do you suppose those rodents are eating?  It isn’t meat inside their stomachs.

Then we have to talk about how contaminated the meat in the food chain is, sometimes with antibiotic resistant strains that are downright deadly.  Not such a big deal if you cook the meat, not great at all if you don’t cook it.  That’s why restaurants have that little warning at the bottom of the menu about the risks of undercooked meat.  “Consuming raw or undercooked meats, poultry, shellfish, or eggs may increase your risk of foodborne illness, especially if you have certain medical conditions.”  This statement is required by law on menus in the USA.  People can die from foodborne illness and we can get ourselves to the doctor and explain our symptoms, plus get free healthcare if we have no money to pay.  Not really the same situation for dogs or cats regarding medical care.

I wouldn’t even consider feeding my own pets something that wasn’t from a company that does life-long diet trials or that doesn’t do any research into animal nutrition.  I’m not talking about somebody that took a class at a big box store, then read a book, maybe worked at a feed store, and then decided to start a company.  Or a chef that decided they were an expert on nutrition.

I have fed my dogs and cats food from Hill’s/Science Diet (same parent company), Royal Canin, and Purina.  I would consider Iams, but haven’t personally fed their food to my own, mostly from convenience.  That’s it.  No one else that I would even consider, really.  There’s a couple other companies that have done some decent smaller research projects and some diet trials, but no life-long diet trials.  Most of the companies that spend the most on ads have done ZERO RESEARCH and ZERO DIET TRIALS.  They are balancing their diets to paper numbers and slap appealing ad language into their commercials.

Do I get a little heated up about this?  You bet I do! There are dogs out there dying from heart failure caused by grain-free diets, exotic ingredient diets, boutique food companies, etc, that spend all their money on marketing and nothing on research, that won’t admit their food is causing problems.  They hired a guy to publish articles that make claims about research that wasn’t actually done, quotes made up studies, makes all kinds of outrageous claims, and hides that he works for one of the companies whose foods are killing dogs!

It’s late, it’s been a long, busy day, and I’m fast getting past the point of coherent and nudging into plain angry from frustration about some of the lousy, shady, national companies out there, so I’ll just step off my soapbox for now.

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 2/7/2023 at 11:27 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Ahem. Froggin is the name of @Guppysnail’s frog. How about Jimminy Ribbet?

I was using it since it’s quite a fun name…Kermit? Tad? Grenouille? Jimminy Ribbet is quite good. 😂

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 2/8/2023 at 1:30 AM, Odd Duck said:

Ugh.  You might regret getting me started on RAW/BARF diets.  I did NOT go back and read through this thread, so I’m sorry if I step on anyone’s toes.  I’m not trying to offend anyone, but I certainly hold very strong opinions on this that are based on reading of scientific journals over the last 3+ decades.  I’m just starting right from here.

I see so many gastrointestinal problems from RAW diets that it’s ridiculous.  It’s a pet peeve of mine the crazy stuff people feed their pets and all the goofy advertising BS that happens out there.  “By products are bad.”  “We don’t have by products in our food.”  Yeah, well, that nasty little lawsuit says differently about by products in their food.  Not to mention that “by products” are mainly organ meat and trimmings - fat, skin, etc, from the human food chain.  Nothing wrong with them and a lot right with them.

One thing we need to remember is that little Fifi, after a few hundred generations away from their wolf ancestor, may not have quite the same nutritional needs or the same immune system.  Plus wolves don’t live as long as long as pets despite what humans have done to destroy some dog breeds.  Has anybody ever slept next to any type of bulldog?  Does that seem like restful sleep?

Not to mention that RAW diets are rarely truly balanced and often deficient in certain nutrients.  It takes A LOT of WORK to balance a diet and I can almost guarantee that most owners are not doing it well.  Most people are feeding muscle meat and bones but rarely feed organs.  Guess what wolves go for first when they take down a large animal?  Organs.  “Nasty by-products” that’s the best thing in the carcass nutrient-wise.  Not to mention that wolves eat lots of mice, rats, voles, moles, etc, and eat them whole including the gut contents.  What do you suppose those rodents are eating?  It isn’t meat inside their stomachs.

Then we have to talk about how contaminated the meat in the food chain is, sometimes with antibiotic resistant strains that are downright deadly.  Not such a big deal if you cook the meat, not great at all if you don’t cook it.  That’s why restaurants have that little warning at the bottom of the menu about the risks of undercooked meat.  “Consuming raw or undercooked meats, poultry, shellfish, or eggs may increase your risk of foodborne illness, especially if you have certain medical conditions.”  This statement is required by law on menus in the USA.  People can die from foodborne illness and we can get ourselves to the doctor and explain our symptoms, plus get free healthcare if we have no money to pay.  Not really the same situation for dogs or cats regarding medical care.

I wouldn’t even consider feeding my own pets something that wasn’t from a company that does life-long diet trials or that doesn’t do any research into animal nutrition.  I’m not talking about somebody that took a class at a big box store, then read a book, maybe worked at a feed store, and then decided to start a company.  Or a chef that decided they were an expert on nutrition.

I have fed my dogs and cats food from Hill’s/Science Diet (same parent company), Royal Canin, and Purina.  I would consider Iams, but haven’t personally fed their food to my own, mostly from convenience.  That’s it.  No one else that I would even consider, really.  There’s a couple other companies that have done some decent smaller research projects and some diet trials, but no life-long diet trials.  Most of the companies that spend the most on ads have done ZERO RESEARCH and ZERO DIET TRIALS.  They are balancing their diets to paper numbers and slap appealing ad language into their commercials.

Do I get a little heated up about this?  You bet I do! There are dogs out there dying from heart failure caused by grain-free diets, exotic ingredient diets, boutique food companies, etc, that spend all their money on marketing and nothing on research, that won’t admit their food is causing problems.  They hired a guy to publish articles that make claims about research that wasn’t actually done, quotes made up studies, makes all kinds of outrageous claims, and hides that he works for one of the companies whose foods are killing dogs!

It’s late, it’s been a long, busy day, and I’m fast getting past the point of coherent and nudging into plain angry from frustration about some of the lousy, shady, national companies out there, so I’ll just step off my soapbox for now.

BARF name. How fitting. Heh. The people that buy it are probably paying a pretty penny too. The 3 well known brands you mention. I’m sure they are around a long time for a reason. There is word of mouth advertising too. If someone has a bad experience with a food, chances are they are going to tell their pet owner friends about it and discourage them from buying it.

My cats get Hills Sensitive Stomach & Skin. Used to be called Sensitive Stomach. I have a “power eater” and he was quite often getting sick right after/during meals. He very rarely gets sick now that he eats this food. And both cats have thick velvety soft coats 😍