Husbandry? What is it?

Brian W · May 5, 2022

So what exactly is husbandry? Im planning out a video to make for my friend who wants to get into the hobby and one of the topics I have wrote down is husbandry. I think I know what it is but can't find a definition other than it means "fish farming".

So to me fish husband means keeping fish in a tank that will get along and not bump heads. Also to me it means having all of the right fish for a tank. Having a wrasse will help with pests, a goby will help with sifting the sand, a Tang with keeping algae at bay. A filefish or copper band will help to keep aiptasia at bay. All of these fish in a properly sized aquarium would be an example of good husbandry, correct?

Bad husbandry would be adding several adult clownfish in a tank or having multiple of the same types of tangs with the same body shape (although I know some can do it just fine). Last another bad example of fish husbandry would be to add lionfish or frogfish to a tank with smaller fish. Am I correct so far?

Coral husbandry.
Proper coral husbandry would be to keep similar corals together and not placing a torch next to an acropora that could get stung. Zoas, palys and mushrooms play well together, which would be good coral husbandry as well. Don't plan to keep acan lords if you have an aiptasia eating file fish since after the aiptasia is gone it may start nipping at them and other soft corals...(had this happen on two different occasions).

I just want to make sure im explaining it to my friend correctly. I appreciate any input you have.

vetteguy53081 · May 5, 2022

Husbandry would be the cleaning, testing and feeding requirements met by individuals to sustain their specimens and maintain a healthy system

Brian W · May 5, 2022

vetteguy53081 said:
Husbandry would be the cleaning, testing and feeding requirements met by individuals to sustain their specimens and maintain a healthy system

Oh wow ok.
7 years in and I just learned what husbandry means. Thank you!

homer1475 · May 5, 2022

To me husbandry is my weekly WC's, cleaning the glass, emptying the skimmer cup, changing filter socks, changing out my carbon and GFO, etc.

The stuff that keeps the tank clean, and it's inhabitants happy.

Soren · May 5, 2022

Check out dictionary definitions of the word "husbandry" and you should find that it generally means all of the aspects of care for the production and reproduction of a living thing, particularly animals.

This would include pretty much everything in the hobby including maintenance schedule and methods, types of living creatures included, equipment used, tank type/size/location, lighting types/amounts/schedule, dosing, food types/schedule, etc.

I think a distinction to be made is that things for better viewing or photography/videos would not fall under the category of husbandry, since they are not directly related to the care of the living organisms.
Therefore, glass/acrylic and low-iron glass questions are not really related to husbandry.

DeniseAndy · May 5, 2022

We usually refer to the term husbandry as stated above nicely. It is the maintenance of the system. Not only cleaning, but also maintaining the stability of the system.

Since it is all that goes into the upkeep of our animals, we must also include the proper environment for each animals.