For the intervention group, a significant improvement was found compared to the control group, with younger participants (10-13 years) who had a greater response to the intervention than older participants (14-17 years). This study also evaluated whether the intervention had an effect on the generic and health-related quality of life, but no significant changes were observed from baseline to follow-up. Set up an aquarium with important accessories such as a water filter and plants. Treat the water and keep it clean so that the fish remains healthy and happy. To stimulate the brain of your fish, give toys like floating rocks and caves to hide. You can even train your fish to do tricks, such as swimming through a hoop or jumping out of the water with a little practice.
Once fish learn to track a target, you can wet your finger or stay wet and attach a piece of fish food to it. Keep the food straight on the water and see if your fish jumps through it. However, the main limitations of this assessment were the scope and quality of the current research evidence. In addition, in all studies, the risk of bias was high or unclear and the strength of the evidence was quite low, with only four of the nineteen studies achieving a “high” assessment of the weight of the evidence.
Many pet owners do not realize that it is simply not enough to run the pump and tank filter for a few days. Cycling is where the favorable bacterial levels slowly increase by feeding bacteria ammonia. Ammonia is converted into nitrite, which is converted into nitrate. The bacteria ensure that the ammonia from food and the decomposition of waste in the tank is quickly neutralized into nitrate, which is less harmful and can be removed with weekly / monthly water changes.
Fish seems to be the easiest pet to maintain because they don’t have the same requirements as other different pets. However, many people do not follow the basics of keeping fish, only saltwater fish feeds by providing water and some flake food from time to time. It is important to ensure that your fish are healthy so that they last longer and can be large pets for a long time.
In addition to addressing methodological limitations, there are several options for future research highlighted by this assessment. Although most intervention studies were conducted within specific clinical populations, there was preliminary evidence that human-fish interaction may be beneficial between non-clinical samples. These findings reflect dog research that has indicated that HAI may be useful in educational or work environments . In addition, since all but one of the studies included have been conducted within adult populations, it would be interesting to further investigate whether interaction with fish in aquariums is beneficial for the well-being of participating children or adolescents. In some intervention studies, the observed benefits may be due to factors other than human-fish interaction.
Intervention studies should aim to meet the “gold standard” of RCTs, or use suitable alternatives when this is not an option (see Kazdin for an overview). Both experimental and observational research must take into account the mediating effects of attachment, socio-demographic characteristics and health-related behavior. Since examining similarities in qualitative research results can be crucial for identifying the mechanisms underlying HAI, there is a need for additional qualitative research in the field of human-fish interaction. Katcher et al. reported collecting heart rate data, but this result was not included in the results section of the article. Likewise, when discussing their research results, Edwards and Beck referred to data indicating reduced use of dietary supplements among participants, but this result was not discussed in the method or outcome sections. In addition to omitting specific results, some studies did not sufficiently report the results, for example not the full details of the statistical test and significance levels, or did not report the results of the post-hoctests .
For example, one study showed that linking self-management tasks for diabetes to routine fish care activities led to better glycemic control among teenagers with type 1 diabetes . However, the fish has undoubtedly not been an integral part of this intervention; Self-management behavior can be combined with any regular activity, such as waking or sleeping and routines . While teenagers may be more motivated to stick to an intervention because it involves interaction with live animals, not a direct comparison of fish care tasks with other routine activities, it is impossible to determine whether the fish was a necessary part of this intervention. Likewise, although Buttelmann and Römpke found that interacting with a single fish in an aquarium reduced anxiety to a greater extent than any intervention, this effect was equivalent for participants interacting with a dog or plant instead. As such, the authors acknowledged that these findings can be attributed to a simple distraction so that they can be achieved with a variety of other activities as long as they are attractive to the individual . Two studies examined changes in self-informed mood and physiological results after interacting with fish in public aquarium displays.