Stress and well-being in our fish

Personally, I think that a fish can feel happiness, joy, etc.
But as of today, this is only my opinion, even if studies are increasingly leaning in that direction every day.

"When I started fishkeeping, these questions about the feelings of fish were not even considered. Hence the legend of the 'goldfish memory', whereas it is now proven that fish can learn, use tools, memorize, recognize faces, etc."

What is certain is that, at the very least, fish feel stress and well-being.

It is also known that excessive stress can kill any animal.

This is largely the reason for the fragility of aquarium fish. Their life is just a long series of stresses, from breeding to capture, transport(s), the store, arrival in the aquarium, and then life in the aquarium with artificial lighting, the artificial noise of pumps, filters, captivity in a small volume, close company of different species, and a decor more suited for the human eye than to satisfy a fish.

It is these accumulated stresses, and therefore toxic, that make our fish ultra-sensitive to parameters, parasites, temperature, etc.
In nature, a fish that flees at your arrival and dives deep can lose 6 degrees of temperature between the surface and the bottom in just one second! And this is not a problem for it.

The experience of the poubellarium proves it: fish returned to nature, restored to a certain wild life, become very tolerant of conditions that would be fatal to them in an aquarium.

The sunrise and sunset are not an artificial and abrupt ignition. Instead of two meals a day at best, made of industrial flakes, the fish hunts dozens of insects and various larvae every day, many different kinds. This incessant search occupies it.
The often opaque water reassures him, hiding him from our view. Similarly, the opaque walls remind us that, in nature, only the surface is transparent!

We can therefore deduce that, like all other animals, excessive stress that decreases well-being is the source of the fish's fragilities and vulnerabilities. Being happy is good for health.
It has been demonstrated that a low level of stress provides pleasure, while an excessive level makes all stress toxic.
A fish that dies during its acclimatization, after an exhausting international journey, actually dies from stress. And nothing else.

"It is time to become aware of this dimension. It is much more effective for our fish to reduce their stress than to handle the chemist's briefcase to adapt the environment in a nearly clinical way."

A clean aquarium is stressful for a fish. It gets bored there.
Removing pumps and filtration finally makes its aquatic environment a little quieter, like in nature. And above all, feeding it with natural microfauna, as nature intended, is the height of happiness: exploration, pursuit, excitement, taste, balance, and nutritional complexity…

"It is no longer possible to consider fish as anything other than sentient beings, entitled to well-being. And this should lead us to rethink aquarium practices."