New folks entering the hobby

[Guppysnail]

On 9/24/2021 at 6:03 PM, Hobbit said:

Thanks @gardenman! That’s awesome that you’ve published 15 books! Are they about gardening or fish or something else? 

@KentFishFanUK thank you so much! I’ll certainly take you up on that if the project comes to fruition! And I do hope it will help adults as well as kids.

 

Sign me up for a first edition preorder as well please 😁

[Expectorating_Aubergine]

I always tell new people to do basic research, and find someone who makes sense to them. When you do that, then you can figure the rest out. I actively discourage new people from participating in online clubs and forums. I always say it's better and easier on you if you lurk. You get the benefit of learning and none of the potential blowback that can happen in those places. Most online clubs/forums always have a very strong community of "knowledgeable mean people" for lack of a polite term. Their knowledge is only surpassed by their disdain for "newbie questions" and the sheer inflexibility of their chosen aquarium dogma. Besides, once you figure out how to use the search function a whole world of answers to questions you had will open up. Granted, I got into fish through 4chan. My path has been, let us say, less than usual. This forums is one of the few places where the policing of bad behavior is fairly consistent. I like that things always stay light and there are no flame wars or anything like that. 

Edited September 25, 2021 by Expectorating_Aubergine

[KentFishFanUK]

On 9/23/2021 at 2:46 PM, Kylec said:

Gate keeping is a problem but it often blown out of proportion in my humble opinion. As a new hobbyist that started in march I have not had many bad experiences and often take advice with a grain of salt. I have experience in other exotic pet hobbies as I bred dart frogs in high school and in college. I also made research a large part of my hobby before I even considered setting up a fish tank. I had been curious about fish keeping for 10 years before I owned a fish tank so I might be in the minority of 'new' fish keepers. I think people need to just research before getting into this hobby it would prevent alot of the gate keeping people often observe. 

 

You sound very much like me, years of interest and research before I even bought my first tank but I think we are probably in the minority there, especially as many first timers are kids. I even started in March too! Wait did I drunk post that and forget about it... nope not me haha. I tend to research any new hobbies obsessively, in fact research is a huge part of the hobbies for me. 

I'm also inclined to agree about the gatekeeping, what I often see I'm not sure I would even call gatekeeping, more well intentioned but perhaps overwhelming information/advice. I'm guilty of it myself when trying to explain fishless cycles and things - usually online but the few times I've discussed it in person you can almost see eyes glazing over and words going straight out of the opposite ear - so personally I think we just need to keep our advice simple and extremely basic for first timers, just enough for them to get a good first experience. 

Sort of how @Cory complains about canister filters, not because there's anything wrong with them per se but because they are simply expensive and often unnecessary, especially for beginners, yet you often see them recommended anyway. 

I would go as far as saying even some of the things we consider essential are too much. Do we really think the average 12 year old first time aquarist is going to buy API testing kits and start testing their tap water? I'm 33 and I just barely understand pH/KH/GH etc. Not to mention the years of research we did, most people will lose their enthusiasm before even buying a fish if they went that route and that means less people in the hobby. 

I think we just need to be able to say - to start, use products a,b,c and put in a couple of x fish and come back when you are ready to dive in and learn more! Something simple, cheap and relatively foolproof that would work with a range of source water parameters. 

Off the top of my head something like:

1. Cheap gravel and crushed coral substrate 

2. Cheap sponge filter and preset heater

3. Seachem Prime and Stability

4. No more than 3 guppies, throw in some guppy grass, feed with a small pinch of flakes daily

5. Once a week use a jug to remove some of the water and replace with new tap water and dose again with prime and stability 

Optional: come back when you're hooked and learn all about the whys and how's and where to go from there.

[Tanked]

To bring new folks into the hobby:
Make sure that both of you know what their expectations and limitations are. Understand and answer the question that they ask.  Each piece of extraneous info you give just adds to the confusion.  Understand that quite often you are speaking a foreign language.  Keep in mind that you are helping them setup their aquarium, not yours.  Make sure they know that an aquarium can be as simple or as complicated as they want it to be.  Tell them what they don’t need at entry level. You don’t need a canister filter, co2, a pharmacy, or a $150. light to grow a $5. plant and some guppies.  Make sure that they understand that the only fast things in this hobby are leaks and death.  Patience is required.  Help them grow into the hobby.
 

[Torrey]

On 9/24/2021 at 7:46 PM, Expectorating_Aubergine said:

Most online clubs/forums always have a very strong community of "knowledgeable mean people" for lack of a polite term. Their knowledge is only surpassed by their disdain for "newbie questions" and the sheer inflexibility of their chosen aquarium dogma.

Sad truth, there.

Of course, it's an opportunity to learn that when people are inflexible in their dogma, it's merely a compensation tool for insecurity. When people say/ do 'mean' things, it's a reflection of their own trauma, and has absolutely nothing to do with the person they are criticizing. 

 

Best part of my 'job' now that I am disabled, is watching people's faces light up when they finally concretize the idea that another person's cruelty actually reflected more information about the other person than it did about their own competency. 

 

It takes more strength and resilience to be willing to be vulnerable, and admit that you don't know something, thank it takes to be rude to someone for asking a question....

On 9/24/2021 at 7:46 PM, Expectorating_Aubergine said:

Granted, I got into fish through 4chan.

Oof.

Yeah, 4chan is brutal.

Once upon a time, I had to lurk there for a while..... not somewhere I would spend large amounts of time, willingly. 

 

Of course, I wasn't in fish keeping forums, so maybe the people were kinder in other forums....🤔

On 9/25/2021 at 8:06 AM, Tanked said:

Keep in mind that you are helping them setup their aquarium, not yours

That right there!

 

Everything else is spot on, but sometimes I think we need this line tattooed on the inside of our eyelids