Funniest fish myths

[Helan]

What are some of the funniest fish related myths You heard?

[Guppysnail]

This one I don’t find funny it actually upsets me but it is the myth that grates on me (although thanks to commercialism and marketing to sell more unneeded stuff then the internet parroting that contrived nonsense as gospel there are so many I think my head will explode 🤯)

snails (and other algae eaters) are scavengers and you don’t need to feed them. Just because someone can survive dumpster diving it does not mean it’s going to thrive or receive proper nutrition. 
I was at a big box and heard the kid tell a lady that you just throw them in any tank and you never need to feed them because they are “garbage eaters” 😳😭😤

I very politely stepped in ( I think offending people is offensive in and of itself). It turned into a wonderful half hour conversation.  The store kid thanked me and explained that’s what they are told to say because then people will buy them 😡. 
this young man has gone on to start his own shrimp/snail tank and now has a list of questions for me whenever I go in and shows me pictures on his phone of how shiny and big his snails are getting 🥰

Edited October 10, 2021 by Guppysnail

[Colu]

I think the one I hear the most is fish only grow as big as the tank their in 

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

Algae is bad for a tank, it means your tank is not doing well and you’ve got to be 100% algae free to have a healthy tank. Also you must duplicate the exact pH, temp and gh/kh of their native water otherwise your fish/invertebrates will not thrive.

[Waka88]

On 10/10/2021 at 8:05 AM, Beardedbillygoat1975 said:

Also you must duplicate the exact pH, temp and gh/kh of their native water otherwise your fish/invertebrates will not thrive.

Probably throw in species must be with other native species to their area, cause African Cichlid will get confused by South American fish.

Edited October 10, 2021 by Waka88

[sudofish]

On 10/10/2021 at 7:49 AM, Colu said:

I think the one I hear the most is fish only grow as big as the tank their in 

Wouldn't that be awesome for hobbyists lol. Sure kid here's your Oscar for your 10 gallon. It's basically a custom fish that will mold itself to it's environment.

On 10/10/2021 at 8:22 AM, Waka88 said:

Probably throw in species must be with other native species to their area, cause African Cichlid will get confused by South American fish.

Right. Mbuna don't speak Spanish.

[Waka88]

On 10/10/2021 at 8:55 AM, sudofish said:

Wouldn't that be awesome for hobbyists lol. Sure kid here's your Oscar for your 10 gallon. It's basically a custom fish that will mold itself to it's environment.

Buddy of mine growing up had 2 Oscars in a 10 gallon.  They never grew to their full size, not even close.  He had them for 8 years.  Also a large goldfish was in there.  Honestly don't know how they lived so long.

It's not a myth, it's not ethical, but not a myth.

Edited October 10, 2021 by Waka88

[Chris]

On 10/10/2021 at 9:00 AM, Waka88 said:

Buddy of mine growing up had 2 Oscars in a 10 gallon.  They never grew to their full size, not even close.  He had them for 8 years.  Also a large goldfish was in there.  Honestly don't know how they lived so long.

It's not a myth, it's not ethical, but not a myth.

Research has been done on this for commercial fish hatcheries - it's not the size of the container, but rather the quality of the water. Fish release hormones that temporarily stunt their peers, so that they can become the biggest fish out of a spawn. In small volumes of water, those hormones can build up and severely stunt fish in the tank. If you had those fish in a flow-through system with a large volume of water, it's likely they would have continued growing.

Never tried it myself, but that's what the scientists say 🤷‍♂️

My least favorite myth is probably that plecos are algae eaters. It is true that some of them eat algae, but that's not even their primary diet sometimes. Then, you get these huge fish and people want them to survive off of nothing but a few diatoms in the tank 🙄

Edited October 10, 2021 by Chris

[Waka88]

Huh, interesting!  His water maintenance was poor, maybe that was it.

Edited October 10, 2021 by Waka88

[Biotope Biologist]

Surprised no-one mentioned the most pervasive one in day to day dialogues.

 

Goldfish have a 2-5 second memory. 

 

I'm not even sure where this myth came from, but anyone who has owned a goldfish figures out that was untrue. Perhaps it was a myth invented by big bowl businesses because no-one was buying their ugly hunks of glass. Not only do goldfish recognize their owners but scientists found they are one of a handful of fish that recognize people's faces and can remember things they have done for up to 5 years. They quickly figure out who feeds them and takes care of the tank and display exaggerated behavior to get their attention if they are hungry or not feeling well. I believe they have also completed mazes but those are poor cognition tests as we have found that complex minds will just invent a new way to solve your silly human test and force you to rewrite your whole experiment. They don't care about your controls. The jungle mirror test has been debunked for that exact reason.

Edited October 10, 2021 by Biotope Biologist

[CalmedByFish]

On 10/10/2021 at 11:01 AM, Biotope Biologist said:

we have found that complex minds will just invent a new way... They don't care about your controls. 

I know this is miles outside of your context, but this section instantly made me think of my extremely stubborn kid. 😂 

[BlueLineAquaticsSC]

On 10/10/2021 at 10:27 AM, Chris said:

Research has been done on this for commercial fish hatcheries - it's not the size of the container, but rather the quality of the water. Fish release hormones that temporarily stunt their peers, so that they can become the biggest fish out of a spawn. In small volumes of water, those hormones can build up and severely stunt fish in the tank. If you had those fish in a flow-through system with a large volume of water, it's likely they would have continued growing.

Never tried it myself, but that's what the scientists say 🤷‍♂️

My least favorite myth is probably that plecos are algae eaters. It is true that some of them eat algae, but that's not even their primary diet sometimes. Then, you get these huge fish and people want them to survive off of nothing but a few diatoms in the tank 🙄

I do t know if it’s true, but I’ve heard that even when their bodies grows h is stunted, their internal organs continue to grow, which can cause internal issues.

[Chris]

On 10/10/2021 at 12:18 PM, BlueLineAquaticsSC said:

I do t know if it’s true, but I’ve heard that even when their bodies grows h is stunted, their internal organs continue to grow, which can cause internal issues.

I've heard that too - I guess it makes sense, seeing as how I've seen several stunted fish appear bloated/balloon-bellied. I've got nothing to back that up, though!

[CalmedByFish]

On 10/10/2021 at 11:18 AM, BlueLineAquaticsSC said:

I do t know if it’s true, but I’ve heard that even when their bodies grows h is stunted, their internal organs continue to grow, which can cause internal issues.

On 10/10/2021 at 11:38 AM, Chris said:

I've heard that too - I guess it makes sense, seeing as how I've seen several stunted fish appear bloated/balloon-bellied. I've got nothing to back that up, though!

At least most of the time: If human hormones cause them to stop growing, the internal organs also stop growing. But if it's an overall delay of length caused by something like a curved spine, the internal organs do continue to grow. I wonder if the same might hold true for fish.

[Chris]

On 10/10/2021 at 12:49 PM, CalmedByFish said:

At least most of the time: If human hormones cause them to stop growing, the internal organs also stop growing. But if it's an overall delay of length caused by something like a curved spine, the internal organs do continue to grow. I wonder if the same might hold true for fish.

So you're saying that (in humans) hormones affect the entire body - organs and all. But a defect that causes someone to appear smaller (despite having essential "the same" mass) doesn't cause the organs to stop growing?

[Mmiller2001]

PH swing is harmful to fish. Makes me chuckle every time.

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

@Mmiller2001because rainy seasons and changes of season never happen in the wild? 😝 

[CalmedByFish]

On 10/10/2021 at 12:01 PM, Chris said:

So you're saying that (in humans) hormones affect the entire body - organs and all. But a defect that causes someone to appear smaller (despite having essential "the same" mass) doesn't cause the organs to stop growing?

At least as a general rule, yes. 

Full disclosure though. I don't have a formal higher education in any form of biology. This is just what I've seen in my and my acquaintances' experiences with human special needs.

Hey @Beardedbillygoat1975, you're the only member I can think of with a higher education in human bio. Am I on the right track?

Edited October 10, 2021 by CalmedByFish

[Patrick_G]

On 10/10/2021 at 9:01 AM, Biotope Biologist said:

Goldfish have a 2-5 second memory. 

Yup, this one is totally busted! My pond goldfish clearly remember cues related to food, and they even seem to react to the container with their favorite food more enthusiastically than one they like less. 

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

@CalmedByFishNo clue. Don’t know if any fish models used in medicine to be able to correlate that bit mostly we use mammals for models. 

[Flumpweesel]

On 10/10/2021 at 5:01 PM, Biotope Biologist said:

Surprised no-one mentioned the most pervasive one in day to day dialogues.

 

Goldfish have a 2-5 second memory. 

 

I'm not even sure where this myth came from, but anyone who has owned a goldfish figures out that was untrue. Perhaps it was a myth invented by big bowl businesses because no-one was buying their ugly hunks of glass. Not only do goldfish recognize their owners but scientists found they are one of a handful of fish that recognize people's faces and can remember things they have done for up to 5 years. They quickly figure out who feeds them and takes care of the tank and display exaggerated behavior to get their attention if they are hungry or not feeling well. I believe they have also completed mazes but those are poor cognition tests as we have found that complex minds will just invent a new way to solve your silly human test and force you to rewrite your whole experiment. They don't care about your controls. The jungle mirror test has been debunked for that exact reason.

I've seen this and not just goldfish. I had who knew who I was and would "wave" at me when I entered the room, and sit near me in the tank when it either wanted something or if there was something it didn't like going on . It taught the corys and now even though that goldfish has gone the surviving still hang out in that corner watching me.

It also knew cats don't like water and would splash them.

[PineSong]

"Fish don't have feelings/don't experience pain"--I've been told this by multiple people who consider catch and release to be a non-event for the fish.

 I also did not major in biology, but it seems common sensical to me that any creature that lives in an environment where sharp spines, branches, etc. could scratch or impale them if they didn't avoid running into them is a creature that has nerve endings that tell it "don't do that", i.e. pain. 

 

[lefty o]

On 10/10/2021 at 9:24 PM, PineSong said:

"Fish don't have feelings/don't experience pain"--I've been told this by multiple people who consider catch and release to be a non-event for the fish.

 I also did not major in biology, but it seems common sensical to me that any creature that lives in an environment where sharp spines, branches, etc. could scratch or impale them if they didn't avoid running into them is a creature that has nerve endings that tell it "don't do that", i.e. pain. 

 

heard that one many times, and agree. they have nerves, they feel pain. i would say though they probably arent overly sensitive in their mouths as most fish tend to eat other fish that have spiny barbs/bones in their dorsal fins. 

[Helan]

On 10/11/2021 at 10:24 AM, PineSong said:

"Fish don't have feelings/don't experience pain"--I've been told this by multiple people who consider catch and release to be a non-event for the fish.

 I also did not major in biology, but it seems common sensical to me that any creature that lives in an environment where sharp spines, branches, etc. could scratch or impale them if they didn't avoid running into them is a creature that has nerve endings that tell it "don't do that", i.e. pain. 

 

There are many studies on this and most agree that fish feel pain ,they just disagree on how much pain they feel

[Odd Duck]

On 10/10/2021 at 6:49 AM, Colu said:

I think the one I hear the most is fish only grow as big as the tank their in 

This is the one that absolutely drives me batty!  And I just heard it again from a veterinarian colleague on Friday!  I tried to gently dissuade her from this notion, but I may have come across a little too strongly but it’s one of my pet peeves!  She should know better!  🤦🏻‍♀️😡😞