What upsets/bothers you the most in this hobby?

[DaveO]

On 3/30/2022 at 10:49 AM, Sal said:

ALGAE.  effing ALGAE.

That cracked me up.🤣

[Ken Burke]

Showing ur age much?

On 3/30/2022 at 6:28 PM, lefty o said:

i must admit, best food i ever ate in the service was at Clark air base.

the volcano wiped that base out in, what ‘92, ‘93?

[OnlyGenusCaps]

On 3/29/2022 at 8:50 PM, modified lung said:

The power outlet are always in the worst possible place.

I won't tell you what I have paid to put appropriate outlets, on appropriate breakers, in appropriate locations. 🤑

[PineSong]

1) Sudden unexplained fish death

2) Unanticipated fish aggression/bullying among peaceful species

3) thru 300) Duckweed, and the fact that I did it to myself by PURCHASING IT ONLINE and actively putting it in my tanks. Argh.

[lefty o]

On 3/30/2022 at 6:58 PM, Ken Burke said:

Showing ur age much?

the volcano wiped that base out in, what ‘92, ‘93?

i may be old🤪! it was some time around then when pinatubo blew its lid. think it was early '90 when i was there, and it was hot, and humid.

[modified lung]

On 3/30/2022 at 5:02 PM, OnlyGenusCaps said:

I won't tell you what I have paid to put appropriate outlets, on appropriate breakers, in appropriate locations. 🤑

Take that number and double it. That's probably how much it would cost here in CA. 👍👍 The good news is I hardly ever pop my breaker anymore. Not sure how.

[Karen B.]

On 3/30/2022 at 8:03 PM, PineSong said:

 

2) Unanticipated fish aggression/bullying among peaceful species

.

About that… I HATE agression, it absolutely takes all the fun away for me. So after doing my research, and hearing Cory say that White Cloud Minnows were one of the most peaceful fish out there, I bought 16 to go in my 20 gallons.  2 days later, all males had injuries on their fins - I had one overly agressive male. I named him Jaws and I tried everything (time out, redecorating, etc). Nothing worked so sadly I rehomed him. 1 week later, another male started herding every fish in one corner, wouldn’t let them move. Once again, time out and redecorating didn’t work. I rehomed them all and I am so done with White cloud minnows.

or all males guppy tank… Ugh. 

[PineSong]

On 3/30/2022 at 8:47 PM, Karen B. said:

or all males guppy tank… Ugh. 

 The male guppies are my exact problem.

[Ken Burke]

On 3/30/2022 at 7:04 PM, lefty o said:

i may be old🤪! it was some time around then when pinatubo blew its lid. think it was early '90 when i was there, and it was hot, and humid.

I was at my first duty assignment never made it there.  

[Widgets]

On 3/30/2022 at 8:04 PM, lefty o said:

i may be old🤪! it was some time around then when pinatubo blew its lid. think it was early '90 when i was there, and it was hot, and humid.

I won't say that I was there in '70. I was a service brat.

[Avram fish tanks]

It bothers me when the people at the fish store think you don’t know anything about aquarium’s.

 

[Hobbit]

I can’t stand male fish that are aggressive to the females. Any platy boy that gets too aggressive with mating—chasing too much, nipping, etc—gets pulled from the breeding tank. I won’t have it!! This is why I don’t think I could ever do CPD’s.

What else frustrates me… oh. How heavy water is. 🙃😭

[Widgets]

On 3/30/2022 at 11:37 AM, jwcarlson said:

The fact that there's not some widget that you can dump an ounce of water in and have it spit out your parameters is kind of wild to me. 

You mean something like this?

https://reefbuilders.com/2020/07/23/api-aquaspin-more-details-about-the-automated-testing-machine/

[jwcarlson]

On 3/31/2022 at 11:40 AM, Widgets said:

You mean something like this?

https://reefbuilders.com/2020/07/23/api-aquaspin-more-details-about-the-automated-testing-machine/

Yes, where can I buy one? 😄

[Odd Duck]

On 3/31/2022 at 11:40 AM, Widgets said:

You mean something like this?

https://reefbuilders.com/2020/07/23/api-aquaspin-more-details-about-the-automated-testing-machine/

If the cost per test is anything like the cost per test of similar blood chemistry machines then it’s $7.00-$15.00 per cartridge.  It could be cheaper, but I’d be surprised if it’s much cheaper.  Great concept, though.

[jwcarlson]

Apparently there's also another one: Spin Touch FF (waterlinkspintouch.com)

Which looks a lot like the API one, honestly.  Maybe it's a rebrand or something.

 

Edit: I found some of their pool testing kits online and they're around $1,000 it looks like. 

Edited March 31, 2022 by jwcarlson

[Odd Duck]

A little searching looks like about $950.00-$1000.00 for the machine and about $150.00 for a box of 50 of the freshwater cartridges - only about $3.00 per test!  That’s a pretty good deal considering the speed and ease of testing.  And it should be more accurate as well.  They have both fresh and salt water cartridges, plus some for pool water.  I’ve sent them an email to enquirer further.

The prices I found are for Lamotte brand.  I emailed API.  The machines and cartridges look identical in pictures, so likely a rebrand.  We’ll see what API says.

[Widgets]

On 3/31/2022 at 12:40 PM, Widgets said:

You mean something like this?

https://reefbuilders.com/2020/07/23/api-aquaspin-more-details-about-the-automated-testing-machine/

From the link:

First of all, the API AquaSpin is actually made by LaMotte as the WaterLink Spin Touch, and was targeted primarily at testing water for three broad categories – pools and spas, drinking water, and fish farming applications. The Spin Touch is capable of testing 16 different parameters and it is our understanding that API’s role in all of this has been to optimize the tests to be more applicable to aquarium water parameters.

[Sal]

On 3/30/2022 at 10:59 PM, Avram fish tanks said:

It bothers me when the people at the fish store think you don’t know anything about aquarium’s.

 

Ugh, yes to this too.  My fave is when I ask them to bag up 10 cardinal tetras for me, and they say "what size is your tank?"

I like to reply "My quarantine tank?  or my 120?"

Edited March 31, 2022 by Sal

[H.K.Luterman]

My MAJOR gripe is just that my area lacks any sort of organized aquarium hobby culture, and our stores are pretty meh (my favorite one closed a few years ago and it hasn't been the same since).

But beyond that I think the thing about the hobby that bothers me the most is all the conflicting and bad information out there. Though I think with the growth of the hobby on the internet, it is getting better. 

[Jawjagrrl]

On 3/30/2022 at 11:37 AM, jwcarlson said:

edit to add: don't get me wrong, there is some better tech now.  Lights are SO much better and some of those have lots of fancy features like my Fluval 2.0.  But most tech seems to be driven simply to cost more not necessarily make the hobby better or do the job they do better.  Filters are a good example of that.  Heater tech is also head scratchingly pretty much the same as it was.  But I suppose there are some good heat control options now that do a decent job.  So maybe the main complaint is the testing/water chemistry front.  I envision a system that constantly monitors my water and sends me a text message when my temp drops below some level or when my flow on a filter drops to zero.

Couldn't agree more. I was out of the hobby for about 15 years and expected the same things. Water testing should be easier by now. I think about that every time I see someone testing their blood sugar. Lights - soooo much better. Heaters? Not really any better at all and it seems like they should be. it would be nice if "there's an app for that" applied to more aspects of the hobby beyond that of tinkerers extrordinaire like @Cory, Dean, etc. I'm not expecting an alert for "hey! snails have clogged your filter intake 90%!", but temp alerts seem like they would be doable.

On 3/30/2022 at 5:06 PM, Intuos said:

Can only speak for my area of the UK, but that feeling of same old same old when it comes to selection of fish available. Don't get me wrong I know that lfs have to be able to sell them, but would be nice to have a bit more variety.

I get terribly jealous every time I see MD Fish Tanks visit his LFS on the channel - amazing store. Everything around me for an hour in all directions is reptiles now.

[Jawjagrrl]

On 3/31/2022 at 1:58 PM, H.K.Luterman said:

My MAJOR gripe is just that my area lacks any sort of organized aquarium hobby culture, and our stores are pretty meh (my favorite one closed a few years ago and it hasn't been the same since).

This. The closest club to me is about 100 miles away in the wrong direction (I live on a farm now for a reason). The one good LFS near me went all in on snakes and lizards, which is fine, but not what I want to raise. So glad for this forum, even if it's made me procrastinate scraping my tank this afternoon.

Edited March 31, 2022 by Jawjagrrl

[jwcarlson]

On 3/31/2022 at 12:17 PM, Widgets said:

From the link:

First of all, the API AquaSpin is actually made by LaMotte as the WaterLink Spin Touch, and was targeted primarily at testing water for three broad categories – pools and spas, drinking water, and fish farming applications. The Spin Touch is capable of testing 16 different parameters and it is our understanding that API’s role in all of this has been to optimize the tests to be more applicable to aquarium water parameters.

Oh, I was supposed to READ it and not just look at the video? 🙂

Honestly, I scanned the page looking for a price or a "you can buy it here" link and didn't see one so I figured it was something unavailable.

[Ken Burke]

On 3/31/2022 at 12:26 PM, Sal said:

Ugh, yes to this too.  My fave is when I ask them to bag up 10 cardinal tetras for me, and they say "what size is your tank?"

I like to reply "My quarantine tank?  or my 120?"

Or, when I ask for advice, easiest answer without asking any questions.  “Cloudy water? Must be a bacteria bloom.” Me: gee thanks. But it’s not.  (I moved the tank to get less light, problem solved)

[Scapexghost]

The amount of headaches aquarium lids of all things have caused me is rediculous. First i tried those hindged lids, but they didn't fit half the time. Even when they did fit, the stupid hinge blocked half my light  Then i tried glass, but the hardware store would only cut rectanges. Then i tried acrylic, which was a total nightmare. Then i tried siliconing several pieces of glass together, but the hardware store didn't cut the glass straight enough. Then, once i finally made a decent lid, i smashed it.