What are your pet peeves when it comes to other hobbyists?

[ange]

For whatever reason, I can't stand a lot of betta owners. There are so many I've interacted who pat themselves on the back for rescuing/adopting their fish from a PetSmart/Petco when in reality they bought a fish at a store just like the majority of hobbyists.

It's such a minor thing that doesn't really hurt anyone but it grinds my gears nonetheless.

[KBOzzie59]

I've got better things to do with my time than worry about what someone else is doing.

[ange]

I've tried that before and wound up happier by recognizing how I feel and then moving on for the most part. There will always be thinks that irk me, but there's a difference between fixating on it and recognizing that it bothers me, having a laugh, and moving on.

[Maggie]

Not a pet peeve, but it's been confusing for a new aquarist with the many vastly different opinions. There seem to be many ways of doing something right, and many opinions telling us that's wrong, do it this way (not on here but elsewhere). I don't want my fish to die because I made a stupid mistake or listened to bad advice. To me they are not livestock, but pets.

[Daniel]

10 minutes ago, Maggie said:

Not a pet peeve, but it's been confusing for a new aquarist with the many vastly different opinions. There seem to be many ways of doing something right, and many opinions telling us that's wrong...

There often aren't right answers, there is just the answer relayed by someone saying what has worked for them. In another thread I listed all the 'wrong' things I do. But for me they aren't wrong, they actually work really well. But I would never suggest to a new aquarist not to cycle a tank or not quarantine their fish.

One way not to get confused is not to listen to all the opinions. For example, if you wanted to learn how to keep discus you would find on this forum that @Jessica. has really nice discus tanks and has the pictures to show the results of what she does. I would follow her methods and her advice and maybe filter out competing advice. @Jessica. also posts links to where she looks to for discus information, which is really helpful.

So if there is a certain kind of aquarium you want to keep, find someone experienced here on the forum and follow what they do. It will cut out a lot of the static.

 

[shkote]

My biggest pet peeve is when people in the hobby think that there is only a single right way and a billion wrong ways. There are so many different ways to do things in the hobby and they all work out differently for all of us. I think one of the best parts of the hobby is the journey to finding what works for you. We should all be open to trying new things, listening to other people and respecting other methods. 

[Maggie]

4 minutes ago, Daniel said:

There often aren't right answers, there is just the answer relayed by someone saying what has worked for them. In another thread I listed all the 'wrong' things I do. But for me they aren't wrong, they actually work really well. But I would never suggest to a new aquarist not to cycle a tank or not quarantine their fish.

One way not to get confused is not to listen to all the opinions. For example, if you wanted to learn how to keep discus you would find on this forum that @Jessica. has really nice discus tanks and has the pictures to show the results of what she does. I would follow her methods and her advice and maybe filter out competing advice. @Jessica. also posts links to where she looks to for discus information, which is really helpful.

So if there is a certain kind of aquarium you want to keep, find someone experienced here on the forum and follow what they do. It will cut out a lot of the static.

 

Thanks, Daniel! I saw the pics of Jessica's discus tank and it's gorgeous! Those fish are way out of my league in both size and difficulty but I think they are some of the most beautiful and graceful fish in the world. 

I currently have 11 danio erythromicron (dwarf emerald rasbora) in quarantine, and just finished fishless cycling in my 45-gal - what a process that was!! But I've decided the danios are way too small for the 45 (can't even count them all in their tiny 5-gal quarantine tank!) and they hang out toward the bottom of the tank and I feel like I'd never see them in a big tank. So i have a 10 gal set up but not cycled - going to do the fish-in cycling with that tank, since I've been doing really well with the q tank which is like half-way cycled itself! In the 45, I want about 12 or so harlequin rasboras, 6 cory cats and 2-3 pearl gouramis.

[Jessica.]

24 minutes ago, Daniel said:

For example, if you wanted to learn how to keep discus you would find on this forum that @Jessica. has really nice discus tanks and has the pictures to show the results of what she does. I would follow her methods and her advice and maybe filter out competing advice. @Jessica. also posts links to where she looks to for discus information, which is really helpful.

That's kind of you, Daniel. It's funny you say that, because there would be many who would disagree or tell you my discus are unhappy. A popular plant seller ran some photos of my discus tanks in his videos & instagram, and got comments about how "Those fish don't have enough room to swim" or "The fish are sick, can't you see the stress bars on them." Everyone has an opinion, especially on the internet. We just need to filter out much of it.

42 minutes ago, Maggie said:

Not a pet peeve, but it's been confusing for a new aquarist with the many vastly different opinions. There seem to be many ways of doing something right, and many opinions telling us that's wrong, do it this way (not on here but elsewhere). I don't want my fish to die because I made a stupid mistake or listened to bad advice. To me they are not livestock, but pets.

I think there are also lots of things happening for people that don't get communicated, unintentionally. For example, someone may tell you "You don't need root tabs. My plants grow beautifully without root tabs and have for 2 years. Root tabs are useless!" But, what that person may not know to tell you, or may not even know themselves, is that their well water is rich in minerals and micro nutrients, and the tank is stock heavily and they've never gravel vac'ed, so the fish poop providing all the needed ferts. So for them, no root tabs are not needed, but all the rest of us can benefit from them. 

I think if someone comes out and says "that's wrong, my way is better!" that's a red flag to perhaps question their advice. We all need to be open to learning. There really is 20 ways to do something and many will work. Some might work better, or differently, or be more labor intensive. Just look at filter options- canister, hang on back, undergravel, sponge, plants only, powerhead+plants, airstone only, internal filter.. they all work, yet people will tell you there's one best and all the rest are bad. We all just have to learn what works best for us. 

Edited October 27, 2020 by Jessica.

[ange]

3 hours ago, Maggie said:

Not a pet peeve, but it's been confusing for a new aquarist with the many vastly different opinions. There seem to be many ways of doing something right, and many opinions telling us that's wrong, do it this way (not on here but elsewhere). I don't want my fish to die because I made a stupid mistake or listened to bad advice. To me they are not livestock, but pets.

One thing that helped me as a hobbyist was making my approach "I will gather as many opinions as possible while doing my research and THEN draw my own conclusions" and it's worked pretty well.

I'm pretty sure every person who has been in the hobby has lost a fish to a mistake (be it through bad advice, forgetfulness, or anything else). I'm a person who can be hard on myself so I had to learn to forgive myself, let things go, and do better next time.

[Andy's Fish Den]

6 hours ago, Lynze said:

My biggest pet peeve is when people in the hobby think that there is only a single right way and a billion wrong ways. There are so many different ways to do things in the hobby and they all work out differently for all of us. I think one of the best parts of the hobby is the journey to finding what works for you. We should all be open to trying new things, listening to other people and respecting other methods. 

This is mine as well. I was the saltwater side of the fish keeping hobby for many years, actually still have a small fish only tank. But, I hated on a lot of the reef keeping forums if you didn't do things the way everyone else thought it should be done you would get criticized so badly. I remember I put up a thread and showed how I made an above display tank refugium with a bunch of macro algae. People kept telling me it would never work, you'll flood your house, etc. Not only did it work, but I was selling pieces of the macro algae I would trim (just like how us plant geeks trim our plants) and made a ton of money from that refugium. I did it because I wanted it where I could see it everyday and be easy to work on, instead of being crammed underneath the display tank.

[DaveSamsell]

14 hours ago, ange said:

For whatever reason, I can't stand a lot of betta owners. There are so many I've interacted who pat themselves on the back for rescuing/adopting their fish from a PetSmart/Petco when in reality they bought a fish at a store just like the majority of hobbyists.

It's such a minor thing that doesn't really hurt anyone but it grinds my gears nonetheless.

My pet peeve is someone whom they think they have all the answers, every time, all the time, without question.

[MattyIce]

Critiquing my food and telling me what food I should get instead, extra points against you if you question why I am still buying the food I came to the store to buy, and bonus round if you act offended that I only want the smallest size available of the food you recommended.

 

[ange]

31 minutes ago, MattyIce said:

Critiquing my food and telling me what food I should get instead, extra points against you if you question why I am still buying the food I came to the store to buy, and bonus round if you act offended that I only want the smallest size available of the food you recommended.

 

Did you run into the New Life Spectrum sales team at a pet store?

[MattyIce]

1 minute ago, ange said:

Did you run into the New Life Spectrum sales team at a pet store?

I think it was a normal employee, apparently they had a problem with me getting tetra color granules.

one of the brands recommended was new life spectrum, the other was Tropical.

[ange]

14 minutes ago, MattyIce said:

I think it was a normal employee, apparently they had a problem with me getting tetra color granules.

one of the brands recommended was new life spectrum, the other was Tropical.

Sorry, I was just making a bit of a jab at NLS. They're pretty aggressive and a bit culty with their marketing. If I'm remembering correctly, @Cory had a particularly negative experience with them as a retailer when he had to mark the food down due to it not selling well and talked about it on one of the livestreams.

[MattyIce]

5 minutes ago, ange said:

Sorry, I was just making a bit of a jab at NLS. They're pretty aggressive and a bit culty with their marketing. If I'm remembering correctly, @Cory had a particularly negative experience with them as a retailer when he had to mark the food down due to it not selling well and talked about it on one of the livestreams.

Don't you know, If you aren't feeding your fish new life spectrum you are killing them...or something like that.  Now I gotta binge watch until I find that live stream, thanks...

Edited October 27, 2020 by MattyIce

[FrozenFins]

when aquarists don't treat there fish as animals. and aren't willing to lear from there mistakes. Also when someone says were saving fish from petsmart and then feeds them to their arowana. Its not that I am against live feeding its that your not saving the fish if your gonna feed it to another fish.

[Streetwise]

I have a livestream pet peeve: displaying live chat in the video feed. This can capture troll posts, and typos that I could correct otherwise in my own posts. It is also redundant for the streamer and the viewer.

[Bill Smith]

On 10/27/2020 at 5:25 AM, Lynze said:

My biggest pet peeve is when people in the hobby think that there is only a single right way and a billion wrong ways. There are so many different ways to do things in the hobby and they all work out differently for all of us. I think one of the best parts of the hobby is the journey to finding what works for you. We should all be open to trying new things, listening to other people and respecting other methods. 

This right here is the single biggest thing I have learned from Aquarium Co-Op. It's helped me chill out.

[DavidR]

In general, overstocked tanks. Lots of new aquarium owners tend to overstock their tanks it seems.

[Bill Smith]

Just now, DavidR said:

In general, overstocked tanks. Lots of new aquarium owners tend to overstock their tanks it seems.

Old ones too. 🙂

I overstock almost all of my tanks, but I also have the plants and maintenance schedule to support it. So is it still technically "overstocked" at that point?

[DavidR]

1 minute ago, Bill Smith said:

Old ones too. 🙂

I overstock almost all of my tanks, but I also have the plants and maintenance schedule to support it. So is it still technically "overstocked" at that point?

No doubt, overstocking a tank can be done, especially with certain fish. The problem is when newer fish keepers do it, just leads to dead fish. Which brings us back to another pet peeve, the thought that fish are expendable.

[Bill Smith]

1 minute ago, DavidR said:

Which brings us back to another pet peeve, the thought that fish are expendable.

Ah yes, that's a good one. I think there's a core philosophy difference here. Some people regard fish as pets, many regard them as art/decor. If the latter, the "expendable" mentality rears its ugly head pretty easily. But it's no less real a perspective on fishkeeping. 

[Fishkeeper125]

My pet peeve is when a new hobbyist wants every type and color of fish. And when he can't wait for anything.

[varanidguy]

This pet peeve doesn't have to do with other hobbyists but the fish themselves. Rainbows...why can they fit food in their mouths that will kill them if they swallow it due to tiny throats? Just doesn't make sense to me lol