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

[Ken Burke]

On 10/27/2020 at 7:06 AM, 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.

 

On 10/27/2020 at 7:23 AM, 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.

 

I think I my pet peeve is presenting one’s opinion as fact, and the only way to look at it.  Best advice is things to think about and questions too ask. It allows the hearer to learn/figure things out without feeling judged.  (Just my opinion, so....)
 

Another option, and @Cory is the best at this, is “here is how I solve the problem given....”.  

[WhitecloudDynasty]

My pet peeve is other goldfish owners telling new Hobbits you can't keep that goldfish in that size of a aquarium. Instead of saying you can't, they should suggest you can with more water change. It doesn't work for everything but let's be positive about it.

A dying hobby need more new people instead of scaring them away cause they need a 55gallon+

[yannachka]

ive become the local “fish person” somehow even though i don’t talk about my tanks really outside of my small friend group. my biggest pet peeve is people coming up to me and asking me to help them set up a tank and then disregarding every piece of advice and info i give them. if you aren’t willing to listen to me why are you wasting my time in the first place

[Ben_RF]

People asking to gender fish, particularly angels, somehow has been coming one of mine. I don't know why it aggravates me so much lately.  

[Nick Y]

Mine is sort of tongue in cheek but I feel like almost every live stream someone asks about betta sorority tanks.    I feel like at this point @Cory should just make a sign and hold it up or something lol

[Alec2cool]

My biggest pet peeve is the enormous amount of responses saying "feed less" to a post asking about a snail population problem.

It made perfect sense to me before I had snails. If you don't overfeed, they don't overbreed. I've found this personally to be true but not like how I originally thought it was. This particular solution to this problem takes months if not over a year to see that snail population drop. It doesn't take a few weeks.

After 3-4months of a tank running, there is tons of microorganisms for those snails to snack on. There is even more food if live plants are kept and boy, even MORE if algae is allowed to grow. The leftover flake food rotting on the substrate is just an extra cherry on the top of a giant milkshake

So basically, feeding less is hardly going to dent the snail population, at least in my own personal experience. Also, a big thing to point out here is that everyone has a different idea of what a "snail infestation" is. Some of you would consider cutting that snail population in half as a perfect solution and now you're happy with the snails you got left. And then there are other people that would consider the complete extinction of snails in that tank to be a success. Well, feeding less likely won't accomplish number 2.

[varanidguy]

11 minutes ago, Alec2cool said:

My biggest pet peeve is the enormous amount of responses saying "feed less" to a post asking about a snail population problem.

It made perfect sense to me before I had snails. If you don't overfeed, they don't overbreed. I've found this personally to be true but not like how I originally thought it was. This particular solution to this problem takes months if not over a year to see that snail population drop. It doesn't take a few weeks.

After 3-4months of a tank running, there is tons of microorganisms for those snails to snack on. There is even more food if live plants are kept and boy, even MORE if algae is allowed to grow. The leftover flake food rotting on the substrate is just an extra cherry on the top of a giant milkshake

So basically, feeding less is hardly going to dent the snail population, at least in my own personal experience. Also, a big thing to point out here is that everyone has a different idea of what a "snail infestation" is. Some of you would consider cutting that snail population in half as a perfect solution and now you're happy with the snails you got left. And then there are other people that would consider the complete extinction of snails in that tank to be a success. Well, feeding less likely won't accomplish number 2.

For both solutions 1 and 2, if it's a huge population, I usually say get a loach or a couple assassin snails. Neither solution is perfect but they make it easy.

[Alec2cool]

5 minutes ago, varanidguy said:

For both solutions 1 and 2, if it's a huge population, I usually say get a loach or a couple assassin snails. Neither solution is perfect but they make it easy.

I went the assassin snail route myself after I gave up manually removing them either with my hands or snail traps. That was 5 months ago, those assassin snails kicked some butt

Now, it's largely under control. None of my various "pest" species are gone but they are definitely smaller in numbers. I had well over a thousand bladder snails in a 10g a few months ago, now it's down to double digits and I hope it stays there.

[clovenpine]

Sorry, just a quick rant: NO, you can not keep multiple male and female bettas together. Not even in a "big" 20g. Not even if you give them plenty of "hides" or "escape routes." THEY DON'T WANT TO BE TOGETHER. I see posts in betta forums where people have these elaborate setups so they can keep a "school" of bettas and I'm just like WHY? Why do that? They want to be solitary, they live longer and healthier lives when they're solitary, LET THEM BE SOLITARY or choose another species!

I don't personally get the appeal of a betta sorority, but I've seen it done responsibly. I'm specifically complaining about people who want to keep a school of males and females.

[lefty o]

life is too short to let how others enjoy their hobby bother me.

[Jay]

Mine is when people tell me off and tell me off and tell me off and tell me off and tell me off and tell me off because what I want to do is not " right" like I want pest snails and algae, but everyone gets mad at me when I say that.

[RovingGinger]

I’m annoyed that there apparently aren’t enough of us locally 😞 or is it just a fact of life that the best fish store is always an hour away? 

[TWBRIN]

On 10/27/2020 at 1:16 PM, MattyIce said:

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...

oct 24 2019 currently watching it

 

[StaceyTNBCkicker]

On 10/28/2020 at 11:49 AM, Bill Smith said:

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. 

I think of my aquarium as both. I'm a plant and fish nut. Always have been! Actually, I'm a animal nut. My plants outside and inside and now in my aquarium are precious to me, but they are also an artful expression and a relaxation method for me. My aquariums are the same. I love my fish and can watch them interact with each other and the plants fir hours on end, but the eco system is art to me as well. As for being an animal nut, I have horses, dogs, my son has a guinea pig and we now have 2 aquariums (1 is still cycling) and a large pond stocked with bluegill, 3 types of bass, catfish, grass carp, and turtles. And more plants, trees and flowers in and around the pond. I may have a problem!

[SpiritLiefe]

My pet peeve is when someone buys fish THEN does research on it. Or when they are too lazy to test their water or follow advice that they asked for. You know these people the "that's too much work" or "it's just a fish" type of people. It drives me crazy. I used to work at PetSmart and as much as I loved it I hated it in equal measure because of lazy or irresponsible people.

[Daniel]

On 11/19/2020 at 9:02 PM, RovingGinger said:

I’m annoyed that there apparently aren’t enough of us locally 😞 or is it just a fact of life that the best fish store is always an hour away? 

It is a geographically oddity, but in fact, no matter where you live the best fish store is always an hour away.

[Daniel]

I thought myself peeveless, but it turns out I do have one and it is forum related and it makes me sad.

About a month ago a topic was created and the poster asked for advice on something (fertilization recommendations, I don't remember), and ended the post with 'any and all advice would be appreciated'.

@Sleepy gave a thoughtful answer and I am not sure what the original poster thought was bad in @Sleepy's response, but let's just that the part 'any and all advice would be appreciated' turned out not to be true.

I haven't seen @Sleepy as much since then and that makes me sad as he was a valuable contributor.

One of the best things about this forum is how nice people are in general and I know that with a little kindness and keeping an eye on being helpful we can maintain that high standard.

[Tanked]

I have two:

The people who believe that saltwater is superior to freshwater because... 

The people who can't understand why you don't want their Little Mermaid figures and pink gravel in your adopted tank.

 

[ange]

54 minutes ago, Tanked said:

I have two:

The people who believe that saltwater is superior to freshwater because... 

The people who can't understand why you don't want their Little Mermaid figures and pink gravel in your adopted tank.

 

I feel the saltwater comment. One of my friends brought up wanting to try saltwater "for the challenge."  I was upset for all of 15 seconds until I asked him if there was anything else appealing to him about salt. Turns out reefing/saltwater species aren't actually that appealing to him and he felt that freshwater fishkeeping isn't as serious.

[Tanked]

21 minutes ago, ange said:

felt that freshwater fishkeeping isn't as serious.

Yea, I've been told that "freshwater isn't a real aquarium", and "freshwater fish aren't colorful".  Both comments came from someone who no longer has a salt tank.

[Daniel]

The most common question I get when new visitors see the big aquarium in my living room is 'is that saltwater'?

[Bill Smith]

41 minutes ago, Daniel said:

The most common question I get when new visitors see the big aquarium in my living room is 'is that saltwater'?

THIS. I HEAR THIS ALL THE TIME, regardless of tank size.

And I think it's something those of us fishkeepers who care about building something lush and colorful are likely to hear more often. The last 20 years have really brought some amazingly colorful fish into the freshwater hobby (I worked my first LFS in 1990). People just don't realize how much life and natural color a freshwater tank can bring to those who invest some effort. 🙂

[Andy's Fish Den]

I love how when someone asks what's wrong with their tank because they've lost several fish, and they are asked what the water parameters are, the response is "they're perfect or normal" but can't tell you any numbers.

[ange]

42 minutes ago, Andy's Fish Den said:

I love how when someone asks what's wrong with their tank because they've lost several fish, and they are asked what the water parameters are, the response is "they're perfect or normal" but can't tell you any numbers.

This definitely gets me sometimes. I always have to remind myself that a lot of beginners don't know how to interpret parameters well and often the first thing they're told is what sticks initially. Not everyone is a nerm 🙁

[Trey]

My biggest peeve is willful ignorance.

Next comes those people who, when they actually decide to research something, choose to believe the wrong source(s) over reliable ones.

Next comes those people who, after choosing to believe the wrong information for whatever reason, wind up having problems and then dare to complain.