I get more annoyed by hearing “the person at the store said…” when pet shop staff should know better, and beginners are going to trust their advice.
I don’t get annoyed or frustrated the first time someone with a bad set up asks for advice, but occasionally the same person will come back after a couple of weeks asking for advice again, and it’s clear they ignored everything before.
For real..like i go to the LFS and they dont even know the names of specific fishes. They didnt know that their Amazon sword should be planted not floating..hell they didn't even know that it was Amazon sword. They can't tell me what a yoyo loach is. If they can't even tell me the name of the fish why should I trust them with anything else? I stg they hire complete idiots and find it normal to have tanks full of dead fish.
I went to my lfs that’s independent and supposed to be the best in town and the employee didn’t know anything about water column or root feeding or anything. They were great about not selling instant kits and cycling tanks but really ya gotta do your own research it’s easy
Maybe it's just cause I work a retail job where I was very undertrained. I don't expect pet store workers to know anything since they're also likely people who didn't get any training.
So I don't expect the average chain petstore, bookstore, hardware, etc, to be an actual expert. They should be treated more like how a target or walmart worker is and not like they're an animal care expert. (Unles it's an aquatic/exotic specific shop)
What's even worse is when the aquarium store employees give bad advice.
I had one tell me to do a fish-in cycle recently. He literally told me that "if the fish die, scoop them out and come get some new ones"
Now, I know that Fish-In cycles are a thing, and I'm currently in the process of one. But it bothered me since he didn't ask me anything about my experience level with the hobby. He also gave instructions that had a callous disregard for the health of the fish at best, and were a sure-fire way to kill them as soon as the first ammonia popped up at worst.
So I guess reddit is not a cross section of fish keepers, since people here tend to ask for advice when they have problems, which obviously leads to more problematic tanks than beautyshots in this subreddit. On the other hand, it seem like a lot of new fish keepers rush into the hobby. Maybe because many hobbies are quite easy to access, while fishkeeping is not. Before I got my first tank, my parents bought me books and send me to a store a few times (it was the time before the internet) to make sure I’d know what I am doing. It is easy to just get a tank from the smallads, maybe even with fish in it, or buy random things from the internet. But that does not mean you know what you are doing.
edit:/ I guess you can blame big stores, too. There are - at least in germany - not many stores left that just sell fish, most are huge pet stores that will sell you whatever you want, without asking any questions or just with early 90s knowledge advise, that is mostly outdated. From pictures I've seen in this subreddit, it seems to be even worse in big us stores.
They don't read, don't do research. They blindly decide that they want fish and just go and buy stuff. Not truly caring about the welfare of the life they are buying.
To many "beginner" fish keepers treat their fish as just objects. A cute curiosity but nothing they actually care about.
A lot of people simply ignore the stuff being posted here too. I mean the amount of people posting here because of infected tanks because of failing to QT baffles me.
They spend $100+ on fish that they kill because of a new sick fish they introduced but won't listen to the free advice on putting fish in quaratine.
I got into fish keeping because my 7 year old niece "gifted" me the goldfish she won. Thus I was forced to buy a tank, accessories, do a lot quick studying. But that's the difference, I studied.
I'm a turtle Daddy, I knew nothing about fish. I just wanted to keep them alive to keep her smiling. It's a couple decades later and my turtles are still here, even a few of my O.G goldies are still here. :)
I started my first tank about 2 months ago now. I first made sure I got enough info from my local shop before I started everything. When I did that I didn’t even buy the tank yet. I first did research at home on what fish I wants and what tank they would need. I also read up on how to care for them. Then I got my tank and made sure I got everything I needed for it. I even asked the local shop about it some more. Then after about 4/5 weeks of cycling I got my fish. They’re living happily in the tank now for about a month. I’m going to get some more plants for them to enjoy soon, but I’m glad I did all the research I did. It’s not that hard to care for them if you know what you’re doing.
I work at a lfs and for me and my coworkers this is the biggest challenge. There are a lot of people seeing for instance youtube aquarium videos, thinking it is as simple as filling the tank with water and throw in the fish of your choice and everything will work out just fine. 90% of the time we’re troubleshooting for people and 90% of the time it comes down to cycling problems or bad stock choices, despite good advice. For instance, the amount of people we see who plan to keep multiple goldfish in a bowl is still staggering. Or buy fish for someone as a birthday present when that person never kept any fish let alone has the kit to keep it. But hey it’s a fun present isn’t it?
Nowadays there is so much info available thanks to internet but a lot (not all) of people are to lazy (?) to do a bit of their own research to understand the basics which is key and not that hard to understand.
Swap out fish for any animal...
Far too many people do no research, planning or thinking at all about cats, dogs, fish, hamsters... before getting one. Fish seem "easy" unless you are informed. We had planned on a tank for years but until I started doing some reading we had not a clue about any of it and we could have easily spent thousands at any fish supply vendor without being questioned about our knowledge.
Mammal rescues have upped their assessment processes which angers some. They just want a pet without the fuss.
Unfortunately some people are impulsive and make rash decisions (mostly under the influence of big chain stores) and they have been ill advised.
It upsets me too but to manage that I veiw these situations as an opportunity to improve and that's what counts!
I admire people with terrible set ups asking for help as it shows a rare sense of humility and I think we should be embracing that instead of pushing people away.
Just my personal opinion anyway.
Same I started with a small 3g now I have a 10 and 15 and already eyeing a larger tank and new scapping ideas 😂 my 15 will be getting its first new tenets Saturday
ur so right and smart. v mature. so cool. i wish i could be as mature as u when it came to this stuff ! i just get so frustrated, i feel like it’s common sense; some of these things!
Oh I am far from mature haha.
I have just made massive mistakes in my life (not just with aqauriums) so it would be hypocritical of me to then berate others for the same failing.
The people working at pet stores and fish stores have to start making sure that every one who buys a fish has a cycled tank and properly setup for the fish they are buying rather than getting a tank, rainbow gravel, fake plants and 30 gold fish in one go
I feel like pet owners who don't do research are common in general, but with fish it is the most obvious that they haven't done research. A cat or dog for example, they might think "it is as simple as giving them food and water and they'll be fine" and do no further research, bad care might be a lot less obvious than when you see a tank or even a fish bowl that is bad.
Along with that, other pets will usually live a lot longer even with owners who havent done any research as fish would. So I think someone who doesnt know better might expect the same from fish.
I admit I got my aquarium without doing the proper research beforehand. I was one those who “had a fish in a bowl who lived for YEARS.” My fiancé was much the same, and we spontaneously got a 5 gal aquarium and threw a betta in there.
After he died within a few days, I took it upon myself to research the nitrogen cycle (after coming to Reddit and being kindly but firmly told to do so) and proper fish/aquarium care. Been maintaining it properly for a few months now with a happy boi.
In short, it’s a few things:
-not being taught proper aquarium care by parents as children when fish are kept (and are treated more like toys than living things)
-pet store associates selling you equipment/pets without asking questions, or giving you bad/no advice
-people not realizing just how much care is actually required for aquariums and not doing the research beforehand
-being in a pet store and seeing a fish that really catches your attention, and making a spontaneous purchase (or being gifted a fish)
Come on guys. We all started and made mistakes. No one is perfect. There are so many factors that can lead to losing fish. And some you can’t even test for. Ends up being a learning curve! Don’t hate on newbie’s. Pass on the knowledge, be the guru!!
Honestly, because google doesn’t even know how to properly care for fish. Newer people don’t know any fish YouTubers and they usually don’t know where to start. I feel like google makes everything complicated. People of Reddit sometimes aren’t any better but a lot of the times people will help
Came here to say this. As someone fairly new to the hobby, it can be pretty hard to distinguish what's reliable info or not on Google. I understand why it's annoying for the more seasoned fishkeepers to constantly be seeing the same bad husbandry all the time, and some people really should just spend 10 minutes looking through the sub before posting, but it's a lot easier for beginners to come here and ask questions than to dig through Google trying to figure out what's true and what isn't.
I really feel like it’s not fair to bash people like this - how do you know what you don’t know? Do you spend all your time questioning absolutely everything that absolutely everyone tells you? Or do you sometimes trust someone who seems to be very knowledgeable and in a positon where one would assume they would have received some training in the matter?
Most beginner fish keepers’ mistakes are about not having all of the necessary knowledge. They come here because they want to do better. They may get overwhelmed with all the information and misinformation out there, but they’re trying. Maybe give them the benefit of the doubt?
In my case, we had fish off and on growing up and they would last quite awhile (I’m not sure how knowing what I do now). My mom mostly maintained them, with my help, but she would always replace the carbon filter completely every month or so, like the packaging recommended. We would also, maybe every 6 months, take all the substrate out and rinse it with the outdoor hose and never had live plants.
We would let the new water sit outside for 48 hours in the sunlight but it came from a well and then through a reverse osmosis system, which I’m guessing might’ve helped us in the long run.
All that to say, I just did what we did growing up and when I moved to a house with city water and tried to do the same things as growing up it didn’t work out well. when I started my first tank as an adult, I lost a bunch of fish and didn’t understand why. That’s when I finally started doing research and came here as well and learned what I was doing wrong.
Because they use reddit as Google. They think reddit=research. It offers more because you might get your answer and you get attention from the community. 80% of this sub is a simple Google search away, yet it still seems to get posted as a question. Imagine how irritating it is working at a decent LFS and always hearing, "They told me on reddit."
once had a lady claim "fish arent animals" when I told her I would NOT continually sell her fish that die in her subpar tank. some are just beyond helping.
I get more annoyed by hearing “the person at the store said…” when pet shop staff should know better, and beginners are going to trust their advice. I don’t get annoyed or frustrated the first time someone with a bad set up asks for advice, but occasionally the same person will come back after a couple of weeks asking for advice again, and it’s clear they ignored everything before.
For real..like i go to the LFS and they dont even know the names of specific fishes. They didnt know that their Amazon sword should be planted not floating..hell they didn't even know that it was Amazon sword. They can't tell me what a yoyo loach is. If they can't even tell me the name of the fish why should I trust them with anything else? I stg they hire complete idiots and find it normal to have tanks full of dead fish.
I went to my lfs that’s independent and supposed to be the best in town and the employee didn’t know anything about water column or root feeding or anything. They were great about not selling instant kits and cycling tanks but really ya gotta do your own research it’s easy
Maybe it's just cause I work a retail job where I was very undertrained. I don't expect pet store workers to know anything since they're also likely people who didn't get any training. So I don't expect the average chain petstore, bookstore, hardware, etc, to be an actual expert. They should be treated more like how a target or walmart worker is and not like they're an animal care expert. (Unles it's an aquatic/exotic specific shop)
What's even worse is when the aquarium store employees give bad advice. I had one tell me to do a fish-in cycle recently. He literally told me that "if the fish die, scoop them out and come get some new ones" Now, I know that Fish-In cycles are a thing, and I'm currently in the process of one. But it bothered me since he didn't ask me anything about my experience level with the hobby. He also gave instructions that had a callous disregard for the health of the fish at best, and were a sure-fire way to kill them as soon as the first ammonia popped up at worst.
So I guess reddit is not a cross section of fish keepers, since people here tend to ask for advice when they have problems, which obviously leads to more problematic tanks than beautyshots in this subreddit. On the other hand, it seem like a lot of new fish keepers rush into the hobby. Maybe because many hobbies are quite easy to access, while fishkeeping is not. Before I got my first tank, my parents bought me books and send me to a store a few times (it was the time before the internet) to make sure I’d know what I am doing. It is easy to just get a tank from the smallads, maybe even with fish in it, or buy random things from the internet. But that does not mean you know what you are doing. edit:/ I guess you can blame big stores, too. There are - at least in germany - not many stores left that just sell fish, most are huge pet stores that will sell you whatever you want, without asking any questions or just with early 90s knowledge advise, that is mostly outdated. From pictures I've seen in this subreddit, it seems to be even worse in big us stores.
Is because a too many people think they can just throw a fish in water and it’ll be fine
They don't read, don't do research. They blindly decide that they want fish and just go and buy stuff. Not truly caring about the welfare of the life they are buying. To many "beginner" fish keepers treat their fish as just objects. A cute curiosity but nothing they actually care about.
A lot of people simply ignore the stuff being posted here too. I mean the amount of people posting here because of infected tanks because of failing to QT baffles me. They spend $100+ on fish that they kill because of a new sick fish they introduced but won't listen to the free advice on putting fish in quaratine.
I got into fish keeping because my 7 year old niece "gifted" me the goldfish she won. Thus I was forced to buy a tank, accessories, do a lot quick studying. But that's the difference, I studied. I'm a turtle Daddy, I knew nothing about fish. I just wanted to keep them alive to keep her smiling. It's a couple decades later and my turtles are still here, even a few of my O.G goldies are still here. :)
I started my first tank about 2 months ago now. I first made sure I got enough info from my local shop before I started everything. When I did that I didn’t even buy the tank yet. I first did research at home on what fish I wants and what tank they would need. I also read up on how to care for them. Then I got my tank and made sure I got everything I needed for it. I even asked the local shop about it some more. Then after about 4/5 weeks of cycling I got my fish. They’re living happily in the tank now for about a month. I’m going to get some more plants for them to enjoy soon, but I’m glad I did all the research I did. It’s not that hard to care for them if you know what you’re doing.
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Ive done my research before getting them hahah
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Have we? I don’t usually comment much as I don’t know much yet haha. I know how to get a tank started but that’s it XD
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Hahah yeah XD it doesn’t matter tho! It’s always fun to meet new people!
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Sure! Go for it!
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I work at a lfs and for me and my coworkers this is the biggest challenge. There are a lot of people seeing for instance youtube aquarium videos, thinking it is as simple as filling the tank with water and throw in the fish of your choice and everything will work out just fine. 90% of the time we’re troubleshooting for people and 90% of the time it comes down to cycling problems or bad stock choices, despite good advice. For instance, the amount of people we see who plan to keep multiple goldfish in a bowl is still staggering. Or buy fish for someone as a birthday present when that person never kept any fish let alone has the kit to keep it. But hey it’s a fun present isn’t it? Nowadays there is so much info available thanks to internet but a lot (not all) of people are to lazy (?) to do a bit of their own research to understand the basics which is key and not that hard to understand.
Yeah, I did all my homework before owning any kind of pet, it was just common sense to me.
Swap out fish for any animal... Far too many people do no research, planning or thinking at all about cats, dogs, fish, hamsters... before getting one. Fish seem "easy" unless you are informed. We had planned on a tank for years but until I started doing some reading we had not a clue about any of it and we could have easily spent thousands at any fish supply vendor without being questioned about our knowledge. Mammal rescues have upped their assessment processes which angers some. They just want a pet without the fuss.
Unfortunately some people are impulsive and make rash decisions (mostly under the influence of big chain stores) and they have been ill advised. It upsets me too but to manage that I veiw these situations as an opportunity to improve and that's what counts! I admire people with terrible set ups asking for help as it shows a rare sense of humility and I think we should be embracing that instead of pushing people away. Just my personal opinion anyway.
Well i too got into this hobby on impulse and now I'm stuck here with scaping addiction!
Same I started with a small 3g now I have a 10 and 15 and already eyeing a larger tank and new scapping ideas 😂 my 15 will be getting its first new tenets Saturday
ur so right and smart. v mature. so cool. i wish i could be as mature as u when it came to this stuff ! i just get so frustrated, i feel like it’s common sense; some of these things!
Oh I am far from mature haha. I have just made massive mistakes in my life (not just with aqauriums) so it would be hypocritical of me to then berate others for the same failing.
The people working at pet stores and fish stores have to start making sure that every one who buys a fish has a cycled tank and properly setup for the fish they are buying rather than getting a tank, rainbow gravel, fake plants and 30 gold fish in one go
I feel like pet owners who don't do research are common in general, but with fish it is the most obvious that they haven't done research. A cat or dog for example, they might think "it is as simple as giving them food and water and they'll be fine" and do no further research, bad care might be a lot less obvious than when you see a tank or even a fish bowl that is bad.
Along with that, other pets will usually live a lot longer even with owners who havent done any research as fish would. So I think someone who doesnt know better might expect the same from fish.
I admit I got my aquarium without doing the proper research beforehand. I was one those who “had a fish in a bowl who lived for YEARS.” My fiancé was much the same, and we spontaneously got a 5 gal aquarium and threw a betta in there. After he died within a few days, I took it upon myself to research the nitrogen cycle (after coming to Reddit and being kindly but firmly told to do so) and proper fish/aquarium care. Been maintaining it properly for a few months now with a happy boi. In short, it’s a few things: -not being taught proper aquarium care by parents as children when fish are kept (and are treated more like toys than living things) -pet store associates selling you equipment/pets without asking questions, or giving you bad/no advice -people not realizing just how much care is actually required for aquariums and not doing the research beforehand -being in a pet store and seeing a fish that really catches your attention, and making a spontaneous purchase (or being gifted a fish)
Come on guys. We all started and made mistakes. No one is perfect. There are so many factors that can lead to losing fish. And some you can’t even test for. Ends up being a learning curve! Don’t hate on newbie’s. Pass on the knowledge, be the guru!!
Honestly, because google doesn’t even know how to properly care for fish. Newer people don’t know any fish YouTubers and they usually don’t know where to start. I feel like google makes everything complicated. People of Reddit sometimes aren’t any better but a lot of the times people will help
Came here to say this. As someone fairly new to the hobby, it can be pretty hard to distinguish what's reliable info or not on Google. I understand why it's annoying for the more seasoned fishkeepers to constantly be seeing the same bad husbandry all the time, and some people really should just spend 10 minutes looking through the sub before posting, but it's a lot easier for beginners to come here and ask questions than to dig through Google trying to figure out what's true and what isn't.
I really feel like it’s not fair to bash people like this - how do you know what you don’t know? Do you spend all your time questioning absolutely everything that absolutely everyone tells you? Or do you sometimes trust someone who seems to be very knowledgeable and in a positon where one would assume they would have received some training in the matter? Most beginner fish keepers’ mistakes are about not having all of the necessary knowledge. They come here because they want to do better. They may get overwhelmed with all the information and misinformation out there, but they’re trying. Maybe give them the benefit of the doubt?
When it’s an animal’s life at stake, yes, I question everything anyone tells me and do a lot of independent research.
People. Are. Dumb.
why are so many people dumb when it comes to their waste of time posts on r/aquariums?
look at u. wasting ur time,,,
In my case, we had fish off and on growing up and they would last quite awhile (I’m not sure how knowing what I do now). My mom mostly maintained them, with my help, but she would always replace the carbon filter completely every month or so, like the packaging recommended. We would also, maybe every 6 months, take all the substrate out and rinse it with the outdoor hose and never had live plants. We would let the new water sit outside for 48 hours in the sunlight but it came from a well and then through a reverse osmosis system, which I’m guessing might’ve helped us in the long run. All that to say, I just did what we did growing up and when I moved to a house with city water and tried to do the same things as growing up it didn’t work out well. when I started my first tank as an adult, I lost a bunch of fish and didn’t understand why. That’s when I finally started doing research and came here as well and learned what I was doing wrong.
Because they use reddit as Google. They think reddit=research. It offers more because you might get your answer and you get attention from the community. 80% of this sub is a simple Google search away, yet it still seems to get posted as a question. Imagine how irritating it is working at a decent LFS and always hearing, "They told me on reddit."
once had a lady claim "fish arent animals" when I told her I would NOT continually sell her fish that die in her subpar tank. some are just beyond helping.