Why does everyone hate our hobby?

[Bob Weigant]

Well I can say that when people who don't know a thing about our hobby comes over and see's my tanks they love them and it becomes a major conversation. On halloween night we open the garage and the kids go nuts over the tanks. No one has ever come over and said anything negative. And if someone does I wont care at all

 

[ca1ore]

I did not bother to watch the video ..... but the ornamental fish industry has always been a popular scapegoat for environmental damage. Whether it's non-data-driven decisions to close Hawaii to collection, or blaming the hobby for exotic invaders like the lion fish. There ARE deplorable collecting practices in some parts of the world, and survival rates of most collected fish are very low; but farming, ocean acidification and natural storms do far more damage. So it's ultimately hipocrisy. I'm all for sensible, humane and sustainable practices. Coral is not really a problem as the hobby is now largely self-sustaining. Perhaps fish will be someday too.

 

[Prestigereef]

Everyone? As long as I like it then I've proven you wrong.

lol very true...

 

[Prestigereef]

I learned long ago that the general public is not exactly a source of wisdom and insight.

Never a truer comment been made

 

[Prestigereef]

Who is everyone and since when is it always under attack?

First I heard of this.

I could care less what anyone thinks, I like the hobby and if others don’t then they can go you know what...

Its more about how, they are constantly trying to ban the collection of wild caught fish

 

[Cujo#31]

If I’ve said it once, I’ll say it another 100 times. This is not a hobby, it’s a bad investment and I love it. I love the challenge. It’s not a hobby, it’s a way of life and if you can’t find a way to make it a part of your routine then you will most likely fail.

 

[TheHarold]

its a growing market so without watching the video, I will outright dismiss the thread title. No comment on the video title

+1 for clickbait titles with a photo of someones face xD

 

[tehmadreefer]

Its more about how, they are constantly trying to ban the collection of wild caught fish

A very very very very small percentage of people are certainly not everyone in the world however lol

 

[ca1ore]

Its more about how, they are constantly trying to ban the collection of wild caught fish

Who are 'they'? There have been critics of the collection of fish and corals for the aquarium hobby, and in some parts of the world collection practices have not been sustainable (using explosives or cyanide) and SHOULD be condemned. I would further suggest that if credible data shows that the ornamental fish hobby is removing animals in non-sustainable numbers that controls/bans are a reasonable recourse. So far, the data I have read says most collection practices are sustainable.

I certainly do agree that in comparison to the commercial fishing industry, the pet trade is drop in the bucket, but that doesn't mean it should get a pass. You 'accuse' the impending documentary of dubious facts, yet I doubt that the fish survival rate to one year is actually all that much better than 1%. But it's immaterial as long as the collection practices are sustainable (morality is moot).

 

[wesman42]

Millennial snowflakes....

That is completely uncalled for. I'm not a snowflake, but I'm a millennial. Do I need a safe space? No, but judging by how you're willing to classify an ENTIRE generation, you might need one.

 

[CMO]

Clearly I support the hobby so don't take this the wrong way, but what's with all the diseased fish in the trade today if there are such good animal welfare laws in place for fish? Nearly every LFS I've visited has noticeably diseased fish in their systems. IMO, too many fish are dying in the hobby and would like to see the industry improve further. I would like to see additional regulations on wholesalers to control and prevent disease. That will increase the cost to us but so be it.

 

[Snookin]

This hobby will be taken down by the stubborn and inexperienced hobbyist that flood forums like R2R. I love this hobby and take all life serious but there are too many novices in this hobby without the knowledge, patience or budget to correctly setup a well-managed reef habitat and they continue to give terrible advice and perpetuate the inaccurate information thru forums like R2R.

Below are topics that I hate to see and I know will take this hobby down:

· Can a Tang live in my 20g? “I am upgrading soon”…….

· How to feed a Mandarin Goby in a small tank

· My tank cycled in 2 weeks but my corals look bad

· Which supplements should I add since corals are dying

· I changed my light schedule, did a water change, added GFO and changed carbon last night…..any everything is dying….why?

· My parameters are “great” but everything is dying

· All my fish are dead, what to do next?

· How long can fish go between feeding? Going on vacation.

· Can Mollies live in SW to eat hair algae? They are only $2 so I’ll just try

· I have a bucket of dead coral skeletons….

· It was a cheap fish so I didn’t quarantine now all my fish have Ick

· Opening talking/posting about “nuking” or killing all “pest” inhabitants

There are a lot of times people mention that there was a cheap coral or fish so they “Gave it a shot.” That is just crazy that someone would post that online. Just because something is of low value to you doesn’t mean you should try to keep it alive under bad practice. Maybe these forums need real life human identification for each member so you can’t keep a live reef animal using bad or outdated practices while behind a fake avatar.

These are just some common topics but they are asked all the time on forums. This hobby is full of stubborn novice people who do kill livestock then openly comment on public forums about it. If an animal rights activist paid some lawyers to scrape these reefing and aquarium websites to find examples of negligence they would find a lot of very valuable information that would go a long way in shutting down this hobby. Every post of a death or bad information would probably be very helpful against the future of keeping reefs.

 

[Silverfish]

You can only do so much research. I’m sure something unexpected came up in your time as a reef hobbyist. Mistakes are made and we were all newbies once. I get it though, a little research goes a long way.

 

[DMG Reef]

This hobby will be taken down by the stubborn and inexperienced hobbyist that flood forums like R2R. I love this hobby and take all life serious but there are too many novices in this hobby without the knowledge, patience or budget to correctly setup a well-managed reef habitat and they continue to give terrible advice and perpetuate the inaccurate information thru forums like R2R.

Below are topics that I hate to see and I know will take this hobby down:

· Can a Tang live in my 20g? “I am upgrading soon”…….

· How to feed a Mandarin Goby in a small tank

· My tank cycled in 2 weeks but my corals look bad

· Which supplements should I add since corals are dying

· I changed my light schedule, did a water change, added GFO and changed carbon last night…..any everything is dying….why?

· My parameters are “great” but everything is dying

· All my fish are dead, what to do next?

· How long can fish go between feeding? Going on vacation.

· Can Mollies live in SW to eat hair algae? They are only $2 so I’ll just try

· I have a bucket of dead coral skeletons….

· It was a cheap fish so I didn’t quarantine now all my fish have Ick

· Opening talking/posting about “nuking” or killing all “pest” inhabitants

There are a lot of times people mention that there was a cheap coral or fish so they “Gave it a shot.” That is just crazy that someone would post that online. Just because something is of low value to you doesn’t mean you should try to keep it alive under bad practice. Maybe these forums need real life human identification for each member so you can’t keep a live reef animal using bad or outdated practices while behind a fake avatar.

These are just some common topics but they are asked all the time on forums. This hobby is full of stubborn novice people who do kill livestock then openly comment on public forums about it. If an animal rights activist paid some lawyers to scrape these reefing and aquarium websites to find examples of negligence they would find a lot of very valuable information that would go a long way in shutting down this hobby. Every post of a death or bad information would probably be very helpful against the future of keeping reefs.

Unnecessarily harsh and cringe-worthy post. I applaud new hobbyists who seek information on forums to keep their animals alive. Where would you have them get their info? From the LFS? I think they'd come home with a bunch of products they don't need in many cases. Do you expect people to just automatically be experienced reefers? It takes, uhhhh, experience.

If, as you say, animal rights activists trolled forums, I personally think they'd see a lot of hobbyists doing the best they can to do the right thing for their animals. There's bad information all over the Internet for absolutely every conceivable topic. You simply have to weed through it to get the info pertinent to your circumstance.

Trying to discourage others from posting their issues just isn't productive (imo)!

 

[CMO]

The jist of @Snookin post IMO is that there are many who seem to view death with "cheap" fish as an acceptable right of passage in the hobby. When dealing with live animals, including fish which many seem to view as expendable compared to a dog or cat for example, there is no room to learn by failure. The questions he posted allude to people asking dumb questions after already having killed fish by not doing appropriate prior research. And if that's not what he meant, then that's my 2 cents from experience with some in the hobby.

 

[theKoolAidMan]

??? I've yet to encounter anyone who looks at the hobby and shuns it. Most people who see my tank are jealous and think it's amazing. I'm sure there are some people who disagree with many of the corals and fish being wild caught on ethical grounds, and they have very good points that the industry has historically not been very good at addressing. However I would venture that they are in a small minority.

 

[DMG Reef]

The jist of @Snookin post IMO is that there are many who seem to view death with "cheap" fish as an acceptable right of passage in the hobby. When dealing with live animals, including fish which many seem to view as expendable compared to a dog or cat for example, there is no room to learn by failure. The questions he posted allude to people asking dumb questions after already having killed fish by not doing appropriate prior research. And if that's not what he meant, then that's my 2 cents from experience with some in the hobby.

I totally agree that there are people who post after the fish dies, rather than before they bring their fish home. But I don't think very many (none?) buy a fish expecting it to die, no matter it's cost. I started my tank with a $4 damsel five years ago. He's a holy terror but he's a pet, full of personality. He was cheap but certainly not expendable in my eyes. I suspect he'll outlive me.

I agree with the sample questions he posted, but I think his conclusion is flawed. More hobbyists need to ask more questions and preferably before something is beyond saving.

When bad advice is given on a forum, I see more-experienced reefers challenging that advice and setting the record straight for others that read the thread later. I say more forum activity is a good thing, both from new reefers and old-timers. We're all constantly learning.

 

[sghera64]

This hobby will be taken down by the stubborn and inexperienced hobbyist that flood forums like R2R. I love this hobby and take all life serious but there are too many novices in this hobby without the knowledge, patience or budget to correctly setup a well-managed reef habitat and they continue to give terrible advice and perpetuate the inaccurate information thru forums like R2R.

Below are topics that I hate to see and I know will take this hobby down:

· Can a Tang live in my 20g? “I am upgrading soon”…….

· How to feed a Mandarin Goby in a small tank

· My tank cycled in 2 weeks but my corals look bad

· Which supplements should I add since corals are dying

· I changed my light schedule, did a water change, added GFO and changed carbon last night…..any everything is dying….why?

· My parameters are “great” but everything is dying

· All my fish are dead, what to do next?

· How long can fish go between feeding? Going on vacation.

· Can Mollies live in SW to eat hair algae? They are only $2 so I’ll just try

· I have a bucket of dead coral skeletons….

· It was a cheap fish so I didn’t quarantine now all my fish have Ick

· Opening talking/posting about “nuking” or killing all “pest” inhabitants

There are a lot of times people mention that there was a cheap coral or fish so they “Gave it a shot.” That is just crazy that someone would post that online. Just because something is of low value to you doesn’t mean you should try to keep it alive under bad practice. Maybe these forums need real life human identification for each member so you can’t keep a live reef animal using bad or outdated practices while behind a fake avatar.

These are just some common topics but they are asked all the time on forums. This hobby is full of stubborn novice people who do kill livestock then openly comment on public forums about it. If an animal rights activist paid some lawyers to scrape these reefing and aquarium websites to find examples of negligence they would find a lot of very valuable information that would go a long way in shutting down this hobby. Every post of a death or bad information would probably be very helpful against the future of keeping reefs.

(Here’s a funny thought). Are not your observations also analogously true for parenting?!? [e.g. newbie parents showing up with kids when they don’t know what they are doing, then reaching out when desperate to get help from neighbors, grandparents, “forums” and others who have gone before]. Oh, the horror of it all - - BAN KIDS NOW! ;-)


Seriously (kinda), I do hope what you surmise is not true: ignorant reefers will cause a ban on the sale/trade of specimens. If that were applied to parenting - - well, I’m afraid CPS might show up at my door take a look at my kids then my tank . . . Then my kids. . . Then my tank and take off with my kids. There are times when my tank (a perpetual baby) has caused my kids to go on “hold”.


And for the record, I have never . . ever. . . used a reef test kit, or medication on my kids (while the opposite might be true). While I don’t clean my tank’s sadbed, I have cleaned sand from my kids bed.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Its about preservation and sustainability but the reproduction in the wild is greater than imagined.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

If inventors listen to all negative thinking, we'd still be in the stone age. Necessity mother of invention