no fish for you

[blue_neon]

ever think while reading some of the things on here that some people just shouldnt have fish... like they know nothing ... have a ten gal with a crap load of fish... "cycling? whats that?".... some times it just gets to me.. but i try my best to help the uninformed

 

[goldengirl]

it is a huge learning process, people have to start somewhere.... mean, my first tank was a 2 gallon with 5 goldfish, now... obviously that is insane, and is no longer like that.
i am learning how to make my new tank work... it is all a learning process.

 

[blue_neon]

i know everyone starts somewhere but like any other pet people dont under stand that you should research before getting it. weather you just wanna get a betta or get a big marine tank.. because i know i want my fish to be happy and healthy. just like i would want for any other pet of mine.

 

[lmw80]

When I first came on here, I knew nothing! Not even cycling! The first couple water changes I did (and only because of a food mishap), I took every single fish out of my tank into a bowl while I did it so I wouldn't stress them out, lol. Man, I have come so far because of this place!

For some, Aquarium Advice is a place to use their previosuly gianed knowledge to help others, and to seek advice from those at their "skill" level. For others, they join to receive help from those that have previous knowlede (like I did). Eventually they will become the knowledgeable ones and help out the beginners that join for help. It's a never ending cycle of learning and sharing, and that is one of the things I like best about this hobby.

 

[QTOFFER]

Great subject line! I thought this post was going to be about some lfs that wouldn't sell a fish to an obviously clueless and uncaring customer. Imagine this: Someone buying two baby oscars and a goldfish mentions to the salesman how great these three fish will look in his brand new 5 gal tank - then all of a sudden the Fish Nazi jumps out from behind a 120 gal tank and exclaims, "No fish for you!"

Anyway, back to reality... True, there are some people who should not have fish, just as there are some people who should not have gerbils, cats, dogs, or children. I have no problem with the clueless seeking advice here and I would not deny them the joys of having fish so long as they are serious about getting the facts together and putting them into action. Truth is, there is so much bad advice and mythology spewing forth from the big pet stores, I'm actually surprised that there are not more people who don't know what the cycle is. I figure that most people who post questions on this site really want to learn how to keep fish the right way. The other kind of posters quickly stop posting.

 

[goldengirl]

on weird buys at the pet store, this little boy went in (about age 11...) And bought 6 male bettas and a 3 gallon plastic tank, he said that he was going to put them all in and the sales person (at petsmart) didnt tell him to do otherwise

 

[purplestarfish]

OOH! Ouch! Poor poor poor POOR Bettas! Ha, the little boy should join Aqua. Advi. so that we can let him know of his egregious error.
Granted, there are some people who shouldn't have fish - don't like animals, aren't responsible, etc. But the very fact that the people here who aren't as educated ARE HERE says something for them! It means they're at least trying to learn, and soon they'll love the hobby - and know a plethora of piscean facts - like us.
BTW, my first tank (age around 7) was a 20 gallon with 5 goldfish (all around 2 inches long) and a turtle (she had another tank too but I usually kept her with the fish; she was only about 3-4 inches long). It also had "live" (read: dying) plants, no light or filtration, and the tank definitely wasn't cycled (no dechlorinated tap water, but we lived abroad, and oversees tap water isn't quite the same - doctors gave the family flouride pills to compensate for lack of "healthy" additives in water). My mother helped set it up - little kid can't lug around a 20 gal glass tank - but it's my fault. She doesn't even like animals that much - I'm the animal freak! Since then, I've obviously come a long way, even though I've only been "re-keeping" fish for a couple of years now. I DID my research this time - studied it for months before I "took the plunge" (in reality I couldn't afford it, so the next best thing to owning one is reading everything you can get your hands on first, which proved to be a very wise move indeed).
So. In conclusion, I think we should welcome those poor unfortunate souls who had the sense to come to us before all their fishies died. We were all there once too.

 

[shawmutt]

Imagine this: Someone buying two baby oscars and a goldfish mentions to the salesman how great these three fish will look in his brand new 5 gal tank - then all of a sudden the Fish Nazi jumps out from behind a 120 gal tank and exclaims, "No fish for you!"

I remember the Seinfield soup nazi episode. I can definitely see someone grabbing a fish bag and saying that!

 

[shawmutt]

holy carp what did angelfire do?

 

[Christmasfish]

I love the image..

I would rather instead of a fish nazi snagging the bag form the new owner..a Benny Hill like apparition slapping the dookey out of the back of a clerk/lfs employees head yelling "VER-ONG!" everytime they say a flat out stupid lie....

 

[smilla4]

Speaking of informing people, whatever happened to the idea of flyers/postcards (for handing out)? Or is the site overinundated as it is for newbies now?

 

[jaysono]

i know everyone starts somewhere but like any other pet people dont under stand that you should research before getting it.

Unfortunately, unlike raising more traditional pets such as dogs and cats, there is much more to fish then just feeding. I think really an issue is that people don't do research, but when they go to a pet store and buy fish for their kids or the office, they are not conditioned to seek out more knowledge. They rely on the knowledge of the pet store, and since most newb's such as myself go to the large chains like PetCo or Petsmart, teh employee's are not as knowledgeable either.

If employee's or large signs in the store inform users of water chemistry and the like, then most people make the mistake of overstocking, not-cycling (something I am still having difficulty with). The problem is water chemistry is invisible, and people don't realize they have to test for all these things, and then have to wait....unlike a bird/dog/cat.[/quote]

 

[Menagerie]

whatever happened to the idea of flyers/postcards (for handing out)?

We should pull that back up in the lounge! There are fliers off one of the links.