JDM style

[CrazyPhishMan]

I went down the rabbit hole.... yet another thread started, never finished nor updated...

What happened to Terd Ferguson? they were definitely one of my favorite posters, open minded, never rude and not one to flame or go on the attack over a difference of opinion or approach.

oddly enough, i've seen the same flaming approach in the New England cichlid association. My way or the highway approach.

The welcome page to MKF besides being about big tanks and big fish, described members who "spared no expense". Of course, that whole original welcome page was quietly removed, most like by the current regime. Frankly, I miss seeing pictures of that tank with the beautiful platinum and gold barramundi, and I REALLY miss threads like this one:

Upgrading..Monster Style

Just wanted to share some pics of a crazy day moving a large tank. Thank Kevin from Not Just Fish for all your time, you are a real Bro.

www.monsterfishkeepers.com

thebiggerthebetter is one of the few big tank people left on MFK. I'm glad he is still sticking around.

I joined MFK as a newbie with questions on filtering our 300 gallon tank. Over the years I gleaned a lot of stuff browsing MFK. Durso, Herbie and Bean Animal plumbing were introduced here by members who had browsed Reef Central. I read about Momotaro Bakki House showers. I read about Clarity freshwater protein skimmers, and I also liked ApacheDan's thread about his fiberglass tank with a window. What other fish forums have discussions on Ultima II filters? Discussions on big tank filtration is what made MFK unique to me.

Yes, I saw the tanks chock full of fish, but to each his own. I can think of one member with a lot of fish and a lot of big tanks who was a regular until fairly recently. He was probably flamed and shamed off this forum. Yes, he was probably showing off his fish, but isn't that what this forum is for? Time and time again I have seen posts where a member proudly shows pics of his tank and is quickly shot down with downer "helpful" comments. Unless advice or critiques are asked for, keep your negative comments to yourselves, they are NOT helpful. "I hate bare floor tanks, they are ugly" is not an appropriate response to some one who has proudly displayed their bare floor tank for everyone to see. There are too many Negative Nancy, Debbie Downers on MFK now. If you can't write something positive, just move on. Oh, I know, your snow white pure consciences won't allow you to leave anything alone. The negativity on MFK is REALLY awful. In the good old days of MFK nobody put anybody down. I am afraid I liked the old MFK better, even with threads with pictures of tanks chock full of fish or pictures of beautiful fish that I will never keep.

 

[RD.]

In the good old days of MFK nobody put anybody down.

You must have been on different sub -forums or folders, I saw quite the opposite in "the good ol days". lol



BTW - my friend boydo had a JDM style tank back in the day, he was a proud member here, and with his set up water quality was NEVER an issue. His set ups were incredible, from the filtration, to the gas generated heat. The issue was crowding of large fish that in nature are never found in large groups. Confined in a glass box, and forced to be nose to nose often ends up in injury, stress, and the resulting illness. It's typically just a matter of time. Below is one of his past tanks, taken down by myself & Brett years ago. For reference the largest aro in this tank measured 31". (the green)

 

[CrazyPhishMan]

You must have been on different sub -forums or folders, I saw quite the opposite in "the good ol days". lol



BTW - my friend boydo had a JDM style tank back in the day, he was a proud member here, and with his set up water quality was NEVER an issue. His set ups were incredible, from the filtration, to the gas generated heat. The issue was crowding of large fish that in nature are never found in large groups. Confined in a glass box, and forced to be nose to nose often ends up in injury, stress, and the resulting illness. It's typically just a matter of time. Below is one of his past tanks, taken down by myself & Brett years ago. For reference the largest aro in this tank measured 31". (the green)

are Channa legal in Canada? my parents had red snakeheads when i was a little kid in the 80's

that tank is gorgeous, I'd say overcrowded but not necessary JDM. when i think of JDM i don't think of being able to see the background between the fish.

 

[RD.]

are Channa legal in Canada? my parents had red snakeheads when i was a little kid in the 80's

that tank is gorgeous, I'd say overcrowded but not necessary JDM. when i think of JDM i don't think of being able to see the background between the fish.

Yes, perfectly legal. Same with marijuana. lol

 

[CrazyPhishMan]

Yes, perfectly legal. Same with marijuana. lol

Ahhh Canada, the US's way cooler ( literally & figuratively) little brother...

Well, I'm in Massachusetts... so it is here too. in fact I manage 2 dispensaries and our wholesale operation.

 

[krichardson]

I also believe in freedom. Within the legal realm. If someone wants to buy a rare, expensive fish, manmade or not, more power to them. Live and think and let others live and think.

Agreed and I don't mind admitting that I have never heard of so called "baller fishkeeping",or whatever the term is.So, a person who likes certain kinds of fish that happen to be rare is a baller fishkeeper,okay lol.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

There appear to be two major things in conflict / play here... two dragons, the white and the black, playing with one beautiful apple-sized pearl.

WHITE DRAGON is people's freedom to do what they like. We all must respect that. (I won't be repeating "within the legal realm" each time. This is an axiom and must be understood by default.)

BLACK DRAGON is our education as a community, which a pursuit of truth, of knowing good from bad and from ugly.

Too often we either don't think at all before we say something (which I don't think is a good idea) or if we do think, we tend to value education over freedom and start offering critical comments, dispensing unsolicited advice, and end up with shoving unwelcome knowledge down someone's throat, sometimes with the feeling of self-righteousness and noble and justified indignation ... under the bloodied and ripped flag of saving fish from abuse and educating the whole forum, and from there the whole world. Few actions are more hideous and generate more hatred than such.

I believe we must learn to value people's freedom and love and appreciate their peer presence in our forum life over the pursuit of the truth at all costs, or at big costs, or at the costs of wrecking our relationships, turning people away from the forum and even from the hobby.

I think it's a matter of tact and politeness and consideration. If I know that I am incapable of practicing these virtues, then I must use Pacu Mom's advice. Keep the critique to myself and move on. I agree wholeheartedly.

If I can take a conversation in the edifying direction while at the same time being constrictive and considerate and helpful and open to learning myself, and I know I can stop at the first sign of a pushback, then I don't think we must frown upon this or disapprove of it.

...

One may say, forget the education. Respecting freedom is sufficient. I'd almost agree with this. But I'd offer two examples to reconsider this 100% WHITE DRAGON approach, beautiful in its simplicity. But near sighted.

[1] We must as a community fight the awareness fight, so people never, ever risk releasing exotic fish into our nature, let it be on purpose or by accident. Otherwise, we will all live in Australia sooner than later and learn about fish from screen and paper in a sterile environment, where our nature is well protected from our ignorance, and never having the freedom to keep the fish we want to keep.

[2] RD. told us many moons ago that the PETA fruits and nuts are just too busy for now attacking other pet owners, but the time will come when they will turn their full wrath against fish keepers and given the history of them being better organized and having better funding and having knowledge how to push legislation, they will steam roll us all into an asphalt. We must not give them all the ammunition they will need to show the world that we are the danger.

 

[pacu mom]

[2] RD. told us many moons ago that the PETA fruits and nuts are just too busy for now attacking other pet owners, but the time will come when they will turn their full wrath against fish keepers and given the history of them being better organized and having better funding and having knowledge how to push legislation, they will steam roll us all into an asphalt. We must not give them all the ammunition they will need to show the world that we are the danger.

For now, they are very active on Facebook. Scuttlebutt has it that they bought into FB. Fish forums can disappear overnight for violations. No buying, selling, or rehoming fish (unless it is a fish rescue forum), no fish out of water pictures, no handling fish, no pictures of hands near fish, even if the hands are on the outside of the tank, no talk of eating fish or your forum could be shut down without a warning. One forum I participate in has a lot of checks - an adminstrator has to approve each new thread; there are moderation alerts for potential rules violation.

I saw this pic yesterday on a forum and wanted to share it on a pacu forum, but it violates the rules of no fish out of water/no handling fish. It was posted on a fish rescue site, so maybe that's how it got through there.

 

[KNH]

Happy to see you still around Pacu Mom. I do miss the attitude of the fish forums from 15-20 years ago.

 

[phreeflow]

if more senior members could be like thebiggerthebetter i think there would be less hobbyist giving up on the hobby

Agreed…the biggerthebetter is always respectful and kind to everyone and never power trips or gets sarcastic.