At what point can you call a person advanced fishkeeper?

[redtailfool]

Not a rhetoric question and im not under the influence of anything either. Just want
to do some thinking tonight aside from the usual stuff that we spew here.


So at what point can you say a person is an Advanced Fishkeeper? Is the fish that they keep? Quality of the fish ?? Setup ? Longevity of the specimens ? All of the above?? What else? Lets do this...

 

[lophius]

difficult to answer this one - you could be an incredibly advanced aquarist but keep only guppys your entire life ... or you could keep every oddball under the sun and still be a complete muppet !!!

I think that general experience leads people to become advanced, the more experience and the more you learn the more you are able to share that knowledge with others - I think that this is more a sign of advancement than length of service, or fish kept etc etc

I have been keeping fish for more than 20 years and still constantly learn new things -

carl

 

[guppy]

I like your answer Lophius.

 

[Oddball]

Anyone who considers him/herself to be an advanced fishkeeper doesn't have a firm grasp on reality. I've been at this hobby for over 40 years and the only real thing I've learned is how much more there is to learn. A person could live 10 lifetimes and still only glean the rudiments of knowledge and experience that can be gained from a virtually infinite source of species and environmental diversity

 

[PeacockBass]

Anyone who considers him/herself to be an advanced fishkeeper doesn't have a firm grasp on reality. I've been at this hobby for over 40 years and the only real thing I've learned is how much more there is to learn. A person could live 10 lifetimes and still only glean the rudiments of knowledge and experience that can be gained from a virtually infinite source of species and environmental diversity

If you were to go by this logic, then No one would be an expert in anything considering there is endless amounts of knowledge to learn.

By going by your logic, a keeper who has 10 years of experience is no higher a rank then a newbie keeper.



You know you are advanced when people start coming to you for help and you are able to help them with correct information.

 

[redtailfool]

Have to agree a bit on Peacockbass on that one. We all have to move up the level
of knowledge that we have on fishkeeping as we move along. Otherwise, what would be the difference between the president of the say Brooklyn aquarium society
and lil timmy who keeps betta in a vase ?

Dont disagree with all you say though.. its the same all fields .. the more you learn, the more you realize that there is so much to learn. LOL Its exactly why i posted this thread. With all the "internet" and "book" experts out there, its kind of hard to tell who to call "advanced" nowadays.

Carl - good point bro !

Any other telltale signs that makes a person an advanced fishkeeper??

 

[PeacockBass]

Also, Odd- I know that was an attack on me.

 

[Oddball]

I see. So, you're substituting 'advanced' for 'experienced' or 'obsessed'.
A fishkeeper with a 2000gal tank and a breeding pair of leopard sharks is no different than a fishkeeper with a plastic Garfield bowl and a breeding pair of bettas. Unless one of them can describe the physiological or behavioral changes that occur in the breeding cycle, what says one fishkeeper is more advanced than the other? The most that can be said is one is more "into" fishkeeping than the other.
I guess I just understand the term 'advanced' as meaning a more in-depth knowledge.

 

[Oddball]

Hey PBass: Never meant as an attack on you. If anything, I'm degrading the level some folks have described me with.

This is an excellent topic to debate. Perhaps a list of more appropriate terms can be formed after rallying this around for a while.

 

[redtailfool]

Advanced is synonymous with experienced anyways. I dont know about obssesed.

Still cant figure out what you mean.. of course a guy with a 2000 G w breeding leopard shark has to be percieved as more advanced than a guy with a garfield bowl breeding bettas .

I would dare venture that even without knowing the behavioral and physiological changes needed for sharks to breed, the mere fact that the aquarist kept sharks that bred in captivity has to be called "advanced" since he knew the proper husbandry to keep the sharks well for them to breed in aquaria.. something (from what i understand) is hard to achieve.

The guy that bred bettas in a bowl (if he knew the science behind breeding bettas) should be considered "above average" since he had the knowledge to breed them... but def not on par with the shark breeder. Still advanced and still way more knowledgeable than lil timmy that bought a betta in petsmart because "theyre cool".