It's cool to see this thread as this has been bothering me for a while actually. I met 1 person through fish keeping who stopped but i still consider a friend, two buddys that I msg every now and again that keep little monsters and we do orders for each other (noone i have beers with but I would, you know?), and 1 guy that worked at a Lfs that seemed cool but ended up being intolerable. Every single other person I have met with fish keeping, mostly through buys and sales, has been elitist as can be and always ended up trying to start a dorado measuring contest if you know what I mean. I have become quite jaded about this and now I don't look forward to too many fish deals anymore. Here are a couple things I have noticed and let me know if you agree (disclaimer: I live in a smallish town with maybe 2 other monster fish keepers so I have very limited exposure, and i am not trying to offend anyone because you are all very nice people on here):
Most monster fish keepers or fish keepers in general talk on and on and on and on about their fish and the fish they have. I am slightly guilty of this and this is a habit i can sort of understand and definitely tolerate. It just seems with some people it is the absolute centre of their lives, as if no other hobbies or pets are present. That's why l love seeing threads here when ppl talk about cars, boxing, women, etc.
A lot of hard core fish keepers are... well... eccentric. Okay maybe borderline weird. Maybe I am included in this, it's possible, but definitely not to the extent that some people I have dealt with. And I dont mean to offend, i just mean that they don't relate too well with the mainstream stuff, like hockey, getting drunk, working out and stuff. Unique may be the word, and that's not a bad thing always, but sometimes it is.
A lot of fish keepers i have run across are quite elitist. Everyone that has bought fish from me from the local classifieds starts by all but stating that they have kept more, better, bigger fish than you. A very elitist attitude, like it's some huge competition. I wish I could post emails but I know one poster on here would be quite embarrassed (not in this thread, yet anyway haha). They take it upon themselves to point out every flaw in your tank and brag about how there's is better. It seems that every fish keeper successfully kept every fish well into adulthood. Fish tales?
Quite a lot of people over exaggerate the size of their fish and the efficiency of their filtration. I have had ppl come from Kijiji and say "wow, you said it was a 20" arowana and it actually is a 20" and not a 16".
A lot of fish keepers really want deals on their fish or gear when they buy them, but ridiculously high prices for the fish they sell. This point is not as frequent especially on here, but sometimes the same fish they call ugly and costs too much to feed but buy off you anyway they turn around and try to triple the price.
This one is going to be very judgmental and completely unsubstantiated but i feel that a good chunk of the people I run across don't really have very many people to hang out with or party with other than their fish. Sorry, but it feels as though a ton of time is spent on the useless parts of this hobby, as though there is nothing else to do and their life revolves around their fish.
Rereading this post before posting it made me realize I'm probably opening up myself up to flames, but my intention is not to insult, it has simply been bugging me for a while why I don't quite like other people that I have met that keep fish around me. Is it cuz i have very limited exposure being where I am? Have I just had bad luck? I would love for people to tell me I'm wrong and keep trying because I wouldn't mind another friend that keeps tanks to chat and hang out with. I am greatful for the 3-4 people I have met and can connect with and are genuinely nice people, plus all the cool people here, but unfortunately I have run into a lot of bad eggs, definitely more than the 3-4. I think some of the common themes i see are just by virtue or nature of being in the hobby, but i feel a lot of the negative qualities can be avoided. Fish keeping to me is about peace and tranquility watching beautiful pets grow, i just want to keep the peace and not have my love of the hobby frustrate me.
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