Have you ever met an uneducated fishkeeper?

[manlyfish]

ok well i was at meijer and was getting one of those free sample crackers. and i overheard some lady (the free samples are near the fish) telling her daughter "no, don't get anymore of those little neon fish they don't live that long only like a week. get one of them bigger fish" and sure enough she was pointing at an oscar. so i assumed that they only had a 20-10 gallon tank.

 

[bob965]

The most common problem I see is people who NUKE their whole tank and filter. They'll take their fish out and put them in a bucket and wash and scrub everything with hot tap water, gravel, deco, filter media, everything. It can be confusing if nobody ever bothered to explain tank cycling to you, because you think you're doing a good job cleaning, then your water gets cloudy and your fish die.

 

[MadRussian79]

Oh I got one and this if from a chain store fish room employee. "Those fish can't go together because the bacteria on them is not compatible."

 

[krichardson]

The most common problem I see is people who NUKE their whole tank and filter. They'll take their fish out and put them in a bucket and wash and scrub everything with hot tap water, gravel, deco, filter media, everything. It can be confusing if nobody ever bothered to explain tank cycling to you, because you think you're doing a good job cleaning, then your water gets cloudy and your fish die.

Thats like some of the folks that I know and I've just about given up trying to tell them about the actual harm that they are doing to their system.

 

[BigO6687]

I know a few people who still do once yearly water changes.They remove the fish and place them in a separate container, drain out and discard all of their water,remove all gravel and rinse it,before adding replacement water that has been sitting for a few days.

exactly what i used to do in like the 4th grade except like every month or every other month
we would put them in vases filled with tap water that im not sure if we treated or not for a day while we let the tank cycle

 

[Lepisosteus platyrhincus]

i work with someone who has never done a waterchange "because i have live plants".

i have a tank that i do 0 wc for that reason. tank is perfect too

 

[fishjude78]

To OP: I believe you mean to say... "Have you ever met an uneducated fishkeeper."

 

[arkmann]

I'm not soo sure about making a difference in people's lives but you sure made them responsible fishkeepers.

 

[flipstylex]

To OP: I believe you mean to say... "Have you ever met an uneducated fishkeeper."

too late to change the title now, but thx

 

[Darth Scohin]

I meet these people all the time and for some I just want to smack them over the head...."Pleco keeps the tank so clean I only have to clean it once a year!"(btw 12" pleco in 20gal)