How do I know If im a fish keeping expert?

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Thats what 99% of people cant do. How many fish live out there full lifespan in an aquarium?

Any way there is really no such thing as a fishkeeping expert. There are so many species i am sure that there are going to be countless ones that even "experts" struggle with.
Well, there's the knowledge level of being able to keep fish alive for a year or two, and then there's the skill level of having a majority of your fish thrive for 5+ years and grown to near maximum captivity size.
Key words: alive; thrive
 
I know for a fact that neither RD. RD. or duanes duanes would consider themselves experts in the field of fishkeeping (they're both way too modest for that :grinno: ). However, in certain areas i'd say they're both probably pretty close to achieving perfection.

So if they're not experts then that puts paid to anyone else around here who has lofty ideas abut their own credentials.
This is true about me, I have been keeping fish since the late 1950s, and still learn new stuff every day
And my job, until I retired, was a chemist, microbiologist at a water filtration faculty, where part of the work, was to analyze the efficiency of 32 filters, and measure chemical composition and purity of up 350 million gallons per day, throughout the day.
 
An expert in this hobby can be hard to define.

I think it is possible for one to become an expert on a specific facet of the hobby, but to truly master the entire hobby is likely impossible. Some experienced members who strive for excellence come close; Oddball Oddball , RD. RD. , thebiggerthebetter thebiggerthebetter , and duanes duanes immediately come to mind, but these folks will be the first to tell you that they're always learning, as Neil proved by commented as much as I was typing this lol.

Ime, most self proclaimed experts in this field are not, and many of the folks who come close to mastery in this hobby will show it through actions, then avoid claiming the title.

A MFKer's knowledge and ability is typically self evident, and they naturally float to the top in both this community and our hobby as a whole.
 
I do not know any expert in any field that does not continue to learn every day. I am considered an expert on food and cooking but I learn new stuff every time I work with a new chef......Anyone who claims to know it all is just full of themselves. If you run a public aquarium you are certainly an expert.....although the boss would surround themselves with folks who are more experienced with certain parts of the operation. Someone could be an expert on Jellyfish but just knowledgeable on sharks or corals for example. The field is too big to know everything. An expert on astro- physics is one breakthru away from knowing nothing!!
 
I'd like to feel the closest mankind can get to fish god/expert would be mostly displayed by those that are dedicated to a single species. I'd say those folk were experts with their own field and can be an absolute font of knowledge!!
 
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