Old Members - MFK

[Gourami Swami]

I think a lot has changed in the hobby and the world in the past 15 years. Part of it is, MFK seemed more active overall back then, which is probably because social media didn't exist like it does today. There weren't myspace pages for fishkeepers, today you've got facebook youtube Instagram etc. so forums are kind of the dinosaur walking around. I still prefer MFK to those other venues though. But since it was so active back then It felt like a larger community. I still get this feeling from MFK, just seems like less members nowadays.
In fishkeeping, nowadays there is much more info available and a lot of it is better info. Back then almost all of our tanks were overstocked (at least mine were)... which was fun, but looking back I had many more issues with aggression, sick and dead fish. I think knowledge advancing in the hobby and MFK moving away from everybody doing the JDM thing is probably for the best.

I also think right when MFK started, it was super exciting to so many people because there was nothing like it before. There were fish forums, I was part of some of them, but they were mostly geared towards peaceful communities, and were full of bad info. Here, you had tons of people who wanted to keep the big "bada**" fish, and since there were a bunch of people doing it, you could get lots of feedback and great info.
Overall, times change, MFK is still awesome IMO.

 

[LBDave]

I think a lot has changed in the hobby and the world in the past 15 years. Part of it is, MFK seemed more active overall back then, which is probably because social media didn't exist like it does today. There weren't myspace pages for fishkeepers, today you've got facebook youtube Instagram etc. so forums are kind of the dinosaur walking around. I still prefer MFK to those other venues though. But since it was so active back then It felt like a larger community. I still get this feeling from MFK, just seems like less members nowadays.
In fishkeeping, nowadays there is much more info available and a lot of it is better info. Back then almost all of our tanks were overstocked (at least mine were)... which was fun, but looking back I had many more issues with aggression, sick and dead fish. I think knowledge advancing in the hobby and MFK moving away from everybody doing the JDM thing is probably for the best.

I also think right when MFK started, it was super exciting to so many people because there was nothing like it before. There were fish forums, I was part of some of them, but they were mostly geared towards peaceful communities, and were full of bad info. Here, you had tons of people who wanted to keep the big "bada**" fish, and since there were a bunch of people doing it, you could get lots of feedback and great info.
Overall, times change, MFK is still awesome IMO.

I ended up here because I wanted big fish and as others have said MFK pops up a lot on Google. I look at members data and it looks like majority pop in and pop out. Probably just joining and then asking question and then poof they are gone.
I wonder if there is really is a large amount of "monster fishkeepers". Most likely some try/ fail and move on. The $$$ crowd pays someone to take care of the fish. That and I think people are staring at their phones all the time.
I agree that MFK is great and I really like it when you guys have kids that get into this stuff.

 

[Coryloach]

For the nostalgic ones: MFK through the years....

2005


2006


2007


2008


2009


2010


2011


2012


2013


2014



2015 I came along


2016


2017

 

[JAYBIRD1011]

I was also directed here a few years ago and I love that there's usually someone who has the answer to your question. You know it's good advice when 5or 6 others say the same thing. Also no one seems to mind calling BS on someone dishing bad advice or info. Don't like Facebook. MFK is okay by me!

 

[Red Devil]

Hi everyone.. just love to see some older members... and wonder how your all doing.. still keeping fish? i only have 3 fish left.. one very old 30+ years Frontosa SYnodontis.. and two older Pacus... imagine from 19 TANKS ... down to three...

 

[jsodwi]

Back in the day people actullay kept monster fish . Everyone was into buying the next coolest fish that just became available. It seems like most people don’t keep big fish anymore on this site. I don’t even bother posting my monsters because members seem more interested in seeing small cichlid species. I loved seeing big tanks, big filtration and big fish. We used to do MFK meets all the time at different fish shops. That has pretty much stopped. I know as well with the live music business the most don’t want to leave their houses and rather just browse stuff online.

 

[Red Devil]

i thin

Back in the day people actullay kept monster fish . Everyone was into buying the next coolest fish that just became available. It seems like most people don’t keep big fish anymore on this site. I don’t even bother posting my monsters because members seem more interested in seeing small cichlid species. I loved seeing big tanks, big filtration and big fish. We used to do MFK meets all the time at different fish shops. That has pretty much stopped. I know as well with the live music business the most don’t want to leave their houses and rather just browse stuff online.

I think you are 100% right.. changes have happened... and it is very sad.. fish stores around me all closed now.. stores that do have fish have just little ones... nothing really exciting and challenging.. oh they were a challenge those monsters.. but they were real pets.... and we took great strides in getting them what they needed to survive.. big monster tanks.. and very good food.. oh the good old days...

 

[Warborg]

Hi everyone.. just love to see some older members... and wonder how your all doing.. still keeping fish? i only have 3 fish left.. one very old 30+ years Frontosa SYnodontis.. and two older Pacus... imagine from 19 TANKS ... down to three...

Welcome back, long time no see.

oh the good old days...

For me the good old days was the early 90's. I went from 26 tanks in 95 down to one in 2005. Since then I bounce back and forth from one peaking to about 3.

 

[LBDave]

I enjoy watching the older members talking with each other. Founding fathers type of thing. Interesting.

 

[LBDave]

I ended up here because I wanted big fish and as others have said MFK pops up a lot on Google. I look at members data and it looks like majority pop in and pop out. Probably just joining and then asking question and then poof they are gone.
I wonder if there is really is a large amount of "monster fishkeepers". Most likely some try/ fail and move on. The $$$ crowd pays someone to take care of the fish. That and I think people are staring at their phones all the time.
I agree that MFK is great and I really like it when you guys have kids that get into this stuff.

Very similar to the state of the automobile. Ford doesn't even make cars anymore. Just SUVs and trucks. Money going into autonomous transportation. Everything apparently going electric. Too much CO2. Looks like working on hot rods is a bygone age.
That's why I like to see fish keepers teaching their kids how to keep and enjoy fish. I got into fish when I was about 10. My friend got a tank. So it can spread like this. As long as kids willing to spend the time.