RE: Don't Buy Oscar Fish - 6 Reasons Why

[thebiggerthebetter]

I can always be suggested to speak clearer.

I agree with you, RD. , what you say and/or how I read it about (1) inhumane keeping and (2) self policing but I see no contradiction with my expressed train of thought. Are you saying that my post conveys that inhumane fish keeping practice should be tolerated for the sake of buffing up the MFK?

I can't honestly fathom that you wouldn't see a way out of this rather trivial dilemma, if I may sum it up: "Don't keep at oscar in a 55 gal for life because it's inhumane and because the PETA will crush you and the hobby... And... A young oscar in a 55 gal is a great start into the MFK-ship."

What I spoke against is the general drift on the MFK over years, I'd say a paradigm shift, manifested in MFKers advising others on MFK that unless you have a 180 gal, don't buy an oscar no matter what. I am suggesting there is a way to reach both goals - educate and get new wine in our old, cracked up, and drying wineskin. I think we should be much, much more careful in how we word our input in those types of threads because people appear to not even think twice and see everything they say 100% justifiable because their zeal and their driving force is the care and love for the animal, so it can't be wrong. This is an example of an extremist thinking. The reality is not like that. Love for an animal doesn't give one a carte blanche. PETA guys think it does but we are not them, nor wannabees.

They call the medium golden for a reason. Here is how I see it: you and I are on the same page and said the same thing, except your emphasis was to the right of the centerline, mine to the left but neither one is denying the said centerline but only upholding it like a power pole with wooden braces on the left and on the right.

 

[krichardson]

 

[jaws7777]

And im the one with reading comprehension problems...... sheesh

 

[LBDave]

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OMG. Thank you Krich.

 

[RD.]

What I spoke against is the general drift on the MFK over years, I'd say a paradigm shift, manifested in MFKers advising others on MFK that unless you have a 180 gal, don't buy an oscar no matter what.

We obviously travel in different circles my friend, I don't see that at all. What I see is that what has shifted, for the better I think, is that many members are now better informed, and better educated, on the well being and proper keeping of fish in general, not just "monster" fish, compared to 10-15 yrs ago. For many of us there was no internet, or google, when we started out decades ago, just books, and if we were lucky some old timers kicking around whose brains we could pick. LOTS of mistakes were made, LOTS of fish died due to piss poor care. So why allow history to repeat itself? IMO far better for the fish, and the hobby, if mistakes are made on paper, and not in ones tank. Don't you agree? I'm not against people trying different things, and/or proving me wrong.

What I often see, Viktor, is people asking for advice, then either choosing to ignore that advice, or waiting until finally someone comes along and supports their notion, and off they go the LFS to do exactly what they had already planned to do, from the get go. I'm not sure that's any real shift either, seems to be a common theme on many forums over the years. Not long after the fish is dead, or the OP is posting in the illness section asking what went wrong with their favourite new Oscar, Mr. Bubbles.

But I certainly don't feel that this was a hill for anyone to stand on, dig in, and fight to the death over. lol Lots of better reasons to have a skirmish, than debating the pros & cons of keeping a large intelligent cichlid such as an Oscar, in a 55 gallon for life. Past tense, or not.

Of course the mentioning of this was not the end of the world, or the crime of the century as the dramatical here were attempting to put out there, nor did anyone stomp on the OP, or spit in his face. More drama, but not what happened. I have no idea why you even mentioned Big Rich, 99% of the people that posted in that thread supported Rich. You can't stop stupid (unless you swing a large hammer that says BANNED on it), and at the end of the day I guess Phillip got exactly what he had coming. I find that these things generally work themselves out.

I can't honestly fathom that you wouldn't see a way out of this rather trivial dilemma

I already did, a few pages back. No pitchforks, no stoning involved, and no real dilemma on my part. I'm not twisting anyone's arm, off-site, just posting my opinion, even if some feel it may at times be overly harsh. It's still just an opinion, posted on a fish forum. Nobody was bleeding.

While we all have to make our own personal judgement calls when it comes to keeping fish in a glass box, suggesting that a fish such as the male midas shown above "would work", in a 55 gallon tank, is wrong on every level of this hobby.

That is the point that the moral majority here were attempting to make. I have a very short tolerance for stupidity, and I don't typically suffer fools gladly. This is MFK, not little kiddies fish keeping. Some might not appreciate my direct approach - but the advice given is almost always spot on.

Agree? Disagree? Whatever, it was just an opinion, and it's just a fish forum. Again, nobody was left bleeding.


MFK has changed over the years, because it had to change. That, or die a slow death. So while the "monster" portions of the site are not the same as 10 years ago, other areas have flourished. Today we even have sub-folders on crayfish, and snails. Go figure. Are there "monster snails" out there? I have no idea, but I reckon that the interest was there or they wouldn't exist.


Cheers

 

[fishhead0103666]

If I may, I would like to make a comment.

The oscar in a 55 is similar to how Petco does their dollar per gallon sale. The oscar and the tanks are “loss leaders”, they get the person interested and coming back for more. In the petco example the person comes back to buy stuff.
In the oscar example it lets a love for fish keeping blossom.

In my opinion for whatever it’s worth, you can’t expect a person just getting into fish keeping to do all of their research so you should expect mistakes to happen and accept them but slowly turn them to the correct path. Yes the oscar in a 55 gallon is not good but by having that oscar in the 55 gallon they could develop a firm passion for fish keeping and end up with a 5,000 gallon tank and be a wealth of knowledge.

 

[FINWIN]

Which is the luckiest oscar in the 2 cases you describe above? Neither. I'm pretty sure if the guy in question had started to advocate keeping an Oscar in a 180, not maintaining it and feeding it table scraps, he'd be just as quickly and strongly derided here or any other decent aquatic forum.

I'll gather the villagers. They've been waiting to riot!

 

[benzjamin13]

View attachment 1370966

Agreed