When Do You Consider Someone or Yourself to be "Experienced?"

[benzjamin13]

Experience…how do you feel about people’s “experience?” For example…I wanted the experience of keeping an RTC. It may not have been as long as I would've liked, but the fact is...I had a baby RTC. A few years ago, I bought it at 1.5" and placed it in a 55g tank. Did it only last me a few weeks? No. Did it grow like a weed? Yes. It grew from 1.5" to 11" in 8 months. One to two feedings a day, weekly water changes, filtered with a Fluval 405. Very basic, no rush to make it a "Monster," but not depriving it of food to slow down its growth. That's normal feeding procedure for me. I ended up getting store credit for the little fella. I feel like I can say that I’ve experienced keeping an RTC, but I understand there are those that feel keeping a fish for less than its life span isn’t considered experience yet some fish that we keep will live for over 20 years! Or just because someone had one for X amount vs. XX amount of time doesn’t seem like experience in those people’s eye…

I’ve kept Pbass (Monos, Ocells, and Orinos), Catfish (various species from small to large), and Knives (more commonly available ones) on and off over the years. I’m on my second run with Dats. And I’m pretty much infatuated with my Polys. Polys have been the only fish that I have kept on a constant basis and that’s only because they don’t have the aggression issues like the other fish that I have kept (at least mine haven’t).

At what point would you consider someone to have enough experience with a certain type of fish?

 

[koltsixx]

Difficult to say, I personally don't consider myself experienced till I've kept multiple specimens of the same fish successfully for the majority of their lifetime. Even then unless I've kept them in multiple set-ups ie: both community and species only I'd consider myself experienced, but still a novice. It's only my opinion though and I imagine many different hobbyist's will have varying opinions. My opinion comes from me thinking all fish are individuals and alot of times you can't get a feel for a species as a whole from only keeping one specimen and beyond that some of my success in keeping them maybe beyond my understanding. For instance I am keeping a Armatus that's at least 2 years old(that's how long I've had him so far), despite from my understanding many people's unsuccessful attempts. I've never(knock on wood) had him slam into a tank wall, never seen him get sick or any other things I've seen other keepers say they've had problems with. I've also been keeping him successfully in a community with Hoplias Curupira(Black Xingu Wold), Shortnose Gar, Florida Gar,breeding pair of Lyonsi and Loisellei Cichlids, trio Red Hook Silver Dollars and 2 Trachycorystes catfish. All the fish are about 12 inches or bigger with the exceptions of the Loisellei(6 inches), and SD's(6 inches). Despite what I've heard about most of these fish and their aggression, I've yet to see it for myself. Perhaps I have the exceptions to the rule, I don't know for sure as this is just my limited experience and I don't know what tomorrow will bring. So while I've kept these fish, until I've kept them healthy and happy for what I would consider a reasonable natural lifetime(at least 10 years) I consider myself a complete noob.

Hope that all makes sense and sounds better than I think it does.

 

[liontammer]

i think experience is rated as alot or a little if you have a fish for more the a month and have been able to have it grow in your care as well as see what other fish it will go with you can say you have a little experience with that fish. were if you have had several of a fish over years and have studied many different ones of that breed you may have alot of experience with it. i have been keeping fish for 15 years both salt and fresh water i will say i have a little experience with alot of different fish but i have studied and kept 4 different kinds of lionfish as well as had several fish of each kind of the lionfish list so i would say i have alot of experience in that perticuler fish (aka to specializ). i hope this make sense lol

 

[Bottomfeeder]

Never. My theory on this is the same as my theory on nature. Approach each experience with nature... or fishkeeping... as a student, willing to learn more, not to conquer or teach, and you will learn way more. But never hint that you know enough. Even with fish, mankind will never know every little thing there is about a species, no matter how much research is done.

 

[Red Devil]

Never. My theory on this is the same as my theory on nature. Approach each experience with nature... or fishkeeping... as a student, willing to learn more, not to conquer or teach, and you will learn way more. But never hint that you know enough. Even with fish, mankind will never know every little thing there is about a species, no matter how much research is done.

I agree ... you learn something new everyday... and theres just so many species.. unless you concentrate on just a few.. theres so much to know.. you begin to forget what you learned earlier while your learning the new stuff.. which brings me back to learning all the oldstuff again.. But thats what makes fishkeeping so special to me.. it is involved ...so experienced yes.. but expert from from it......

 

[skjl47]

Hello; Been keeping freshwater tropical fish and plants since 1959. I am still learning and there are a lot of species I have not kept. Perhaps I know a decent about a few species, but no doubt do not know all about the species I have kept the longest.

 

[woofy]

If u raised and observed a fish in its full potential with all recommended care and adequate housing and tankmates i would say u can say u have experience with that species But doesnt mean u know everything there is to know about that species. if u kept a goldfish in a bowl and it died on day 3 then no u cannot say u had experience with goldfish. i hope im making snese it sounded good in my head. for example ive had angelfish on and off for years with proper tank sizes and tankmates so when someone asks me what are good tank mates? whats a good tank size? what is their behavior like? i can give my opinion through my experience doesnt mean i know all about angels. if someone asked me about breeding them i would have no idea cause ive never had, bred, sexed, or observed angels breeding

 

[benzjamin13]

So another thing to ponder...let's say you compare someone who has kept X fish for a year vs. someone who has kept the same fish for 5 years. They both go through the same care regimen and observe the same behaviors. How big of a difference would it matter for who has kept the fish for 1 year vs. 5 years of experience?

 

[woofy]

Ok here the thing with the argument 1 year vs 5years. certain species at 1yr have not matured so while u think that fish is only semi aggressive or even peaceful at 5 years that fish has reached maturity and can become much more aggressive then youve ever seen or experienced.

 

[benzjamin13]

Good point

But what about fish that seem to mature within a year? Such as Convicts...they pretty much mature within a year. How much of a difference from a 1 year old Convict vs. a 3 year old Convict? Would anyone be able to say that someone has a good amount of experience keeping this particular fish for a year vs. 5 years or even more?

I'm just using Cons as an example and I'll be honest...I've kept Convicts for only about 7-8 months before I had a tank malfunction So maybe there is a difference. I don't really consider myself experienced with these guys as much as most of the Cichlid guys here, but they were aggressive and territorial and that seems to be the consensus of these particular fish regardless of how long they've had them.