Anyone familiar with /r/aquariums on Reddit?

So I didn't have a Reddit account until this morning, but my friend showed me the IAMA forum-thing (I definitely don't know all the terminology yet) and it was pretty interesting...then I saw there was an aquarium forum! And a betta forum! Woo!

Until I started reading some things. Someone made a thread asking about what an established aquarium is. I went to comment, and read a bunch of replies stating that an established aquarium has "no ammonia and close to no nitrites or nitrates." This is wrong in multiple ways, as all the experienced members of FishLore surely notice. 1) Nitrites should be 0ppm, not "close to 0" and 2) nitrates should be measurable, not 0ppm.

Have I been babied with my experience on FishLore? To be honest this was the first fish website I happened to stumble across and join when I was new and filled with questions. I guess I really lucked out! Are other fish websites often so misinformed? I hope we're not the misinformed ones...

Needless to say, I will not be frequenting /r/aquariums or /r/bettafish anymore, too frustrating. (Also the fact that you can't post more frequently than once every 10 minutes is a bit extreme.)

 

There is a ton of misinformation out there. Many people are too stubborn to listen to scientific actualities about what goes on in a fish tank. I've visited many fish forums. There are many people out there that refuse to listen to reason. This is why I stay here

 

I tried joining an English forum after finding fishlore just to see what it was like as over here the opinions on stocking are different and allow for more fish generally over here which is wrong I know and always stick to the advise given by my fellow fishlorians.

As KinezumI did I tried to give advise on situations that I know the answer too as I have learned allot from fishlore and personal experience but would they listen the answer would be no they didn't and their fish died if they had their fish would be alive.

It was infuriating and one guy had just set up his tank and wanted to stock it I told him about the nitrogen cycle and all I got back was "it'll be ok" hmmmmmm I think not, they were from my area and I offered to help them and just got crazy unwanted messages from them.

Now it's fishlore all the way curiosity answered my questions for me and it just made me angry.

I did depart leaving links to useful information so hopefully someone will read it and make the right decision. Really wish this hobby could have some regulation or something at least with the basics

 

I'm a redditor, though I mostly browse R/Aquariums for pictures of discus and various other trivial things. It's all about knowing where you're getting information from though, really. R/Plantedtank has great information on CO2, so I ask questions about plants there. PlecoPlanet knows more about plecos than anyone as far as I can tell so I ask pleco related things there.

Fishlore is an awesome general aquarium discussion board so I come here to talk fish with a bunch of great people. This might be the friendliest internet message board I've ever been on.

 

I got on Reddit all the time!!! I have the same user name as on here actually..


There's a TON of bad info on there, but I do enjoy the pictures and have found that a few people are helpful.

If I want real fish help I always turn to fishlore, but I do love seeing other setups.. I also enjoy /r/plantedtank and /r/bettafish

I do hate seeing misinformed people posting pictures of their betta in a bowl, and asking why it's dying if they always do water changes when "the water gets cloudy"

 

I totally saw your thread (or whatever they're called) with your betta!!! I was like "that looks like the betta we all wanted to name Sterling" and I looked at the name, and lo and behold it was you!! I'll have to look at /r/plantedtank, I bet that would be fun.

 

It's impossible to educate everyone via the internet... accepting that is the only way to stay sane. All we can do is offer good info and links whenever possible and hope for the best. Ultimately the education is up to the pet owner.

I was a little uncertain at first, but the more familiar I become with this forum the more I like it. It seems like a pretty level-headed crowd hang out here. I got burnt a few years ago by joining a cavvy (guinea pig) forum which is very "snobby" about the information given out- only their approved info is allowed... and heaven forbid anyone should disagree with them. I got a nasty PM from a moderator about how I was "misleading newbies" with one of my posts... the topic was actually a very minor point of guinea-pig care, and it's not a "set in stone" issue. So I bailed pretty quickly out of there.

I think respect and courtesy go a long way in getting people to stick around. Never assume someone is stupid... they might be ignorant, but if they came looking for information, at least they're making an effort to take care of their animals.

On a positive note, Fishlore comes up on top in nearly all my Google searches for fish info.

 

I totally saw your thread (or whatever they're called) with your betta!!! I was like "that looks like the betta we all wanted to name Sterling" and I looked at the name, and lo and behold it was you!! I'll have to look at /r/plantedtank, I bet that would be fun.

haha yeah, I always double post to reddit when I can.. I miss that fish t'was a good little guy. /r/plantedtank is pretty good! They also have a photo contest and because of them you can use the code REDDITSPLANTEDTANK for a discount on

 

Aww I didn't know you lost him, I'm sorry. I love bettas, I'll always have one or two. My last one died very unexpectedly; he was doing just fine, but then I came home one day and he was all curled up in the corner.

Good to know, thanks for the info!

 

He decided to use the one hole in the back of his tank to jump out and explore the carpet... for NO reason!

 

My (admittedly limited) experience with Reddit has been strongly negative. Each subreddit is different, I'm sure, but at my age (older-than-teen) I am too old to deal with the drama and negativity that too many web forums indulge in. There are a couple of subreddits that I'm subscribed to in Google Reader, but I ignore the majority of what pops up in those, and I don't even have an account, so I'm never tempted to comment.

It's the same reason FishLore is the only traditional forum I'm a regular member on. Some of the major, often-cited fish forums out there seem to have a policy that states "members must curse and/or degrade each other on a daily basis, ESPECIALLY over minor differences of opinion." I'm not wasting time at places like that.

 

I've never been on reddit, nor do I typically join message boards. However, I lurked fishlore for a bit looking- it comes up with all my google searches- and everyone seemed to know what they were talking about and there is such courtesy here, so I joined. I jumped into asking questions about my tank, and people actually answered. (Truly, I should have commented in other places and tried to make some friends first, so I apologize.) I am grateful to be here.

It's not just the internet giving bad info. Pet stores also don't always have the right information either. I'd guess and say most people who want a tank don't really understand what goes into it and thus likely look at the pet store employee for advice, which may or may not be valid. Case in point: I was told to get bumblebee gobies to help with light clean up in my freshwater tank. But they're brackish fish. Bad info.

 

I definitely agree; I'd say the majority of people with tanks probably don't realize what work they entail. And the first source they probably think of for information is the pet store, which is really the last place you should go. There are definitely some employees who know what's up, but so many don't that I've never asked questions there before.