Is the aquarium hobby more popular with males or females?

Kind of a silly poll.... but...

Which gender do you think is more in to keeping these boxes of water we call aquariums?

I'm kinda thinking it might be the females that outnumber the males in our hobby. Or maybe it's just that females are more social and more active online?

 

In my limited experience on the forum it seems like a pretty even split, but I’m going to say there are more males

 

Let’s do a poll on that! Some screen names make it tough to tell

 

I think it would be 50/50

(Which isn't an option on the poll)

 

I removed this comment.

 

I said more females but only because I am one.

 

It seems like males would be more willing to do tank maintenance and get their hands wet.

I’m actually laughing out loud. Like actually. angelcraze

 

It seems like males would be more willing to do tank maintenance and get their hands wet.

And how have you decided on that?

We women are more than happy to get our hands dirty (I used to rebuild engines for my cars and motorcycles )

 

I added the even 50/50 option

 

And how have you decided on that?

We women are more than happy to get our hands dirty (I used to rebuild engines for my cars and motorcycles )

I’m still laughing out loud. I am not going to go into the facts that negate that statement bc not worth the time. I do love you and TY for your help Amazoniantanklvr but that comment was beyond.

 

I’m actually laughing out loud. Like actually.@angelcraze

And how have you decided on that?

We women are more than happy to get our hands dirty (I used to rebuild engines for my cars and motorcycles )

I’m still laughing out loud. I am not going to go into the facts that negate that statement bc not worth the time. I do love you and TY for your help Amazoniantanklvr but that comment was beyond.

I was just judging form my mom. I didn't mean to offend anyone and was just making an observation (from my house).

 

It seems like males would be more willing to do tank maintenance and get their hands wet.

And how have you decided on that?

We women are more than happy to get our hands dirty (I used to rebuild engines for my cars and motorcycles )

Similarly to that my mom and my grandma act all grossed out when I put my whole arm in the tank to fix a decoration or something lol.

 

Similarly to that my mom and my grandma act all grossed out when I put my whole arm in the tank to fix a decoration or something lol.

See? I'm not the only one.

 

See? I'm not the only one.

Yes but WE women on HERE don’t feel that way. My mom wouldn’t want to stick her arm in but neither would my male fiancé. So yes perhaps non hobbyists lean toward one gender but I don’t think we do on this site. Tho that’s just my opinion so I could as easily be incorrect! And you know how much I value your help you’ve given With my tanks and all the time you take helping and reassuring me and giving input. I just got defensive for us women on here who get filthy! And the men do of course as well!

 

(mod forgive me for btb posting)
I removed the comment for you SlvikanAKAMsWorryWart and pagoda!

 

It seems like there are slightly more females in the younger generation(s), and slightly more males in the older. So probably 50/50 with all taken into account.

 

Controversial can of bloodworms this......

I don't think there would be any pets that are favoured more towards men or women really. All pets regardless of type have a measure of mucking out attached to them, its all part and parcel of animal care and responsibility isn't it?

 

Maybe you should have named it "Are you a Male or Female Aquarist? Lets see how many we have of each on Fishlore! Battle of the sexes style! LOL. Then be allowed to see the voters so we can see screen names and if they are male or female.

 

Yes but WE women on HERE don’t feel that way. My mom wouldn’t want to stick her arm in but neither would my male fiancé. So yes perhaps non hobbyists lean toward one gender but I don’t think we do on this site. Tho that’s just my opinion so I could as easily be incorrect! And you know how much I value your help you’ve given With my tanks and all the time you take helping and reassuring me and giving input. I just got defensive for us women on here who get filthy! And the men do of course as well!

I understand. Oh here it is probably 50/50. Mostly only guys have fish rooms though (with the exception of Rachael O'Leary).

 

I was just judging form my mom. I didn't mean to offend anyone and was just making an observation (from my house).

Similarly to that my mom and my grandma act all grossed out when I put my whole arm in the tank to fix a decoration or something lol.

It is too bad you young men haven't been expose to women that have no problem doing the dirty jobs. I do understand where you are coming from though. I have a SIL like that. I mean she wouldn't even bait her own hook when we used to go fishing and won't feed the birds because it might tempt mice to come live in her hedge.

I understand. Oh here it is probably 50/50. Mostly only guys have fish rooms though (with the exception of Rachael O'Leary).

heheheheh you're digging yourself in deeper

 

It seems like there are slightly more females in the younger generation(s), and slightly more males in the older. So probably 50/50 with all taken into account.

I was thinking we'd have younger males, more middle-aged (30-60) females and more older males. But for the record: I'm NOT sexist!

 

Little boys start early in life playing in the local creeks & ponds. As time goes by, they learn to bring the creek inside the house in the form of a fish tank.
Although I can think of a lot of girls who also liked the creeks & ponds as much as me, there were far more boys.
I'm going with 60% male fishkeepers to 40% female.

 

............whispers under breath..........female........4 aquariums.......in one room.......< cough> < cough >

 

t is too bad you young men haven't been expose to women that have no problem doing the dirty jobs

I know MissNoodle has no problem with it.

heheheheh you're digging yourself in deeper

Ok, I'll stop.

 

Well I will say this, when I visit the many LFS within a 20 mile radius of where I live 99% of the customers are males.

 

I'm thinking females. No offense to anyone but I feel like the females are usually the stay at home/part time job partner and have more time for careful aquarium keeping

 

From what I can tell just walking through fish stores, it's about 50/50.

From my perspective, a couple more interesting topic would be:
*geographical breakout of fish keepers. Do people that live near the ocean want to keep wet pets of their own? Or do land locked people tend to keep more fish as a they don't get to experience the ocean as often.

For me, it's a double edged sword. I get more and more excited and interested in fish keeping the more I scuba dive and am in the ocean. But if I lived inland, I feel that I would miss the ocean a ton and buy more fish and tanks to compensate. Either way, the turnout is the same: more fish!

 

Well I will say this, when I visit the many LFS within a 20 mile radius of where I live 99% of the customers are males.

Similar for me.

 

It is too bad you young men haven't been expose to women that have no problem doing the dirty jobs.

I think they all have been.
I have heard tales of contents of baby's diapers that will cause a man to faint or drive him Cthulhu insane, meanwhile women just shrug it off the whole thing off with a "Meh, whateva'". I think women are more tolerant of filth than men. If you can deal with diaper horrors then cleaning up a reactor meltdown is no big deal.
Men just have a harder time perceiving filth, this is why a single guy's toilet starts out clean, then has a yellow stripe down the front, then a yellow brown stripe, then a brown stripe, and finally brown yellow stalagmites beginning to form and he still can't tell his toilet is dirty (it may also be why he is still single).

 

Men just have a harder time perceiving filth, this is why a single guy's toilet starts out clean, then has a yellow stripe down the front, then a yellow brown stripe, then a brown stripe, and finally brown yellow stalagmites beginning to form and he still can't tell his toilet is dirty (it may also be why he is still single).

That is slightly offensive. I clean my whole bathroom every week.

 

......just after 3am in the morning and had to shout at two Cories who are getting jiggy with it AGAIN

.......noisy blighters, can't they do it quietly.....some of us like to actually sleep at night

 

For People I know personally there are a lot more males then females that keep fish and only males that are serious about it. All the females I know with fish view it more of a decoration then a pet. Most of the males look at it more like a hobby.

 

For People I know personally there are a lot more males then females that keep fish and only males that are serious about it. All the females I know with fish view it more of a decoration then a pet. Most of the males look at it more like a hobby.

Sorta like my neighbor. She has a 150 gallon and a 57g (I believe) that she maintains (and they always look clean) but just thinks of them as decorations.

 

I know from experience that being a carer and guardian of fish can be very rewarding, it can also be frustrating and often, sadly, traumatic when things go wrong.

My aquariums are not there to decorate the room......to put it quite simply & truthfully, they are the closest to family that I have and will ever have, they are my reason to wake up each morning cos I know that they need to be cared for.

Having aquariums are my own personal motivation to keep going with life when everything else seems to be against that idea. They might not have a voice, they might not always appreciate the care being taken of them and sometimes they can be incredibly naughty......but they are awesome company and that's what makes them very special to me.

 

I know from experience that being a carer and guardian of fish can be very rewarding, it can also be frustrating and often, sadly, traumatic when things go wrong.

My aquariums are not there to decorate the room......to put it quite simply & truthfully, they are the closest to family that I have and will ever have, they are my reason to wake up each morning cos I know that they need to be cared for.

Having aquariums are my own personal motivation to keep going with life when everything else seems to be against that idea. They might not have a voice, they might not always appreciate the care being taken of them and sometimes they can be incredibly naughty......but they are awesome company and that's what makes them very special to me.

Wow, well said! Very philosophical.

 

I will say, I know a lot more younger females who go "EEEK! How cute is this betta?! I just HAVE to take it home!!" and then (sometimes) end up going online to figure out why it's dying, and then get themselves wrapped up in the whole "aquarium" thing. But sometimes they just get so emotionally overwhelmed that they can't even think of trying again after the betta is gone.

Though I have noticed that every single employee I've ever met at a dedicated LFS (aka, not just your Petco down the street, but actual knowledgable people) has always been male. At first I thought my LFS was maybe just sexist in their hiring, until I visited another amazing fish store a few states over and saw the same thing

And these guys weren't just 60 year olds who have decades of experience. I have met quite a few working at these LFSs who were early 20s, of the type who keep 120 gallon saltwater aquariums in their 1 bedroom apartments!

And when rehoming fish last year during my move, all of my buyers were male. For some reason, I was surprised when the person who showed up to buy my 55 gallon just spoke enough English to be understandable (was of Spanish heritage), and put the tank in the back of his ancient rusted out pickup truck. In total contrast, I also once picked up a 20 gallon from a clearly wealthy man outside his mini-mansion.

 

Though I have noticed that every single employee I've ever met at a dedicated LFS (aka, not just your Petco down the street, but actual knowledgable people) has always been male. At first I thought my LFS was maybe just sexist in their hiring, until I visited another amazing fish store a few states over and saw the same thing

My LFS is a husband wife team with one other male employee.

 

I think it's an even split just depends on the person. My petcos and PetSmart's are heavily female. Lfs in town is 50/50. The lfs outta town I went to was 80% female.

 

There's four LFS around here. Two do both salt and fresh - all employees are male. The other two only stock freshwater fish, and all employees are female at these two locations.

Does it mean guys like saltwater more? I have no idea. These are just my LFS employees. I myself maintain more than half a dozen tanks and am female. Of the other folks in the area I know who keep fish, its a pretty even split of males and females. Funnily enough, all of the females who have tanks are the sole caretakers of the tanks despite the male partner having agreed to help with the tanks - and then never helping.

 

50/50 for sure. That's the overall distribution I see when I go to LFS's, meet other hobbyists and breeders, and so on. Though as others have noted, every LFS I've been in was run by a man, though there were plenty of female employees.

On the topic of women and filth tolerance though, I'm still kind of baffled by how my mom can't tolerate anything aquarium-related while she changed diapers of 3 different children, and all other associated child-messes. Those seem much nastier than sticking a hand into a fish tank!