A Terrible Fish Article

[TheLavenderBadger]

So I found THIS.....https://arew.org/30-most-colorful-freshwater-fish-perfect-for-aquariums/

I thought I'd post this and let everybody critique!

How many fishkeeping errors and grammatical errors can YOU spot?

Did you know Harlequin rasboras enjoy swimming?

 

[WhistlingBadger]

As a moderator, I hereby forbid any beginning fish keepers to come anywhere within 100 feet of this article. The rest of you, however, are welcome to have at it.

 

[GaryE]

Noooo.

My eyes!!!!!!

That's like listening to my favourite songs being covered by a tone deaf barbershop quartet of boys in the middle of puberty.

I was defeated before I even got through the first species - neon tetras. It's the end of civilization, I tell you. The end.

 

[TheLavenderBadger]

Just wait for the bettas....
It gets worse

 

[Rocky998]

I didn't know goldfish could be housed with Discus!

 

[GaryE]

I'm going to take this seriously. Yesterday was an extreme weather day and I was stuck inside. I pulled out some AKA killifish journals, and read them. I was deeply impressed by how a review that paid no authors had such quality in it. Every article was someone who had worked to solve a problem, do some research, share some knowledge. They were ordinary aquarists who consistently produced something extraordinary you had to feel respect for as you read. I enjoyed that. There are smart, curious people in this hobby of ours.

And the along came @TheLavenderBadger 's discovery of that article to pull the chair away just when I was feeling all warm and fuzzy about fishkeeping humanity!

The writing's lazy, unintelligent and empty. Maybe it's trolling, I dunno. Maybe someone thought it was funny to be dumb and put it up there under a fake name with a stock picture. The author can't write, and there can't have been more than an hour's effort in the whole thing. If you walked into a fish convention and decided to do a shock, dumb and dumber comedy routine designed to rile up the smart people, that could be the script.

That, or the author has just chosen which pet chain to manage a store for after a furious corporate bidding war for her expertise. Maybe it was a smart career move.

 

[Slaphppy7]

Hey!

I wrote that, using my pen name!

Constructive criticism is always welcome, but you guys are brutal...

 

[emeraldking]

There are smart, curious people in this hobby of ours.

In general, the relevant aquarium magazines worldwide are containing articles that are mostly written by non scientists. And I agree, that those articles are really interesting reads.

 

[emeraldking]

Just took a peek at that article. Why did they start off with a picture of a salt water fish? And oscars can become much bigger than those 35 cm that's mentioned.

 

[Slaphppy7]

Just took a peek at that article. Why did they start off with a picture of a salt water fish? And oscars can become much bigger than those 35 cm that's mentioned.

Well, it IS on the interweb, so it has to be true....

 

[sharkweek178]

Just took a peek at that article. Why did they start off with a picture of a salt water fish? And oscars can become much bigger than those 35 cm that's mentioned.

That's not even the best part of the Oscar portion...

"the Oscar fish is quite peaceful and interacts well with other fish"

 

[speakerman3]

What's truly frightening is that I have seen worse information on the internet regarding tropical fish than this. In part, I blame Google translate. My theory is that fish breeders in China--or elsewhere, but not English speakers--are churning out fish profiles that are generic at best, using translation software to get an English version, and posting on sites that mimic a reputable site. Soon the unsuspecting members of the public who picked up a ten-gallon tank on sale at Petco are rushing to buy oscars because they are so cute and peaceful.

Usually when people talk about a slippery slope it is a fallacy where dire results are predicted from relatively mild "causes." I am afraid, however, that it is not a slippery slope to say that these articles will flood the internet to the point that credible articles are difficult to find and the uninitiated public will accept the schlock as truth. I hope I'm wrong.

Thanks for sharing the "fun" article. It's nice to know that a relative beginner can keep discus in a thirty-gallon tank.

 

[Back in the fold]

An Epic Masterpiece of scientific knowledge condensed into a format that informs beginner and expert hobbyist alike. I highly recommend this !

 

[GaryE]

It isn't THAT long ago that I went to a US chain and saw a care sticker suggesting Pacus for a 10 gallon tank. Pacus can be over a metre and 40 kilos as adults... Stores sell Oscars and Jack Dempsies as mainstream offerings, with common plecos, Bala sharks, and many other fish that outgrow tanks. So maybe this article isn't so far off the sources many of us have chosen to buy fish from because they're cheaper there?

Maybe the research was a stack of Petwhatever care stickers from the 00s?

@speakerman3 China is a major consumer of aquarium products, much more dynamic than in North America. They are where things are happening. But the actual production isn't there - they buy from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand - just like the west does. They buy a lot of blood parrot, flowerhorn and modified fish, and influence the farm output that way.

 

[kribensis12]

So I found THIS.....https://arew.org/30-most-colorful-freshwater-fish-perfect-for-aquariums/

I thought I'd post this and let everybody critique!

How many fishkeeping errors and grammatical errors can YOU spot?

Did you know Harlequin rasboras enjoy swimming?

This is what happens when AI writes an article... or an imbecile.