All Of You Fish Whizzes
- Thread starter Repeat
- Start date
veil92
Fishaholic
Simply searching all the archives of this forum will have you happily satisfied with knowledge.
prankster705
trolololol
doresy
Sometimes Right, Sometimes Wrong but ALWAYS certai
I knew practically nothing of fishkeeping until I found this particular forum. In fact it showed me that I was just skimming the surface (so to speak) of the hobby.
This forum and it's more wiser members have showed me the real heart of fishkeeping turning it into part of my life rather than just something to do and look at.
Not saying all LFS (local fish shops) are anyway near the same but it's a real problem relying totally on them for information. Personally, I would never wholey trust a person who is giving me free advice for prospective financial gain
Having said that, even this forum has it's flaws
Never confuse a members status (ie. the score under their name) with experience, it's just an indication of how often the post questions/answers on the forum. In time you will get to know the wiser ones, each has a particular favorite subject and sometimes you will be directed to them for an answer (this is a good recommendation)
As mentioned by Veil92 most questions have been well and trully answered at one time or another and can be found by researching the archives but as it is a forum there are always members itching to give good advice, over and over again! One tip I would add though, do look a little first though to make sure any information you are seeking has not just been asked/answered in the last few days. Another tip, as you do gain experience avoid the temptation of answering someones problem with just your thoughts as this can be very misleading to an exteme novice. (there are still some people that believe that if they see something in print, then it must be true!
)
Remember, we are not all as smart as we think we are me included before you others all start
*EDIT* HA ha I've just seen that you were answering questions at gone 1 o/c in the morning, oh dear! you have caught the forum bug already......no hope now!
whooops! you are not in the UK are you
This forum and it's more wiser members have showed me the real heart of fishkeeping turning it into part of my life rather than just something to do and look at.
Not saying all LFS (local fish shops) are anyway near the same but it's a real problem relying totally on them for information. Personally, I would never wholey trust a person who is giving me free advice for prospective financial gain
Having said that, even this forum has it's flaws
Never confuse a members status (ie. the score under their name) with experience, it's just an indication of how often the post questions/answers on the forum. In time you will get to know the wiser ones, each has a particular favorite subject and sometimes you will be directed to them for an answer (this is a good recommendation)As mentioned by Veil92 most questions have been well and trully answered at one time or another and can be found by researching the archives but as it is a forum there are always members itching to give good advice, over and over again! One tip I would add though, do look a little first though to make sure any information you are seeking has not just been asked/answered in the last few days. Another tip, as you do gain experience avoid the temptation of answering someones problem with just your thoughts as this can be very misleading to an exteme novice. (there are still some people that believe that if they see something in print, then it must be true!
)Remember, we are not all as smart as we think we are
me included before you others all start *EDIT* HA ha I've just seen that you were answering questions at gone 1 o/c in the morning, oh dear! you have caught the forum bug already......no hope now!
whooops! you are not in the UK are you 
Repeat, I need to repeat what everyone else is saying. I am basically a dedicated hobbyist with enough time and past reading to accumulate some information. I also find that my experiences with equipment that I have used or researched for myself end up giving me answers to equipment questions and my high school chemistry, even from 45 years ago, still works when I think about chemistry questions. I guess you could say we are each a product of our experiences and our own attempts to study up on our own fish.
I have learned a lot in 50 years about the livebearers that I enjoy keeping and the cichlid people are the same way about their cichlids. Don't ask me about cichlids and don't expect a great answer from them about livebearers because we each have our own interests and learnings.
I have learned a lot in 50 years about the livebearers that I enjoy keeping and the cichlid people are the same way about their cichlids. Don't ask me about cichlids and don't expect a great answer from them about livebearers because we each have our own interests and learnings.
wendywc
Rocking a crabshell for a hat.
Years of reading books, keeping fish, and lately reading other people's experiences also.
waterdrop
Enthusiastic "Re-Beginner"
Depending on your status with respect to school Repeat, you might think about some courses if you like the subject. I had college courses in limnology and oceanography quite a few years ago and really enjoyed them, but actually I don't think they added that much to my appreciation/knowledge of the hobby.
Most of the knowledge we have/share here on the forum, except for occasional exceptions, is much more about practical hobby skills and learning that we get in the ways dorsey and oldman talk about above: book reading, online sharing and practical experience. When I was a kid I made a real effort to read every book I could get my hands on about this hobby but as it turns out, that form of information gathering paled in comparison to the kind of learning you can get from the interactive learning in a web forum like this.
In fact (getting slightly off topic) I think the "web forum" format in particular is really quite powerful for things like hobbies. Its an amazing way to jump start your knowledge on something you don't know much about. One thing that I think would greatly improve web forums would be some sort of "plug-in wiki component" that would replace or be in addition to the concept we have of "pinned articles." I've often wished one could have a piece of the wikipaedia software plunked down where the pinned articles are.
One last thing though: Nothing beats reading and effort. Even a university researcher is a much more powerful person if they read extensively in areas outside their field. For our hobby, there's a amazing amount of information waiting right here in the massive store of discussions archived.
~~waterdrop~~
Most of the knowledge we have/share here on the forum, except for occasional exceptions, is much more about practical hobby skills and learning that we get in the ways dorsey and oldman talk about above: book reading, online sharing and practical experience. When I was a kid I made a real effort to read every book I could get my hands on about this hobby but as it turns out, that form of information gathering paled in comparison to the kind of learning you can get from the interactive learning in a web forum like this.
In fact (getting slightly off topic) I think the "web forum" format in particular is really quite powerful for things like hobbies. Its an amazing way to jump start your knowledge on something you don't know much about. One thing that I think would greatly improve web forums would be some sort of "plug-in wiki component" that would replace or be in addition to the concept we have of "pinned articles." I've often wished one could have a piece of the wikipaedia software plunked down where the pinned articles are.
One last thing though: Nothing beats reading and effort. Even a university researcher is a much more powerful person if they read extensively in areas outside their field. For our hobby, there's a amazing amount of information waiting right here in the massive store of discussions archived.
~~waterdrop~~
jourdy288
Sorry, can't help spammin, it's the OCD! Hey there
All the librarians know me by name...I listen to Pet Fish Talk...Read about fish...read this forum...edit The Aquarium Wiki...Torture my family with my aquatics knowledge...not much.
Night61
Fish Herder
i am know were near as knowladgeble as some of the others. you learn as you go. for me i go online and look up info on every new animal i buy. when i needed more info then what i could read i came here because they answer questions for free and most of the happily. soon one day report you will become a wizz of your own particular fish or fishies and will one day help others.
Ok thanks a lot guys! sorry for the mediocre response earlier, was on the phone and cant pay attention to talking while typing. Im going to read all i can until im up there with you guys, and i want to look into being and ichthyologist. I think it would be a great career, even if the pay is somewhat dismal
I think it would have been a career I would have enjoyed but never thought to do. Instead I work in a very technical job that leaves little room to enjoy my fish except at home. I have learned a lot about water sampling with truly good equipment for very low levels of contaminants but nothing like what we deal with as hobbyists. I was a physics, chemistry and math whiz in high school and never really figured out that fish would have been more fun as a career.
Good luck going forward Repeat.
Good luck going forward Repeat.
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