I thought i would bring it to peoples attention how the UK's largest fish keeping publication operates on their forum.
During our recent down time i joined their forum to kill some time, there were a few threads that caught my interest and i felt i was able to pass on some of my own experience.
I came across a thread where a member had just purchased 3 large growing catfish named as perruno catfish, a species that reaches nearly 3 feet in length, and had a stock list in his signature containing other large fish including Redtailed Catfish, Tiger Shovelnose and a hybrid of the two as well as numerous other tank busters, his signature also said that his largest tank is a 6x2x2 (180 gallon) which clearly wasn't big enough for any of the fish listed. The poster is a 15 year old boy so I posted to ask what he intended to do with the fish when they were full grown and was promptly messaged by a moderator warning me to leave the subject alone as the owner of the fish has autism and finds his fish collection calming.
Today the same person posted a video in which i spotted a species of barb that is on the red list as an endangered species and illegal to own in this country. I asked him if he knew what the fish was and from the shady answers given guessed that he and others were aware so i just suggested that maybe he should be careful about letting it be seen in online videos and pictures as the punishment for owning them is a £5000 fine or 5 years in prison.
Again i was warned by the moderators to not draw attention to the illegal fish. I have since been told that the owner has permission to own the fish, but if so why all the secrecy?
I have now found that i have been put on their "miserable users" list which is effectively a ban which makes accessing the site almost impossible by blocking access to the forum or redirecting me to other pages, quite childish really.
Its quite clear that the admin and moderators of the forum do not want experienced and knowledgable members at the forum or people who are willing to ask any thought provoking questions, i just feel sorry for all the members who messaged me to thank me for bringing the matters up and urged me to keep posting at the forum.
During our recent down time i joined their forum to kill some time, there were a few threads that caught my interest and i felt i was able to pass on some of my own experience.
I came across a thread where a member had just purchased 3 large growing catfish named as perruno catfish, a species that reaches nearly 3 feet in length, and had a stock list in his signature containing other large fish including Redtailed Catfish, Tiger Shovelnose and a hybrid of the two as well as numerous other tank busters, his signature also said that his largest tank is a 6x2x2 (180 gallon) which clearly wasn't big enough for any of the fish listed. The poster is a 15 year old boy so I posted to ask what he intended to do with the fish when they were full grown and was promptly messaged by a moderator warning me to leave the subject alone as the owner of the fish has autism and finds his fish collection calming.
Today the same person posted a video in which i spotted a species of barb that is on the red list as an endangered species and illegal to own in this country. I asked him if he knew what the fish was and from the shady answers given guessed that he and others were aware so i just suggested that maybe he should be careful about letting it be seen in online videos and pictures as the punishment for owning them is a £5000 fine or 5 years in prison.
Again i was warned by the moderators to not draw attention to the illegal fish. I have since been told that the owner has permission to own the fish, but if so why all the secrecy?
I have now found that i have been put on their "miserable users" list which is effectively a ban which makes accessing the site almost impossible by blocking access to the forum or redirecting me to other pages, quite childish really.
Its quite clear that the admin and moderators of the forum do not want experienced and knowledgable members at the forum or people who are willing to ask any thought provoking questions, i just feel sorry for all the members who messaged me to thank me for bringing the matters up and urged me to keep posting at the forum.
no offense bignose, I'm not having a go at you.
