Unpopular Opinions (fish related)

[Snagrio]

My Amazon swords are growing like things possessed - as is the Wallis, the elodea and the crypts . . . but the java, to my great disappointment (I'd bought it because it was supposed to be bombproof) just vanished.

Conversely, my salvinia floaters are the ones that completely disappeared. They growing decently enough so I figured they were doing okay, then one day during a water change they were just, gone. And I know exactly why too.

It was my mystery snails. Somehow they slid to the top and ate them like a floating buffet. I know it was them because there's been instances where I saw some leaves with blatant chewing marks, and none of my fish could've been responsible. It's odd because they don't attack any of the other plants (in fact they've been doing an excellent job keeping them free of the brown algae that's been creeping up) and are otherwise as well fed as everyone else in the tank, but I guess there was something about the salvinia they found irresistible.

 

[LostBear]

On here maybe, other places... not so much.

Jealousy, Phoenix.

Just jealousy.

 

[Stan510]

How about 'Tanked' and 'River Monsters' were the worst teachers of aquarists? I never saw a tanked that was realistic or looked like the fish would be long term. The whole instant gratification with big bucks ruled.
River Monsters? Well,when you call those magnificent large freshwater fish monsters,demonize them and perpetuate myths?..you are a near eco terrorist and I have zero respect for the host, "A biologist"..who seems all too happy to sink a large hook into large old breeder fish of the rivers of the world. Any guilt trip he has goes away with every check deposited into the bank.

 

[DragonScales+Doubletails]

Guppies are NOT slow swimmers

 

[Snagrio]

How about 'Tanked' and 'River Monsters' were the worst teachers of aquarists? I never saw a tanked that was realistic or looked like the fish would be long term. The whole instant gratification with big bucks ruled.
River Monsters? Well,when you call those magnificent large freshwater fish monsters,demonize them and perpetuate myths?..you are a near eco terrorist and I have zero respect for the host, "A biologist"..who seems all too happy to sink a large hook into large old breeder fish of the rivers of the world. Any guilt trip he has goes away with every check deposited into the bank.

Tanked in particular. No cycling, no regards for compatibility, just make a giant tank out of a random tacky object, fill it with water and salt then dump all the fish in at the same time. Can't imagine the die-offs afterwards... Honestly reminds me of the Extreme Makeover Home Edition show, where they built these massive ridiculous homes for impoverished families with all this glitz and glamor, only for the overriding majority of them to be foreclosed sometime later.

And then there's other specific grievances like raising puffers out of water (extremely bad idea because they can inhale air which can lead to a host of problems), and even the first episode involved a tank with a stripper pole shoved in the middle for underwater dancers. Because yeah the fish aren't stressed enough, let's have people gallivanting inside with them.

 

[Spyro]

Tanked in particular. No cycling, no regards for compatibility, just make a giant tank out of a random tacky object, fill it with water and salt then dump all the fish in at the same time. Can't imagine the die-offs afterwards... Honestly reminds me of the Extreme Makeover Home Edition show, where they built these massive ridiculous homes for impoverished families with all this glitz and glamor, only for the overriding majority of them to be foreclosed sometime later.

And then there's other specific grievances like raising puffers out of water (extremely bad idea because they can inhale air which can lead to a host of problems), and even the first episode involved a tank with a stripper pole shoved in the middle for underwater dancers. Because yeah the fish aren't stressed enough, let's have people gallivanting inside with them.

That's the best way to establish new tank. No cycling, no compatibility nonsense. Just dump bunch of fish in there and only the strong ones will survive.
Plus you get that new fish feeling all the time

I'm doing that right now

 

[malvo]

These might not be so unpopular...............

I am disgusted by those distorted maladapted looking Parrot Cichlids.

Also, not picking on cichlids, but I don't get why african cichlids are such a big deal.

 

[Snagrio]

These might not be so unpopular...............

I am disgusted by those distorted maladapted looking Parrot Cichlids.

Also, not picking on cichlids, but I don't get why african cichlids are such a big deal.

That's how I feel about a number of selectively bred/manipulated fish. Balloon mollies (these miserable things came about from a spinal defect for heaven's sake and people decided to keep making more of them because they look "cute"), long-finned varieties of species in general (especially sad to see in fast-swimming species like danios where they can only go half as fast as their normal-finned brethren, and of course, the countless goldfish genetic abominations.

I'm of the opinion that it's okay to breed for desirable traits differing from the norm, as long as it isn't at a direct cost to the organism's well-being, especially in a way where it affects subsequent generations and plagues entire breeding lines with repeated problems. That in itself is a whole ethical issue of discussion on its own, but sometimes it's pretty darn obvious when you get to a point where things should stop.

To make myself clear, I have a ball python who's a morph and I chose specifically for his looks, I fully admit to that. However, I also researched heavily on morphs regarding which ones have known genetic issues so I could avoid them accordingly. My snake looks different, but he lives life just as fulfilled and unhindered as any regular ball python does. That, in my eyes, is an acceptable compromise for both sides of the argument.

 

[Colin_T]

These might not be so unpopular...............

I am disgusted by those distorted maladapted looking Parrot Cichlids.

Also, not picking on cichlids, but I don't get why african cichlids are such a big deal.

LOL, you will get in trouble for saying that, I did . Their big fat weird deformed grotesque lumpy head, makes me wanna pop it like a giant pimple. Not to mention their screwed up deformed body.

African Rift Lake cichlids have some nice colours, especially blues. They remind people of marine fish and if the tank has lots of limestone rocks in, that helps with the illusion of a marine tank, but it's actually freshwater.

Even though I am not keen on the aggression shown by many Rift Lake cichlids, there are a few peaceful species that have better colour than marine fish. Fish like Cyathopharynx furcifer, Ophthalmotilapia Ventralis, various Aulonocara peacock cichlids and a few others are brilliantly coloured when mature. And they are quite peaceful.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

To make myself clear, I have a ball python who's a morph and I chose specifically for his looks, I fully admit to that. However, I also researched heavily on morphs regarding which ones have known genetic issues so I could avoid them accordingly. My snake looks different, but he lives life just as fulfilled and unhindered as any regular ball python does. That, in my eyes, is an acceptable compromise for both sides of the argument.

Is it a spider ball?

 

[Snagrio]

Is it a spider ball?

No, banana. Spider is one associated with genetically-linked neurological issues (called "wobbling"). And of course, the spider is one of the most popular and widespread of all ball python morphs...

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

No, banana. Spider is one associated with genetically-linked neurological issues (called "wobbling"). And of course, the spider is one of the most popular and widespread of all ball python morphs...

That's what made me ask whether it was a spider, since you said it was a special morph and the topic was ethical breeding. I figured you wouldn't get a spider since you have strong feelings about breeding disabled fish, but since you didn't mention the morph, I was curious

I don't keep snakes myself (yet, wouldn't mind a garter colony one day) but found myself going down a rabbit hole of watching snake hatching videos on youtube once, weirdly fascinated by it, found Snake Discovery and love them, and picked up a little here and there from people talking about the different morphs during egg cutting videos. Lots of it still lost on me, but picked up enough to learn about spider ball pythons, poor things.

 

[Snagrio]

That's what made me ask whether it was a spider, since you said it was a special morph and the topic was ethical breeding. I figured you wouldn't get a spider since you have strong feelings about breeding disabled fish, but since you didn't mention the morph, I was curious

I don't keep snakes myself (yet, wouldn't mind a garter colony one day) but found myself going down a rabbit hole of watching snake hatching videos on youtube once, weirdly fascinated by it, found Snake Discovery and love them, and picked up a little here and there from people talking about the different morphs during egg cutting videos. Lots of it still lost on me, but picked up enough to learn about spider ball pythons, poor things.

There is admittedly a tiny thing that's off about bananas, but it's more of a what you could call a "breeding quirk" than anything actually detrimental. The gene has this weird phenomenon where offspring that visually inherit the banana appearance will almost always be the same gender depending on the individual parent. For example you can have two different bananas for breeding, and one can be a "male maker" and the other a "female maker."

Don't think I'll ever breed mine though so it's a none-issue at any rate.

 

[LostBear]

That's how I feel about a number of selectively bred/manipulated fish. Balloon mollies (these miserable things came about from a spinal defect for heaven's sake and people decided to keep making more of them because they look "cute"), long-finned varieties of species in general (especially sad to see in fast-swimming species like danios where they can only go half as fast as their normal-finned brethren, and of course, the countless goldfish genetic abominations.

I'm of the opinion that it's okay to breed for desirable traits differing from the norm, as long as it isn't at a direct cost to the organism's well-being, especially in a way where it affects subsequent generations and plagues entire breeding lines with repeated problems. That in itself is a whole ethical issue of discussion on its own, but sometimes it's pretty darn obvious when you get to a point where things should stop.

To make myself clear, I have a ball python who's a morph and I chose specifically for his looks, I fully admit to that. However, I also researched heavily on morphs regarding which ones have known genetic issues so I could avoid them accordingly. My snake looks different, but he lives life just as fulfilled and unhindered as any regular ball python does. That, in my eyes, is an acceptable compromise for both sides of the argument.

I'm of the opinion that it's okay to breed for desirable traits differing from the norm, as long as it isn't at a direct cost to the organism's well-being, especially in a way where it affects subsequent generations and plagues entire breeding lines with repeated problems. That in itself is a whole ethical issue of discussion on its own, but sometimes it's pretty darn obvious when you get to a point where things should stop.

Well said - though I would go a bit further and say we shouldn't deliberately breed for any characteristics that don't actually benefit the creature involved. God knows what she's doing. Let her get on with it.

 

[Krib32]

I know how to get people going.

saltwater tanks are superior to freshwater.