Why Does Almost Everyone On Here Instead Of Saying How Many Gallons Th

[sinistral]

Personally, I hope we never change over here in the US. I'm 53 and too old to learn a new system. My brains full so I have to forget something everytime I learn something new. I'm afraid I'll forget something REALLY important just to learn how many decimeters are in a meter.

lol rdd!

Just one quote from the USMA:

If you're smart enough to hold down a job, you should have no problems. Even the illiterate curbside traders in India learned to use the metric units when their country converted, and they learned the everyday metric units in a matter of hours.

I'd suggest that if you're capable enough to learn expertise in tropical fishkeeping in a year, you'd have no problem with metric units! (no offense intended from the above quote!)

 

[rdd1952]

It seems as though they made a pretty good push back in the 80s to get people to switch over here in the US. I remember buying gasoline by the liter. I didn't know the conversion and always felt like I was paying about twice what I should be.

Having been in the construction material field, I do know that most (if not all) projects that have government funding in them now are based on the metric system rather than the old one (or at least they were in the late 90s may have changed again by now). A concrete block company I used to work for had to produce block that were 200x200x400 (mm) rather than 8x8x16 (inches) for a government job. It was quite an expensive deal to make such a minor adjustment to their machinery.

 

[AaronD]

US gallons, UK gallons, liters...


I don't see how this is an issue. If you've been in fishkeeping for any length of time, you can convert between these with a close enough degree of approximation without problem.

my thoughts exactly.
if someone does need to look something up, theyll soon learn it too.

shall we all get speech recog so we can type faster as well

 

[qwikimpss]

Hell, i'm 21 and feel too old to learn the metric system....well, i know it and how it works in factors fo ten but you tell me 4 kilos and i have NO IDEA how heavy that is!

 

[lljdma06]

Well, because TFF is based out of the UK, members from there will use the metric system. I don't mean to offend anyone, but rather than complain about it, take this as a unique opportunity to learn the metric system, especially if you're in school. You have converters in a pinned topic, why not use your hobby as an excuse to learn the new system. We'll have to probably learn it eventually, so why not just start with your hobby. Though I agree, the US will officially convert only after decades of kicking, screaming, and foot dragging, probably when I am long dead and buried. It's like learning a language. You start by learning the rules of grammar and the meanings of words, and at first you translate them in your head. So, at first, you'll learn the formulas of conversion and the units in the metric system and you'll whip our your trusty calculator to do conversions. Then you'll progress to being able to do conversions between the two systems in your head. Eventually, with time, you'll start to think in the new system. I'm not saying it's quick, but for goodness sake, if illiterate street vendors in India can learn the system without much effort, according to a post way back in this thread, we can learn this system, which is far superior to the US system. Sorry, but I really feel this way, and I'm as American as they come!

Though I haven't fully converted yet, it is so much easier to dose meds and ferts using metric units rather than gallons or the perrenial "cap full". This thread is making me want to fully convert, though.

A great way to start is with your thermometer, many come with degrees in both Farenheit (sp) and Celsius

Sorry, if I've offended anyone, but this is just how I feel about this subject.

 

[Paul_MTS]

To be different here, i think it would be good if people mainly posted the size of there tank in dimensions.

I could have a 50g tank which stand 3ft tall in which case would be completely unsuitable for alot of stocking levels. Although this is a extreme example it shows me point well.

Personally I work in UK gallons mainly and then convert to what ever i may be using after that.

lengthxwidthxheightx6.25= UK gallons (use feet 30"= 2.5)
UKgallons x 4.55= Litres
Ukgallons x 1.20095 = US gallons.

this is how work!

 

[Inchworm]

It seems as though they made a pretty good push back in the 80s to get people to switch over here in the US. I remember buying gasoline by the liter. I didn't know the conversion and always felt like I was paying about twice what I should be.

The US will never go metric. rdd1952 is right. Whenever any commercial product converts to a metric measure and drops the old way, it's to gyp us out of what we normally expect to get for a certain price.

Actually, the official way to measure tank size on this forum is, and always was, in US gallons!

 

[MAM]

There are tons of free-to-download unit conversion tools available on the web. We have one on our server here at work, since we work in metric for some projects and not for others (that's archaeology for you). Just download it to your desktop, then whenever you see a unit you don't normally use, punch it in, presto-chango, instant conversion without having to hurt your brain.

 

[Tolak]

I prefer tank dimensions over liters, gallons, or whatever. A 20 high is usually dealt with differently than a 20 long due to the difference in surface area.

Tolak

 

[Peter Lovett]

The one really good things about the metric system is that 1kg of water is one litre and 1g is 1ml. 10cm x 10cm x 10cm of water is 1kg or 1 litre.

So weight and volume of water is interchangeable.

But as i am in the building trade I still use feet and inches. It's just so much easyer to say an 8' x 4' instead of 2400 x 1200. or 2" x 2" instead of 50 x 50.

I have to agree with Tolak. The dimention of the tank is much more important than the volume

 

[debiasir]

doesnt bother me, US gallons, UK gallons or litres not hard to work out one to the other really and if you cant, see the great post re convertors

 

[pica_nuttalli]

i'd just like to point out that if "Almost Everyone On Here" uses the metric system, then it may be the obligation of the gallon-using minority to swap units.

 

[Griz]

I guess I'm fortunate living in Canada but close to the USA border. Both metric and imperial units are used around here for just about everything and we don't really think twice about it.

 

[Rock Dowg]

I for one would be happy to switch to the metric system. It is much easier. It is much easier to add and subtract in the metric system than it is in the old way ( inches, fractions, tsp, cup, qrts, etc.) Evan my 5 year old can count by tens.

rdd1952 If your worried about forgetting something you can forget the old way and learn the new way and have plenty of room left over...lol

 

[Lynden]

Im canadian and cofortable using both, though I usually use gallons for fish, I picked that up from my dad. I dont think its this big of deal personally.