There seems to be a plague in our hobby. It isn’t marine ich, or any of the parasites that continue to dominate some aquariums. It isn’t the National Marine Fisheries Service, who may pass legislation the golden torch coral swaying gently behind me illegal to keep in captivity. It isn’t even shipping out freshly caught fish to aquarists without conditioning or shabby local fish stores and giant retail chains. While all of these present challenges to aquarists and deter new people from entering the hobby, there is something far more sinister that is discouraging, disheartening and upsetting enough to break the back of reefers with the best intentions. When I entered the hobby over fifteen years ago, I didn’t notice the degree the marine aquarium hobby was infected. I don’t even know what you call it, mass ego disorder, poor manners, lack of edict or plain old poor sportsmanship. Whatever you want to call it, there is nothing that can shrink our hobbies’ numbers quicker and it’s barely ever talked about by aquarium writers. Over the years many aquarists have told me that they were treated with such disdain on aquarium forums that they could no longer use them. In some instances it was a fellow forum user, slamming an aquarist for asking what was termed a “stupid question” or calling them out for not executing the perfect aquarium plan. Sometimes it was a moderator, laughing away with snide comments as an aquarist was struck with a barrage of tragic circumstances within their tank. Even forums that prided themselves on a family-friendly atmosphere were leaving new and novice aquarists with a feeling of unworthiness among other reefers. Advising aquarists over the years, I’ve occasionally been a shoulder to cry on, a guy to call when the search for information had left you with an unexpected ear-full, often culminating in a vicious personal attack. I’ve never turned down helping a fellow aquarist, even in instances when they had lied about tank conditions so that I would get a rare or difficult to keep species in and condition it for them. Somehow as the reef aquarium hobby grew, it forgot exactly what it was. We aren’t curing infectious disease or saving human lives, we aren’t creating a system of government that transcends what’s already been done – we’re a group of hobbyists, and hobbies are supposed to be fun. For me the breaking point came a few days ago as I was chatting with a friend of mine.… More:
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