Issues in the hobby

[Mr. Fishy Fish]

Hey all,

I've recently come back into the hobby, and I've been watching a lot of saltwater related videos that would make any informed person cringe. I'm not an expert by all means, but when I see a video of a bamboo shark in a 50-gallon aquarium, I can't help but think something is wrong. A lot of times videos such as these get much more likes than dislikes. People are supporting this ignorant behaviour without even knowing that there is something fundamentally wrong with putting a fish that requires at least 360 gallons in a 50-gallon aquarium. I do not blame the people supporting the YouTuber with their likes and subscriptions since most of them are not even in the hobby and are just watching videos. However, the YouTuber should know better about the quality of their videos. It takes a quick google search to know that a bamboo shark needs a "minimum" of 360-gallons, so either the content creator did not bother doing a simple google search or they did but simply did not heed the advice of experts. I'm not trying to start an argumentative thread. I just want to hear other people's opinions on this behavior. I want to know if you all think there should be some protocol to prevent these questionable practices in the hobby.


Sincerely,

Mr. Fishy Fish

 

[ichthyogeek]

Well....welcome to PetTube....where abuse of animals is incredibly common no matter what the animal is. I think there were a couple of good Vice or Buzzfeed articles about it, but the gist I've been getting is that combining work (Youtuber/Vlogger) with animals tends to result in an animal hoarder-esque channel, which in turn results in neglected animals because the youtuber in question has Too Many Animals.

There are good youtubers that I think are pretty ethical about this type of stuff (Foo the Flowerhorn, Mark's Aquatics, Mark's Shrimp Tanks, Rachel O'Leary, etc.), since they either have good control of what they do (Foo, Mark's Aquatics, Mark's Shrimp Tanks), or they're part of the industry and can afford to have a lot of different fish coming in and out (Aquarium Co-Op, Rachel O'Leary) for variety.

And then there are what I call the "sensationalist" youtubers. They're the people tossing cowfish into small tanks and feeding them nori, or making a "fish water slide", or keeping fish in too small tanks (like the shark you mentioned) or just doing stuff for the likes/comments.

I'll admit, I get a small amount of guilty pleasure from watching some of the more sensationalist pettubers. But at the same time, I can't agree with the ethics of a lot of the pettubers. I 100% agree that there should be a code of ethics implemented across social media platforms to prevent abuse of animals (especially fish). However, it's all related to The Algorithm. Many of the more ethical fishkeepers tend to have low view counts precisely because they don't do sensational stuff that gets attention. And the less ethical ones get more views because they do stuff that gets people's attention (and anger, which results in comments which in turn fuel the algorithm).

 

[ARAJEA]

So do I want to Google fish water slide? You have piqued my interest but if its something extremely foul they don't need my view.

 

[Mr. Fishy Fish]

So do I want to Google fish water slide? You have piqued my interest but if its something extremely foul they don't need my view.

Don't do it, I just did. I can't believe people do that. They even label the video as safe for the fish lol.

 

[ARAJEA]

Gotcha. Thank you for letting me know.

 

[Tuffyyyyy]

Well....welcome to PetTube....where abuse of animals is incredibly common no matter what the animal is. I think there were a couple of good Vice or Buzzfeed articles about it, but the gist I've been getting is that combining work (Youtuber/Vlogger) with animals tends to result in an animal hoarder-esque channel, which in turn results in neglected animals because the youtuber in question has Too Many Animals.

There are good youtubers that I think are pretty ethical about this type of stuff (Foo the Flowerhorn, Mark's Aquatics, Mark's Shrimp Tanks, Rachel O'Leary, etc.), since they either have good control of what they do (Foo, Mark's Aquatics, Mark's Shrimp Tanks), or they're part of the industry and can afford to have a lot of different fish coming in and out (Aquarium Co-Op, Rachel O'Leary) for variety.

And then there are what I call the "sensationalist" youtubers. They're the people tossing cowfish into small tanks and feeding them nori, or making a "fish water slide", or keeping fish in too small tanks (like the shark you mentioned) or just doing stuff for the likes/comments.

I'll admit, I get a small amount of guilty pleasure from watching some of the more sensationalist pettubers. But at the same time, I can't agree with the ethics of a lot of the pettubers. I 100% agree that there should be a code of ethics implemented across social media platforms to prevent abuse of animals (especially fish). However, it's all related to The Algorithm. Many of the more ethical fishkeepers tend to have low view counts precisely because they don't do sensational stuff that gets attention. And the less ethical ones get more views because they do stuff that gets people's attention (and anger, which results in comments which in turn fuel the algorithm).

This. I watched Paul Caffaro and King of DIY for a long time until it turned into them just getting a million new pets each week rather than showing the progression. I was really worried that Coralfish12g was headed down that path, but it seems like he’s held off on it (at least for now) with his Asian tour. I understand that it’s tough to have content every week if you just have a Reef tank, but I feel like the Inappropriate Reefer has done a good job with this. Take me on your journey, don’t buy a fish we all know you’re going to neglect.

 

[ichthyogeek]

This. I watched Paul Caffaro and King of DIY for a long time until it turned into them just getting a million new pets each week rather than showing the progression. I was really worried that Coralfish12g was headed down that path, but it seems like he’s held off on it (at least for now) with his Asian tour. I understand that it’s tough to have content every week if you just have a Reef tank, but I feel like the Inappropriate Reefer has done a good job with this. Take me on your journey, don’t buy a fish we all know you’re going to neglect.

But...there's literally so much content in the tank...and even if there isn't content in your life, you can still do a lot of stuff...

Maybe I should start a youtube channel....

 

[Mr. Fishy Fish]

Well....welcome to PetTube....where abuse of animals is incredibly common no matter what the animal is. I think there were a couple of good Vice or Buzzfeed articles about it, but the gist I've been getting is that combining work (Youtuber/Vlogger) with animals tends to result in an animal hoarder-esque channel, which in turn results in neglected animals because the youtuber in question has Too Many Animals.

There are good youtubers that I think are pretty ethical about this type of stuff (Foo the Flowerhorn, Mark's Aquatics, Mark's Shrimp Tanks, Rachel O'Leary, etc.), since they either have good control of what they do (Foo, Mark's Aquatics, Mark's Shrimp Tanks), or they're part of the industry and can afford to have a lot of different fish coming in and out (Aquarium Co-Op, Rachel O'Leary) for variety.

And then there are what I call the "sensationalist" youtubers. They're the people tossing cowfish into small tanks and feeding them nori, or making a "fish water slide", or keeping fish in too small tanks (like the shark you mentioned) or just doing stuff for the likes/comments.

I'll admit, I get a small amount of guilty pleasure from watching some of the more sensationalist pettubers. But at the same time, I can't agree with the ethics of a lot of the pettubers. I 100% agree that there should be a code of ethics implemented across social media platforms to prevent abuse of animals (especially fish). However, it's all related to The Algorithm. Many of the more ethical fishkeepers tend to have low view counts precisely because they don't do sensational stuff that gets attention. And the less ethical ones get more views because they do stuff that gets people's attention (and anger, which results in comments which in turn fuel the algorithm).

Interesting, I'm especially intrigued by the algorithm. I agree there are tons of YouTubers that are outstanding role models for future hobbyists. However, the issue is just like you said, people enjoy watching the unethical videos rather than those informative videos. It could be because of ignorance or how they perceive the value of a fish's life, or it's just not as fun watching weekly boring updates of a reef tank. There are so many factors involved here that are related to ignorance, so a simple code of ethics dedicated to fish across media platforms could easily fix this issue as you said. Once people are informed they may feel morally obligated to disdain unethical pettubers.

 

[ARAJEA]

Ive never been a "put me in the spotlight" person. To the point that I took my Public Speaking college course online and just had to send in a recording of a persuasive essay (I got a b- because I swore without realizing it). But I sure do love watching other peoples channels!

 

[IKD]

Don't do it, I just did. I can't believe people do that. They even label the video as safe for the fish lol.

I tried watching that video but that guy was so butt annoying I couldn’t watch it through.

 

[Mr. Fishy Fish]

I tried watching that video but that guy was so butt annoying I couldn’t watch it through.

I agree. In the video, they drop a goldfish on the ground and don't even bother picking it up. They even put them in a canal on the edge of the lake, so as soon as it rains those goldfish are going to flood into the river and become an invasive species.

 

[ARAJEA]

I agree. In the video, they drop a goldfish on the ground and don't even bother picking it up. They even put them in a canal on the edge of the lake, so as soon as it rains those goldfish are going to flood into the river and become an invasive species.

Well that should be reported or something. I would imagine that would be illegal. You are absolutely right a goldfish would become invasive. Those can live in a toilet bowl.

 

[Mr. Fishy Fish]

Well that should be reported or something. I would imagine that would be illegal. You are absolutely right a goldfish would become invasive. Those can live in a toilet bowl.

Well in his defense, he says "It's an isolated pond not the wild"

 

[Coralsdaily]

I think the ethical standard always tend to shift towards where the money is. To be fair, people from different countries have very different ideas of what a "large" aquarium is. In most Asian cities where spaces are tight, having a 100gallon tank is considered enormous. And that livestock is so cheap being so near the source I actually know people churn through their saltwater livestock like they are goldfish. What seem like nothing is definitely an act of waste here in North America. And in a culture where most of what we keep can be found in the fish market for food, ethics in keeping them is not a concern. Bamboo shark in a small tank is an extreme case. But you know who's the blame too? From the collectors all the way to distributors and retailers. Some creatures only belong in a public aquarium, if not the wild only. Yet the industry collect and sell them to novice aquarists because they are cool.

 

[ARAJEA]

Well in his defense, he says "It's an isolated pond not the wild"

I didnt watch it so I'm naive to the content.

 

[IKD]

I didnt watch it so I'm naive to the content.

You may be naive to the content but it’s really the content that’s naive LOL