What's Your Biggest Reefing Pet Peeve?

That is a pretty good one... ;D

 

Stores that sell maragarita snails in their tropical section even though 99% of them are collected from COLD water. That's not so much the irritant as them still carrying them and selling as tropicals after they've been "informed".

 

....or Ebay people selling mud whelks and advertising them as Nassarius (and then people wonder why their clams and other snails die).

 

People who ask for advice, then think that they're the exception to the rule and don't need to follow said advice.

 

I don't mind people breaking rules. I do it all the time. However, one should consider that the advice given is the result of a whole lot of people's experiences and maybe one should follow that advice. When I deviate from conventional wisdom, I have a hypothesis and I'm testing it. I'm usually doing it in a controlled fashion as well.

 

I don't mind people breaking rules either when they're trying something out, after they have a bit of experience under their belt and understand in depth the basic concepts of reef keeping. Flat out, that's how the hobby advances.

I'm talking about people who go "I'm brand new to the hobby, I have my tank setup for a month, I just bought an anemone/mandarin/seahorse. Is my stock T12NO single bulb lighting ok? What should my salinity be at? Why won't it eat pellets???". Then you tell them the best option is to return it or give it away since they don't have the basics down to even try X or Y "tougher" species, and they think they'll end up doing ok with it.

There's a reason why you start with convention, then move to the less conventional. It's because convention is the starting point, and without understanding the conventional, you're not going to have a place to start experimenting from, or an idea of what to even try.

 

I agree FULLY!!!

I understand scientific process. When I do things, I'm using those methods. I've also been doing this hobby longer than some people on this board have been alive. If you've only been in this hobby for 4 or 5 years, it's best to stick with tried and proven methods. If you've been in the hobby for a month and you want to challenge tried and proven methods, we have a "For Sale" forum to get rid of your equipment for when you fail. (Be forewarned....you're going to get pennies on the dollar for used equipment).

 

I don't mind testing my water so much, but I hated testing other people's water when I worked at an lfs.

 

I really don't like how a large number of people jump at others when they feel someone's tank is overstocked. There are so many rules of thumb when it comes to stocking and filtration that it is hard to say if a tank is overstocked or not. Yes, a full grown tang in a 20 gallon tank is to much. There isn't enough space for it to move. However, someone having 8 fish in a 20G with a large amount of filtration and careful planning of rockwork and species selection can have a great 20G tank where there is almost no fighting and all fish have territory.

Another pet peeve is people complaining about a baby tang in a 75 or 55. Depending on the species, it will grow to large for the tank, but the argument of tangs swimming miles in the ocean is an awful arguement from my point of view. What is the difference between a 1" tang in a 75G tank and a 10" tang in a 300? If anything, depending on tank shape, the 1" tang will be able to swim longer before having to change direction in the 75G than the 10" tang in the 300.

I read on a British forum an excellent rule of thumb, if the tank is 8times as long as the fish's max size and 3times as wide as the max size, the tank is fine. To me, a minimum gallon size is as useless as the watts per gallon rule of thumb. Dimensions of the tank are more important.

Anyway, that is one of my huge pet peeves on here.

 

I have to disagree with "trying things out". If people ask for advice and it is something that is known not to work, and they do it anyways, that is annoying. Not many hobbyists (including myself) are going to be breaking new ground in the aquarium industry. There are of course exceptions, but "trying" an anemone in a 2 week old tank simply will not work out, and going against conventional knowledge is simply disrespect for the animal.