Eh

I think it's official, I'm done with forums. A while back I had the misfortune to sign up in a fish forum only to find myself reprimanded for my techniques even after my own research reaffirmed me that I had done nothing wrong. I had enough with the self-righteous, pompous baboons that lurk here and there ready to criticize anything that doesn't float their boat. Just because they have been in the hobby for some decades somehow gives them the right to push people around as if they were just not worth their time.

I start a new thread ask for advice or suggestions and I only get a few replies with hundreds of others who do nothing else but skip it altogether. Of course, I appreciate the effort of those who reply, but I don't think I'm alone in that it's usually best when you get more than one viewpoint. I find it incredible that not that many know how to answer my questions. Are my questions so complicated that they surpass the knowledge of even the most experienced fishkeeper? To me that is impossible to even imagine. It's frustrating in that when novices post something everyone is right behind them answering their every question, when one could simply do the research on their own and find the same information given as advice by others. Especially when one could simply look up older posts where the questions are exactly the same! I could understand it if they didn't have the resources, but in the computer age individual research has been simplified significantly. Look at the internet, it's condensed with articles and easy-to-follow instructions, even whole books can be read on the subject. My case, I only reserve posting for when I have a question for whose answer I can find nowhere, for when my efforts have been so futile that I have to look in every single page that mentions something similar. I read so much and try to get my fill on everything I can find and then deduce on what I should do next, in a rare case will I come across something that stumps me and it's at this point that I start posting. Is it the knowledge that I just gained that is working against me, in other words, is there something I know that others don't? Perfect example, someone posted a picture of a very fat sunset platy everyone else had said that it was a "balloon molly"...I however said that it was a "sunset platy"..."balloon molly" was beyond me, the fish clearly had clear (see-through) caudal and dorsal fins and was somewhat transparent altogether whereas mollies are usually solid in color. And of course it was orange and red in color, a color morph that is otherwise rare or entirely absent in mollies. The original poster posted a new, sharper picture, and you can guess who was right all along. Another memorable post was about low tech, non-filtered, planted tanks. One guy kept insisting that "manufactured" filters were essential, mainly because of the biological processes and chemical filtration needed for a balanced tank life. I explained to him that a well balanced, fully planted tank could take care of that all by itself without any need for a box of plastic, he would have none of that and even went so far as to say that "filterless, low-tech tanks ought to be an abomination." At that point I so desperately wished Diana Walstad was there to back me up. And of course lest we not forget the advice given by others. Someone said that cardinal tetras were an artificially-bred variety of the neon tetra. I couldn't help it, I had to laugh. Not all posts have ended in a bad way. Many of them were quite pleasant and highly informative, but I just can't deal with it anymore. Fishkeeping is already frustrating as it is, no need to add more trouble to my plate. I'm thankful for those who helped me. There is one exception to this rule however. None of this matters since I doubt anyone will care to read it.