Do TV series such as Tanked give acurate representation?

[Deleted member 149562]

I asked this question elsewhere and it got quite a reactive debate, so lets see how it goes down here.

Granted Tanked is more towards the saltwater aquariums but on occasions they do install freshwater too.

Do you think that Tanked and other similar programmes give the wrong impression to those people who are considering owning aquariums?

They make it look easy, they make it look quick, they never really seem to face any issues with their aquariums, no ill health or disease with the fish. They often have some very questionable stocking.....such as the episode with a dog kennel shaped aquarium that had Axolotle and other fish and bright lighting and gravel substrate...which is a disaster waiting to happen, but it makes good TV doesn't it?

Should programmes like these be more educational, do they have a duty to educate correctly?

I personally feel that it is programmes like these that can, in some cases, be partially blamed for the impatience of new fishkeepers to get the aquarium, get it set up and have fish in it all in a few days...cos they saw it happen on TV.

Thoughts.......?

 

[itiwhetu]

The only thing I want from "Tanked" is the follow up programs looking at the tanks 2 or 5 years on.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

I have only seen a couple of episodes and it wasn't for me. They very much give the appearance of "here is a marine aquarium we are building, that's done, now we are adding all the fish and that's all you have to do".

I'm sure they probably get paid to maintain them afterwards and there is probably a lot that goes on that is just cut from the show. Forged in fire is another show I like about knife making. They cut big sections of the process out of the show because its just not interesting, I assume its the same in shows like tanked.

I get it from an entertainment point of view but it does definitely make people think "hey that's easy and looks cool, lets get some fish". Also as above sometimes the stocking choices are pretty damn poor and some of the aquariums they build are going to be awful to maintain. I think the episode I saw they were building a marine tank into the outside wall of a shop in some weird shape. It just had so many issues that I couldn't see anyway that it would run successfully in the long term.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

There are many programmes similar to this, covering various hobbies and leisure pursuits; gardening, restoration, house design and even moving house. All have extensive teams, working hard behind the scenes, to make it all look good for the time on camera.
Sadly, many people view it all as Real and, when they cannot match the apparent standard, feel themselves to be failures.

The programme Tanked is, to my mind, a missed opportunity for education.

 

[itiwhetu]

We run a garden Maintenance business. The programs that do garden make overs horrify us.

 

[DoubleDutch]

The only thing I want from "Tanked" is the follow up programs looking at the tanks 2 or 5 years on.

or even a few weeks

 

[AbbeysDad]

Wayde and Brett try to hard to be cutups and the tanks are mostly glitzy theme tanks. It would be a much better show if they had more useful hobbyist information so as previously mentioned, I agree that it's a missed opportunity.
Then again I'll bet they're somewhat at the mercy of Producers that like some trumped up drama and fluff 'n stuff rather than meaty content. (just my $.02 worth).

 

[Myraan]

They are very proud of the weird fake coral that must cost a fortune in the time it takes to make.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Wayde and Brett try to hard to be cutups and the tanks are mostly glitzy theme tanks. It would be a much better show if they had more useful hobbyist information so as previously mentioned, I agree that it's a missed opportunity.
Then again I'll bet they're somewhat at the mercy of Producers that like some trumped up drama and fluff 'n stuff rather than meaty content. (just my $.02 worth).

Totally agree.
TV needs the income from advertising.
Advertisers will only pay the good money to access the masses.
The masses want blood, guts, things exploding and drama.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

They are very proud of the weird fake coral that must cost a fortune in the time it takes to make.

But they'll get their money's worth out of ever single piece, using it again and again.
They couldn't do that with real corals.

 

[jimwg]

It does amaze me how the just fill the tank with water then fish. How was the thing cycled?

 

[AbbeysDad]

It does amaze me how the just fill the tank with water then fish. How was the thing cycled?

They use live sand. Remember, the term 'cycle' merely means that there is sufficient beneficial bacteria to support the livestock. When they use live sand and/or live rock the tank is instantly cycled. They tend to rely on live sand instead of live rock because their tanks are typically themes and fabricated corals and decor.