Practical Fish Keeping Forum

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CFC

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I thought i would bring it to peoples attention how the UK's largest fish keeping publication operates on their forum.

During our recent down time i joined their forum to kill some time, there were a few threads that caught my interest and i felt i was able to pass on some of my own experience.

I came across a thread where a member had just purchased 3 large growing catfish named as perruno catfish, a species that reaches nearly 3 feet in length, and had a stock list in his signature containing other large fish including Redtailed Catfish, Tiger Shovelnose and a hybrid of the two as well as numerous other tank busters, his signature also said that his largest tank is a 6x2x2 (180 gallon) which clearly wasn't big enough for any of the fish listed. The poster is a 15 year old boy so I posted to ask what he intended to do with the fish when they were full grown and was promptly messaged by a moderator warning me to leave the subject alone as the owner of the fish has autism and finds his fish collection calming.

Today the same person posted a video in which i spotted a species of barb that is on the red list as an endangered species and illegal to own in this country. I asked him if he knew what the fish was and from the shady answers given guessed that he and others were aware so i just suggested that maybe he should be careful about letting it be seen in online videos and pictures as the punishment for owning them is a £5000 fine or 5 years in prison.
Again i was warned by the moderators to not draw attention to the illegal fish. I have since been told that the owner has permission to own the fish, but if so why all the secrecy?

I have now found that i have been put on their "miserable users" list which is effectively a ban which makes accessing the site almost impossible by blocking access to the forum or redirecting me to other pages, quite childish really.

Its quite clear that the admin and moderators of the forum do not want experienced and knowledgable members at the forum or people who are willing to ask any thought provoking questions, i just feel sorry for all the members who messaged me to thank me for bringing the matters up and urged me to keep posting at the forum.
 
I hate forums like this, there not worth the effort when you can't speak your mind and are right and then get banned.
It's a shame the mag dosn't take a good look at there forum and sort it out.
 
wow, I would have thought that being such a big magazine they would be more tolerant of constructive criticism.
They would hate it if bignose and I got on there and started argueing over things :) no offense bignose, I'm not having a go at you.
Some sites I use I get into big debates and anything goes as long as it doesn't involve abusing someone. Most sites actually appreciate the commoents because it spices things up and helps create feedback. Which in turn creates numbers and numbers are what drive forums.
There loss I guess.

Next time don't stray from the pack :)
 
You cant-they're fighting a phoney war in iraq/afganistan/sierra leone etc etc!!!!!
 
The site only has over 7,000 members.
 
Who gives a rip roaring rats ass if the kid's autistic or not.

a.) If he doesn't have the means, nor knowledge to care for his animals properly...I don't care how "soothing" it is for him - It's ignorant to treat certain members special because of disabilities ect.

b.) The real kicker...He has an illegal animal.

Illegal...meaning...It's...Illegal.... I don't care if he's the damn pope or dalai lama, he shouldn't have it. And I seriously doubt he 'has permission' to keep it. The government won't [shouldn't] bend rules just for the sake of one person. The fact that he's blatantly showing it off is even worse. The members of that forum need to climb a tree and get their heads out of their rumps.

The fact that they banned you because you were trying to HELP the guy is BS. To hell with them I say.
 
There are a lot of people for whom facts do not fit into their own personal world view.

Here in the US, Stephen Colbert has made his entire career mimicking people like that. He coined the word truthiness: "We're not talking about truth, we're talking about something that seems like truth—the truth we want to exist," he explained. His T-shirts have the definition: "that which one holds to be true regardless of what is supported by facts".

And, often, when people's own personal truth is questioned, they don't reflect on why they hold that particular truth -- they just lash out and do things like ban people on their forums because they just don't want to hear it. Oh well... I've personally found that rarely will you get through to those people. Something large and dramatic will have to happen to change their view. Talking about it is rarely enough.

p.s. thanks for the compliment, Colin
 
I've just had an "argument" on another forum. Someone is keeping a RTCxTSN in a 100gal. I mentioned that the adult size of this fish will probably be around 5ft, and told him it was cruel to keep the fish in anything under 10'x6'x6', and the tank should be around 15'x8'x6' for niceities.

All my posts were deleted and I was told not to "stir sheet".

Stupid. :crazy:

Edit: he also has a giraffe catfish, motoro ray, giant gourami and a shoal of 10 cories...
 
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