[cwlodarczyk]

My mom when looking at a 10g tank of 35 identical 3 day old cichlid fry:

"So......did you name them all yet"

Reply:
"Well, yes I did! I call them 1, 2, 3, 4......"

 

[mousky]

From my husband:

"Why do you throw away those plant clippings, its such a waste"

(referring to the bag of old crypt, aponogeton, ech. and algae encrusted anubias leaves)

"Do you really need to buy that plant"

(referring to the unbelievably rare crypt. cordata Gritffith 'Pink-veined' I found for $50 in lfs!!!)
BTW I have my own business propagating aquatic plants, specialising in rare plants!

They just dont understand

 

[RoseHawke]

My mom when looking at a 10g tank of 35 identical 3 day old cichlid fry:

"So......did you name them all yet"

Tell her "Yes. They are all named Fred." [smilie=u:

 

[Moo]

"my fish looks sick, I tried feeding him more, but I don't know whats wrong. He looks really really fat and keeps going to the top for air."

AHH!
oh man. We have a name for most of the people around here who go to our local jacks and ask totally duh-duh-duh (carlos mencia) questions. Or people in general who detract from the overall quality of the town and everyday life.
They're called "Springfield White Trash."
I know It's mean, but wow...

 

[Ajax]

The craziest I ever heard was a guy claiming that my twice weekly water changes were going to kill my discus. Reason: fish need ammonia to absorb oxygen through their gills. Must have fell asleep in biology class that day.

I've heard most of them at least once:
"where are all the fish?"
"what are their names?" (schools of tetras)
"you spent how much on that?"

Most recently at a LFS that carries Seachem products, and sells plants
Me: Do you carry the Seachem Phosphorus & Nitrogen?
LFS: We have this product here (nitrasorb)
Me: No, I want to add nitrogen & phosphorus to my tank, not remove it.
LFS: Do you have fish in there?
Me: Yes
LFS: Adding that will kill all the fish.
Me: It's a planted tank, and the plants require fertilizer just like garden plants.
LFS: Oh, then all you need is this (Flourish)
Me: Well that doesn't contain enough macros for me to get my levels up where I need them. It's a high light tank, and requires more than just a little fertilizer.
LFS: What's macros?
Me: Like nitrogen, phosphorus & potassium. Can you just see how long it will take to get some in?
LFS: Oh, we can't sell you that in good conscience knowing that it will kill your fish.
Me: About face....15 paces out the door. :lol:

 

[RoseHawke]

Ajax, what you do is you start quoting all the specs of your tank, you know the mantra "High light 200+ watts compact fluorescent lighting with pressurized CO2 injected CO2 for a level of 30 ppm with eco-complete substrate. . . " etc., etc., etc . When their eyes start to glaze over they'll do anything you say .

 

[Ajax]

LOL...they asked me to bring in a picture of my tank when I was in there before. I will definitely bring it in now, and show them how I have my dead fish strung up by wires to make them look like they're swimming in & out of beautiful plants. :lol:

 

[Telperion]

I just started this hobby and already I have heard a lot of the stuff I just read through - I was CTFU! Here are some I have also heard:

"What do you mean you're not going out tonight because you are saving up for a friggin plant?"

'Why don't you buy piranha?" (cuz that would be sooo much fun while I'm rearranging a plant...)

"Your plants are gonna strangle your fish"

"Why don't you do saltwater?"

My favorite was trying to see if an LFS happened to have lights I could use for my new 55 gallon and being told that aquarium lights are not made at the wattage I requested. The blank stares that I received when I said I was creating a planted tank not a fish tank was priceless. One guy was like "you mean you are going to put a plant in with your fish?" And I said, "no, I mean I may put some fish in with my plants." They must have exchanged "she is just crazy" looks as I about-faced and walked out the store laughing hysterically.

 

[SkinniMini]

Sorry if someone has talked about this already(lots of pages)but lately I have been noticing..
"The Blank Look"
You know, when you go into a hardware store looking for that certain kind of fitting for a DIY co2 generator & they give you the look & ask "Have you looked in the petstore?" They can't even comprehend what I tell them after that, why I can't get this in a petstore.
The guys at the hobby store-the guys that like to fly those little RC planes everywhere(lol)just staring as I was awkwardly trying to explain that I can't find this stuff at a petstore, it's for .....and it's meant to do....for plants because....yes, live plants.

 

[corvus]

A conversation that took place 4-5 years ago:

My wife: "You spend so much time and money messing around with those tanks & pond..."

Me: "Well, would you rather I go out to the bar 5 nights a week like both your brothers-in-law, spend even more money there, and come home drunk all the time?"
Her (after thinking for a minute): "I love you honey, you do have a good hobby!"

She has hardly complained at all since!

One where I lost:
I went to the LFS with my nephew, he was 5 at the time. For 2 years after, I had the bubbling pirate skeleton in one of my tanks!

 

[Petfairy]

Ok this is great.
What I hate is when I talk to my husband, and he stops me in the middle of my explaination about the fish and plants I will be using to set up my new planted tank,.... explaining the process and how long it will take to get the plants, then wanting a week to position and then another week after its placed before i get fish in it. ..... "so... its going to look good right... i mean.. its not going to be boring is it... are you going to have a color besides green? Will it make noise, you know i dont like the noise right? Is it going to make a mess all over the place? your going to keep it clean right?"

He seems so concerned.. and then when I get really excited because of a fish that i found... he says
Ok, thats enough... its a disposable pet.. who cares about a stupid fish."

Thats what i get.

then.. i go to the pet store the other day and i found a sticker that said "Bolivian Rams"... but when i look into the tank... they are the German Rams. So I told the lady there.. and she said.. oh.. i dont know. I was asking about plants and i get.... we dont carry those plants. we just get these that are here... I looked... and they are all half dead. Then i saw these ADF floating because their bellies were so huge!! Its sick.

I also keep two yellow bellied slider turtles. and once i went to the store looking for a larger tank for them. and the lady there told me
"Why dont you put them in a 40 gallon breeder? and smiled"
OMG!!! these will be 5-8 inches long for males, and 8-10 inches long possibly 12 for females. come on... they need either a 55 long for one male or a 125 gallon for both of them AT LEAST!!! when full grown. That made me mad.

I think the worst is when i bought the turtles two years ago. they were so cute and only the size of a quarter. No one ever told me...

Another thing i hate is that I have a common pleco in my 30 long right now... and he is outgrowing it. No one ever told me when i bought him, that he would get to be over a foot long. so now im trying to find someone to take him, he is a spoiled pleco... so he has some requirements ... but my husband asked me.. "why do you want to get rid of him so bad?"
ME- i dont, but he will not be happy in my tank.
Hubby- but they grow to the size of the tank... and i had one in the same tank before we met that was 18 inches long.. and he was happy..
ME- ok, no he wasnt.. and im not putting my fish through that
hubby- honey... its just a fish...
ME- whatever

then on another occation... he added chlorinated water to my tank. and then wondered why i was mad a bout it.

I'm sorry... ill stop now

Nice to meet you all again,
Janell

 

[Morbida]

I hate the comments about eating the various animals when clearly they are a pet. Do I go around threatening to eat your dog or cat? I also dont like the whole, plants are hard. No, only if you want the big fancy tanks and the harder to grow varieties or the rare plants. Then of course there is the whole , you are gunna kill your fish. Funny I have had this fish for years , what happened to the one you bought last month?

 

[Telperion]

Yeah I have a friend who always mentions eating my comets. she doesn't get why that irritates me to no end. maybe if i start talking about eating her cat....:frusty: :icon_oak:

 

[BryceM]

Yeah I have a friend who always mentions eating my comets. she doesn't get why that irritates me to no end. maybe if i start talking about eating her cat....:frusty: :icon_oak:

Try this, it's of my favorites......

"I love cats, but I can never eat a whole one."

 

[RoseHawke]

Hmmm. Strange, it doesn't bother me. Perhaps because I've threatened them myself. Said of a particularly aggressive individual; "If you don't straighten up, you're gonna be sushi!"

 

[Zapins]

I get that about shrimps a lot. Always the same thing...

"Are those shrimp for eating??"

Yea of course they are, because I specifically went through all the trouble and expense of setting up a 10g with plants, and expensive lighting/substrates to raise 17 cherry shrimps - specifically - so I could eat them when they "grow bigger."

As a side note I do actually tell my sister and her cats that I will eat them. Sooo I guess its all fair in the end

 

[bathysphere]

fun article

Caridina species are all edible, and especially C. japonica is exported.