How is this behavior not only allowed, but apparently encouraged (look at the upvotes/downvotes)?
I came across a post this evening in which a parent was asking whether their tank's flow was excessive for a betta. We can see from just the initial post (2nd picture) that they clearly have done their research (adequate-sized tank, awareness of water parameters, knows excessive flow & lighting can be bad for bettas).
From the 3rd picture, we can see OP listens, is eager to learn, and takes well to advice.
An hour later (1st picture), keyboard warriors arrive and start shaming OP for having rainbow gravel, implying they don't care about the fish's life even though OP's conduct (coming for help, clearly have done research beforehand, takes well to advice) suggests the opposite.
The worst part is apparently most people agree judging by the upvotes/downvotes. The comment shaming OP became the top comment. The comments actually offering advice are buried under it, despite being posted earlier.
No wonder this sub is a running joke in the community.
https://www.reddit.com/gallery/1q0tjux
Posted by MaterialAd990
9 Comments
Not condoning hating, because a lot of people are aggressive about this stuff, but it does get exhausting responding to the same 5 issues that people have with bettas that are easily answered with 10 minutes of google research.
If someone went and bought a puppy with 0 prep or research, they’d get flamed. Unfortunately, bad husbandry seems to be more common in exotic pet communities.
We should be constructive and helpful. But I also understand it gets old.
I am sure that these kinds of comments started as well-meaning, attempting to swing the norm of into better care for bettas. But there is a lot of it that is just arrogance. I get concerned that the folks who are belittled after posting on this sub have such a negative experience that they withdraw from enjoying/caring for their bettas as much. Which means the fish get WORSE care. Harsh criticism often backfires in the worst way. One example from my line of work as a primary care doc – yelling at people / trying to shame people into being healthier almost NEVER actually helps them be healthier, but rather turns them off to caring about health altogether. It’s not that hard to understand. But it seems like a lot of folks commenting on here don’t think beyond their initial reaction to realize that what they are doing is actually pretty harmful.
It seems like OP doesn’t take responsibility for their mistakes as a beginner, responding to some criticism by deflecting onto their child or the pet store. They could have done a better job researching proper care of bettas.
The excuse of ignorance only stretches so far, OP. Especially in the age of information where most of us have small computers in our pockets capable of providing detailed instructions on virtually every task one might want to be involved in.
This is the most self righteous sub on the entire fucking site. It’s wild.
This sub is really bad for it. This example is espeecially since like. Coloured decorations are not bad for fish???
And people saying they need to do more research… Nevermind that research in and of itself is a skill, the amount of conflicting or just outright false information on the web right now makes even skilled researches pause, much less amateurs. Its a rough scene out there.
What’s sad is that a lot of the claims of this fake unnatural looking stuff in tanks being bad for fish are baseless. People on this sub HATE unnatural looking tanks and want other peoples tank to look like theirs. It’s really messed up. There’s no real proof of colored decor “leaching” chemicals into the water. It’s so dumb. This sub is over aggressive and they always have to mention tank decor when it has nothing to do with the original point of the post.
I mean I shared the words of a literal scientist and one or 2 people got so pressed about it my post got removed for misinformation lol. 🤷🏻♀️ I started my own sub for all things fish, pets, and plants Im just waiting to unleash. This elitist shit happens on a lot of subs. Its sad.
Or maybe, just maybe they are like people like me who just got a fish for our kid and now all this