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TV Show Tanked learns a hard lesson from hasty fish stocking!

lifebidesign

By lifebidesign,
in General Discussion

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notwithit

notwithit

Posted
Posted

I've really struggled with the show tanked.

 

On one hand its nice to see our hobby getting some publicity.

On the other hand..... They do stuff like this constantly.. SURE WE CAN DO A "Temporary stingray exhibit" for you... Yeah no problem lets put two sharks in your 200 gallon!

 

After watching them fill an aquarium with a Vegas casinos tap water and then throwing ice from the ice vending machines in the hotel in to cool it down I lost a LOT of respect for the show.

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StevieT

StevieT

Posted
Posted

Sometimes it is best to say "no" to a customer. Either TV fake or real the deadlines the customer puts on some of these aquariums is a setup for failure.

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notwithit

notwithit

Posted
Posted

Sometimes it is best to say "no" to a customer. Either TV fake or real the deadlines the customer puts on some of these aquariums is a setup for failure.

 

Or the constraints as to how long you have to work on it.

 

"You have 4 hours to pull out all of the existing structure, clean the whole tank, put your own structure in, fill it with RO/DI, and put fish in"

 

Seriously... Some of the fish they put in are so tough to keep and they just throw them into new never cycled aquariums....

 

Seeing them do the "reef tank" was probably one of the bigger atrocities.. "Yep, we build the tank, threw it all together, put cheap t5ho's, and put coral in the day after we filled it without cycling".

 

It is sorta acceptable if they use rock/sand/water thats already cycles but..... my gosh.

 

ohh, and HI STEVIET

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Adam_T

Adam_T

Posted
Posted

Eh....everyone messes up here and there. They have their own TV show and are presented with troublesome situations so they can "work their way out" of it for the sake of viewing pleasure. In regards to the shark issue....meh. Shit happens, right? I bet half of the people on these forums that "hate" the show TANKED, have had horrible problems with their current tanks....and I doubt any are close to being 5000 gallons.

 

The Tanked team is very experienced, knowledgeable and amazing innovators/builders. When they mess up every once in a while....who cares right? What is business without risk? We have seen them mess up or do some "odd" things on TV, but you gotta realize how many tanks a year these people actually build...without error.

 

 

Anyway....just my open minded 2 cents.

 

 

 

PS: If I was asked to put a temporary stingray tank together for a Miami Heat player and got paid over $20k to do it.....heck yeah I would do it, and so would a majority of you.

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1.0reef

1.0reef

Posted
Posted

Yeah they are REALLY experienced, ask them what Cirrhilabrus earlei is

No answer

I'm a ####ing 12 year old and it took me 3 years to know more than these idiots

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notwithit

notwithit

Posted
Posted

Eh....everyone messes up here and there. They have their own TV show and are presented with troublesome situations so they can "work their way out" of it for the sake of viewing pleasure. In regards to the shark issue....meh. Shit happens, right? I bet half of the people on these forums that "hate" the show TANKED, have had horrible problems with their current tanks....and I doubt any are close to being 5000 gallons.

 

The Tanked team is very experienced, knowledgeable and amazing innovators/builders. When they mess up every once in a while....who cares right? What is business without risk? We have seen them mess up or do some "odd" things on TV, but you gotta realize how many tanks a year these people actually build...without error.

 

 

Anyway....just my open minded 2 cents.

 

 

 

PS: If I was asked to put a temporary stingray tank together for a Miami Heat player and got paid over $20k to do it.....heck yeah I would do it, and so would a majority of you.

 

The problem isn't as much that they set up something like a temp stingray tank as much as it is that they give no explanation that "hey guys this isn't regular fishkeeping and is super hard on the animals".

 

If you would like I can go through every episode and discuss the frustrations of each tank.. Not to mention that they are almost always setting up FOWLR's.. Which I suppose is necessary since the business doesn't want the extra cost/work but that really.... irks me i guess.....

 

The attention is incredible... But lets hear some great ideas on how fish tanks should be set up and how they get set up.

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venturalvn

venturalvn

Posted
Posted

Looks like you guys have the reef game all wrapped up huh? Can't wait to see all the new reef building companies that will popping up soon!

 

It seems you guys are forgetting a major piece of the puzzle here: TV shows are edited. Sure they use supplements and unnatural ways to cycle tanks, but they don't just add tap water and throw in fish. Just as they don't fly to the locations, do the consults, design and mock the setups, build and treat the acrylic, and transport and assemble the tank within the hour that the show is on, they don't just toss in fish within minutes of putting water in the tank.

 

Yes they face time crunches, but this is far more on the business side than the TV show side. The process of doing their projects from start to finish is months long. If they had to set up these tanks and then tell the customers to wait another three months while the tank cycled, and then wait another year until the tank is established before adding the advanced species, the customer would laugh and go find someone else who would do it in his time frame.

 

This is a business, and they are very good at what they do. If they didn't know what they were doing, they wouldn't be as successful as they are. If they were bad at choosing and placing fish in tanks and their products and environments died on a regular basis, they would've been out of the game a long time ago.

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Seiryoku

Seiryoku

Posted
Posted

Yeah they are REALLY experienced, ask them what Cirrhilabrus earlei is

No answer

I'm a ####ing 12 year old and it took me 3 years to know more than these idiots

 

Don't cuss bro, you're only 12.

 

No talk about their skateboard ramp tank?!

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notwithit

notwithit

Posted
Posted

Looks like you guys have the reef game all wrapped up huh? Can't wait to see all the new reef building companies that will popping up soon!

 

It seems you guys are forgetting a major piece of the puzzle here: TV shows are edited. Sure they use supplements and unnatural ways to cycle tanks, but they don't just add tap water and throw in fish. Just as they don't fly to the locations, do the consults, design and mock the setups, build and treat the acrylic, and transport and assemble the tank within the hour that the show is on, they don't just toss in fish within minutes of putting water in the tank.

.

You are absolutely correct that these are editted to remove the boring business aspect of planning.. Truly this isn't about anyone knowing more than another about reef/fishkeeping but rather a discussion of proper husbandry techniques. We've all had fish die... We all learn the lesson about proper husbandry... These guys, though, push this line so much that this was bound to happen.

 

Heres an example of a concern.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZuy2YZfks8

 

skip to 36:00 in, watch until around 38:00.

 

That is tap water. That is also ice from nasty ice vending machines.

 

No talk about their skateboard ramp tank?!

It's an incredible idea... Those poor fish though... It's like finding nemo but daily.. :(

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StevieT

StevieT

Posted
Posted

 

skip to 36:00 in, watch until around 38:00.

 

That is tap water. That is also ice from nasty ice vending machines.

 

 

It's an incredible idea... Those poor fish though... It's like finding nemo but daily.. :(

I talked to Bret about this. Problem was esp In season 1 the production crew and editing added this in. It's for TV and was not the reality of filling the tank. They edit the show for ratings and entertainment, not for fish dorks.

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Gooburz

Gooburz

Posted
Posted

Like their show says they make aquariums and they should just sick with that. They should NEVER stock tanks with ANYTHING, not even sand. Like many have said they use tap water in the majority of their tanks with a dirty hose that has been used for god knows what, they do not premix, dump a ton of chemicals in, then throw fish in that are already stressed out. They make the UGLIEST inserts i've ever seen. OH and almost forgot on how much they overstock tanks! Just look at the Cichlid fridge tank with tripple or more the amount of fish it should have had.

 

And yes they are successful because they cater to RICH DUMMIES who just throw money and are used to getting what they want when they want it. All they are are "yes men", if you look at any semi knowledgeable person they would never let them near their tank or set-up.

 

Lets not forget the freaken skate ramp tank in a skate shop, Thats real good for a fish stress level to have something like that haul ass at the tank and then bang and make all that noise.

 

100% a horrible company that is run by morons - FACT

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notwithit

notwithit

Posted
Posted

I talked to Bret about this. Problem was esp In season 1 the production crew and editing added this in. It's for TV and was not the reality of filling the tank. They edit the show for ratings and entertainment, not for fish dorks.

 

 

Season 1 absolutely had a lot of faux pas.. I had to stop watching cause it got me pretty upset to see how they messed with the fish.

 

You are right though, editting the show so it looks more like an overnight thing is necessary. It would be so nice if they would say, "This show is editted for time, to understand more about the realities of keeping salt fish go here"

 

or something like that.. All in all we can choose to watch it or not.. :-D

 

Fishtank Kings, which I believe is on National Geographic, goes a little more into the realities but possibly a little too far... The guy who is the "nerd scientist fish guy" is fairly overbearing.

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notwithit

notwithit

Posted
Posted

All in all... this thread is a lot like if i watch a veterinary show with my wife.... Or a nurse watching something like house.. or doctor watching house..

 

"WHY ARE YOU DOING THAT!!! THATS NOT EVEN THE RIGHT TEST NAME" kinda thing...

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Adam_T

Adam_T

Posted
Posted

I talked to Bret about this. Problem was esp In season 1 the production crew and editing added this in. It's for TV and was not the reality of filling the tank. They edit the show for ratings and entertainment, not for fish dorks.

 

 

My entire point. This is TV....

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seabass

seabass

Posted
Posted

Sometimes they make some nice tanks, so I will continue to watch them. I wish they would talk more about the equipment and plumbing. There are some shows like American Chopper, Overhauling, and so forth that show technical things which everybody wouldn't necessarily understand (but it's still interesting to watch). But, I'm sure the producers steer the content (and maybe ATM doesn't want to divulge company secrets, IDK).

 

Anyway, they spend too much time on pranks that aren't funny. Plus, I don't really like themed tanks (as they often look tacky). And sometimes the tank proportions seem way off (like the straw in the smoothie tank). The props/inserts can also be unrealistic in appearance, and maintenance would be a nightmare for some of these tanks.

 

The stocking is often ridiculous (time frame, species, and load). However, it's not an instructional show (although on rare occasions, you can learn something from it). Not many people will be rushing out to buy a 1000 gallon aquarium from them, so the show is mostly for entertainment purposes. If I had the money, I might even consider getting one of their tanks. However, I would aquascape it, and stock it myself.

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goby2009

goby2009

Posted
Posted

Making the defense that we should simply assume they are professionals because they are on TV, means that we should be taking life lessons from other "reality" shows that gain popularity, you know, the ones with obese child pageant girls, fake repo shows, etc. It's a TV show. People can be naive and believe it's real, but the only 'reality' is things are created, directed, and edited to stir up 'drama and ratings'.

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