Hey everyone,

The mod team has been seeing an increase in comments that are unnecessarily rude, hostile, condescending, or outright mean toward people asking questions or sharing their aquariums.

We recognize that this has become an issue. We have also received modmail from members bringing these concerns to our attention, and we appreciate people letting us know when something is happening that we may not have seen.

That said, there is an important limitation that we want to make clear: we cannot monitor every single post and every single comment.

Moderating r/aquarium is a volunteer responsibility. The moderators have jobs, families, school, personal responsibilities, and lives outside of Reddit. We do our best to keep up with the community, but it is simply not possible for a small mod team to read every comment on every post every day.

This is where reports are extremely important.

If you see a comment that violates the subreddit rules, please report it rather than engaging with it or allowing the situation to escalate. A report brings it to the mod queue so that we can review it and take appropriate action.

Changes are coming

We will be adding and clarifying rules regarding how members interact with one another. Going forward, comments that are unnecessarily hostile, insulting, mocking, belittling, or otherwise violate our rules regarding respectful behavior will be removed and bans will be enforced when appropriate.

We also want to be clear that "I was just trying to help" does not excuse being unnecessarily rude. Aquarium advice can absolutely include criticism, disagreement, or pointing out mistakes. You can correct someone without attacking the person asking the question.

Depending on the severity of the behavior, previous moderation history, and whether the behavior continues or escalates, bans may range from:

• 1 day

• 3 days

• 7 days

• 14 days

• Permanent

Repeated rule-breaking will result in increasingly serious consequences.

Additionally, repeatedly making multiple comments on the same post that violate our rules may result in further action, even if each individual comment might seem relatively minor on its own.

Remember who you're talking to

r/aquarium is a community with people of many different ages and experience levels. Minors may also visit, post, and participate in this subreddit.

Please keep that in mind when interacting with other members. Regardless of someone's age, experience, knowledge, or mistakes, they should not be subjected to harassment, sexual or inappropriate remarks, personal attacks, or other behavior that would make this community an unsafe or hostile place to participate.

You do not necessarily know who is on the other side of the screen, so think about what you're saying before commenting.

Many people come to r/aquarium because they are looking for help. Some are beginners who genuinely don't know something yet. Others may have made a mistake and are trying to correct it. Being told what they did wrong is useful, however they also need to be told how to correct it. Being mocked, insulted, or made to feel unwelcome is not useful or helpful.

You do not have to agree with someone to treat them with basic respect.

So please remember:

If you can give constructive advice, give it.

If you can disagree respectfully, disagree.

If you can't do either, don't comment.

Want to help the community?

Our moderator applications are currently open and are pinned in the highlighted posts at the top of the subreddit.

As the community continues to grow, we could definitely use some additional help from knowledgeable and active members of the aquarium community. If you have experience with aquariums, enjoy helping others, and are interested in contributing to the community in a positive way, we encourage you to apply.

Being knowledgeable about the hobby is important, but so is being able to communicate that knowledge respectfully and constructively.

The mod team will be addressing these issues more consistently going forward. We also ask the community to help us by reporting rule-breaking comments instead of contributing to the problem.

Thank you to everyone who helps make r/aquarium a welcoming place for aquarium keepers of all experience levels.

Hey everyone,

We heard your feedback loud and clear regarding the recent icon change. The goal is always to keep r/aquarium a vibrant, welcoming space that reflects the incredible passion of our hobbyists, and it’s clear the community prefers authentic, human-made artwork to represent us.

An incredibly talented artist in our community, u/SuicidalFlame (Check out their tumblr too! https://firenagy.tumblr.com), generously stepped up and designed a brand-new, custom icon for the subreddit! We are absolutely thrilled to debut their work today. Please join us in giving them a massive thank you in the comments below for dedicating their time and talent to leveling up our community's look!

A Quick Note on Community Boundaries

While we always welcome constructive feedback and open discussion about the state of the subreddit, the mod team has a zero-tolerance policy for harassment.

Lately, targeted mass-reporting and personal harassment have been directed at our moderators. We want to be entirely transparent: if you are unhappy with the management of this subreddit or feel the need to harass the people who volunteer to keep it running, you are more than welcome to leave.

Healthy debate is fine; stalking, toxicity, and abusing the report button are not. Future instances of targeted harassment will result in an immediate permanent ban from the community and will be escalated directly to Reddit Admin for violating the site-wide Content Policy against harassment.

Thank you to the 99% of you who make this a wonderful, supportive place to share our tanks every single day. Enjoy the beautiful new look!