People need to calm down...

[jdragunas]

i agree that people should be civilized about it, but you have to understand that this is a hobby, and therefore there are many opinions about everything, and no one is always right. Having said that, there's always going to be conflict about everything. Some people have learned through experience, and some people are just starting to learn. I think that most of the people on here are just trying to share their experience. I cannot stand rudeness, and i wish i were a mod so i could just boot everyone being rude, but i'm not, and i can't

... lol. When someone says "that fish shouldn't be in that tank", i don't think anyone is trying to be rude about that, they're just trying to stress the point that the fish shoudln't be in that tank. I've had several encounters where i've told people "you shouldn't have a tang in a 45 gallon tank", and they don't listen, and then a month later they're on here posting "my tang has ich, what do i do?". Those are the times when i get really frustrated, but i also refrain from saying anything to that person. I think that newbies should listen to what the more experienced people have to say, as long as the experienced people are trying to help rather than being rude. It's easy to just ignore people. I hope this comes across the way i'm trying to say it. I agree with newbies all the way, rudeness gets you nowhere. But i also agree that experienced people should tell the newbies whether they're doing the right thing or not. i don't think the "your tank is too small, that fish is not right, blah blah blah" create drama unless the newbie turns it into drama, or the person is saying it in a demeaning way. sometimes those statements are necessary... JMO

 

[fishrule]

Speaking from being an Expert Noob, I can see where some people might take offence to answers they get to their questions.
For myself, I had my first tank in 1995-96 and ran it for 3 years without any problems.
I used the Under Gravel method that was mentioned up above and had better water quality than my LFS had and even better than my new tanks have. I only changed my water, as stated above, if something was a little off in the water quality and never used RO or Distilled. (Bi-Monthly Water Changes) I had about 6 different SWF books that I read to make sure I was doing things accordingly and as far as I knew, I had the best setup I could possibly have running.
One day our LFS store got in a shipment of live rock. I had never seen Live Rock before. (3 Years of perfect running tank, no live rock in it) The fish store told me I could buy a piece of Live Rock in a week, because it had to cure, so I waited and bought the rock when it was ready. I think I bought a 5-10lb piece, can’t remember...
That Stupid Live Rock had something very “Not Special” in it, a Hitchhiker. Since the only things “live” that ever went into my tank were fish and inverts, I never had to worry about some strange parasite or bad hitchhiker, or pods, or any of the things that come with this “All Natural Ecosystem,” that most aquarists use today.
Well within a week, the stupid Live Rock Hitchhiker hatched a thousand little (looked like brine shrimp) and killed everything in my tank. If I never bought the stupid Live rock, my tank might still be running today. I know of 3 different tanks that had similar setups as mine that are still running and have never changed to “the new ways of the force.”
In September of 2005 I decided to setup a 100g tank that was given to me by a friend. I was told by my LFS that some things have changed in how the SW tanks are run and I needed to use sand in my tank instead of the undergravel system with CC and I would need about $600.00 fricking dollars of Live Rock.
So I setup my tank with the knowledge I had in the mid 90's and the new information I was given by my LFS. I “thought” I had everything under control until I decided to post my tank for everyone on this forum to see. “This is where the offence comes in for most people.” Someone told me that I was doing something wrong and I didn’t want to hear that. No one wants to hear that they are doing something wrong. However, by knowing I was doing something wrong, I can now setup to fix the things I am doing wrong.
This is where the repetitive questions come from. About 75% of all responses to questions are people only “Stating” something is being done incorrectly and should be done some other way. Well unfortunately, the process of doing things, such as adding a sump, skimmer, multiple water changes, what RO stands for, etc. aren’t explained. Some of these procedures need the best of care or you will have even bigger problems, but the reply, do a search, seems to be the current answer to most questions on the tedious process of the new ways of the force. How many people here can say that researching something you don’t know gives you the “Right” answers within the time needed to fix a current problem??? Some SW problems need to be fixed in less than a day and even less than an hour or two. The biggest problem is, Noobs are told to “Fix it ASAP or all utter chaos will happen and all will die,” but it can honestly take 3 days to a week to research your “Fix” and all in the mean time things are still in “Utter Chaos and dying”...
That is why you see the same questions over and over and over. That is why there is hostility on the boards...
Just remember, if you give someone good advise, make sure you also explain how to fix the problem or they may make even bigger problems thus causing grief to them and other posters of this forum...

Edit: I wanted to add, 100% of the criticism I’ve had has all been for the good. I’ve been given advise from some very nice people on this forum and I hope you guys keep up the good work. It is always nice to get advice, even if it isn’t the most positive advice... :happyfish

 

[1journeyman]

Originally Posted by Nine28girl
I am glad this was brought up because I was called just short of a fish murderer when I first posted....
That's not fair or accurate Samantha... I just re-read your first post... everyone was VERY civil on there (unless there was some serious modding to the thread).

 

[nine28girl]

Originally Posted by 1journeyman
That's not fair or accurate Samantha... I just re-read your first post... everyone was VERY civil on there (unless there was some serious modding to the thread).
If you read my post again I said that people weren't really rude, they just scared the hell out of me with statements like burning gills, severely damaged, all my fish WILL DIE etc.. I cannot see where any editing occured however I distinctly remember the words fish and murder somewhere along the line. But whatever, fortunately in my case things so far have worked out fine. I was just trying to let the old timers know that sometimes what is said is kind of harsh and it scares SOME of us into sleepless nights worrying about everything that we are possibly doing wrong... AND some LFS's KNOW what they are doing. They are not all evil individual's just trying to make a fast buck! They are just people - some are good and some are bad. That is just life.

 

[corally]

I noticed a particular post yesterday where someone was relieved to finally get an answer and the next person who comes on says "The reason why you didn't get an answer sooner is probably because that question has been asked 10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000's of times. " That is the kind of comment I think is completely unnecessary. Maybe the "newbies" are panicking and don't think and/or know to do a search. If you are that bothered by a question than just don't answer it.

 

[murph]

While researching the possibility of keeping a Mandarin Dragonet on the web I came upon this philosophy statement on a web site created by one Joshua Day. It closely mirrors my attitude toward the hobby and while spelled out in reference to the keeping of this difficult species could also easily be applied to the hobby as a whole and think that it has a place in this thread.

[hr]
I will do everything in my power to provide the mandarin with the nutrition and care it needs.
I believe experimenting with pets is good, as long as the caregiver has done his homework.
Fish are not people. Attaching human elements onto fish or any lower animal is a fallacy. I am not "torturing" a fish for selfish or aesthetic reasons; I am advancing the hobby by trying to do what others have successfully done before.
If my experiment fails, I am prepared to "eat" the fish and all the expenses. I will return the mandarin to the LFS, and I will probably try again with another specimen. If I fail again, I will most likely give up; however, I will never condemn someone who tries the same thing.
I will not know if things are going swimmingly until I reach the six month mark.

 

[stang5_o]

amen....

 

[trainfever]

Awww go hug a tree

just kidding. After a while you get to know who likes to start arguments and I just tend to stay away from those peoples threads, half the time they are not worth reading anyway.

 

[mudplayerx]

When I see a post with something like someone asking "How do I get my nitrates down? I have a 55 gallon tank with 3 tangs and horseshoe crab," the only reason I criticize is because I don't want to see saltwater critters needlessly suffering or dying. 95% of all the stuff in our tanks is wild-caught, which means for every critter we kill, they yank another one out of our oceans.
Hey, I made a few mistakes too when I started a year ago. I came here for advice, and I thank the people here for keeping me from making even more mistakes. I've only killed one coral in a year+ and I've probably fragged and sold/traded over 30.... all due to the knowledge given to me by members of SWF.com.
It's much easier and productive to say thanks and explain your situation, rather than give the cold shoulder to someone that was merely trying to help.