Reminder is needed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Lady Hobbs]

I often sit here for long periods just reading the posts. Today I have read several that are a bit disturbing...........OK, more than disturbing!

We have many knowledgable fish keepers on this site and they all have opinions as to how "they" do things. It does not make one right and another wrong. It just means we do things differently. That's what a forum is.......to give our own points of view and for the poster to make a decision based on everyones imput.

Newbies come here with a question they want answered, not to listen to the experts get into a rangling contest. This forum has the membership it has due to the fact it has always been known as a friendly forum. Let's keep it that way, please.

[Ryuu]

Yeah there has been a lot of arguements and drama latley

[William]

well said.

Try to respects other poeple methods as their are many good ways to keep fish and to keep them happy. All of these methods have advantages and drawbacks but noon is superior to all others.

Remember that you are supporting and recommming one method, not THE method and if someone else suggest a different method that is just create. the more methods people hear about the better chance they have to find the method that suits them best.

And as always, lets all be friends and love eachother.

[luvfins]

It does seem like things often go off topic and newbs questions are forgotten. Thats a good reminder.

[sandy_n]

I often sit here for long periods just reading the posts. Today I have read several that are a bit disturbing...........OK, more than disturbing!

We have many knowledgable fish keepers on this site and they all have opinions as to how "they" do things. It does not make one right and another wrong. It just means we do things differently. That's what a forum is.......to give our own points of view and for the poster to make a decision based on everyones imput.

Newbies come here with a question they want answered, not to listen to the experts get into a rangling contest. This forum has the membership it has due to the fact it has always been known as a friendly forum. Let's keep it that way, please.

Agreed. Sometimes when we've done things one way for so long and it has always worked for us, it's easy to forget that there are still other ways to accomplish the same end results.
Thanks for the reminder Hobbs.

[Lady Hobbs]

This is a passionate hobby for sure. It can get like talking about our favorite football team, politics, the best car engine or any other subject when there are such different points of view. Hard at times but sometimes we have to bit our fingers from typing too much.

[donvichu]

Well said thanks for starting this thread

[wezel815]

This is a passionate hobby for sure. It can get like talking about our favorite football team, politics, the best car engine or any other subject when there are such different points of view. Hard at times but sometimes we have to bit our fingers from typing too much.

its easy to take this hobby to heart. Im sure most people feel the same when i say, "my fish are like my children". Even if not spoken out loud i talk to my fish daily even if just for a quick few seconds when feeding them.
sadly when the life cycle forces me to lose one of my children i say a little farewell before i bury them.

[MeganL3985]

Great post Hobbs :)

[Evil Slimy]

Part of the issue I think is that this hobby makes it so difficult to measure 'success'. Everyone's tap water is different, feeding habits, the individual fish themselves and their source, etc... I think once someone arrives to a point where their fish and aquariums are healthy, that naturally becomes -the way- to do things... Because it is. :P

On the plus side the variations are what makes the hobby so addicting and keep it interesting for a long time. If it was easy, or if cookie cutter approaches worked, very few people would come here with problems and I can't imagine the hobby would evolve much.

I was out of the hobby for a long time and it is really surprising how much it changed in a span of 10 years. For some things it did a complete 180
["What?!? you BUY bristleworms?!?! People keep mantis shrimp as pets now?!"] and for other things the understanding and control of algae has moved forward tremendously. I'm sure getting to this point took a whole lot of arguing and I'm kind of glad I wasn't around for that part ;)

I think to get better we really need to remain open to someone else's ideas, because as crazy as they sound they can help us find the true explanation and solution of the problem.

And yes. I do talk too much.

[Lady Hobbs]

You talk just right. Keep on doing what you're doing.

[Nick89]

Yea, not everything is written in stone.. You have different ways of caring for a fish.. Some ways may seem odd to one, but to another its normal. Its always good to get peoples opinion to learn more.

[NanoTankGuy]

First of all, thank you to everyone! (there was a thread for thanking everybody, but thx again!!!)
As a newb here, I wanted to add that there is no single right impeccable orthodox fishcare. My friend ____ kept an overstocked bare (no plants) tank full of incompatible fish for years and they thrived (not to his compliments). Anyways, my point is: as a newb, I came to this forum to find out what ppl do and how they do it, but by all means and with all due respect, if I find out that smth works for me and somebody doesn't agree to it, I'll keep on doing it. Anybody disagree?
Lady Hobbs is right - respect each other's opinions. They all matter. A bit of cooperation from both sides - newbs: respect old-timers and listen to them, if you don't agree - don't do it; experts and ppl with MTS (:19: you rock:19: ) - give all the advice you can, w/o fighting each other.

P.S. I think this forum is doing a terrific job!

[Kuli_Loach]

Great post and I know I have done my share of this in my year of being here.

[Lady Hobbs]

First reminder didn't work. Shall we try it again?

["the"Trinity]

As a relative newbie - I can say that AC is THE premier hobbyists forum (although to a lot of us it's much more than a hobby - it's a way of life!).

I have recently renounced my membership of another forum related to another of my hobbies - and believe me folks, THAT was one of the BEST decisions I ever made. It was stressful, biased, filled with personal attacks dressed up as "righteous" points of view, crammed with too much testosterone (I was one of the only vocal females and definitely the most opinionated LOL), and staffed by a team of moderators who made up rules as they went along to cover their own behinds.

The AC forum here is one of THE most supportive, friendly, interesting and intelligent discussion forums I have ever seen or belonged to. Thanks to you guy s- we have two (and one on the way) very healthy aquariums - and the knowledge and know-how to build our new 36-gallon bowfront!!! thumbs2:

TT

[Rue]

I don't think I've read the posts in question...

But Hobbs is right...we shouldn't be 'fighting'.

However, let's not avoid discussing different POVs - if we agree with everyone all the time, then we agree with what could be poor advice as well...

Just watch the tone...:thumb:

[Lady Hobbs]

Nice post. Keeping a balance and keeping everyone happy can be a challenge at times for Administrator and Mods. Everyone has different personalities and those personalities can show in the way they post. Not always a good thing! It's like working with the public, you know. You can have just great people all day long and there will always be one who comes along each day to take the sunshine away. LOL

We all love our fish and are dedicated to our hobbys. But we may also do things differently, have different experiences, etc. What works for one does not work for all, in other words. Trying to keep everyone to keep that in mind can be another matter.

I'm very happy you have picked this forum as your main stay. Thanks for the nice post about AC.

[Billythefish]

What have i missed ?

[FordForever]

Great idea, I have seen a few of the friendly disagreements that brought life to this thread. I respect everyone's opinion and I am very thankful to have everyone's help and support. I also hope that everyone continues to provide their opinions even if it does mean disagreeing with someone else.

If someone does disagree with you, they are not attacking you. They are just providing the information that they think is better suited for the individual seeking help.

Thanks again everyone for all of the help and good luck with your fishies!

[graceluvsplatys]

oh yes good to sya all this. cause, what i have seen is a poor new person come, and ask for advise on a main tank,a nd then get lectured about something completely different. I would like to say, that many people (like our lovely moderators) are VERY polite with disagrrements, and always help.

[NanoTankGuy]

I think, a forum, in its first principles, is a variety of opinions. There are things, which are almost like dogmas. But most people have their own ideas about their own tanks that work for them. I think it's up to whoever is asking for that advice to choose from whatever ppl say, w/o offending anybody. And it may be hard sometimes not to virtually smack someone for buying their tank and fish on the same day, etc. i.e. doing something that for most AC users would be taboo. We gotta be nice to each other :)
Imagine all the ppl... whatever - you get the point.
As for me, personally, AC users only helped me and helped me again with their knowledge. So, I have nothing better to say than thank you.

[sktadood13]

only thing i hav to say is.......true