My Thoughts About These Forums...

[Chuka1212]

I know forums are places for discussion, debating, and sharing opinions, but does anyone else notice how it is very hard to get good help and information from these forums.

It seems like very few users (though there are some that are VERY helpful) are willing to share information, and that these forums are a place for tank fantasies, christmas gift bragging, and shooting down newbie's stocking ideas, etc. Has anyone else noticed a lack of good information sharing? I am not saying this is bad or good, just wondering if I was the only person that thought this.

Also does anyone know of any other popular forum sites where help is a little more easily obtained?

Oh: just a note, I'm not trying to start any fights or to put down these forums... just sharing some thoughts.

 

[CFC]

Can you be more specific? I know in the oddballs brackish and other catfish sections the frequent posters and myself always try to give as much information as we can to any question.

 

[Esfa]

Help is easily found here, if you ask suitable questions and have patience.

Also, you cant expect others to do all the work, google and the profiles on this forum are there for a reason.

 

[simonas]

I agree with CFC that the areas I post in generally Plecs and Oddballs I've had loads of help.

Now I have a laptop at home I'm getting into this forum

 

[Chuka1212]

Can you be more specific? I know in the oddballs brackish and other catfish sections the frequent posters and myself always try to give as much information as we can to any question.

Well, I agree. Like I said some members show consistent help and really know what they are talking about. I have been having trouble getting information in planted forums, like just how to start, what methods work, etc. I have friends that also have trouble finding information on specific species, africans etc. I have had trouble with getting help with disease diagnosis and treatment, but more so a few of my friends on the site have recieved no help or information.

It is almost like I am alone when it comes to venturing into a new arena of aquariums, because heaven knows the guys at petsmart walmart, etc really have no clue what they are talking about. Websites have really sketchy and conflicting information etc. Really the most reliable place to get information is through aquarists that have been through it and done it, and I guess my point was that is seems like people are a little less willing to offer help.

 

[Esfa]

6 Members: Esfa, xxBarneyxx, CFC, Ferris, efish, boboboy

haha... i can see us all sat here refreshing, waiting fo rsomeone to reply so that we can get out part of the argument across.

Or is that just me?

 

[Chuka1212]

Help is easily found here, if you ask suitable questions and have patience.

Also, you cant expect others to do all the work, google and the profiles on this forum are there for a reason.

Like I said, sometimes I do get great and wonderful answers. I am merely saying that the forums are LESS focused on help and information sharing, and more on chit chat.

I certainly do spend the time doing my home work, but like I said before, personal experiences are the best way of learning new and improved techniques, and certainly in a place where hundreds of fish keepers gather, there is the potential for some great information sharing, moreso than going to petsmart where the "fish expert" keeps a 20 gallon goldfish tank.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

I haven't noticed that at all. The sections you mention though (emergency section and planted tanks) are two of the least used ones on this forum.

When I got into planted tanks I found a lot of information on here and loads of people helped answer the questions I had. I dont think I can remeber seeing to many posts (if any) in the planted section which hadn't had at least 1 answer. Same for the marine section. The guys in there have been extremely helpful to me and I see many members really going out of their way to help others.

You have to remeber that if you are asking for information that is outside the normal (help with ill fish, speicialist knowledge etc) then it might take longer for someone to come along who actually knows the answer.

In general I think this is a great forum and I dont see any issues with people not being answered or newbies getting slapped down on their stocking choices.

 

[CFC]

I find it odd that you are having problems in the planted section as this forum has a huge knowledge base in that section, could it be that your questions are just not direct enough?

Our Cichlid sections have always been a bit lacking due to a shortage of experienced long term keepers of those types of fish, i admit my own knowledge of any cichlids is very slight and i am of no help in those forums, i even set up a Tanganykian cichlid tank just to improve my own knowledge despite having little actual interest in the fish.

As for diseases if you are having trouble and get no help in the emergencies section then try reporting your post, the chances are that a mod will have had some experience with the problem and once the post is brought to their attention should be able to give some advice.

 

[chrisdoesntmiss]

A long while ago i had 5 very young discus in a 20 gallon as there tank was being built and got some very rude criticism from younger members. Eventually the post was deleted by a MOD, but apart from that everything has been ok. Some members do seem to be very short with newbies especially, but that maybe because all of the sugar coating has been taken out and they are giving pure factual advice.

Its hard with written words to fully put forward a view when it can be taken differently when read by different people.

Chris

 

[mark7616]

Or if you think certain people can help you send a PM there is alot of knowledgeable people on here and alot of novices but you will always find the answers your looking for try using the serch facility.

 

[Chuka1212]

I find it odd that you are having problems in the planted section as this forum has a huge knowledge base in that section, could it be that your questions are just not direct enough?

Our Cichlid sections have always been a bit lacking due to a shortage of experienced long term keepers of those types of fish, i admit my own knowledge of any cichlids is very slight and i am of no help in those forums, i even set up a Tanganykian cichlid tank just to improve my own knowledge despite having little actual interest in the fish.

As for diseases if you are having trouble and get no help in the emergencies section then try reporting your post, the chances are that a mod will have had some experience with the problem and once the post is brought to their attention should be able to give some advice.

I thought my questions were pretty direct in the planted section, maybe not though. That is a good idea about reporting the post, I had never thought of that.

Now I hope no one gets me wrong, I think these are wonderful forums, and have enjoyed it greatly. I guess as I venture into new areas of fish/plant keeping, my lack of information just makes me nervous, and this is my only connection to those that share the passion of fish keeping... All my friends and family think I am a nut.

Plus I sort of did this post to prove my point, I have got more than twice the responses on this post in an hour or so than I did on three posts in the past 2 days!

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Chuka1212

How much help you get depends on what your question is and where you post it. Tropical Chat is a forum for miscellaneous topics. They are often survey type questions, sometimes with polls. Sometimes it's a quick place to get a simple answer or to share some fun with fish as the central theme. But for more detailed and specific help, you need to take care that you post in the right specialty forum.

If you need to do a fishless cycle, and haven't a clue, you will find no better help anywhere than the folks that post here in New to the Hobby. The Planted Tank section is the same and so is Hardware and DIY, as are the various individual fish forums.

Part of the benefit you can from members replies depends on how well you describe your tank and what specifically it is that you want to find out. Threads run out of steam quickly if necessary information is missing because this is a big forum and there are always other threads for members to post on.

At any given time, while there may be many members online, perhaps only one or even none has the specific knowledge you are seeking. It helps if you pay attention to the wording of the topic title so that it will the attract attention of someone who can make an informed addition to it. Patience is important here.

I would also urge you to do your part by sharing what knowledge you do have with the members who can benefit by it. The quality of advice on any forum depends on giving what you can and taking away what you need.

 

[Azaezl]

I don't know about others but I try my best to help others as much as possible, I'm still a newbie myself and if in doubt about anything I always double check my facts before advising anyone and it does take alot of my time. If I'm totally honest somtimes I just cannot be bothered with people when alot of people including myself have told them several times what to do and they still keep asking the same questions over and over again. Same with the usual 'what to stock my tank with' questions, if I'm totally honest I just roll my eyes at topics like that, but sometimes I will answer, just depends what frame of mind I'm in. Still I don't let it turn me into a bitter person, if I'm not in the frame of mind to explain things correctly or at least be nice then I don't bother posting.

I have noticed in the past few months these forums have slowly gone downhill and I spend more time on another fish forum as it's usually 50 / 50 on here, sometimes the posts are nice sometimes they are awful and I do wonder why some people bother opening their mouths (or to be more accurate why they bother typing) when it's on the whole just to be rude. This is the main reason I use another forum more.

Also alot of the time you have to have patience here, if nobody has answered a question you've asked then bump the post up the following day. If it's an emergency then try some other forums, not everyone who's knowledgeable about a specific disease / fish / plant etc will be on the same times as you. Also searching for similar topics can usually bring up an answer. I'm pretty confident that I can find anything at all I need to just by using search engines(not just on here or just for fish but anything at all).

I've also noticed alot of people bumping their post count up in silly manners such as regurgitating what someone else has literally just said, so they aren't contributing to the topic really, just making it longer(hmmm...maybe that's what I'm doing now ), they'll post very blunt verging on rude answers, for example someone says they have X amount of fish in X size tank and everyone will tell them that they are overstocked and why, then you get someone who will come along and say something very blunt like 'your stupidly overstocked get rid of some' now that's not offensive to me but to a total newbie(who's a little nervous) that could be rude and upset them a bit, esp. if they are a kid.

Even though there are alot of faults this forum can be so wonderful when the friendly people all come out to play just wish they'd all start posting again(only some of them still do, you'll notice they've posted on this topic) and return this place to it's former glory!

 

[Chuka1212]

Hi Chuka1212

At any given time, while there may be many members online, perhaps only one or even none has the specific knowledge you are seeking. It helps if you pay attention to the wording of the topic title so that it will the attract attention of someone who can make an informed addition to it. Patience is important here.

I would also urge you to do your part by sharing what knowledge you do have with the members who can benefit by it. The quality of advice on any forum depends on giving what you can and taking away what you need.

Thanks, I appreciate the previous comments. About helping others, I really do try to do that, a glance at my previous posts will attest to that I believe, but then again as a relative beginner, I can only impart so much knowledge. I also would hate to give information that I have not personally experienced.

I could use some more patience I suppose, but like I said, this post does serve to prove my point to a certain extent. This now has triple the posts than my posts from the past few days...


And thanks to Azaezel for your agreement!