Am I just cranky?

[landlubber]

Need to vent a little, and stop shaking my head at some of the stuff I see. I'm sure there's other people on here that feel the same sometimes...

I don't expect anyone to know everything, or a newbie to fully understand all of the nuance that comes with managing a successful tank, but as I scroll through the list of new posts I sometimes get discouraged seeing posts from people who seemingly won't even try and help themselves. All of their answers need to be spoon-fed, and every slight problem or twitch seems to completely confuse them. The seach tool or google are a totally foreign idea to that particular crowd.

Am I the only one who sometimes has to stop myself from suggesting that their best course of action would be to just sell their tank and find an easier passtime?

The coffee wasn't ready when I got to the office this morning, maybe that's my problem.

there are definitely hard truths with this hobby. one of them being, by getting into this game you are committed to learning as much as humanly possible to understand it. it also happens to be the one hard rule that 75% of aren't willing to adhere to which usually results in a failed system and an early exit from reefing.

 

[Flippers4pups]

When I started out there wasn't any internet or forums to gather information from. Just a couple LFS with owners that had a decent handle on how to keep a "reef tank". I use that term loosely because a "reef tank" back then was much different.

Books were the only other source of information, a lot of which was dated info. So there was a lot of learn as you go back then and a lot of failures. I can only imagine if I had all of what we know now back then and had to understand all of it the same way back then. Major overload.

We were all "noobs" at one time, all of us. Honestly, back then I was really bad and must have drove the LFS owners nuts asking questions!

Now, I treat everyone new to the hobby asking questions, reflecting back to me in 1993, with a greater understanding. Like teaching my grandkids something new. They will never understand everything I teach all at once. Same here.

I truly want everyone that endeavors in this hobby to be successful and do what I can to help them when they ask questions, because I was one of them once.

Think about it.

 

[rock_lobster]

I think some people just arent very efficient at doing research and would prefer to have the discussion to answer problems. Plus you can often get a lot of other very useful info that you wouldnt have found by searching maybe even addressing different concerns you werent aware of it.

 

[juanrmattos]

Reefing & Coffee, cant have one without the other...

This hobby is about patience and we all can remember the days when we questioned everything... The positive thing here is that the people getting in is definitively asking for guidance and I think this is what R2R is all about.

But you are right, sometimes is just too logical to be asking ... Patience & Reef & Coffee, loads and loads of coffee.

 

[Auquanut]

I've seen people in the LFS buying "everything you need to get started" with no clue what they're getting into. The fact alone that they are coming to us for assistance is a good thing. We always say there are no dumb questions, and I firmly believe that. Even if it's been asked a thousand times before. All we can do is point them in the right direction, give them the tools they need to succeed, and hope for the best. I personally like to answer the easy, noob questions, cause I'm not very good at the more complex ones.

 

[ReefGeezer]

Back in the day, I was one of those LFS owners trying to answer questions. I'm afraid what I've learned since then makes me a little ashamed of some of the advise I gave. I was out of the hobby for quite a while after deciding that the LFS wasn't gonna make me rich. When I got back in, I received a lot of help from a couple of the more popular forums from people that I believed actually liked providing it. I try to help where I can now. When I do get a little frustrated, I just go back and read some of my old posts!

 

[Hitman]

Reefing & Coffee, cant have one without the other...

This hobby is about patience and we all can remember the days when we questioned everything... The positive thing here is that the people getting in is definitively asking for guidance and I think this is what R2R is all about.

But you are right, sometimes is just too logical to be asking ... Patience & Reef & Coffee, loads and loads of coffee.

You had me at coffee! Lol

 

[Flippers4pups]

Reefing & Coffee, cant have one without the other...

This hobby is about patience and we all can remember the days when we questioned everything... The positive thing here is that the people getting in is definitively asking for guidance and I think this is what R2R is all about.

But you are right, sometimes is just too logical to be asking ... Patience & Reef & Coffee, loads and loads of coffee.

Somebody say coffee!

 

[CindyKz]

Questions don't bother me, although on bad-temper days I have to stifle the urge to type "GOOGLE!" when I read "does this wrasse need a sand bed?"

What I really do not like, ok actually hate, are the answers that are obviously just a regurgitation of what someone else said, with little thought as to whether it is actually true or not. Much as I enjoy R2R I feel there is a fair amount of opinion posing as fact (even if the intentions are good. As an example, I just read that Diver's Den doesn't offer a guarantee....) When someone else steps in to try to point out errors, it often turns into an all out contest of who can have the last word. This is the main reason I don't offer advice much, it isn't worth arguing with someone else trying to give advice.

 

[Flippers4pups]

Questions don't bother me, although on bad-temper days I have to stifle the urge to type "GOOGLE!" when I read "does this wrasse need a sand bed?"

What I really do not like, ok actually hate, are the answers that are obviously just a regurgitation of what someone else said, with little thought as to whether it is actually true or not. Much as I enjoy R2R I feel there is a fair amount of opinion posing as fact (even if the intentions are good. As an example, I just read that Diver's Den doesn't offer a guarantee....) When someone else steps in to try to point out errors, it often turns into an all out contest of who can have the last word. This is the main reason I don't offer advice much, it isn't worth arguing with someone else trying to give advice.

Just say "we will have to agree to disagree" and leave it at that.

 

[CindyKz]

Just say "we will have to agree to disagree" and leave it at that.

You are absolutely right LOL.

 

[flsalty]

I don't so much have a problem with people re-asking common questions as I do with people who seem to know absolutely nothing. It really boggles my mind. I can't imagine jumping into something like this with absolutely no clue. I'm talking about people who have a tank full of livestock in a 2 week old tank that was started with dry rock and sand.

But I do agree that most reefing questions can be answered with Google. This forum comes up a lot in Google searches. When I started there was no internet. I still read books and magazines. It's so much easier now with internet.

 

[BenitaSolo]

go to an LFS and listen... those employees are expected to dispense answers to complicated topics in a short time to people who are often times not prepared to understand the answers!!
Asking questions and then researching the answers is modern day research. When there is so much often misguided information at the stroke of a key sometimes you just need a kick in the right direction.
All that said, I 100% agree with OP!

 

[ScottR]

Just keep in mind... every post and thread on here is pennies in the bank to R2R

I don’t mind answering stupid questions. I think we see cycling issues almost daily. Cycling is the most important step in setting up a tank and still people can’t get it right. But hey, if I took the time to click the thread, I’ll help the OP. Sometimes it’s better hearing it direct from a person as opposed to self-medicating via google.