I do not give saltwater aquarium advice

[Bartmmackey]

All I got from that story is this headline:

"Longtime Reefkeeper Craps Pants At Sight Of Large Creature Covered In Feathers"

or

"Asbestos Workers Has A Bowel Movement 50 Stories Up, EPA To Investigate"

I think you have a "legal advice" info-mercial there.

Paul, don't listen to them! Fish climbed out of the muck and became birds way before they evolved to NewYorkers. ......still love you, you under gravel loving bald man!

 

[Bartmmackey]

Anything. Please......pauuuuuuuul!

 

[Mike J.]

I hope this thread doesn't discourage new people to the hobby from asking questions. I agree that people should do research on their own. But, I also remember how daunting it was to me the first time I hooked up a sump. And, that's just one example. Don't get me started. Excuse this little sermon: The opposite of love is not hate, it is apathy. When you stop caring about other people you should just crawl up in a hole. I'll stop there; I did say a little sermon.

 

[Seavee1218]

I'm thinking about attaching a 12oz mini tank to my gold chain necklace and just sporting it when I go out to the club. What kind of tang can I fit in it?

Hahahahabahabbababaabbabab lol


Sent Via the R2R Forum APP

 

[jasonrodreef]

Good stuff..

 

[ionix]

My opinion is that fish are wet and that fish need to be kept wet to survive. I keep mine on a spray table and insert food into their mouths, ever so meticulously to not get any on their lips. It have observed that they do not like the food on their faces as it is already demeaning enough.

Man, I love just throwing my opinion out there. This thread seemed like a good time to just get that out of my system.

Continue on, I will just leave this here. Mainly because I have nothing better to say, as my real response was essentially covered in the second post to this thread (though I did not want to deny myself the pleasure of posting on this thread).

 

[Paul B]

Mike, my purpose is not to stop people from asking questions, it is to get people to ask questions in a way that they will get the answers they are looking for and not a lot of rants from tang police, inuendo's, rumor's, myths etc. It is also to get people to try to answer the specific question in a manner that does not sound like lecturing or going off on a subject that was not asked about. Like I am about to do now.

Speaking of birds, I have another bird story if you are interested even though I know this is a fish thread.
I was diving for lobsters off this lighthouse (that was commissioned by George Washington) and about 30' down it is pitch black and all of a sudden something grabbed my head and was smacking me around. It was huge and I was not thrilled.
It had me for maybe 5 very long seconds then let me go. I surfaced and realized it was one of these cormorants that you see on top of the lighthouse. Those things are huge and they swim with their wings unlike ducks that swim with their feet.
They dive for fish and maybe thought I was a tuna, or more likely, a blowfish.
I think it was that shifty looking one on the chimney, the one with the scowl on his face.


On top of the lighthouse

Next to the lighthouse

 

[Mike J.]

Wow. That must have been terrifying. Once, while diving off of Okinawa, I had lethal, poisonous sea snakes playing with me. They were bouncing off my mask and were having a great time playing. I wasn't having a good time.

 

[oceanparadise1]

I like turtles!

 

[diamondreef]

I raise the blue diamond back terrapins lol it is illegal to collect them in fl and to purchase them. I know a wildlife lady/sheriff who rescues and takes care of many animals...
They are getting more and more endangered...they are so adorable ..the ones I have atm are just babies still lol.. they dont get very big...

Sent Via the R2R Forum APP

 

[diamondreef]

I have pictures on my thread called "our tank♥♡♥" lol

Sent Via the R2R Forum APP

 

[ionix]

I forgot to mention that the fish also like fans blowing on them, under the spray bar so it feels like they're moving. I also clean my dishes in the same area because the fish like squishing the soap bubbles.

 

[-Logzor]

You were attacked by a bird....underwater?

 

[o2manyfish]

I forgot to mention that the fish also like fans blowing on them, under the spray bar so it feels like they're moving. I also clean my dishes in the same area because the fish like squishing the soap bubbles.

Years ago before protein skimmers we used ozone by direct injecting it into the aquarium. We would use a wooden airstone that created small fine bubbles the size of grains of sand. And we'd stick the ozone air stone in the corner of the tank. And I watched many fish go and soak/bathe themselves in the ozone bubbles.



Back to the original thought of the post, I don't think the intention it to deter people from asking questions, but just a rant that so many of these questions have been asked so many times. Before all the reef forums, the first salt aquarium question site was called 'Aqualink' (i think if my memory serves). If you had the ability to answer questions you became a mod- LOL If I remember correctly that came as an off shoot from an AOL discussion group, back when AOL was one of the few ways to get email, before www was part of the internet. So for some of the old timers these questions have been seen over and over again for decades now. People are smart enough to find the forums to ask their questions, but not find the search button to look for their answers.

Sadly, I think in the immediate future this issue is going to get worse, as the popularity of the aquarium tv shows grow, which are publicizing aquarium starting techniques which we know are impossible, and creating a larger interest in the hobby with totally unreasonable expectations as to the speed and success they can join the hobby.

Dave B

 

[Shane-o]

so hilarious, take it from a fresh newbie, I got a lot of strange advice along the way so I know exactly what you mean!! You really have to sort through a lot of BS to find the truth.

 

[Paul B]

Aqualink doesn't sound correct but if it was not that, it was something close to that.

 

[Bartmmackey]

I like turtles!

Me too Timmy, me too....

 

[maharsreef]

They are cormorants. Yep they swim underwater. I've been diving at catalina island and have seen them swim past me at 30' deep. No joke!

You were attacked by a bird....underwater?

 

[Paul B]

Yes they are, we have the largest cormorant rookery on the east coast about I mile from that lighthouse. Nasty, filthy suckers and when they wrap their wings around your face underwater, it is unnerving, especially in zero visability

 

[Jrlevers]

I don't give advice unless asked. There are a few reasons for that, first off, I am not the God of fish tanks, second, I don't have the nicest tank between here and Tahiti. Third, there is so much advice given on these forums that it boggles the mind and I would like to say that much of it is wrong advice, but I can't, because as I said, I am not the God of fish tanks.
Fourth, I run an undergravel filter so even I would not take advice from me and my methods are considered just rediculous.
After saying that and after reading so many posts on here I am glad that I don't give advice unless asked. Many posts start out with someone asking an inocuous question like "What should I feed my tang?" The poor guy will unleash a vast plethora of things like, "well you should not put a tang in a tank under 100 gallons, or a tang is an ich magnet so you have to quarantine it for 6 months and feed it garlic while you use hyposalinity on it and feed it nori four times a day at the same time every day. Or Tangs don't ship well so they should be avoided at all costs, or they don't get along with pipefish, or your social security will be cancelled if you get a tang or tangs are Jewish and only eat Kosher food.
Very few people will, if ever just answer the guys question as to what he should feed the thing.
So many threads go like that. Someone will ask "What is this invert" and he will get answers from a sea cucumber to a duck billed platypus.
I especially like when someone asks, "help me decide what fish to put in my tank?" Like, is it me? First of all, who cares what fish you put in your tank? There are hundreds of fish to choose from, pick one. I think you should re phrase the question and ask something like can a percula clown get along with a seahorse or a manta ray. Something specific will get you a better answer. But if you really want to know something, search out someone who has a tank that you admire and maybe has the fish or invert in there that you are interested in. Then try to read his or her threads to see if they seem to have luck with it for a few years (no, not months) then PM the person. That way you will get one answer and most likely a correct answer without all the drama and nonsence mixed with myth.
This is just my opinion and if I offended anyone. You could offend me, (call me bald or something) or you will just have to get over it. :thumb:

This guy...I like this guy. As someone who has started reefing in the last year and sought information online to help I get it. There are so many self professed experts online it's almost impossible to get a straight answer for anything. I finally stopped asking.