I really wish....

SeaDweller

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The problem is, everyone that can grow some
Nubs from a frag May think they’re an expert, so this forum will be lined up with experts (I just get lucky).

And one can’t pick and choose methods to assemble into one tank. Like so and so is running MH, but they run low nutes and GFO, I like the MH but not the other two, so I’ll use the MH and run high nutes cuz Jorge Mc Baller tri color tenuis runs high nutes and radions and his tank is good.

So MH is great and so are high nutes, so I’ll run that and Chaswood said to run kelp and chaeto, so I’ll add that too. Oh and bubbaque uses unicorn tears so I’ll get some of that.
 
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Charlie’s Frags

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The problem is, everyone that can grow some
Nubs from a frag May think they’re an expert, so this forum will be lined up with experts (I just get lucky).

And one can’t pick and choose methods to assemble into one tank. Like so and so is running MH, but they run low nutes and GFO, I like the MH but not the other two, so I’ll use the MH and run high nutes cuz Jorge Mc Baller tri color tenuis runs high nutes and radions and his tank is good.

So MH is great and so are high nutes, so I’ll run that and Chaswood said to run kelp and chaeto, so I’ll add that too. Oh and bubbaque uses unicorn tears so I’ll get some of that.
Perfect timing
Jorge Mcballer tricolor Tenuis
Haha
I’m ded
Defiantly ded
 

SeaDweller

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Perfect timing
Jorge Mcballer tricolor Tenuis
Haha
I’m ded
Defiantly ded
Am I wrong? Follow ONE reefer OR store OR ocean with a sick SPS tank and follow THAT method to a T, I promise you that will produce dope results.

That’s my annual contribution.
 

stephj03

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I'm not really into stroking egos but I want to encourage the experts who've chimed in here. There's ppl on this thread I've gotten some of my best growing high-end pieces from, much needed vendor endorsement for my highest dollar frag purchase and a critical insight that helped me take better acro pics.

Please know the hobbyists you are hoping to advance, those trying to be in for the long hall and grow colonies are hearing you louder than others.

Not that I always agree...


A lot of those you see getting easily confused are likely to take bad advice over yours, but ppl like me also read those threads.

Somehow I didn't need this thread to figure out who to listen to, who to ask and who to buy from after a 7yr break. Was super easy to lurk your profiles and posts.

Sounds harsh but ppl deserve the answers they are willing to accept and I've benefited much from things you all shared in threads that did not get through to the OP.
 
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Charlie’s Frags

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I'm not really into stroking egos but I want to encourage the experts who've chimed in here. There's ppl on this thread I've gotten some of my best growing high-end pieces from, much needed vendor endorsement for my highest dollar frag purchase and a critical insight that helped me take better acro pics.

Please know the hobbyists you are hoping to advance, those trying to be in for the long hall and grow colonies are hearing you louder than others.

Not that I always agree...


A lot of those you see getting easily confused are likely to take bad advice over yours, but ppl like me also read those threads.

Somehow I didn't need this thread to figure out who to listen to, who to ask and who to buy from after a 7yr break. Was super easy to lurk your profiles and posts.

Sounds harsh but ppl deserve the answers they are willing to accept and I've benefited much from things you all shared in threads that did not get through to the OP.
OP (Me) is not looking for acro/sps advice
 

Cell

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What's more reliable, the average LFS or a reefing forum?

Either way you have to sort through a lot of info and differing opinions, as there are many different ways to reef successfully. You can just as easily get terrible advice from a "trusted source" like a LFS as you can from an anonymous post on a reefing forum.
 

Brew12

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Hmm.... lots of thoughts with this thread and I'll share a few of them. Why? Because I'm an expert at my own opinion and that qualifies me to post it!

Identifying experts in this hobby is incredibly challenging. I would go so far as to say that not only is it impossible to find an "SPS Expert" but that someone who was an expert 20 years ago may not even be successful today. 20 years ago people could start a tank with live rock straight from the ocean. Now, it seems most tanks are established using dry rock. Starting new tanks live vs dry is like handling two completely different animals.
Metal Halide lighting was used where options consisted of what bulb is used and how long it should be on. Did any hobbyists really care about the difference between PAR and PUR or use a meter to test it? Flow was mostly closed loop or AC powerheads. Aquarium controllers didn't exist. Testing for minor trace elements wasn't even possible and the test kits that did exist were rudimentary.
Think of where nutrients were a few years ago? The recommendation was that for an SPS tank you needed very low nitrate and no phosphate. And then people focused on lowering phosphates. We found better ways to measure low phosphate. We implemented things like GFO and lanthium chloride and we gained the ability to drive PO4 down so low we could kill SPS.
And speaking of nutrients, look at how much coral feeding has changed over the last 20 years. Amino acids, freeze dried anything and everything, commercially produced frozen food with probiotics. We've also come to accept that nutrient levels, feeding regimes, and alkalinity levels need to be considered together. If you run a tank at 7dkh and 5ppm NO3 you may be the wrong person to help someone who is running 10dkh and 20ppm NO3.

I know.. I'm writing a book.. but I used a Latin phrase earlier today and want to address it quickly again here. Post hoc ergo procter hoc. Basically, it boils down to "after this, therefor because of this". How many times do we tell people that "well I did this and this was the result" so you should do it too, only for them to have different results. Flow is one that drives me crazy this way. It drives me nuts to see people recommend flow solutions without knowing what the aquascape is going to look like. Or people recommending 50x to 100x tank turnover in powerhead ratings. If 50x tank turnover was important, why don't we hide them all in the sump? Why are we telling someone with a bad algae breakout along with cyano to dose NO3 to raise nutrients? Why are we telling people to add nitrifying bacteria products to add diversity when dealing with dinoflagellates? Why? Because it seems to have worked in one situation and we blindly apply it to all situations.

We are incredibly fortunate to have an expert in Chemistry like RHF (and a few others) and it lends itself well since this is science that can be proven. How do you identify experts in other areas where it isn't easily quantifiable? It sounds great to say that we should identify an expert in different areas but in a group of 20 people we would come up with 10 different experts who don't all agree. Now multiply that by 20,000. It isn't practical.

Oh.. and I'm a fan of asking to see someones system. It may not prove they do or don't know there stuff, but at least it is something. If their tank doesn't look like what you want yours to be they may not be the best person to get advice from.
 

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I contend that "experts" should not be self-anointed, agreeing 100% with @Brew12 . On another note, some people on here are just relentless bullies.

We're trying to make sure we pinpoint bullies, ask them to stop and if they don't then show them the door. I'm also kinda of tired of being bullied but that's another story that I'll keep to myself and God for now. Please report bullying so I can personally handle it. We're not going to have it here. Thank you.
 

Brew12

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I contend that "experts" should not be self-anointed, agreeing 100% with @Brew12 . On another note, some people on here are just relentless bullies.
It's a good thing you agreed with me or I would have.....

We're trying to make sure we pinpoint bullies, ask them to stop and if they don't then show them the door. I'm also kinda of tired of being bullied but that's another story that I'll keep to myself and God for now. Please report bullying so I can personally handle it. We're not going to have it here. Thank you.
ooops.. sorry Rev. I'll be nice. ;Sorry
 

revhtree

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It's a good thing you agreed with me or I would have.....


ooops.. sorry Rev. I'll be nice. ;Sorry

HA! You're the farthest from a bully that I have ever known! :p
 

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Personally, I completely believe in cause and effect. If you want to change a symptom, then you must change the cause. Something that is frequently missing in problem threads on this forum is the "why". I think the more successful reefers understand why things happen in their tank and deal with it. Noobs and unsuccessful reefers just keep making changes, not knowing why, and keep having setback after setback. We should learn from our own mistakes, but we should also be able to learn from other's mistakes.

"Nothing good happens fast in a reef tank." How about, "Successful reefs are grown over time, with much patience and small, thoughtful changes."
 
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Hmm.... lots of thoughts with this thread and I'll share a few of them. Why? Because I'm an expert at my own opinion and that qualifies me to post it!

Identifying experts in this hobby is incredibly challenging. I would go so far as to say that not only is it impossible to find an "SPS Expert" but that someone who was an expert 20 years ago may not even be successful today. 20 years ago people could start a tank with live rock straight from the ocean. Now, it seems most tanks are established using dry rock. Starting new tanks live vs dry is like handling two completely different animals.
Metal Halide lighting was used where options consisted of what bulb is used and how long it should be on. Did any hobbyists really care about the difference between PAR and PUR or use a meter to test it? Flow was mostly closed loop or AC powerheads. Aquarium controllers didn't exist. Testing for minor trace elements wasn't even possible and the test kits that did exist were rudimentary.
Think of where nutrients were a few years ago? The recommendation was that for an SPS tank you needed very low nitrate and no phosphate. And then people focused on lowering phosphates. We found better ways to measure low phosphate. We implemented things like GFO and lanthium chloride and we gained the ability to drive PO4 down so low we could kill SPS.
And speaking of nutrients, look at how much coral feeding has changed over the last 20 years. Amino acids, freeze dried anything and everything, commercially produced frozen food with probiotics. We've also come to accept that nutrient levels, feeding regimes, and alkalinity levels need to be considered together. If you run a tank at 7dkh and 5ppm NO3 you may be the wrong person to help someone who is running 10dkh and 20ppm NO3.

I know.. I'm writing a book.. but I used a Latin phrase earlier today and want to address it quickly again here. Post hoc ergo procter hoc. Basically, it boils down to "after this, therefor because of this". How many times do we tell people that "well I did this and this was the result" so you should do it too, only for them to have different results. Flow is one that drives me crazy this way. It drives me nuts to see people recommend flow solutions without knowing what the aquascape is going to look like. Or people recommending 50x to 100x tank turnover in powerhead ratings. If 50x tank turnover was important, why don't we hide them all in the sump? Why are we telling someone with a bad algae breakout along with cyano to dose NO3 to raise nutrients? Why are we telling people to add nitrifying bacteria products to add diversity when dealing with dinoflagellates? Why? Because it seems to have worked in one situation and we blindly apply it to all situations.

We are incredibly fortunate to have an expert in Chemistry like RHF (and a few others) and it lends itself well since this is science that can be proven. How do you identify experts in other areas where it isn't easily quantifiable? It sounds great to say that we should identify an expert in different areas but in a group of 20 people we would come up with 10 different experts who don't all agree. Now multiply that by 20,000. It isn't practical.

Oh.. and I'm a fan of asking to see someones system. It may not prove they do or don't know there stuff, but at least it is something. If their tank doesn't look like what you want yours to be they may not be the best person to get advice from.
So I never thought an sps “expert” is needed, but it has somehow evolved to that in the thread. I just want a way to weed out ppl that don’t have specific corals from reading the back of a bottle/box and regurgitating it as experienced advice. This happened Saturday on a help thread where a hobbyists slashed back at my reply and they don’t even keep Sps. Drives me nuts. I am well aware there are many ways to keep sps happy and I enjoy seeing all different successful methods, but I would like ppl with no actual experience and or success in these areas to hold off on offering advice on things they know nothing about. I live by the motto “I would rather be assumed a fool than open my mouth and prove it”
 
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