Brew12
Electrical Gru
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My Tank Thread
I understand exactly where you are coming from. The problem becomes how you filter people like that out? In the anonymous world that is the internet we can all have our PHD's in Marine Biology and have thriving SPS dominant 800g systems while only doing 5 minutes of maintenance a week.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”
I am always appreciative when people are open and honest about the comments they make. I have no issue when someone says "I haven't done it myself, but I know product XYZ claims to be able to help". I have more of a problem when someone tells me my NO3 is too high and they have nothing but zoas in their nano.
We have some members here who have given lectures at MACNA and/or had peer reviewed papers published. I try to remember who they are and I give them a lot of credence. Some are easy, like RHF and Dana Riddle. Others are very hard to identify. One thing I caution people about is not to get caught up with the fancy banners under the names. This member is an absolute expert in the field of reefing, but I'm sure many people discount him without a second thought. Doesn't have a single banner......
Otherwise, I'm a big fan of build threads to evaluate if I want to follow someones advice. Some build threads are more social and a hang out for friends, and those can be nice. If I'm taking advice, I want it from someone that shares the positives and negatives they go through. I consider it a warning sign if a build thread has a fairly sudden and dramatic change but it isn't discussed. I'll also try and make sure they keep their tank in a manner similar to mine.
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