Reef2Reef Community Terms of Service and Rules
Registering and participating at Reef2Reef.com constitutes agreement to abide by the following user agreement. We reserve the right to modify these rules at any time without giving prior notice. By using the services of this web site, you agree in advance to accept any changes. There is no charge for joining this forum! This is a community of individuals who share a common interest in Aquariums. Please think before you post and keep your comments limited to the topic at hand and above all be nice. If you come across any violations to these guidelines or have any problems navigating the site, do not hesitate to let us know through the Forums Contact Form or the Report Post button. We'll be happy to address your concerns. We encourage everyone to participate in and enjoy the Community while at the same time adhering to these rules:
Be Courteous:
We aim to ensure that the forum is an enjoyable place that you want to visit time and time again. Our underlying philosophy is that the strength of the member relationships we build here is what sets us apart from the other boards - we are friendlier, more civil, more insightful, more mature and more fun.
R2R encourages the beneficial exchange of information, ideas, and opinions and we expect members to do so respectfully and thoughtfully. Personal attacks on others will not be tolerated.
Do not post unsubstantiated gossip, libelous remarks or directly misleading information.
Trolling or cyber-bullying are NOT allowed and are grounds for account restriction or banishment. Harassment, stalking or predatory behavior will result in account suspension.
The language of this forum is English. If you are not a native English speaker, do your best. We are glad to have you as a member and will be supportive and polite.
Be mindful of yourself and others. This forum is not a democracy; it is privately owned. If rules are violated we retain the right at our discretion to remove, edit or delete posts and, if necessary, ban or remove members. Any abuse toward our staff may/will result in immediate suspension of your account. Complaints about moderator decisions may not be made in posts; instead send a private message to a moderator. If a moderator deletes or edits one of your posts and you disagree with the action, contact the moderator concerned. Do not repost deleted material.
We take the "be nice" rule VERY seriously! We do not tolerate ANY rudeness.
Be Appropriate:
Please don't post it here if you wouldn't say it to your grandmother. Posts containing explicit, obscene or vulgar language, images or links to websites with adult content/images or punctuation marks designed to "trick" our obscenity filter will be removed. There is a zero tolerance of profanity, vulgarity and masked vulgarity; any posts which contain such are subject to deletion. R2R prides itself in being a family friendly and work safe website and we ask that members keep it that way. Posting of topics containing situations or products that are not family and under age friendly is not permitted. Political discussions, statements, or rants are strictly prohibited.
Be Welcoming:
Welcome newcomers to our growing community. Many of our community's members have a wealth of knowledge and much to share. Please help new members learn about how to find information and resources and how to get involved in the Community.
Be Ethical:
Many participants have commercial interests associated with the forum topic and bring valuable information and expertise to share. With a few specific exceptions (see sponsor section), participants may not use the Forum for commercial gain.
Participants may not post to direct others to any pages at their own commercial website or website in which they have a commercial interest, including informational pages unless a sponsor account has been established and then only in areas here where advertising is expressly permitted.
Participants may not use the main Forums to direct others to the advertising Forums.
Participants may not send out SPAM via our Private Message system.
Members may have only one account. If duplicate accounts are discovered, they will be deleted or consolidated.
Usernames: In an online community, usernames are the best (and often only) way to distinguish different members from one another. A person's reputation is associated with their username as the community gets to know them by that name. R2R staff reviews name change requests on a case-by-case basis. While name changes are occasionally allowed, we generally prefer that users retain their current usernames.
Our user base is not a resource to be "mined" by individuals, groups, or businesses, for profit or not for profit this would include shilling. This includes but is not limited to: linking to off-site surveys, linking to crowd funding sites, or requesting donations. These activities are strictly prohibited without prior moderator authorization.
No price fishing (using threads and posts to try to increase maximum monetary gain from an item for sale).
Participants agree not to bash or talk negatively about any other community forums or bulletin boards.
Do not leave feedback for a user unless a sales transaction has occurred.
Do not use this website as a platform to threaten lawsuits or stage boycotts.
R2R encourages fair and ethical selling and has a classifieds section for that purpose. Please limit buying and selling activities to that section only, and follow the relevant rules.
Non-Sponsoring Vendors are not allowed to use Reef2Reef as a place to do business, via posting habits, Private Messages or Photo Content.
Links to external websites or forums are permitted but only for informational purposes and must be in accords with the above standards.
Participants may not disguise links in a deceptive fashion.
Posting standards:
Forum members may use standard fonts available on the forum. The standard font size is 4. The use of bold, large or colored fonts should be used sparingly. Posts containing inappropriate formatting will be removed or modified at our discretion; e.g. all caps or excessive color. E-mail and web address are not appropriate forum user names.
Ethical fishkeeping:
The owners of Reef2Reef adhere to certain standards of ethical fish keeping. We believe that freshwater and saltwater aquarists are directly responsible for the health and well being of any aquatic animals in their care, be they fish or invertebrate. These responsibilities include providing a healthy aquatic environment, humane treatment, humane euthanasia (when required), as well as obtaining and disposing of aquatic animals in such a way that does not damage sensitive local ecosystems. Posts advocating the illegal collection of fish or invertebrates, inhumane treatment, flushing live animals down the toilet, or releasing them into the wild will be removed.
About the First Amendment, censorship, and your "right to free speech":
You do indeed have an absolute right to free speech. However this forum is privately owned and requires members to abide by our rules and by the decisions of our staff.
Do not post protected / copyrighted content:
Information copyrighted or owned by any individual or entity other than the member should not be posted on the discussion forums without the consent of the owner. Copyrighted material includes images and text produced and owned by others. If such an event occurs, the individual posting the information shall be held solely responsible. You cannot legally post entire articles or news in the forum without permission from the copyright holder. Even if you attribute the article correctly it’s still copyright infringement. Under Fair Use provisions you can legally post a small abstract of an article - or perhaps the opening paragraph. The exception to this rule is press releases; they are meant for distribution and can be copied and distributed. If you are not sure if you can copy something then always err on the side of caution and simply post a link to the material. Photos, articles, and posts submitted to our forums may be used by Reef2Reef in the sharing of links and articles.
Signature Standards:
Signatures must be setup in your profile rather than manually added to your messages. They will appear at the bottom of every post you make.
Signatures must be kept to a maximum of 4 lines (including blank lines). Supporting & Partner membership allows up to 8 lines.
Signatures may not contain links, with the exception of Supporting membership which permits the usage of one non-commercial link in the signature. Partner members are permitted up to three links.
Signatures may not include email addresses, phone numbers, prompts to contact or a sales pitch.
Signatures must follow our forums posting standards and only one line may be bolded.
Group Buy Forum Rule:
Group buys are permitted at Reef2Reef, only if they are being handled through a current Reef2Reef sponsor and the sponsor's name and a link to the sponsor's website are included in the group buy announcement. Group buys must be made available to all current Reef2Reef members.
Group buys are also permitted between current Reef2Reef members.
Classifieds posting rules:
Our for sale/trade forums are offered as a benefit of membership and members must have 25 posts and must have been a member 30 days prior to placing an item in this section.
Participation in R2R's marketplace (buying, selling or trading) is restricted to members aged 18 years or older.
Do not post any For Sale (FS) or Want to Buy (WTB) thread outside the classified forums.
The usage of the sales forums is a privilege for members who contribute in the regular forums.
Threads which appear to be commercial will be removed.
A firm asking price must be listed in the thread.
Sellers are not permitted to ask buyers to send PayPal as gift. Any selling fees should be included in the asking price.
Sellers are required to have an avatar graphic/image/photo uploaded to their profile.
Members should consolidate their For Sale threads. If a member wishes to list multiple items at one time, place them in one thread. If multiple threads are created in close proximity, a member may be asked by the staff to combine them or the staff may consolidate them.
Do not post or repost an ad in more than one section of the classifieds.
We expect ads placed to be related to the topic of this forum.
Ads may be removed by our staff at any time for any reason.
Members must have an established account 30 days or older and an account history that includes 25 posts prior to using our classifieds.
Posting links, re-directions, or references to external sales or auctions is prohibited.
All WTB threads must include an intent to purchase or trade. Do not place ads requesting free items or donated items.
Items listed for sale must be owned by the seller and currently in the seller's possession.
Posting to bump a thread is permitted once a day.
Payment must be arranged via private communications.
Staff may ask at any time for the seller to show proof of ownership.
Additional selling/buying rules may apply; consult the sticky threads in the sales forums.
Commercial Parties (Sponsors, for-profit companies and industry professionals):
The forum does not discourage nor endorse any commercial entity. Site sponsors must adhere to all the forum policies including these specifically set out for sponsors. For information about how to become a site sponsor please visit this page:
http://www.reef2reef.com/account/upgrades.
Sponsors are assigned this status at our discretion. We value our sponsor participants and the knowledge they bring to the forum. Only authorized sponsors may post commercial content.
Sponsors have a public sub-forum in the vendors Forum specifically dedicated to their products and services. Sponsors may not post to other sponsors sub-forums or in the classifieds section.
Sponsors may not quote prices in any forum except the Vendors Forums.
Sponsors may not direct others to any pages at their own commercial website or website in which they have a commercial interest except in the vendor's public sub-forum or by prior arrangements with R2R administration. Sponsors are permitted to post their eBay links/sales in their public sub-forum only.
Sponsors are not governed by the "signature standards" above.
Dealer/Vendor and Customer Disputes:
This forum is not intended to be a mechanism for people to vent frustrations about vendors or sales from private parties. Please settle your differences with the seller, manufacturer, and/or dealer through the long-established legal or arbitration systems or the Better Business Bureau but not through our community. In the case of a vendor, buyer or seller feedback thread the posting of emails, text messages and private messages are allowed as long as ALL personal info (names, addresses, phone numbers, etc.) have been removed..
Miscellaneous:
Additional rules may apply to any forum, and will be governed by any sticky thread(s) in that forum.
This user agreement is subject to change to fit the communities best interest.
Someone has to interpret the above guidelines and how they apply to this forum. Ultimately it's up to our site administrator to make this decision. If you have any questions about these guidelines, please feel free to contact us. When you create an account to use the forums here you are agreeing to abide by the rules and user agreement of Reef2Reef. All data entered as post, photos, attachments, belong to Reef2Reef.
SoNet Advertising Inc. (Reef2Reef.com), the owner of the Site (“We,” “Our” or “Us”), may make changes to these terms at any time. Such changes shall be applicable immediately upon their being posted. Therefore, you must review these Terms on a regular basis to learn of any changes.