Wow Canreef has Died a lot over the last year.
 

Is it just me, or has this place basically closed up shop since where it was a year ago?

Where do all the cool kids hang out now?

I've heard that the sponsorship fees have increased significantly and maybe that could be a reason.


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I agree! Seems that last year there was always something new everytime i came on and now its the same ol'. Its mostly bc people posting now especially in the marketplace, makes me wanna move there to get those sweet frags at those sweet sweet prices :-(

that changes from week to week

Well, why don't you guys go post some interesting thread topics in the other forums? :D

god forbid. we're all just here to buy and sell stuff apparently :razz:

Oh right. My bad. :d

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Not enough traffic. Sites like Reef Central have way more traffic. And all the local stuff is all but dead here since all the sponsors have left.


And even that. Last year when I would post something for sale I would have 10 offers for it, and now nothing at all.

Not sure where that comes from. We have almost the same sponsor list as last year minus the ones that went out of business.

Not enough traffic to post a thread? I don't get it...? I can't stand Reef Central so much crap to sift through. I usually only visit there when I have a question for RHF. :lol:


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Yes not enough traffic. When someone has a question, they would like it answered. Post it here and you might get a response, post it on a different forum and you'll get many different answers and opinions. When something is wrong with your tank you dont have days to possibly get an answer.

Well, to be honest I don't think you can have a problem with your tank that hasn't been answered here already :) You'd be hard pressed to not find a problem discussed here.
And to furtherly honest (is that a word?), the board has more traffic now than it's ever had.
Is it Reefcentral? No. But that's like comparing the PNE to Disneyland. We're a small board in a small country. RC is huge with an international following.
But if you can't find something here, using a Google search with RC limitations will certainly give you an answer, so never any need to wait days.

I find the opposite Is true. I get replies quicker here than RC. I've waited days many times when I've posted threads on RC. I purposely seek out threads here on CanReef that have few or no replies to try to help those in need, but most threads have a good answer within a few hours.

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I understand that this is a small community and it wont get the traffic that rc gets but the amount of people who actually comment and help on here on a regular basis is very small.

There are many questions you wont find answered on here about my tank or others for that mater. As soon as its somewhat a technical question there's only few guys on here that might be able to answer it. Every other answer seems to be "do a water change"

Many people do use google and rc because they know their odds of getting the right answer are better there, but what would be the point of this forum if you just kept telling people to look there?

This is a great local forum but it would be nice if it had more traffic. You gotta call it fow what its is.

Like I said in my previous post, there are a handfull of people like yourself and aquattro who try to help out and have really helped me out in the past, but It would just be nice to have more.

Well, I think the traffic is here, just not a lot of willing people to offer help. I find that it's usually questions that have been beat to death, and the more experienced members just don't want to answer anymore. Nature of the beast I suppose, but certainly not tied to traffic or the number of sponsors here.

Just now I approved a dozen new accounts, as I do most days lately. So lots of new people, and less (participating) old members. This is also cyclic and as the new ones get up to speed, they start answering, and the old ones have for sale posts :) Really, having been here for 13 years now, I find this year the same as year 2, which was the same as year 7. But we get lots of new people (167 so far since Jan 1). We just need people to chat more.

Fair enough and very good point. This hobby is growing really fast so we need the experienced members to help the new ones. I know it gets annoying to answer all the basic questions but we were once all there.

Yes, and for the most part, the community here is pretty good. But things like "what salt should I use", what do I do about ich", etc, tend to get a bit old and easily searched on. And hard ware specific is tough, there is so much out there, that the chance someone has what you have AND has/had the same issue are few and far between.

I've been here for awhile and certainly don't consider myself an expert, just experienced. I don't bother answering questions when people could easily use the search function. I get that people are surfing from their phone and its hard to access etc., but some days there are 2 or 3 threads pertaining to the very same thing. It gets old.

Yeah like the quarantine threads lately. Holy crap there are a ton! I get tired of answering them all but I try to because I think it is very important :)

Iceman, I didn't answer your test kit question because I haven't used Red Sea test kits and I see a question about RowaPhos now that I didn't notice before - can't get them all. :)

Same here. No letters after my name, so I'm certainly not an expert either.

but at least you're published :wink:

All good myka, I understand people have lives other than canreef. I was just making people aware of the issues with these test kits so they dont have to go through them and lose hundreds of dollars like I did.

So true... Same old stuff, ie, QT, cyano, new tank cycling, algae, RODI, LEDs, etc, etc... Would help if a quick search was done prior to posting a question. And maybe the more experienced members would be willing to help more, too, if they were thanked for their answers.

Then we get all the opinions based on what people have read on the forums, instead of their own direct experience. Popular opinion is not always right. And some advice is just plain bad,... leading to the needless death of livestock and frustrated newbies.

Having said all that, this forum is still the best source of information for salt water reef tanks. I certainly have learned a lot here,... and try to give back when I can. And sometimes fun to read some of the crazy drama here, too,... and a good laugh, too.

As for sponsors, those that aren't, are missing out. I know I have given business to many here that I otherwise would not have known about.

I could do with less of that, if it's all the same :)

This has been a ongoing thread for the last year and while there has been sponsors leave there have also been new ones on the last 2 years
Sponsors such as aqua digital and Madjelly are more active than others and bring alot of life.
Ive gone from postin to reading but am still active. I always Google my issues before asking on here but at same time many of my questions Google brings up canreef threads. So I don't see a pointer creating new ones

I also notice the people who are saying canreefsbeen dead are the same people I haven't seen here in a year

Haha, maybe it was fiction! :eek:

Although if everyone searched instead of posting new threads there would be no new threads. Catch 22!

There is definitely a lack of thanks, although lots of people do send thanks. It never fails to surprise me how rude some people can be in PM almost like they are demanding an answer instead of asking for advice. :neutral:

I'm going to be working on a bunch of new articles for the New to the Hobby forums, so hopefully this will spare some finger cramps from typing. :D

oh there will always be new threads, people always want an answer to their specific problem which is always different from other peoples specific problems :razz:

So strange how the same answer works though, eh? :p

I like cupcakes

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IMO. The businesses leave as really... The Canreef crowd is insigificant percentage of business.

And the "clique" here basically talks crap about them regularily.

I myself could care less most days as everybody wants a deal and this forum cheapens the hobby by peer pressure causing sellers to greatly under value items they sell because people force them too.

I'm not surprised this place is crashing. It used to be great, but there are a few people who think they run the place and think they can speak for businesses and moderators. They really made this place a crappy place to solicit anything.

The mods are good. They do what they are told by the owner. But too many others really just get in the way and over step boundaries making it uncomfortable for posters.

I'm sure even myself is guilty of some if the "norms" this place created.

If I can give advice I will but the way I sometimes do things is frowned apon as well. Mind you I lose a lot of corals with my experiments sometimes. So I can defiantly tell ppl what not to do. If I can I will lurk less and spurt insanities more. Will just make a disclaimer signature just in case lol

This is the biggest saltwater aquarium forum in Canada, no? They must be doing something right.

Ya, I'd say we're definitely not "crashing" :)

*Like

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I think that is correct, as I belong to most of them. We seem to be in a bit of posting lag.......................except for buy/sell. But thats all.

I liked it better when the For Sale threads came up on the front page. But then, I'm not a membership-fee-paying vendor. I understand it, but I don't like it (as much). I wonder what effect (if any) this has on people staying on the site... not realizing the change and thinking "oh, there's nothing to look at today", or new folks who look for the first time and see nothing of particular interest (not enough to want to register a new account).

Just a thought.

Maybe were just all so smrt we don't need to ask questions anymore.

Or maybe I am not the only one who's tank looks like crap (since switching to led) :twised: and don't want to share pictures of brown corals.

I always hit the "New Posts" button and all the new threads/posts since I was last on shows up.

From my own observations, I must disagree with the OP that the site is crashing or that Canreef has lost too many sponsors, resulting in the site crashing.

Personally, I do try to answer questions when possible, but am less likely to do so if its a topic that's been beaten to death.

Locally, I know that almost all my older, more experienced reefer buddies are either no longer in the hobby, have downsized or have become far less active in the hobby (not just on Canreef). This is the nature of the beast. We all have busy lives that keep changing. New kids, new job, new moves, new priorities. Only a few hard core reefers stay active year-after-year-after-year.

And as mentioned by others, a lot of the questions have been answered multiple times and the answers can be very easily found using the search option.

Anthony

Just to add my 2 cents, I really don't see a radical difference over the last year. Perhaps less in joking between friends, but not less helpful information. There is such a wealth of material on this site that many of the absolute basic questions you see on RC are not asked here. I see that as a good thing, it means people are finding what they need without starting a thread.

I have learned more from reading others' build threads than I could have hoped. I also find questions are answered very sussinctly and quickly. I don't see a lot of scarkiness in this site either, so not sure what the hand wringing is all about.

I have to say that i've been on here a fair while now and its as good as it ever has been. There seems to be lots of new names and though I try to help when I can, there are a lot more knowledgeable people than me on here. Sonetimes maybe a bit of "bystander effect" where we all think someone else will help out?

I can't say enough about the mods. There may sometimes be drama but spend a few days on Canada's other large forum and you will have a new appreciation for how these guys and gals work with us. Just my 2 cents.