Just a rant nothing major....

[Seriak]

Bah! Nano. Over 500 gallons it's not worth my time.

[11purewater]

what's not worth your time ,lost in translation?

[SteveConn]

Some people dont have the space or are not allowed due to condo rules etc... I pushed my luck with my spouse and condo by upgrading my nano to a larger tank. It doesnt diminish your interest just because you have a smaller tank!

[toytech]

my 15 gal was way more of a challenge then my 50 , i had a mandarin in the 15 and told no one for fear of the landslide of hate. It all comes down to a bigger is better mindset , bigger tank , bigger truck , bigger um , well ,you know ,has got to be the best but thats not true . But you cant rub a small sized tank in anyones face and say im better than you so they dont bother.

[Reef Pilot]

I have seen some beautiful nanos here on Canreef. With all my new little stick frags spread out in my 100g, makes me think I should have put them in a nano first. At least then I would have a tank that doesn't look so empty, and maybe have a decent FTS.

[whatcaneyedo]

Originally Posted by Dearth

I've been in the SW hobby for about 9 months now and have had some interesting chats with various SW hobbyists. At one time I was on 5 different forums learning what I could and found out real fast that all hobbyists are not created equal and it includes this forum as well. It's one of the reasons I no longer visit any other forum as this one seems to be the most tolerant one.

I've met some hobbyists face to face and talked with several in private chats and their responses to me being in the hobby with a nano tank has been wide and varied. Some have greeted me with enthusiasm and offered me no end of help while others wouldn't give me the time of day cause I run a nano tank.

I have met many who were willing to give me advice as long as I did it their way and if I refused or said I'm doing it this way those people will no longer talk to me. Then there are the ones that feel I should learn as they did by trial and error and shelling out countless thousands of dollars to learn from my mistakes at the same time are willing to offer smidgins of advice.

Then my personal favourites the ones that despise the hobbyists that run nano tanks it doesn't matter how nice your nano is they won't talk to you because your not a true hobbyist in their eyes and in their eyes guys like me are ruining the hobby.

So it can make it nerve wracking when you want to ask or show your tank because you never know how you will be received and there are many experienced hobbyists with many many years of hobby experience that tend to forget that they were once a newbie too and maybe didn't have the guidance of the forums or other hobbyists to set up and run your tank.

Yes it can get old hearing over and over the same questions about algae, diatom blooms and aiptasia but then that is why people come to the forums to learn. Maybe a FAQ forum should be posted for questions such as these. IE. I have seen many newbies ask about diatom blooms the standard answer is just wait for the bloom to mature...well it really doesn't answer the question and there is no standard answer but it helps to know it can take 3 days to 2 months to bloom. Stuff like that.

Ok I'm done feel free to flame rant or ignore

So... how come we didn't see you at any of the PG Reef Tank Tour showings? Do you work Sundays? Staffan, Doug, George, Craig, myself and everyone else on the 40 person emailing list are all very receptive to meeting new people and sharing our experiences and advice (plus you get to see some tanks in person).

A good introductory book would answer a lot of questions that new people ask before they ask them. But books are long, boring and expensive whereas internet answers are short, lively and free so I guess that wont ever change. The search function works well too.

I too have created accounts on RC, Ultimate Reef, Reef Frontiers, TGVAS, BCAquaria etc. But its pretty much the same everywhere. Canreef has the advantage of being local/national, relevant and just active enough.

Some people on here have nanos with more gadgetry, that are more expensive and contain more specimens than the average persons +100gal system. Their basic requirements are no differen't than a large tank. In some ways they are actually more difficult to keep.

[Reef_Geek]

Nanos? I hate nanos. We don't need no stinking nanos.

They're all like... entering your robot's head by the thousands and wiping out your robot's internal circuits...

oh wait, that's nanites. I hate nanites. Nanos are ok.

[Madreefer]

Originally Posted by whatcaneyedo

So... how come we didn't see you at any of the PG Reef Tank Tour showings? Do you work Sundays? Staffan, Doug, George, Craig, myself and everyone else on the 40 person emailing list are all very receptive to meeting new people and sharing our experiences and advice (plus you get to see some tanks in person).

Geez Russel. Your pretty harsh. How could you leave me out?

But all kidding aside. Dean you should put your tank on the tour. You left my house with a huge amount of frags as well as colonies. Its been since before the snow landed. I'd like to check your tank out. Im hoping everything has flourished. It's a pretty good knowledgeable bunch of guys that like to help. The more contacts in this town the better. One tip though. That plastic piece that comes with your heater is just for packing.

[whatcaneyedo]

I was just listing the people who featured their tanks this year and also you did sort of miss most of them.

Tyler your advice is good too. (in case you see this and feel left out).

[Ken]

Dearth, you can come over on the island and talk to me, I love all types of aquariums, I don't discriminate any sizes shapes or forms or color, I love them all, I learn from you, me and anybody, doesn't matter what type of system or setup you have, as long as the end results that the livestock thrives. I'm excited to hear of hobbyist's dream aquariums whether big or nano, people who don't think like the majority of us here are better off sitting at home and staring at their own tanks, here I like to share knowledge and learn from others as well, all welcome. There is no right or wrong way to setup an aquarium, people who have passion about their own aquariums are also passionate about others, I know I am. Hope that pep talk will inspire you to be proud of your aquarium. Regards Ken