RC Exodus of Experts

[StirCrazy]

RC lost its use about 2 years ago. it basically got to big for its own good and the mods had to go to extremes to control it. at any rate good to see them experts setting out on there own, looks like you will have to pay for access to there new place but oh well maybe that will keep the riff raff out and make it a pleasant place. Anthony is already at reef frontiers (has been there about 1 year now) so I never needed to go to RC to see his writings.

Originally Posted by AndyL

I see some of the "lobbying" (and baiting by some of these lobbyests) that caused this meltdown even here. We all need to realize, that while there are new (and some promising) methods to keep a reef out there. But we don't need the lobbying that we've seen on RC in regards to BB instead of DSB/SSB, cooking rocks etc. This hobby is rather new and is still largely developing - this whole lobbying / "my way is the only way to keep a tank", shouldn't be tolerated by members or staff. Yes, anyone should be allowed to voice their opinion as to what works for them, but the "Your DSB will kill your tank" "You've got to cook your rocks or you will have phosphate problems" needs to end.

My .02

Andy

come on now, your just trying to bate people to cause a melt down no one said "my way is the only way to keep a tank" well maybe Bob (just kidding Bob) but no one has come out with a statement like that.

also "Your DSB will kill your tank". this is totally made up and stretched a little as the wost I have seen is after a period of time a DSB will start to cause algae problems and the only long term way to correct it is the removal of the DSB. but I really would like to see where you got that statement from.

and finally "You've got to cook your rocks or you will have phosphate problems" do you read left to right like normal people you cook rock because you have phosphate problems not to prevent them. cooking rocks is for more than just phosphate, it is well knowen that rock gets plugged up with junk after time and its effectiveness decreases. "cooking" is just a way of rejuvenating your rock instead of buying new stuff.

Hmmm Andy you don't work for a LFS do you? seams your against things that will save you money

[michika]

I agree with Andy.

Sometimes we all just need to take a step back, breath in an out a few times, and just realized that doing something one way or another isn't the end of the world.

I personally don't frequent RC anymore after having been burnt pretty bad over a few basic newby questions when I first started in the hobby. It comes down to how many people interact with each other and how there is a difference between face to face contact and annonymous written communication.

Basically who cares what the exodus is over, it happened. Everyone in this thread seems to have a handle on why it happened, or what the contributing factors were and are. This is probably a good time for Canreef to reinforce or reiterate what type of behaviors and manners that we'd like to see and continue to see from members and staff. Live and learn from it I guess.

[AndyL]

Originally Posted by StirCrazy

come on now, your just trying to bate people to cause a melt down no one said "my way is the only way to keep a tank" well maybe Bob (just kidding Bob) but no one has come out with a statement like that.

No haven't seen it quite so boldly stated - but we did see that kind of comment from some of the RC'ers. Luckily us canadians have a bit more tact it seems

As for the rest of it, I can't be bothered to argue about dsb/ssb/bb/rock cooking etc. I restrict my arguing to getting purchase orders out of construction companies.

As far as I'm concerned, I don't care what method people use, as long as it works for them. My methods work for me, and that's all I really care about.

Andy

[blood_hound]

MY WAY IS THE BEST WAY FOR REEF KEEPING!!!!! MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY..

MELTDOWN STARTS IN FIVE SECONDS


FIVE


FOUR


THREE

TWO

ONE


Booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooom




Im Melting....ahhhhhhhhhh lol



Really why do you guys call arguing about dsb/ssb/bb/rock cooking and other things a meltdown don't you guys enjoy reading about what other want to say and what is their experience. I mean its really the only way to find out what work for most out there and whats not unless you want to experement with your tank.....

[saltynuts]

ok ok i think we need a group hug!

[Johnny Reefer]

I AM CANADIAN!

But seriously, folks....I think one great tool to use to avoid the "my way or the highway" syndrome is four letters...IMHO....uh, IMHO.

After reading some of the comments in this thread I think I will concentrate on using IMHO more often....IMHO.

Maybe someday I'll feel comfortable graduating from IMHO to IMO, but for now it's IMHO, IMHO. (Newbie here).

Another good tool is . Even when your really PO'ed resist using and click instead....IMHO.

Oh, and it's a good idea to avoid threads like this....IMHO.
Ha! Isn't that a Catch 22!

Cheers :-),

[Doug]

Guess as long as we are talking about another board here, I,m not sure why all the bad thoughts regarding RC. I have been a regular there since its start and remain so. Guess perhaps I have more time, but love reading all the various threads.

Yes, there are some dorks but see them on many boards. Remember any board with thousands of members will have more undesirable,s.

Something must be right with the board to have all those members. It was a fine board before "experts" were hired and I assume will remain so. They still have several good "experts" on staff.

Anyways, enough of my thoughts on another of the boards, as we have a fine Canadian based one right here.

[midgetwaiter]

This type of thing isn't really an internet problem, more of a people problem. How many of you can think of a similar problem that happened with your condo board, book club or sports team? The internet does change the dynamic. It is easy to be rude online, sometimes when you don't really mean to but it still happens in face to face situations too.

The one thing that seems to happen quickly online is that people organize into cliques. Seems to me that spells the end for an online community, I noticed it on RC a while ago. Actually, you eventually notice almost everywhere.

Groupthink can be a real problem too and the standard model that a lot of web forums use can exasperate it. Unfortunately no matter what you try and do giving somebody that Moderator tag conveys "status" and most people don't handle it well. People that are really good mods for online communities are few and far between.

I think the best thing a moderator could do for the community is stay out of the discussion and just provide the occasional nudge when things get off track. Of course for somebody volunteering to moderate a site like RC, that would be boring fast and is probably an unreasonable idea. Things like that RC post by the site admin are a also great example of what not to do, ever. As soon as you try and exclude the average community member from something going on your community is dead and waiting to fall over.

I spent a lot of time researching and developing good moderation techniques a few years ago when my company built an online community for employees and franchise owners. Frankly, it's a bitch to do well and takes a ton of discipline. We had to recruit and train moderators just like you would find somebody to fill a professional position. One thing that surprised me most, the most prolific posters often make the WORST moderators. The quiet people are usually the most reasonable and tend to have less of a personal agenda.

I don't usually volunteer for moderator duties in communities I belong to, given my background it seems to much like work usually. I just watched another web community I really liked go the group think road though so I may have to change my mind about that.

I should note, I haven't been around Canreef long or much but it seems to be a very healthy community. You should all be proud of yourselves.