Alright whose 12 footer is that?

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

Hmmm.. probably. I'll move it. Thanks for noticing..

why would a thread on my tank be in Calgary? Does bow Vally only make tanks for you if you live in Calgary. like really who would want to live in Calgary anyways when you could live in Edmonton, the city of Champions

Steve

[Ephraim]

Originally Posted by fishytime

I agree. Most customers we get in the store are like..."whats a canreef". And sadly most of those people have nothing but LFS advice to go on(which isnt always in the best interest of the tank or livestock). Arent we lucky to have access to the wealth of information both here and on other online sources.

i would not say that we are lucky to have this "wealth of information" for someone that is new to this, the incorrect information on most aquarium forums is more prevalent that it is in the worst of LFS. A good fish shopkeep can give you more useful information than the best web forum, because it is A) filtered and B) they have to answer for the incorrect info.

[mark]

Originally Posted by Ephraim

The vast majority of aquarists choose only to impress themselves and do not feel the need to show off on the internet.

I'm not here to impress or show off.

[lastlight]

Mitch told me the tank was headed for Edmonton which is why I posted there looking for the owner...

Additionally...this is the first post I've ever made that's actually generated any interest I think and it's not even my tank!

[ReefJunkie]

Originally Posted by Ephraim

i would not say that we are lucky to have this "wealth of information" for someone that is new to this, the incorrect information on most aquarium forums is more prevalent that it is in the worst of LFS. A good fish shopkeep can give you more useful information than the best web forum, because it is A) filtered and B) they have to answer for the incorrect info.

I disagree, I have learned more from this website than from any fish store I have been to... I guess if you have a 'good' fish store nearby that you can go to with questions great (but for me starting out that would have been a lot of trips to the store). I have rarely been misinformed on this or any other reefing forum and if there is some misinformation being given usually the more experienced people chime in right away and correct this. All canreefers together I'm sure have way more experience than any "good shopkeep" and they dont want to sell you anything

[Der_Iron_Chef]

Originally Posted by JDigital

Damn, that's thick!

So tempted, but going to leave it alone...

[midgetwaiter]

Originally Posted by ReefJunkie

I disagree, I have learned more from this website than from any fish store I have been to... I guess if you have a 'good' fish store nearby that you can go to with questions great (but for me starting out that would have been a lot of trips to the store). I have rarely been misinformed on this or any other reefing forum and if there is some misinformation being given usually the more experienced people chime in right away and correct this. All canreefers together I'm sure have way more experience than any "good shopkeep" and they dont want to sell you anything

I dunno about that, I've seen some truly awful advice offered here lately. Whatever question you've got it's probably best to try and get info from as many sources as you can and make up your own mind.

[howdy20012002]

Is it just me or what?
WOW
How did this conversation jump over 5 lanes and into 2 or 3 different directions.
Too funny.
someone bringing up an interest point turned into a wrestling match with about 4 or 5 people in the ring.
I don't come here for the advice anymore, I just come to see the fireworks.
lol

I think everyone needs a vacation to some far off distant land so we can all swim around in God's aquarium and relax.


Neal

[Der_Iron_Chef]

I'm headed to Costa Rica in March. Ahhhh....God's aquarium or WHAT?!

Originally Posted by howdy20012002

Is it just me or what?
WOW
How did this conversation jump over 5 lanes and into 2 or 3 different directions.
Too funny.
someone bringing up an interest point turned into a wrestling match with about 4 or 5 people in the ring.
I don't come here for the advice anymore, I just come to see the fireworks.
lol

I think everyone needs a vacation to some far off distant land so we can all swim around in God's aquarium and relax.


Neal

[Delphinus]

Spirited debate is not unhealthy. If the thread jumps over 5 lanes then so be it, as long as nobody has a problem with how people conduct themselves then it's cool. I had a problem with the way VFX expressed himself or herself, which I think would likely have been different had they not been posting from an anonymous vantage point (to me this person is anonymous), and so I replied in kind. Things were said, I said what I thought of his post, he said what he thought of my post, and hopefully both of us have moved on from that particular incident. It really doesn't matter to me beyond this context. In another thread I might be so inclined to congratulate him or her on a nice photo or something, or sympathize about a car engine being wrecked because someone didn't tighten a lug nut or something. It really doesn't matter to me, I always react within the specific context of the time.

Originally Posted by Ephraim

A lot of reefers do not feel the need to shamelessly self promote thier tank on online forums. Because they do not participate on a forum does not mean they don't fully understand thier system and how a reef works. Also, if they pay someone to look after the tank does not mean they don't fully understand thier system and how a reef works. Fact is, most people that have 800 gallon tanks in Calgary, don't have the time to look after them themselves, that's how they could afford them in the first place.

The vast majority of aquarists choose only to impress themselves and do not feel the need to show off on the internet.

And I would argue that not everyone who comes to an internet forum is here to shamelessly self-promote or show off. Perhaps it is true for some. Perhaps it is not true for others.

It was NOT my intent to imply that the owner of the tank is in any category. Although I realize NOW that in my haste to post, I could have worded things better, but my point was intended to be that there are more tanks out there that are large, and spectacular, and intensely private. It is not my intent to judge, only to state an observation. Everytime I visit Mitch, I see many spectacular tanks being built. And Mitch is but ONE builder - so to extrapolate what I see there onto other builders - the result is that there are lots of big, big tanks out there, and only a privileged few get to know anything about them. The only real "shame" here is that there is likely a wealth of information learned because of these tanks that doesn't get shared in some form.

For the record I apologize for the implication that all big tank owners are those who do not care for the tanks themselves. I also apologize for the implication that this big tank in question falls into that category. I know nothing about the tank or the person and the comments weren't intended to be an assumption about this person. But also for the record, some people ARE in that category. I'm simply stating observation, not passing judgment. If life lets you be in that position then hey, good for you man, you're living the dream. It's not wrong, it's not right, it's just phenomenon.

Originally Posted by Ephraim

i would not say that we are lucky to have this "wealth of information" for someone that is new to this, the incorrect information on most aquarium forums is more prevalent that it is in the worst of LFS. A good fish shopkeep can give you more useful information than the best web forum, because it is A) filtered and B) they have to answer for the incorrect info.

One key difference that you're missing is that forums do allow for a form of peer review. Granted, it's not guaranteed - you yourself have implied as has another posted in this thread that you have seen wrong information posted and not intervened yourself to post a differing point of view. So, the model is indeed far from perfect. On the flip side, and you said yourself by prefacing "good" before "fish shopkeep", again, the potential is there for it to be a good model, but is hardly guaranteed. Personally, I have had good advice and bad advice from forums, I have had good advice and bad advice from shopkeeps - although some of the WORST advice I was ever given, did come from shopkeeps who were motivated by increasing sales. Heck, I've been outright lied to by people in the industry. .. I think of the case of the "benign dictatorship" model being an effective method to run a country - the downside is that there don't tend to be many (or any) "benign" dictators in the world. Without checks and balances, things get out of hand. So to bring this back to context, what is a person to do to gather information. The best choice, I think, is to inform yourself from as many sources as possible, and in the case that disparate viewpoints are encountered, question and challenge the assumptions.

Not really sure how this veered into "LFS versus internet" territory but there are my thoughts on that. No LFS is perfect, no internet forum is perfect. I can only speak from my own perspective - I don't lie when giving advice. I have no motivation to increase sales so I wouldn't tell someone "Yes go ahead and buy that blue ribbon eel - everything will be great!!" for example. But I don't run a shop nor work in one, so ordinarily nobody would ask me anyhow. But I AM on here, and if I see something that I can offer some advice on, I'll do my best. Anyhow, that's my reason I'm here.

cheers