Generation gap in experience

[Anonymous]

I think that with the kalkwasser questions we can point newbies to that awesome thread in the archives (by bReefcase and Randy Holmes Farley).

Perhaps we can put together threads for hair algae treatment; one for diatom treatment, and one for cyano treatment (if these threads don't already exsist).

Other routine questions could be similarly handled.

 

[outerbank]

I just think everyone has to be patient and RESPECT the person asking the question no matter what the question is. Everyone comes to the board for advice and discussion. That to me tells me we are all much more interested in being successful in this hobby (compared to the guy that goes home, does the same thing that is being asked, never reads a forum, and then repeats the same scenario over and over). Why make yourself offensive to someone asking for help and not to the person that does the same thing daily at any LFS and whom never asks for help? Constructive criticism does not have to be offensive to any poster that is sincere.

Scott

 

[randy holmes-farley]

I agree with both Chucker and Scott Passe. The reason that I write articles is to get the ideas in one place that they can be referred to, instead of rewriting 2000 words on phosphate every time someone asks where it comes from.

I've also decided in my forum to keep a live thread on each reef tank chemistry topic that lists the best links that provide detailed information about each topic. As new articles or significant threads surface about, say, magnesium, I'll add them to the list.

 

[Bubafat]

I've been reefing on and off (i'm a college boy, its hard to do both) for almost 7 years now. I've also worked for 4 LFS in that time, 2 good ones, petco (nuff said) and a bad one. I think think the main diff between a newbie and an "oldie" would be BOTH knowledge and how well one communicates this knowledge. Working at LFS's I've seen many stages of what i call "newbie'ism."

The first is, "those are purdy, let me get one of dem fo my fish tank (freshwater of course).

The second stage they've accepted that they need a salt tank, and will listen to the bare minimum that the LFS employee tells them, but won't listen to stocking issues and won't buy a book (waste of money

).

Third stage is they start reading books and maybe get online, are having decent luck with their tanks, maybe have replaced that seaclone or skilter and now start stocking their tank with corals and anemones (against everyone's advice, assuming they have a good LFS).

The final stage I think in Newbie'ism is the "know it all" syndrom. This usually comes anywhere from 8 months to 2 years after starting. It is the attitude that they know it all and will dispense this info to anyone that will listen. I've seen it working at petstores, going to petstores and on BB's. I went through this nasty stage and even went so far as to tell Eric Bornemon off, saying he didn't know squat as i was ignorant as to who he was, even though his book was sitting on my bookshelf, read at least 5 times over (i wrote one heck of an appology afterward).

I still consider my self an immature prick and i do still on occasion blow up at someone online. I try not to and give constructive answers, but sometimes its so hard not to (i.e. tang in a 20gallon). I do find it fun though to go into LFS and note that I own have have read every book on their shelves multiple times, and then treated like I know squat by an employee who prolly has been reefing much less then I.


Anyway, I'm still learning and love BB's as it allows one to see personal experiences.

Buba

 

[Terry B]

There have been some really great responses to this thread. I could tell that a lot of thought went into your answers. Some of you have good, practical ideas on how to deal with these problems. Could we start a list of things that experienced aquarists wish than there newer counterparts would listen to their advice about?
Examples:
1. Quarantine.
2. Reading some good books on the hobby.
3. Researching an animal before you purchase it.

Terry B

 

[esmithiii]

Terry,

Not to nit-pick, but many successful hobbyists do not quarentine. I don't want a debate here, but in a reef-tank, once the desired fish load is met, IMO a successful hobbyist shouldn't have to add fish for quite a while, maybe 10+ years. FWIW I think quarentine being absolutely essential to reef health is a paradigm shared only by the "older" reef-keepers.

E

 

[pez]

I would like to point out that the "Internet" has had an FAQ for both fish keeping and reef keeping for quite some time. It has been around for years (well over 7 years) and has undoubtedly been of value to many people. With the popularity of BBs like this one, many people fail to look in the most obvious place for information.

However, what it boils down to is that people are lazy. Period. They are looking for instant gratification. Thus, they post before looking for answers. Why? Because it is easier. I'm not looking for a flame war here, that's just the way it is. Everyone doesn't this, but many, many people do. This is usually why the "research first" person gets dumped on for a seemingly innocent post. It's the predisposition of the posters on this BB (and others) that lends itself to such behavior. Maybe we should blame ourselves for not having more patience with the newbies? Or maybe we should just blame the newbies for not having more patience to research first? In either case no one wins here. I too get sick of the same questions over and over again. I too ignore them. We are all guilty of that to some degree. However, we are here to exchange ideas. Part of that exchange is to help people see our point of view AND to see theirs. A fact that is lost on so many people.

So, what are we to do about it?

Being an "old timer" in the Internet world, I highly recommend the FAQ email when joining approach. It puts the onus on the poster. So they can never say, "you never told me". It will be more like, "I never took the time to read that" (an attitude that is somewhat self explanatory). Also, this is something I suggested on rec.aquaria that got shot down. Have a form with all the basic questions on it. If a newbie wants to post a question, they could fill out the form with all the information about their tank on it. That will eliminate 90% of the "what's your setup like" questions. Of course, people can choose to not use the form, at which point we enter viscous circle.

Regardless of the outcome of this thread, treat people like you want to be treated. If you like to be flamed, so be it. However, I believe most people don't like to be flamed and like to get valuable information with every post. As the signal to noise ratio goes up, this board will become a more enjoyable place to be (not that isn't already

).

-Tom

[ January 13, 2002: Message edited by: pez ]</p>

 

[HARRISON]

You know one thing that has crossed my mind while reading this is that if you answer all the newbies questions up front or give them canned answers then the experienced aquarists may not get the inspiration to try something new and the middle people don't get a chance to review the basics keeping them up on the info. Some of you work in stores but the rest of us deal with one or two tanks only. That means the experience is limited to what we can try or afford in our own systems. So by see what is happening with a newbie who has money to blow and not enough experience to master it we can learn. I ask questions when I find myself stumped but for the most part I set back and read what is going on with others tanks and learn how to apply their success and avoid their failures to my tank. I would hate to see all the problems solved in e-mail and the rest not get the benefit of the answers regardless of how simple. Not to mention that we couldn't do as much debating and the threads would die off without the diversity.

Deep thoughts by Jack Handy....(Saturday Night Live)

Harrison