Lay of the Land - Whats the difference between the Reefing sites?

[Omri]

Lay of the Land - Whats the difference between the Reefing sites?!

Not trying to be controversial here, but I really enjoy reading all the online reefing forums online. I'm just trying to figure out if there are clear differences between some of the sites I am looking through. I'm starting a 140 gallon Reef Tank and would love to do a tank build thread and get some feedback, but wasn't sure if it's better to do it in a local club near me in Jersey so I can meet people and get some good guidance from the more advanced reefers & mentors on these amazing forums. Would love to also swap, trade & buy from people I trust near me.
Are some of these sites more National, is popularity/size a factor.

Here are the sites I find myself on most in no particular order:
*********
ReefCentral
ManhattanReefs
Reefs.com
3Reef
My absolute favorite is Reefkeeping TOTM and any other TOTM's I can find as those are what I aspire to one day do in my tank when I'm my reefkeeping skills get there.

Also, I find that many of the photos/older posts don't open so easily on iPhones. Are there apps you use on a phone that make this easier?

 

[motortrendz]

I'm a member of NJ reefers and live in central jersey. This forum is also good as well as r2r.

 

[los kados]

North Jersey guy here. I am mostly on here Manhattan Reefers. It really depends what you are looking for.

On all forums you can find solid general reef keeping advice and have good amount of FAQ's, build threads, specific forums by reef type or equipment and trade/for sale/WTB forums.

If you're looking to meet members then of course local would be best like here or NJR for swaps, clubs etc..

The more national forums like Reef Central, R2R will have endless amounts of information, pictures and archived faqs that are super helpful when starting. However, it can be more difficult to ask simple questions that may already have been asked and quickly pointed to an FAQ thread. Also, sometimes because of the mass amount of people on there it can get overwhelming. Also is more difficult to trade or buy items if not local.

All in all, great information can be found on all sites and solid people in my experience. I think people typically tend to gravitate to bigger forums in the beginning to learn and read in the background and then become more active on local forums once they become comfortable and experienced.

 

[duke62]

I live about a hour from you. They are trying to start a local reef club in the water gap which about 12 guys showed up to the first get together. PM me if you’re interested. Next meeting is at my house in January. Send a request on FB “water gap reef club”