When did you find out about forums?

[Tanzy]

I'm interested to find out when y'all actually got to know and use about online forums like SRC. It's because if these forums are to be effective, they should be made known to people who have not started on a tank yet instead of trying to salvage bad ideas and recommendation that the LFS have dished out. If the forum is utilised just by some regulars or 'old birds' then it is not up to it's full potential. We should be introducing people to the hobby, not fixing the mess the LFS have created.

When I first started out, I went to Sam at Sealife and I ended up with a 2' tank with UGF, LR and damsel (How many of you got the same thing?) <_< . What a load of crap! I failed to do any research before, trusting the LFS to know and provide good and reliable info. This resulted in wasted time, lives and effort, not to mention money. I only managed to pull my tank together after finding forums such as Reefs.org and RC.

[spade]

tanzy,

same thing happened to me. I got a tank with UGF, 2pc of liverocks, some damsels. the lfs owner even say no need to change water for abt a year, only need top up water once a while. i faithfully followed. of course the whole thing crashed after several weeks, algae take over ...

[Stenopus Hispidus]

Yup. Same here. Started the reefing hobby in '87. I had to go through the hard way and learn from deaths and casualties and of course...lotsa $$$. I still remembered bleaching and collecting fresh coral skeletons off my tank and even had a display cabinet showcasing all the different species of corals I kept (like trophies) until the collection grew beyond human management and "trophy value" lost its appeal as it was too easily attainable!

Things really start to take a turn when I cut strings and went independent. To hell with local LFS info. Learnt to take them with a pinch of salt. Brought in specialised books from overseas and mugged. Acquired skimmer and chiller when no LFS had even the slightest inkling what these things are. Internet was not yet so well established then and home computers were not up to scratch to surf the net. I still remembered I had an Atari 800 with that huge monster of a floppy. Other than handle word processing for my school projects, it was nothing but a gaming machine. Played my first game - Space invaders then went on to Ultima 1. After that, upgraded to an Acer with Intel 286 16 Mhz complete with a 1200 bnp modem and it was like WOW!Can surf net oredi...but now...yeah! sure! Don't know how I did it but I still dragged myself at that speed (prob. due to a compulsive thirst for info which the local arena cannot satisfy), soaking info from aquaria.rec where hot shots like Bob Goemans and Craig Bingman were there at that time.

All my NS pay went into the hobby and got them back as coral skeletons. My initial experience was fraught with agony, pain, tears and I hope no one else have to re-live this.

[TTBoy]

Yes. totally agree. I learnt through the hard way too. I think we shld try to push this site to pple new to this hobby. So that they wont get into corals that are not suitable and waste money. But i think a few LFS here will not be too happy eh..

[onghm]

For me, I did some research first before jumping in.

But the problem is, i did not research enough.

I started off with a basic "marine startup" kind of book and decided cannister is the way for me to setup a 2 feet tank.

My criteria then was as simple as it can be.

While surfing, saw that petmart was selling 2213 at $80, the cheapest in town.

Off I went and grabbed one, fearing they might have limited stock.

With my cannister still in the box, (no tank yet), I continue to surf and readup.

Realised that cannister in its typical setup with bio-media, will function effeciently converting ammonia to nitrite to nitrate and stop there....

Shit wrong move....how to get rid of nitrate ?

Then came across NNR where they talk about using liverock and plenum to naturally reduce nitrate.

Did not understand a bit about the plenum thingy, so choose to rely just on liverock instead.

It did not occur to me then that you need substantial amount of liverock.

If I had come across DSB then, would definitely go for it.....as its simple enough for me to understand....just 4 to 6 inches of #1 sand...

That's how I ended up with my cannister as mech+chem and liverock as bio filtration.

If I have research more and longer, would have made better and more informed purchase.

[dodo]

hi,

I share exactly the same experience with Spade ...Sam actually suggested the same thing UGF, LR but not damsel(he suggested clown) etc...spend alot of $ for the initial setup and buying their products but find them not suitable after all

no need change water for one year and all those crap of toping freshwater etc i confronted him y in the 1st place he tell me no need change water for 1yr then now tell me need to change every week he jus give me a lousy excuse like if I use a eheim canister filter...then i can afford to change water once every year at tis pt of time...my trust in him already flush down the sewage....

as for casualties wise...i am very lucky to say tat my fishes have been faithfully following me ever since i started my tank (very fortunate even i change my tank from a 4footer to a 3footer)...only one clown fish comitted suicide by jumping out from my tank and the other one get suck in by my powerhead...the rest of the fishes have been with me throughout the entire 2years

as for corals wise i need periodical purchasing and topping up becos my corals will wither off and die in approx 2-3mths wat i can gather the information is that some corals are impossible to keep, e.g cauliflower. Hence will never buy those delicate corals from now on and keep only some hardy ones like mushrooms etc....till i improve my tank with chiller and MH...i will lay my hands off those delicate corals and only one coral have been following me throughout the 2yrs of my hobby...tat's my good old bubble corals

until I was introduced to tis website, my knowledge is purely based on books purchase locally and sometimes internet thank goodness with tis site...i am learning quite a bit of things, especially lite, plankton cultivation and skimmer. no doubt i have a fairly established tank...learning of new and correct ways of maintaining a reef tank is still the my top most piority

hopefully tis website will spread this wonderful experience of owning and maintaining a successful marine tank around...be it a reef tank or FOWLR

[KingFish]

Well, I suppose I'm quite lucky; like any other Internet junkie, I chanced upon this forum on a random search before I even started.

I'm still soaking up information while purchasing the tanks and stuff. Did have to throw out the 2 footer with canister for a 3 footer with sump, but I suppose its all for the better.

So no experience to share, butam you guys are kind enough to share, so keep them coming guys!!!!

[Achilles Tang]

Wow! I like this thread!

For me, I was in FW stuff for years... on and off... but harboured a yearning to keep a marine tank. I could finally fulfil that dream when I got married and have my own home... but before that... I was already researching as much as I could, buying books and surfing the net.

I consider Reef Central my home for internet information, till one day, when I decided to show off my tank... I got many compliments but then got attacked by certain individuals there (who are still moderators) who accused me of lying about my old tank eg. that I set it up just a week old and photographed it and then lied that I had it for more than a year... and that my tangs were ill-treated because I had a pix of my YT with a shrunken stomach* coz he wasn't fed yet... it got really ugly when I stood up for myself and out-talked some of them... and I got banned when I didn't realise that I re-edited what one of the mods edited.. thinking it was a bug. (Well, I did use the word 'shit' in there.. like "I don't give a shit what some of you think, but my tank blah blah blah is real!!". Well, it was the excuse they were looking for to shut me up... heh!)

*On a side note, those of you who came to my place can verify that my YT and PT is fat and healthy... in fact, Kelstorm has even complimented the shiny coat on my PT that he has never seen before. I take pride in taking good care of my fishes!

I was so angry for a few days coz my wife and friends who defended me on my behalf also got banned.... what kind of culture is that??? Oh the injustice of it all.... or was it just plain racism? I know they have a very bad impression of asian hobbyists... esp. our HK bros coz one or two posted a pix of an overly-crowded FO tank.

Then I got mails from several hobbyists who posted their support and said that was the exact reason why many of them are just surfers in there (like me now) and don't want to contribute anything or risk being flamed... which is a fact now coz in a recent post in RC, they found out that:

8380 members have not posted in 2002.

6370 members have never posted a message (33 %) !

Inactive members (8380-6370) 2010 (10 %)

Those members with less than 10 posts make 59% of users !

The regulars (more than 500 posts) make up only 1.7 % of the members

Only 8.6% of members have more than 100 posts

To me, that's a slap back on their faces!!! I have moved on from that ugly episode with those arrogant Americans (a few are really nice though) and decided that if I should one day start a specialized forum for us locals (which there never was)... I would not abuse my authority or shove my opinions down someone else's throat eg. like the RC Tang Police.

I dun consider us local hobbyists any less inferior to them and we should prove it to them. We are as educated and dedicated as many of them. Just not as loud and opinionated... heh!

Anyway, today, the Singapore Reef Club has grown a lot since Sept... and I am pleased at the knowledge shown, activeness and friendliness of our members! Keep it up, folks!!! Raise the banner high!

AT

[TanGo]

Was deciding between FW and Marine tank.. Read for about a month (guess that's not enough) before investing in Marine tank. I bought my 2ft set up from Rainbow.. (ouch..) started off with fish only tank..

All went well, and decided to venture into corals.. So I went to get my first piece of LR, too scared that my LR die on me, so I went to get a chiller and slowly pieces of corals.

I think I am one of the luckier ones, I mean to find this forum in time and read about it as I progress.. Asking everyone and anyone who know about marine fish keeping.. And even manage to prevent a catostropic disaster, (NO3 sky rocketed) all thanks to this forum.

This forum has been set as my "Homepage".

Thanks everyone

[Tanzy]

SRC has 200+ members and less than 20 voted? Has to be more people reading this right? Votes are anonymous!

[Morgan]

SRC has 200+ members and less than 20 voted? Has to be more people reading this right? Votes are anonymous!

I started marine way back. I had only a book for reference then. Using UGF (recommended at that time) only.

Internet? never heard of it then.

Had my share of disaster in the early days.

Sucessfull in keeping Fish Only with some LR for hiding place. Later progress to just plain coral chip filter + LR cos ugf is not practical. It choke up over a short time and also the air pumps need to be replace on a regular basis.

Coverted to LPS reeftank 6 years back.

So the polls you have cannot really apply.

[Tanzy]

Morgan,

I consider you as poll type 1, because you've already got a tank that's matured by the time you got internet right?

[Morgan]

I guess you could say that.

[anakjoh]

Oh, where would I be without forums like this?

SRC is my favourite because ppl r frenly n I get instant (next-day) reply to my queries - even simple ones. Maybe SRC could be ARC one day - ASEAN reef club!

Anyway, I started reef tank after I saw that minis and nanos can work n because I already own a MH for my 4ft FW. I start off with 100L tank and read as much from websites and forums as I could.

I suppose I started right with live rocks and #0 DSB. Cycle for 1 mth before I got cleaner shrimp. Until now, 10 weeks already, there's only 4 occupants in my tank - CS, CBS, false clown and just bought yesterday red wrasse. There are 4 corals - bubble, sea mat, small anemone and favite.

So far, I've "killed" (I feel really bad - I think we should be responsible to preserve our indoor reefs as well as the wild ones) one haddon and 2 fishes - banggai and orange speckled goby (don't know real name). I don't know y the fishes died, the CS was OK. Water parameters were OK. The haddon puffed and puffed - don't know where to put it and moved it 3 times - may have injured it. RIP.

Now I am very careful about buying corals and fishes - have made a list of fishes to buy - maybe only 3 more - puple firefish, bicolour dottyback and neon goby. Only beginner corals 4 me.

[eprouve]

Actually I started out on forums when I bought my first FW tank. The LFS boss of NA recommended me to AuquaticQuotient which I participated in quite actively. It was a companion guide kind of thing for me... which was also when I started having interest in starting a Marine tank.

So I did some research on that forum, bought a book which I have yet to finish... and was introduced to SRC by one of the forumers of AQ. We met up to go around to farms one day and discussed the usefulness of the forum. Decided that the AQ Marine section was not useful so started looking for other sources which included SRC.

[harlequin]

Me got into reef tanks 9 years back as a 2nd tank, with overflow systems and Duplas MH. Back then, prices were sky high....remember paying like S$90 for a Flame Angel, S$500 for a AT !!

Those days, chillers were unheard of and wet/dry just came into the scene. Still have that original first skimmer in the market from Sander , running on wooden airstones. No internet back then, only BBS at a miserable 300bps.

Ehiem was and still one of the great aquarium equipment manufacturer. Wave makers ? Can only dream of the waves at EastCoast Beach.

At least during the early days, i've a good LFS to lean to for advice.

Things have changed considerably nowadays. Equipement aplenty, prices for fishes/corals more reasonable, more importers and very regular weekly imports.

LR then was only around S$1 per kg. Now....D24 durians is even cheaper then LRs.

[Chris]

15 years ago, saw my businessman dad got persuaded by friends and started a marine tank. He didn't have time to do anything to it. I ended up feeding it live bloodworm and all the clowns and anemones died. Lasted a month only.

Had FW fish since then...goldfish...discus(still have).

2 years ago, decided to go back to marine. Started with 2 ft to practice and learn along the way. After half a year, moved to 4X2X2 and did a reef. At first corals not too well. Then added enough lights, added chiller and learn how to arrange corals according to their needs (light and current). Now, stable. No death for half year liao.

A spend lots of time visiting LFS and talking with people. Met friends and one told me about this site. Found it fantastic and even gave spoke to Sam's wife about the site at Sealife and gave her the URL.

Thanks to AT for starting this, helped me a lot. At least I won't got "ketok" by Rainbow anymore!

[Tanzy]

From the polls it seem to show that there are more people doing their homework before they start their tank. I suppose it could be taken as a sign of the effectiveness of forums like SRC and the internet. I think this is the long term aim of forum communities instead of just helping reefers but also educating reefers-to-be.

[fairywrasse]

I'm glad for forums like this! Lots of info to soak up and sift thru

I have a nano now and will be getting a 3ft tank soon so I'm reading up all I can. Prevention is better than cure!

[strontium]

what a shame to myself, everyone started with at less a 2 ft tank,

i started with a tiny miny 1 less than 1 ft n have at less 5 fishes in .n some

coral. but all minture.

now having a 1.5 ft tank but still cannot .ends up , waste all my money.

thats why now i stop buying first n save up 4 a better system.

4 me i was influence by a friend who dont know anything about marine fish only follow what people say. never find out the reasons.

now i can proundly say that i can advice him one way or another, at lease, better than before ,after going through this club forums.

thanks the person who set up this forums

[chey42]

i did some research b4 goin into marine ... wanted to start long time ago then my fren told me abt this forum ...

[darkness]

I decided to go marine because I hate the yellow-ish or green-ish water of FW tank. I like the crystal clear water of marine tank. Especially at night when you switch off the room light and you admire your tank in the darkness with a can of beer in your hand...it feel like paradise. (now you know why my nickname is darkness... )

Anyway, I started doing extensive research in March 2003 with encouragement from my wife. Being an internet junky myself, I basically visited most of the marine web sites. I hate other web sites as they tend to flame people who asked for help and put people down for those who dare to ask. Then, I found SRC, which inline with my principal. As the reason of why Internet was invented in the first place. It is a place to share and learn; to teach those who need help and to learn from others. That's how Linux was invented and that's the spirit of SRC that I like.

I can't really describe how much I have learned from SRC. Really appreciate with all the pointers given directly or indirectly.

Keep up the spirit!

[hghflyer]

Been keeping FW fish for almost 2 yrs before decided to venture into marine. I got tired of FW fish. No kick after a while. Started reading up just before "Finding Nemo" came into the picture. I visited many marine web sites but fail to really understand/learn what are they talking about(why can't some Americans use plain simple english. Too long winded.) When a friend told me about SRC, I finally began to really LEARN. I have not contribute many postings but I read alot from what u guys are saying. Guess I'm a shy type. Thanks AT and all of you experts. My tank is almost 2 months now and so far so good(except for the NO3- a little high though). Really appreciate learning from this forum.

BTW, 90% of my internet surfing is on SRC.

LONG LIVE SRC...SRC...SRC...!!!

[harmony]

I started out in FW (and Planted Tank) for many years but have always had the interest in Marine aquaria.

Before taking the 'plunge' I started reading as much as possible from books and the internet. This is a very informative forum with lots of helpful people. I have definitely learned a lot here. And also, I particularly like the local context (and humour )

[Nautical]

Started reading SRC forums in Jan 04, almost daily till midnight. And also other books from library. Learnt much, but more to know. Visited various LFS and asked questions, with knowledge that some advices must be taken with a pinch of salt

I just got my 36" x 18" x 24" main tank and 24" sump tank last nite 13 FEb. More installation to follow Sunday.

Thanks all folks at SRC, you give me confidence. Keep up the good work ... I have been 'advertising" this site.