Newbie Authors Wanted

[EmilyB]

Now that would be a real PITA (pain in the ass)...

[fishfogg]

The subject heading should speak for it self, as a newbie i have probably covered 4 or 5 internet web sites now, and still i have not been able to figure out what some of the abbreviations are. Whats D.Y.I.

The first rule of thumb in teaching anyone anything is YOU DO NOT Abbreviate any thing, you spell it out completly.

how is any one suppose to learn any thing when you teachers are speaking alien from another solar system.

Another thing would be to make a Abbreviation chart for us new people to learn.

[jess128]

DIY is "do it yourself." I think posting articles about how to get started is a great idea. I know that when I first started out it would have been great to have all of the basic information in one place.

[albert_dao]

I had an idea on this. What if someone were to make fish profiles of all (or close to all) of the fishes commonly offered in the hobby and suitable for new (under 3 month old) tanks?

I mean, something like what you see in the freshwater forums. Let's say you had a completely seperate sticky on yellow tangs or blue damsels highlighting their positives and negatives, giving a rough guideline for what to look for in individuals concerning color, behavior and price. I think that would be a pretty nice boost for beginners looking for fool proof additions to their new tanks.

I know a lot of this material exist on the net wherever, but none of it is compiled here on CanReef.

On the flip side of the coin, there could be a sticky listing all the animals commonly encountered that newbies, or anyone really, should stay away from. Things like pinniatus batfish, regal angels, etc. I've not seen these list anywhere except on books. A stickied thread with pictures detailing all these species would be a great benefit to this section of CanReef IMHO.

[Rikko]

Just curious how the newbie authors thing is ending up.. Do we still want some articles or did the "link to established articles" team win out? I don't mind writing a few articles (with photos when possible), but if it's not going to be of much use I'm much rather just throw some links into a thread.

[Aquattro]

Any articles you write are welcome. We plan to build the library link once we've got a few things there to read. Thanks for the offer.

[rainmaker69]

I think that articles or links about compatible fish and tank sizes required for them would help newbies like me to avoid overstocking issues that I am currently facing. I goofed, due to lack of knowledge and proper research, and have ended up with 2- 3 stripe damsel, 1- lawnmower blenny, 1 bicolor goby (blenny), and a 3.5" green spotted puffer in a 30g tank. Now I am frantic to get a 70-120g tank to house them properly.

[Troy F]

Welcome to the board RM.

[Van down by the river]

I think a recommended reading would be far more useful than articles on what and what not to keep, and how to keep them.

Would you build a house without a plan or experience?
Would you go on a long distance trip not knowing which way to go?
Would you marry someone sight unseen?

So why would you invest thousands of dollars in a reef tank without learning how to run it?

No you would learn and ask questions first from a reputable source.

The problem with posting for example a "do not keep" fish list for beginners is that moments after it's posted some bozo will post contradicting the information. This kind of boasting does little to improve the information of the thread and is often misleading to a beginner. Not to mention they never mention how many died before they could find one to break the "general rule".

I think that forums and posted discussions can be confusing for beginners when they see so many points of view. They don't have the experience to weed through them yet. Online communities are very a very useful tool but if you don't have the basics down they can lead you astray.

Not to mention often people posting advice, should actually be asking for it and listening as their tanks are nothing to aspire to. (originally I had the word "suck" here but thought it too harsh.)

Unfortunately, it seems that many of the people that truly do have the experience and reefs to model after tend to be less vocal about it. There are many lurkers with beautiful tanks on Canreef that rarely post. Apparently they have lives and jobs or something like that.

A Big thanks to the ones that do spend the time and effort.

Thousands of dollars and thousands of doomed animals could be saved by directing beginners to a good book. If somebody is too cheap to buy a decent book or too impatient to read it, then you can't help them anyways.
They won't spend 30 seconds searching for the already well written answer either, they'll just post the question again for the 67th time.

The good part is that these people create good deals for the rest of us.You can just watch the buy and sell to pick up their tank at 1/4 of the price when they get frustrated and get rid of it. The bad side is that dozens of animals lose their lives to these type of aquarists.

I see frustrated aquarists every weekend that got bad or misleading advice. They all want to be successful and save money. Often they have spent enough already to have had a very nice set-up, if they made the right choices.

The most important advice I can ever give somebody is: "Buy a good reef book."

A book won't teach you everything, but it will help build a good knowledge foundation.