As the best Reef Forum i propose some industry leading easy to follow Guidelines...RSR Style

[Reefacist]

@revhtree

Can we please get a simple one page step by step guideline that is updated frequently for almost all common things that will make it easier for newbies and even some experts that are trying to learn something new?

For example, i am in process of setting up my new tank and this website along with some BRS and other youtube vids has been a god sent (but bad on the wallet lol), however, today i wanted to read and set up my QT. I bought a 10g tank from petco and had to read well over 4-5hours on different forums to find, what i still don't know for sure, a good QT process. I listened to the entire BRS discussion with elliot and even they referred to our very own @Humblefish but there is just soooo much knowledge and threads i couldn't find the thread by humblefish that i was looking for.

Anyways now this is what i purpose...lets have a R2R simple one page step by step recommendation for all things. Something where we can click and open and read and follow. I know there is A LOT of varieties to things but if we want a good reliable method and not read hundreds of opinions but just one we trust and move along. For example, in this case we could have a QT Process prepared by humblefish or anyone else R2R trusts and we can have that R2R recommended step by step avail for anyone who does not want to read hours of threads to find a fairly hobby wide accepted process. I know that some people will think there is no right way but at least we newbies can have "A" way to start without getting overwhelmed by every step of the way.

We can also have guides for: cycling, curing, treating, even feeding, order of fish placement

Idk maybe its not doable but so many smart folks on here that i think this will be very simple and 100% useful

 

[susan ingram]

There is an article under the articles section by @pathot984 on equipment and process. I would start there but agree with your suggestion!

Quarantine Setup Made Easy

Introduction: This article covers the equipment that I utilize in my current quarantine tank. I address commonly asked questions for newly cycled and existing QT setups. In addition, I touch upon the trusted medications that I keep on hand...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[fishguy242]

i can see that ,example qt procedures from expert,but on other hand ,cycling so many different views ,that work,i am not familiar but i think a lot of forums already have the sticky thread??and then disease and treatment,most are emergency,all depending on what,how far along,how fast to act p.s. i really do miss the emergency forumdo see some go unanswered for too long..just my.02

 

[gabrieltackitt]

If you never found it, here is a link to @Humblefish how to Quarantine thread

How to Quarantine

How to Setup a Quarantine Tank The following are the bare essentials: Aquarium (10-30 gallons seems to work for most people. Bigger QT lets you house more fish and gives you more wiggle room when it comes to ammonia. Smaller QT is cheaper, easier to maintain and can be setup/broke down...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[susan ingram]

i can see that ,example qt procedures from expert,but on other hand ,cycling so many different views ,that work,i am not familiar but i think a lot of forums already have the sticky thread??and then disease and treatment,most are emergency,all depending on what,how far along,how fast to act p.s. i really do miss the emergency forumdo see some go unanswered for too long..just my.02

I always try to go into the unanswered threads section and bump for that very reason. I think we can use the #____ to get the experts attention.. not sure of who they are though!!

 

[gabrieltackitt]

Also, if you can’t find what your looking for, you can always pop a new thread into the general discussion forum and have people drop links to helpful information.

I do vaguely remember reading a thread that had a lot of this compiled already, I’ll see if I can poke around and find it.

 

[fishguy242]

stick around you will learn soon enough ,and in an emergency ,which i agree 25% are not true em,you can always # reef squad,they will come and summon rt person for case

 

[susan ingram]

stick around you will learn soon enough ,and in an emergency ,which i agree 25% are not true em,you can always # reef squad,they will come and summon rt person for case

corrected my OP.... thanks fishguy!

 

[Reefacist]

If you never found it, here is a link to @Humblefish how to Quarantine thread

How to Quarantine

How to Setup a Quarantine Tank The following are the bare essentials: Aquarium (10-30 gallons seems to work for most people. Bigger QT lets you house more fish and gives you more wiggle room when it comes to ammonia. Smaller QT is cheaper, easier to maintain and can be setup/broke down...

www.reef2reef.com

Thanks I actually did not find it

 

[Reefacist]

There is an article under the articles section by @pathot984 on equipment and process. I would start there but agree with your suggestion!

Quarantine Setup Made Easy

Introduction: This article covers the equipment that I utilize in my current quarantine tank. I address commonly asked questions for newly cycled and existing QT setups. In addition, I touch upon the trusted medications that I keep on hand...

www.reef2reef.com

Thanks I will be reading this one now

i can see that ,example qt procedures from expert,but on other hand ,cycling so many different views ,that work,i am not familiar but i think a lot of forums already have the sticky thread??and then disease and treatment,most are emergency,all depending on what,how far along,how fast to act p.s. i really do miss the emergency forumdo see some go unanswered for too long..just my.02

I see what you are saying but even a simple recommend cycle is better than people cycling completely wrong. I read so much I decided to do the 4 month cycle even with a sand bed

I always try to go into the unanswered threads section and bump for that very reason. I think we can use the #____ to get the experts attention.. not sure of who they are though!!

First time hearing about the #reef squad...that's awesome

Also, if you can’t find what your looking for, you can always pop a new thread into the general discussion forum and have people drop links to helpful information.

I do vaguely remember reading a thread that had a lot of this compiled already, I’ll see if I can poke around and find it.

I try not to post A LOT of new since I know someone has asked it for sure before. It is just heard to find the best thread when you search. I always get the newest which is necessarily the best or the one with the most info.

Honestly as a newbie I would listen to anything an advanced reefer recommends, especially an expert in a particular process. As time goes I may adjust those methods myself but I would have NO problem listening and using a guide given to me by an expert I trust (or R2R community trusts) this would save me COUNTLESS hours.

 

[brandon429]

Cycling stickies in any forum need to be unstuck and updated and not replaced with new stickies since the science is changing so fast. I vote out ever sticky-ing one persons view on cycling. Cycle threads need to be unstickied and only kept up by their own involvement, they fall down when not used and updated practices must be held up by their own participation rates.


when a new reefer is blocked from understanding skip cycling, they’re also short-changed on how to move a reef to a new home, thats a required skip cycle event. Or how to deep clean a reef to renew its lifespan...you can’t meet deadlines using rules from a dated old school cycle sticky where three parameters on api set your allowance

Not one single cycling sticky on any forum discusses skip cycle legitimacy or how myriad reefs at MACNA have never stalled or failed to make a start date. 100% of all cycle stickies on all forums advocate waiting *weeks* they want us on cycle dialup in a world of cycle fiber speed.


the sellers of cycling products get to make the rules and customize them for specific start date timing and reliability.


the buyers, forum posters, are locked into following and at minimum 20 days until solid nitrite compliance. We will never become sellers in this arrangement.

No cycle stickies at r2r or we will be found promoting ten years outdated procedure. You can only get updated procedure in posts, not stickies. They have all failed to tell us that a MACNA speed cycle is just as able, capable and legit as a sixty day typical api cycle to nitrite compliance. We have been falsely informed that only a waited month cycle is ok. That’s wrong.

to sticky something so dynamic freezes, locks the statements in time as truth advocated by the forum, don’t do it for cycles. Don’t stifle. Since we’re not allowed to formally link how to skip a cycle, don’t make the one month wait from 1987 the ongoing rule.

 

[Reefacist]

Cycling stickies in any forum need to be unstuck and updated and not replaced with new stickies since the science is changing so fast. I vote out ever sticky-ing one persons view on cycling. Cycle threads need to be unstickied and only kept up by their own involvement, they fall down when not used and updated practices must be held up by their own participation rates.


when a new reefer is blocked from understanding skip cycling, they’re also short-changed on how to move a reef to a new home, thats a required skip cycle event. Or how to deep clean a reef to renew its lifespan...you can’t meet deadlines using rules from a dated old school cycle sticky where three parameters on api set your allowance

Not one single cycling sticky on any forum discusses skip cycle legitimacy or how myriad reefs at MACNA have never stalled or failed to make a start date. 100% of all cycle stickies on all forums advocate waiting *weeks* they want us on cycle dialup in a world of cycle fiber speed.


the sellers of cycling products get to make the rules and customize them for specific start date timing and reliability.


the buyers, forum posters, are locked into following and at minimum 20 days until solid nitrite compliance. We will never become sellers in this arrangement.

No cycle stickies at r2r or we will be found promoting ten years outdated procedure. You can only get updated procedure in posts, not stickies. They have all failed to tell us that a MACNA speed cycle is just as able, capable and legit as a sixty day typical api cycle to nitrite compliance. We have been falsely informed that only a waited month cycle is ok. That’s wrong.

to sticky something so dynamic freezes, locks the statements in time as truth advocated by the forum, don’t do it for cycles. Don’t stifle. Since we’re not allowed to formally link how to skip a cycle, don’t make the one month wait from 1987 the ongoing rule.

Love the post mainly due to the reason i have been researching cycling and have not come across the "speed cycle". ALso i will be moving in about 6-12months to my house so i will def look into this now.

I totally understand what you are saying about things quickly getting outdated but my suggestion was to have a trusted individual create the guideline and always update it to reflect new hobby wide accepted practices. So instead of a sticky where you have to go to page 150 of a thread to see the newest recommendations, you just have a one pager that is always updated. And you can have one for a speed cycle as well. Idk this was my suggestion as a newbie in the field

 

[brandon429]

Nice one agreed, a forum updated cycle sticky, not a sticky by a primary author, we could include skip cycles.


sent you a message with twenty pages of skip cycle reefs I’d never do it any other way, and I refuse to also wait forty minutes for a song to download

 

[ichthyogeek]

Hmmm....I agree it would be useful, but that's an awful lot of work for any one individual, or even group of individuals. It's hard enough to keep an eye on the changing aquarium trends, much less a finger on any one specific topic. You'd have to constantly be in every forum (yes, even that forum), along with Facebook Pages/Groups, Reddits, and so on, keeping track of all of the various changes, and sorting through all of the non-relevant minutiae that will very quickly add up. And that's not even including ongoing microbiology research, which requires papers and funds to access said papers. It might work for just one specific forum (ex. "here's R2R's most current approach to how to start a tank"), but while that cuts out a lot of the noise, it also can cut out a lot of the good improvements too. And there's a lot of opportunities for burnout as well, since it would be predominantly a thankless job, and you'd get roasted for it since you would always, always be behind.

Maybe a yearly sticky would work? One that's updated every year might be doable, since it only requires a lot of gruntwork in the beginning, and then just keeping an eye out throughout the year to monitor any changes/new developments? Anything "new/interesting" could be added on as the year progresses in order to cut down on work for the next year. The question then becomes who will do this, and will want to do this, especially for free.

 

[Reefacist]

Maybe a yearly sticky would work? One that's updated every year might be doable, since it only requires a lot of gruntwork in the beginning, and then just keeping an eye out throughout the year to monitor any changes/new developments? Anything "new/interesting" could be added on as the year progresses in order to cut down on work for the next year. The question then becomes who will do this, and will want to do this, especially for free.

Yes i wanted something like this but more of just a click and read. The guidelines can be updated once or twice a year but i think it would help a lot of folks. I would henstly do it but i am definitely not qualified enough, YET! I am a pharmacist for a living so i understand most cycles and dont mind reading and learning the detail on a molecular level but im not well read on this hobby yet to be able to give expert advice.

 

[ReefLab]

Learn to Boolean search reef 2 reef on google. It’s much more useful then the internal search feature.
For example, type into google “quarantine setup site:reef2reef.com” and it will spit out threads from this site.
also, humblefish’s stuff is gospel! Don’t bother getting QT information other places.

 

[Reefacist]

Learn to Boolean search reef 2 reef on google. It’s much more useful then the internal search feature.
For example, type into google “quarantine setup site:reef2reef.com” and it will spit out threads from this site.
also, humblefish’s stuff is gospel! Don’t bother getting QT information other places.

Thanks. Sounds like a good option because i always search internaly and cant find stuff then i google and still end up on R2R. lol

 

[brandon429]

the reason Im a fan of Humblefish's work is raw patterning in web posts. If you try and instruct 100 new reef aquarists on what to do with a group of fish, and the rules are you must get out eight months before losing them, then good luck finding any method that will get 80/100 to meet that goal other than using humblefish methods. there are some reefs that avoid total disease wipeout using hq feeding and ultimate sourcing of supports from oceans and absolutely can skip fallow, qt and ttm aseptic technique. but if the goal is per 100, 99 will fail on that method.

when managing a group of tanks and seeking to make outliers zero or as close to zero as possible, you can't beat the giant pain the rear that is indeed HF method. there is no easier, better replacement. so far. only HG gets to write disease control posts or we get to see one hundred tanks running the alternate method options

there are probably 30 thousand tanks HF method for sampling. several thousand threads on qt outcome can be sourced. they're not perfect. they're just the best we have.

right now reading several posters have skipped ttm/fallow/qt and have a nice array of fish at month 27. we cannot disavow artists...merely speaking in sample sets of 100

if at any time someone wants to start a thread on providing startup advice on skipping HF method and getting disease free fish by eight months, do. you will get a hundred entrants for outcome tracking in the first week.

 

[gray808]

If you never found it, here is a link to @Humblefish how to Quarantine thread

How to Quarantine

How to Setup a Quarantine Tank The following are the bare essentials: Aquarium (10-30 gallons seems to work for most people. Bigger QT lets you house more fish and gives you more wiggle room when it comes to ammonia. Smaller QT is cheaper, easier to maintain and can be setup/broke down...

www.reef2reef.com

The problem is, and that thread epitomizes it, is that some threads have a ton of useful information. So useful that they get updated and commented on for years... until you have 107 pages. Some are updates, some are theory, some are just talk, none of it gets added to one spot, you now have to wade through 107 pages trying to stitch together what the current best practice is.

In that thread specifically, I thought I had everything lined up, til around page 7 (YEARS ago), when "CP" started being used as both Copper Power and Chloroquine phosphate, so most of the updates or clarifications, I don't know which they are talking about.

I think the "Articles" are an intended solution to this. It would be great to have a detailed post that was updated regularly (and have it's last-update timestamped), for things like "Cycling", "QT", "Acclimation", and the like.

--Gray

 

[Reefacist]

The problem is, and that thread epitomizes it, is that some threads have a ton of useful information. So useful that they get updated and commented on for years... until you have 107 pages. Some are updates, some are theory, some are just talk, none of it gets added to one spot, you now have to wade through 107 pages trying to stitch together what the current best practice is.

In that thread specifically, I thought I had everything lined up, til around page 7 (YEARS ago), when "CP" started being used as both Copper Power and Chloroquine phosphate, so most of the updates or clarifications, I don't know which they are talking about.

I think the "Articles" are an intended solution to this. It would be great to have a detailed post that was updated regularly (and have it's last-update timestamped), for things like "Cycling", "QT", "Acclimation", and the like.

--Gray

Yes. This is exactly the problem i had and the reason why i thought we can have a R2R Reommended Guidelines. And as it says they are R2R recommended ways to d certain things and no one is forcing anyone to follow those guides.

What you think @revhtree? What is your inpout on this? Is this something that you guys have considered? Does it affect the sponsors we have? I mean at the end of the day i love R2R and want whats best for R2R so if there is a reason we can not have guidlines like that than i will get better at searching and reading faster.