Just a thought on giving advice...

[All_talk]

I'm going to put this idea out there...

Many of us come here for advice on reefing, and there seems to be no end to the diversity in responses, this in itself is fine. But how is one to filter this mass of input? I'm not talking about weeding the good from the bad (there seems to be plenty of both), I'm looking for a way to sort out what could apply to mine (or your) particular situation. Most of us would agree there is more than one way to successfully run a reef tank, there has to be, there is more than one type of reef tank, right?

I suggest the idea that any advice to others comes with a recent picture of your reef tank.

If the tank looks like something I am striving for I can weight the advice appropriately. If the tank does not look like what I'm going for then I can weigh that advice appropriately. I believe all advice should be taken with a grain of salt, but how big is the grain?


Note: This is not my original idea... Thank You Richard Ross for being a voice of experience and reason in this hobby. Reef Beef!

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I'm going to put this idea out there...

Many of us come here for advice on reefing, and there seems to be no end to the diversity in responses, this in itself is fine. But how is one to filter this mass of input? I'm not talking about weeding the good from the bad (there seems to be plenty of both), I'm looking for a way to sort out what could apply to mine (or your) particular situation. Most of us would agree there is more than one way to successfully run a reef tank, there has to be, there is more than one type of reef tank, right?

I suggest the idea that any advice to others comes with a recent picture of your reef tank.

If the tank looks like something I am striving for I can weight the advice appropriately. If the tank does not look like what I'm going for then I can weigh that advice appropriately. I believe all advice should be taken with a grain of salt, but how big is the grain?


Note: This is not my original idea... Thank You Richard Ross for being a voice of experience and reason in this hobby. Reef Beef!

That has been an issue since the days when I was a Sysop on Compuserve's FISHNET back in the mid-1980s'. It has become a huge issue on Facebook, it's almost like some Facebook pages have people posting bad information on purpose - I mean, how else could they get things so wrong (grin).

Reef2Reef took a proactive step here in regards to the Fish Disease forum. Myself and the Fishmedic team handle, or at least review, all of the "problem reports". We aren't always right, and in some cases, we simply don't have enough information to make informed decisions, but we correct any egregious advice that we see.

Randy Holmes-Farley performs a similar function on the chemistry forum here, and Dana Riddle helps out with the lighting forum.

For the reefing forums, we look mostly towards self-correcting, when bad advice surfaces, other members help correct it. There is also the Reef Squad, but I'm not sure how active that is.

In regards to your idea to "put up or shut up" and show your own tank, that might work, but in other cases, it might not. I have NEVER owned a SPS tank, but I manage people that do operate them, and I've designed dozens of them for public aquariums. Perhaps a better "proof" would be for people to submit references with their ideas?

Jay

 

[fish farmer]

I agree that it can be tough, since in the general forum, corals can mean many different organisms with different tolerances and parameter needs. I almost always give advice which is something that I have personally dealt with and have experience with, and if limited experience I'll state that as well.

I'll throw up a GHA pic when someone thinks they have a "bad" outbreak.

 

[All_talk]

"Put up or shut up" was not really my intent, but I guess its not to far off the target.

And I truly appreciate those with professional experience spreading their knowledge, this hobby could use a lot more of that. And if your guidance is responsible for tanks that are not personally yours, I think its still fair to show those.

But like they say, a picture is worth 1000 words. Instead of writing out your experience, just show me where you are at. For many of us our current tanks are the culmination of our knowledge and experience, let me see if your style of reefing is my style of reefing. Besides, who doesn't like showing off there tank.

 

[DIYreefer]

I'm going to put this idea out there...

Many of us come here for advice on reefing, and there seems to be no end to the diversity in responses, this in itself is fine. But how is one to filter this mass of input? I'm not talking about weeding the good from the bad (there seems to be plenty of both), I'm looking for a way to sort out what could apply to mine (or your) particular situation. Most of us would agree there is more than one way to successfully run a reef tank, there has to be, there is more than one type of reef tank, right?

I suggest the idea that any advice to others comes with a recent picture of your reef tank.

If the tank looks like something I am striving for I can weight the advice appropriately. If the tank does not look like what I'm going for then I can weigh that advice appropriately. I believe all advice should be taken with a grain of salt, but how big is the grain?


Note: This is not my original idea... Thank You Richard Ross for being a voice of experience and reason in this hobby. Reef Beef!

Not to throw a stick in your spokes, but every tank is going to be different, even the ones that are attempting to achieve the same goals. That stated I definitely do see your point. Maybe posting a recent picture should be a requirement before someone can give ANY advice, lol.

Bottom line, this hobby can be hard to navigate, especially early on. I think most will find that they have to find their own method of reefing via trial and error. Additionally, I think that we as members of the reefing community can really only hope/expect to mitigate the magnitude of the error part of the equation.

I have quite a few years of experience and am very comfortable with basically any situation that may arise with my tanks, but I don't often give advice. My way is what works (most of the time, lol) for me but I tend to follow methods that are very outdated. For example, I recently removed a couple of LED fixtures from my display tank and replaced them with halides. No one wants to hear about how we used to reef uphill, both ways, in the snow back in my day. Haha!

 

[Red_Beard]

I don't see a tank pic accompanying that advise...LOL But really though, sometimes you never know who is keyboard warrior-ing and who really knows their reef.

 

[C4ctus99]

I’m down for it… but this is what my tank looks like now…

quarantining my fish in the one on the bottom, crustaceans and rock in the bottom right tank, and will be putting together a new 75g over the next month

 

[vetteguy53081]

I'm going to put this idea out there...

Many of us come here for advice on reefing, and there seems to be no end to the diversity in responses, this in itself is fine. But how is one to filter this mass of input? I'm not talking about weeding the good from the bad (there seems to be plenty of both), I'm looking for a way to sort out what could apply to mine (or your) particular situation. Most of us would agree there is more than one way to successfully run a reef tank, there has to be, there is more than one type of reef tank, right?

I suggest the idea that any advice to others comes with a recent picture of your reef tank.

If the tank looks like something I am striving for I can weight the advice appropriately. If the tank does not look like what I'm going for then I can weigh that advice appropriately. I believe all advice should be taken with a grain of salt, but how big is the grain?


Note: This is not my original idea... Thank You Richard Ross for being a voice of experience and reason in this hobby. Reef Beef!

Ive just attended two seminars by Richard Ross who is fantastic and too many are trying to take the role of our teams and trying to construct advice based on theory and own experience and argue or challenge people with high experience and as you stated ; systems that support experience.
It is also more than once I notice the very people giving advice asking simple questions on disease or filtration with their own tanks. There are many who have a clue as to what they're doing and have been doing this a long time and have a handle on their tanks. As stated by Jay, We are given lack of Information, Dark or fuzzy pics, Request for help with no pics, and No response to our questions.
Additionally, we give what is safe and verified info on treatment and here comes person XXX with poor or inaccurate info to now confuse the person seeking assistance or their own answer from another forum or even you tube sending this distressed person into panic.
While some seek to help and offer information which IS appreciated, please let the team do their function. We are here because we were selected and not from a popularity contest. If we are wrong, we correct each other and deliver the accurate answer.

 

[Goaway]

Growing a reef can also come down to fighting pests. Just saying.

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

I'm going to put this idea out there...

Many of us come here for advice on reefing, and there seems to be no end to the diversity in responses, this in itself is fine. But how is one to filter this mass of input? I'm not talking about weeding the good from the bad (there seems to be plenty of both), I'm looking for a way to sort out what could apply to mine (or your) particular situation. Most of us would agree there is more than one way to successfully run a reef tank, there has to be, there is more than one type of reef tank, right?

I suggest the idea that any advice to others comes with a recent picture of your reef tank.

If the tank looks like something I am striving for I can weight the advice appropriately. If the tank does not look like what I'm going for then I can weigh that advice appropriately. I believe all advice should be taken with a grain of salt, but how big is the grain?


Note: This is not my original idea... Thank You Richard Ross for being a voice of experience and reason in this hobby. Reef Beef!

The best way to get get bad information is to just ask for the answer. If you want good information you have to look for it and it's usually an accumulation of good and bad information that's compiled then processed into usable information that makes sense to the one processing all this mixed information.

Even if you want to just ask for the answer, like you said maybe research the person giving the information, another form of searching, but still easier.

I blame it on us having the internet and answers at our finger tips, no one looks for the information they just want it puked into their lap by anyone that sounds right or sounds like the least difficult to follow.

But your right you should look up everyone's build thread if they have more chit chat and bs in there than proof of progress, well take your pick on how you proceed with their information. Idk I feel like it's pretty easy to read between the lines.

This Response is my opinion, and here's a recent picture as per op. And I agree, an up to date picture should be required since not all have builds and or usable background information on them..

 

[lion king]

It's up to you to vet the validity of the source. You can click their name and "find all post" and/or "find all threads". I no longer do reefs, my specialty is predatory fish, I invite everyone to click my name and "find all threads". When you see the fish I have kept successfully for years, then you decide.

 

[BeanAnimal]

I don’t care who takes my advice or doesn’t. I am not carrying around a credential wallet to flash before giving it either.

To that end, I know as many credentialed idiots as I do uncredentialed. A broken clock is right twice a day. Dumb luck is a thing. Reef bro science is a thing… etc. A pretty photo or list of credentials has little to do with good advice.

 

[vetteguy53081]

It's up to you to vet the validity of the source. You can click their name and "find all post" and/or "find all threads". I no longer do reefs, my specialty is predatory fish, I invite everyone to click my name and "find all threads". When you see the fish I have kept successfully for years, then you decide.

And when it comes to eels and lions- you are the source!

 

[All_talk]

I don’t care who takes my advice or doesn’t. I am not carrying around a credential wallet to flash before giving it either.

To that end, I know as many credentialed idiots as I do uncredentialed. A broken clock is right twice a day. Dumb luck is a thing. Reef bro science is a thing… etc. A pretty photo, list of credentials has little to do with good advice.

I accept your premise, words and pictures don't prove someone's advice is relevant to some else's situation. How would you propose we sort the more helpful from the less helpful?

 

[billyocean]

I mean..someone could just ask for a pic. I agree though that every tank is different and a lot of personal research should be done before coming to an answer the person feels is right for them. Everyone...no matter how experienced can only offer what is working for them. The funny part is that could change in 6 months and what was working no longer works the same. Even the most experienced folks have to adapt at times.

 

[BeanAnimal]

I accept your premise, words and pictures don't prove someone's advice is relevant to some else's situation. How would you propose we sort the more helpful from the less helpful?

I have no proposal… Understanding and knowledge come from experience, research and hard work. Part of that is learning how to consume and process information. The more that you consume and process, the more you will be able to draw effective conclusions and relate those to your experience.

There is no easy answer.

 

[Reefer Matt]

I'll do you one better. I have a YouTube channel. Before you roll your eyes and shout me down, I actually do it to share my experience, advice, and failures. If people want to follow or ignore my advice, it is up to them.

https://youtube.com/@Reefer_Matt

 

[All_talk]

I have no proposal… Understanding and knowledge come from experience, research and hard work. Part of that is learning how to consume and process information. The more that you consume and process, the more you will be able to draw effective conclusions and relate those to your experience.

There is no easy answer.

I don’t disagree with any of this, critical thinking skills are key.

An idea that is echoing here is that no one can tell someone else exactly what to do to be successful. And that some of the required knowledge only comes the hard way. I believe this is absolutely true. And brings me back to the picture idea…

Drawing conclusions from the consumed information is easier with some context around the source. I think a picture of their tank might be a quick and easy way to do that.

Just a simple idea, participate if you choose.

 

[Dburr1014]

I'm going to put this idea out there...

Many of us come here for advice on reefing, and there seems to be no end to the diversity in responses, this in itself is fine. But how is one to filter this mass of input? I'm not talking about weeding the good from the bad (there seems to be plenty of both), I'm looking for a way to sort out what could apply to mine (or your) particular situation. Most of us would agree there is more than one way to successfully run a reef tank, there has to be, there is more than one type of reef tank, right?

I suggest the idea that any advice to others comes with a recent picture of your reef tank.

If the tank looks like something I am striving for I can weight the advice appropriately. If the tank does not look like what I'm going for then I can weigh that advice appropriately. I believe all advice should be taken with a grain of salt, but how big is the grain?


Note: This is not my original idea... Thank You Richard Ross for being a voice of experience and reason in this hobby. Reef Beef!

I think you answered your own question with your own thoughts.
There are so many ways to run a reef tank and everyone wants to end up wanting to have a successful one. So if by seeing a picture it looks successful you, you still don't know how they got there. So someone offering advice by reefing one way and you're trying to Reef another way, but the tank looks great, you're going to get confused either way. So just seeing a tank isn't going to solve the problem. I guess you can go by build threads if they have one but then you have to weed through all their information to get to the meat of how they're running a tank.

 

[revhtree]

When starting a new thread members can choose to make the thread a question type thread and then everyone will be allowed to upvote the answers. This is one way to filter. I’m going to change this thread to that type so you can see it in action.