Forum or not?

[shutterbug]

I find it amazing that this is called a forum.................If you disagree with someone and voice your opinion, your chastized and told your badgering someone..........I guess this is only for people who want there opinions backed up by other members who think they are doing the correct thing....People need to look up the definition of the word "forum"..........Alot of members here want to tell everyone about cycling of there tank, which i agree, alot of newbies no nothing about.........But let someone (ME) voice there opinion about the wrongs they are doing to there fish and i get blamed for badgering them............I thought this site was for learning and discussion........It seems to me, if your not in the little click, they dont want to hear from you

[Lucy]

Shutterbug, I've read your posts. I don't think anyone disagreed with you and your advice to members is appreciated.
However, when someone trys to force their advice that's when it's considered badgering whether the OP is right or wrong.

I said it before, we can only offer suggestions. In the end it's up to each person how they choose to keep their fish.

[charzar-g]

I'm a newbie to fish (only one year in freshwater, but i've bought a bigger tank for saltwater now) But i ask loads of questions and love hearing what other people have to say about my ideas and stuff

Is that what you were getting at i'm not quite sure?? :/

[Red1313]

People come to this fourm and often times it's b/c they have made mistakes. That's a huge face risk to have to admit that to a bunch of stranges. Keeping this fourm atmosphere friendly ensures that new members feel comfortable to admit they're mistakes and ask for some help. No-one likes to read threads where members are torn apart on them.
This fourms about helping people.

[Dozey]

Originally Posted by shutterbug

I find it amazing that this is called a forum.................If you disagree with someone and voice your opinion, your chastized and told your badgering someone..........I guess this is only for people who want there opinions backed up by other members who think they are doing the correct thing....People need to look up the definition of the word "forum"..........Alot of members here want to tell everyone about cycling of there tank, which i agree, alot of newbies no nothing about.........But let someone (ME) voice there opinion about the wrongs they are doing to there fish and i get blamed for badgering them............I thought this site was for learning and discussion........It seems to me, if your not in the little click, they dont want to hear from you

On any Internet conversation it can be difficult to determine a person’s attitude. I agree that a forum should be an open discussion and people should feel free to express their opinions in a respectful manner.

In conversation it is easy to determine a person tone of voice and attitude, not easily done in type. In type comments such as “IMO” as opposed to “you are wrong” are far more easily interpreted.

It is easy among friends to make a comment such as “you’re an idiot” as we hear the fun and teasing in their voice. In type “you’re an idiot” can sound insulting and hurtful.

You need to be far more careful how you express yourself in type. IMO!

[pinkfloydpuffer]

One of my first posts here (maybe my first) was about my betta who had popeye. I did not know at the time that they needed tanks, and he was living in a bowl. The people here helped me out, gave me advice, and firmly but kindly suggested that I get a more appropriate dwelling for my fish. They helped me get poor Floyd cured and into a nice warm tank. Since then there's been ups and downs, but I think that overall this forum is a wonderful place with a wealth of knowledge and helpful people. One bad experience shouldn't be enough to drive you away. I have had my disagreements with some people here, and I have felt like maybe I didn't belong here, but I got over it. I realised that the fact that this is an online forum where a huge diversity of people gather makes it so that many people will disagree, and that firm rules have to be applied in order to keep such a place under control. So, basically what I'm saying is, this is a fully-functional and practical forum. And I'm sorry if you are not pleased with it, but personally I find it to be a great place.

[agabr123]

i'm with pink, when i first came to the forum i made a LOT of mistakes, if someone had been rude or condescending to me i probably wouldn't have listened. but everyone here was very helpful and told me what i needed to do to help out my fish. since then i've learned a whole lot, but i guarantee you if i had felt like someone was calling me stupid or was being rude to me i wouldn't have learned anything and would have just left my fish how they were. there is nothing wrong with advice or constructive criticism, but it needs to be offered as advice

[Red1313]

agabr and pink hit what I tried to say on the head.

[capekate]

Originally Posted by shutterbug

I find it amazing that this is called a forum.................If you disagree with someone and voice your opinion, your chastized and told your badgering someone..........I guess this is only for people who want there opinions backed up by other members who think they are doing the correct thing....People need to look up the definition of the word "forum"..........Alot of members here want to tell everyone about cycling of there tank, which i agree, alot of newbies no nothing about.........But let someone (ME) voice there opinion about the wrongs they are doing to there fish and i get blamed for badgering them............I thought this site was for learning and discussion........It seems to me, if your not in the little click, they dont want to hear from you

Shutterbug, I read your posts on the bass fish issue and I can say from reading it from this end that you were badgering the OP. Badgering in the sense that it was not one post that you expressed your opinion but a few more. That is badgering.We are all free to disagree but there are ways to get your point across and still be civil about it. I have been to other forums where badgering and swearing( not saying you did just an example) is allowed and its no fun. This forum tries very hard to show respect for others even when we disagree with them, its something that we strive for. That IMO makes this the wonderful forum that it is.

[NUMB3RS]

If you are a fish newbie doesn't mean that you know nothing about fish. A fish newbie could be someone with TONS of experience it doesn't matter about their ranking.

[prairielilly]

I did not read the bass thread this morning, but I did read several other threads today where someone started out with a simple question and the thread was quickly changed into something else - in one instance there was a lot of criticism being given (unasked for) regarding the newbie fishkeeper's choices. The criticism came from an established member who obviously is a very experienced fishkeeper. I am not attacking this member, just observing. I tried to post my own version of an apology, but the thread got pulled before I finished.

I myself have had a very good experience with FishLore and am extremely thankful for the results of that random Google search one night a few months back. I love that there are so many different viewpoints and we are all brought together by our one common passion, and we try to provide a welcoming, friendly place where others can learn. In my experience, that's always been true. I'd hope for the same for every other newbie.

I feel very badly for the moderators who have to pull threads and edit posts because of the sort of ugliness seen this morning. However I feel worse still for the new people who see what comes across as an attack rather than helpful advice, and get turned off. It isn't called for, by ANYONE (IMO!), and hopefully the reminders posted (Lucy's restating the forum rules, even this thread) will ensure it happens less, or preferably not at all, in the future.

[shutterbug]

This is unbelievable!..........All these knowledgable fish people here and i am singled out because i responded to a thread about someone keeping a fish thats not an aquarium species in a tank too small for it and he wanted to add more fish!.......Can any of the people responding to this thread honestly say he is doing the correct thing?......Your right, this is a forum, which means the topics are up for discussion......Which means both sides of the disagreement should be heard from, not just the side that people want to hear........I was badgering someone?......my responses where to his responses....thats badgering?
This hobby has people come and go all the time.......Why do we think that happens?......People get a tank, fill it with water, buy (usually too many) fish and then wonder why they die......thats what this place is about........Discussing fish and fish keeping issues, not candy coating what members want to hear..........I've seen threads about combining species that will not co-exist and members here tell them that its not a good idea....I commend those people who have the knowledge to put forth there information.......Its the people who just want someone to tell them that it might work, and then they continue with a bad scenerio......Alot of the info here is of the highest quality, but when someone is doing something harmful to the fish, i will voice my opinion....I would like for someone to tell me how i was being uncivil? (CapeKate).....The uncivility is the person who is keeping a fish in a tank too small for it and wants to put more fish in.....Wanting his fish to live a happy, healthy life is uncivil?......Im far from a newbie......I've had african cichlids for over 20 years, so i do know a little about this hobby....
I agree, we all made mistakes starting in this hobby, i wish a place like this existed when i started out in fish keeping....It would have saved me alot of frustration, money and also fishes lives.......How can someone learn they are making mistakes if no one tells them they are?......Some of you here think i was being rude or ignorant............I dont think i was......but if thats what it takes to save a fishes life then call me ignorant and rude.....

One more thing, the experienced fish keepers know, if the bass in question survives a release back to the pond, i would bet my house it doesnt last 24 hours in the pond after being acclimitized to aquarium

[Lucy]

Actually 6 people advised the OP that the fish shouldn't be in that tank.
However, they voiced their views and moved on to the original question.

[catfishlover123]

Originally Posted by Lucy

Shutterbug, I've read your posts. I don't think anyone disagreed with you and your advice to members is appreciated.
However, when someone trys to force their advice that's when it's considered badgering whether the OP is right or wrong.

I said it before, we can only offer suggestions. In the end it's up to each person how they choose to keep their fish.

Well, I've seen it in a couple posts of people saying the thing that's clearly the best thing, and then the thread is closed because it is sort of like pestering.

[Red1313]

I know that there are alot of captive bred fish that are released every year into lakes. My university does a captive breeding program for lake sturgon. I don't think that it'll be hard to use the usual aclimation for the fish to water. Once in the pond he'll be fine. He's already eating live foods, so what would be difficult in the pond? He was wild caught so he'll have a fully functioning immune system in that regard. Once in the pond I see his biggest threat being a larger fish... again since he's wild caught I don't see that being an issue, he had the same possible fate before. So what would be the issue of releasing him into a controled natural enviroment? (This is an honest question.)

[CHoffman]

I agree Red...Actually Kansas wild life and Parks, happens to be in our town, Just started a program to try to get the population of Large mouth bass up...They are breeding them in captivity and releasing them when they get older so they will be older on survive the winter better....This is the link....http://www.pratttribune.com/news/x18...rly-bass-spawn

[MeGustaUnaPez926]

Okay. Say you had a question about your tank, and it was overstocked, but the question was about a specific fish with a problem- say, he was swimming sideways. How would you feel if the only advice you got was about how overstocked your tank was? That would be really frustrating. It is best to give your advice, then back off. Constantly posting the same thing will not get you more listened to.
I also want to make it clear I didn't read the thread that we are talking about, but from reading this thread, I think I have a vague idea what the problem was. If I'm wrong, simply disregard this.

[Jonah]

SB I responded to the post you are mentioning. Not because I could offer advice, I could not because the fish in question is totally alien to me.

However the way that you chose to respond to the OP in absolutely no way what so ever helped.

I do not know what a big mouthed bass is. I ve never seen one and unless I go back out to visit friends out in MA or NH am I ever likely to.

BUT your constant badgering of the OP made me have to respond simply because of the attitude you took in your response to the OP.

I do not doubt for one minute that every single thing you said was both valid and heartfelt. BUT, big but, the way that you said it did not contribute to the discussion.