# The death of Aquascaping World



## Shane Puthuparambil (11 Jan 2017)

Hello Guys,

My name is Shane. I am a relatively new member here, so you may not respect me as an aquascaper, but hopefully you will respect me as a person.

A group of guys have been working hard to keep a forum called Aquascaping World alive and well ever since I joined them in 2016. We are in dire need for more members and contributors.

If you can do me and my friends on that community a major favor, please sign up and contribute where you can. This forum truly grew me from a novice to an intermediate aquascaper in less than 2 months (and some practice).

If you would like to help me in saving my family on this forum, please sign up and help bring this forum back to it's glory!

Sign up page: http://www.aquascapingworld.com

Shane Puthuparambil



PS: Some members you may recognize: @ShawnMac @Tim Harrison
Comment below if you have contributed on this forum in the past!


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## dan4x4 (11 Jan 2017)

haha is that the site where all the rubbish aquascapers go?


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## Ryan Thang To (12 Jan 2017)

dan4x4 said:


> haha is that the site where all the rubbish aquascapers go?


That is not nice thing to say dude. Everyone has different level of skills just depends on how long they been in the hobby. Everyone is rubbish at the beginning.


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## PARAGUAY (12 Jan 2017)

There are some wonderful members aquascapes on AW and good information and advice


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## George Farmer (12 Jan 2017)

dan4x4 said:


> haha is that the site where all the rubbish aquascapers go?


Careful mate, that's pretty offensive to some folk.


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## George Farmer (12 Jan 2017)

I used to be quite active on ASW, back when Jurijs and John were admin. Obviously after UKAPS forum was formed I spend most of my effort here and didn't go on there much.

I have huge respect for Shawn Mac, the current admin, and it's a shame it seems to being dying off.

I wish them all the best.

Cheers,
George


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## sanj (12 Jan 2017)

Maybe people are moving to other platforms... facebook? I have noticed a slow down in activity on several internet forums over the last couple of years.


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## darrensp (12 Jan 2017)

People are moving onto other platforms but i cannot for the life of me work out why.

I say this because Facebook is rubbish at finding old information whereas through this forum I can relatively easily find someone that had the same problem as me ten years ago.


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## Chrispowell (12 Jan 2017)

Why not use Facebook as a tool to gain new members to your forum?? 

The best way to get activity driven towards your forum is to offer something people want - new, regular and quality content. 

Why not use social media to promote your websites content and in return pull people back towards your community.?

(Hope this helps)

Chris


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## papa_c (12 Jan 2017)

dan4x4 said:


> haha is that the site where all the rubbish aquascapers go?



In the aquascaping world one thing I have learnt is there is no single source of correct information, and often there is conflicting information between different forums. I always read many and make a balance judgement call based on what I read, there are so many variables that there is no one size fits all.

Its a bit like reading only one newspaper which will give one editors point of view, compare the headlines between the daily express, mirror, guardian and the times, same story different point of view


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## Tim Harrison (12 Jan 2017)

Chrispowell said:


> Why not use Facebook as a tool to gain new members to your forum??


We already do..."FB Gallery" on menu tabs at the top of the page


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## Courtneybst (12 Jan 2017)

Shane Puthuparambil said:


> Hello Guys,
> 
> My name is Shane. I am a relatively new member here, so you may not respect me as an aquascaper, but hopefully you will respect me as a person.
> 
> ...


Signed up  

Just waiting on the confirmation email... 

How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?


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## Shane Puthuparambil (13 Jan 2017)

dan4x4 said:


> haha is that the site where all the rubbish aquascapers go?



Just go through some of the journals, and we'll really figure out who is rubbish . 



George Farmer said:


> I used to be quite active on ASW, back when Jurijs and John were admin. Obviously after UKAPS forum was formed I spend most of my effort here and didn't go on there much.
> 
> I have huge respect for Shawn Mac, the current admin, and it's a shame it seems to being dying off.
> 
> ...



Thanks a bunch George, it has started to revive itself.


Chrispowell said:


> Why not use Facebook as a tool to gain new members to your forum??
> 
> The best way to get activity driven towards your forum is to offer something people want - new, regular and quality content.
> 
> ...



I will try to use facebook to gain some more members.

Thanks for all the help guys,
Shane


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## LondonDragon (13 Jan 2017)

I am a member of AWS but like most, only have time for one forum, and UKAPS is the forum for me and has been for the last decade (I haven't always been admin, and started off just as a regular member like everyone else  ), FB is the worst platform for information, its great to showcase your aquascapes and get your name out there, but as a means to help and find information is the wrong place, some groups tend to think its the best thing ever, but FB is just for lazy people that don't want to search for info and just want their question answered and move on.

This is a community where people stick around and help each other, point people in the right direction, most of the time to topics already on the forum, show their journals, we can see their roller coaster ride to get to the finished product  we assist and learn with them  

I do think that there isn't much space for too many forums on the same topic and forums with lower traffic should perhaps consider a collaboration with bigger sites!


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## Tim Harrison (13 Jan 2017)

Like a lot of people, both young and older, I'm not convinced by all that social media has supposedly got to offer...
Sure FB has its place - I only joined so I could access the UKAPS gallery, for instance - but the sense of community we've all built here at UKAPS is genuinely unique.
I also think along the same lines as Paulo, that collaboration between similar communities can make a great deal of sense.
Either way, like George, I wish AquaScaping World all the best.


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## dan4x4 (13 Jan 2017)

lol i was just being sarcastic, I'm not very good at all at aquascaping 

as for social media only thing i like is instagram. I cannot stand Facebook I think its horrendous.


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## nicpapa (13 Jan 2017)

Hi Shane, 
Yes aquascaping wold foroum is a litle  down... 
I am a member, there and update anytime of my status of mine tanks... 

Same as in ukaps, barr report, sometimes planted tank. forums here, aquatek ,aqua4fun, aquazone, and others shrimpforums...


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## Courtneybst (14 Jan 2017)

I'm still waiting for my activation email to use the forum. Is it not working? 

How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?


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## dill. (14 Jan 2017)

The less segmentation of the hobby the better... harsh as it may sound
Wouldn't it be great to get all your planted tank content in one spot? people constantly sharing and updating journals, DIY's, discussing the latest trends and knowledge. If activity is perceived as positive, is there a good reason then why we'd want to spread it out over multiple platforms?
This isn't a dig at ASW, just general commentary about the issue at hand


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## Shane Puthuparambil (14 Jan 2017)

Courtneybst said:


> I'm still waiting for my activation email to use the forum. Is it not working?
> 
> How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?



Hmm, I will take a look. Have you tried signing in yet? I will contact the admin and see whats up.


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## Courtneybst (14 Jan 2017)

Shane Puthuparambil said:


> Hmm, I will take a look. Have you tried signing in yet? I will contact the admin and see whats up.


Yeah it just says my account is waiting for email confirmation 

How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?


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## ShawnMac (14 Jan 2017)

well, I suppose I should respond to this thread...

Shane, while I appreciate the sentiment...I'm not sure this is the best approach. As has already been mentioned, this is a niche hobby and dividing time between multiple forums is a challenge for even the most dedicated. Mainly why I don't spend as much time on UKAPS as I would like. I have to say UKAPS has managed to cultivate a great sense of community many other large forums failed to do and also maintained a level of quality that is also lacking in some other large forums. I know it has taken a great deal of effort and my hat is off to you gents who have put the time in. 

I like the idea of some collaboration between places, after all I think the community goals often align, so why not aim collectively at that target? @LondonDragon PM me and maybe we can discuss further. I once, years ago, spoke with seriouslyfish.com admins about some collaboration. I felt an Aquascaping site and a fish site could benefit each other without rehashing the same material. Perhaps, even aquascaping sites can do the same. I have a few favorite places for the hobby online, ASW and UKAPS are a couple of them. 

I can say ASW is NOT dead and welcomes any new members. Discussions are on going on how to improve the site for users. Keep an eye out, I think promising things are to come. This is a bit of an awkward conversation to have on another forum and I'm a bit at a loss for what else to say.


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## zozo (14 Jan 2017)

Many people say what's in the name.. But in this case it likely is.. Naming a forum aquascaping world most likely for the majority atracks people into aquascaping.. Obviously according the visiting numbers it still isn't a large enough community to keep multiple communities about the same subject equaly as succesfull. Communities with a much more accessible name giving lik "Aquatic Plant Society" and or "Planted Tank" etc. goes easier on the search engine and invites people from all sides of the hobby.. Even if you're not into aqauscaping, you still will have plants in a tank.

With all respect, it's a nice name..  But do you catch my drift?.. I'm sorry to hear it's going down a bit, maybe holding on and keep going strong dispite the hard times, have patience.. If aquascaping in particular as a hobby becommes more popular you will too.

For example i'm from the Netherlands and i can tell you the Aquascaping community in my country is still very small.. Most people i personaly know who have an aqaurium don't even know the word they just hava an aquarium..


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## HiNtZ (27 Jan 2017)

dan4x4 said:


> haha is that the site where all the rubbish aquascapers go?



Depends what your definition of an aquascape is? I mean with an attitude like that, it's evident that yours is seriously flawed.

Personally I can find a murky dirt bottom tank with moldy branches and no plants a truly beautiful thing.


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