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What happened to JamesC

I personally spend some time preparing my Journals (specially photos) but I do it because UKAPS it's a very friendly forum and we can get back a lot from it.
This doesn't mean that is friendly because everyone says very good of your layouts, plants, etc, but because every ideia is usually backed up decently by some justification.
Have to say that I learned quite a lot here and I'm willing to help giving back at least a small part of what was I had.

In all these years there was only one time i spoke almost freely of what i thought because it was too much... but even today (one or 2 months after) i don't really know if that was right! I agree that the part where we "unsubscribe" from a thread for not following it more is the right thing to do.

Pedro.
 
Probably one of the friendliest forums I frequent. I visit at least once a day and read all the new posts. Lots of information here. I don't even have a tank! but I've read so much here I think I could go out today, get my equipment and have a successful setup. There's no reason for me to have an argument with someone here. I just pick and choose what I want to learn and what I believe will apply to me. Great place.
 
I agree with genomecop.

I get a lot of enjoyment from reading about what you should do (and what can go wrong) and this forum is great for learning from the experts and other beginners.

Like many people, I 'lurked' for a long time before having the courage to post something. It is a friendly forum, but it is difficult to know if something has been covered elsewhere.

Personally, I think a beginners section which tried to pull together some of the following would be very well read (though you may get few replies from lurkers). It may also reduce beginners posting the same questions, which has to be frustrating to the experts, but to be fair, you do have to read quite a few posts to get to the real nuggets:
- Most well read threads (e.g. fire extinguisher CO2 system)
- Important and interesting threads (Darrel has suggested a few)
- Experts top tips (get to 1000 posts and receive an invite to share your five key tips)

There are certain points that don't seem to get covered, which I would have thought are key, but they seem so low level that people may be embaressed to ask:
- best way to feed your fish - how much, what type, filter on or off (can have big impact on water quality and algae)
- should you transfer plants from an algae infested tank when you upgrade (best way to prepare them)
- best way to upgrade (transfer some substrate for beneficial bacteria, running filters in parallel)

These are points that will have been covered on this forum, but difficult to find. Beginners may be too nervous to ask.

I have some thoughts on what may be causing BBA outbreaks, but I feel I've got to build a cast iron argument before I say anything!!! The forum can be challenging at times.

This is a wonderful forum. I used to get very stressed with work. I couldn't switch off as things would prey on mind. Forums such as this has allowed me to divert my mind onto something completely different. It is very much appreciated.
 
Personally I find this forum to have very helpful and patient members, after getting to know some persons knowledge better you learn which ones to listen to at all times and take notice of other comments.
I'm happy to help anyone, if I can, I won't comment on something I have no idea about or only limited knowledge of, I leave that to the experts here. I'm still feel like a newcomer in the hobby (even after 4 years), learned alot and had great help in the past, if I can pas on my limited knowledge I don't mind answering the same questions over and over again (for now 😛), for new comers it's often difficult to find an answer in a previous topic, you want to know what to do in your "specific" case and the first reaction is to ask, I think this is what a forum is all about and this forum is by far the most helpful I found.
 
Martin in China said:
I think this is what a forum is all about and this forum is by far the most helpful I found.
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I have to agree, I remember when I first joined UKAPS and had no idea what to expect here, had been a member of a Portuguese forum for about a year but found it difficult there at times, when joined UKAPS I started a journal and was instantly given lots of help and guidance.

Lurked around quite a bit and posted far to much that at one stage was offered the Moderator role, I used to run a few forums at the time and also the LFKC forum (still admin there), when the person in question in the title of this post decided to part ways, I offered to assist while a replacement Admin was found, well its been a while 😉

Since then the forum was moved to a new host which was challenging enough, then due to the growing size of the forum we moved to a dedicated server and eventually we migrated to Xenforo (this was the biggest challenge) for the new look the forum as now.

Due to concentrating a lot more on the job side over the last few years, I haven't had much time for the hobby, but still glance a lot of posts specially in the intro and journals sections not much time to read them all and comment on them but do place likes on all the good updates, and I am the one posting the journals in the FB page 😉

AndyMcD has made some good points, but there is nothing stopping anyone from creating a thread titled "Beginners read first" and then create some headers on that topic and post links to relevant posts, which then we will pin at the top of the forum and when someone asks a question that's already been cover in detail you can just say "have you read this post?".

Can even start a thread first with "Suggestion links for 'Beginners read first' topic" so when someone reads something they think is useful then can then suggest it and we add it to the topic, just an idea which anyone/more than one can do, you guys are the ones that read the forum for information and have come across great posts that have helped you, so you are in a better position to determine what has been useful in achieving your results.

One of the reasons I have kept the UKAPS FB page up to date is so we have a great place in the photos section which only includes photos and links to the UKAPS Forum, this becomes a nice gallery for members to go over https://www.facebook.com/ukaps.org/photos_stream for inspiration and has links to all the relevant journals for you to read, We do have sections on the forum for this, once a journal is complete the member should post a final photo in the "Planted Tank Gallery" with a link to the journal, but no one does this, hence the FB gallery.

This is a forum for everyone, top aquascapers and beginners alike and no one should be afraid to post their work for some guidance and critiques. What people have to remember is that once we were all clueless and needed help and now if you can please just assists those in their journey. Don't start bombarding them with scientific reasons (unless they ask), because this will most likely scare them away and a lot of people to be honest are not interested.

Been told many times that UKAPS is a great source of knowledge for the hobby and probably the best aquatic plant forum, at least in the english language and that people are generally friendly, but at the end of the day not every one agrees with anything 100% (not just the hobby) and should try and avoid confrontations, at the end of the day just respect other people opinions, all the methods work, from IE to commercially available fertilizers, you just have to find what works for you and stick with that, also everyone has a budget and cannot justify high end ADA fertilizers for example.

Happy plant growing first 🙂 the aquascaping comes later 😉
 
I think this is a wonderful forum and I greatly admire both the people who are willing to give their time to make all of this possible and the experts who are willing to give so much valuable advice. I work in systems and appreciate the amount of work that will have to go into make this forum work.

Also, I think Martin is correct when he says that the great strength of a forum is the ability to ask a question (that may have been asked many times before) and great advice comes back.

I made my comments as much out of concern for the amount of time the experts must have to give. I wondered if a Beginners section may help to reduce this workload.

If I was more experienced, I'd start the Beginners section. However, I'm still very much learning the basics myself.
 
As a relative newbie I'll offer my thoughts too...

I rushed back into "fish keeping" and then started to read up more and more. I had seen beautiful Iwagumi tank photos and wanted to do something similar. Obviously, without knowing what I was doing this was a disaster!
I found both the PFK forum and UKAPS, reading both taught me how there are two very different approaches to the philosophy of running a healthy aquarium! I read more and more and decided that a planted tank was what I wanted. I lurked for a while reading and learning and started posting here and there.

Personally, I've never found anyone to be elitist or aggressive in their replies. I can completely understand the newbie journal threads can be quieter with the masterpieces getting more attention.
I have noticed there are one or two people who have strong opinions on things though and sometimes the usual internet arguments can crop up. I take what I can information wise but they don't bother me.

The guide threads are very useful and I've always found them to be technical enough, without diving into advanced chemistry, most of which is more complex than I care to learn. A beginners section sounds a good idea though. A place that people can ask those newbie questions that have been asked many times before but without fear of being chastised & told they should have searched. It would be a good section for other newbies to read through first too.
 
As a total aquascape newbie and new to the forum my impressions may help.
I was heartened to receive such a warm welcome and the information on the site is unbelievable detailed and extensive. There are people here who are incredibly knowledgeable and working at the pinnacle of this artform and others like me who are just starting out. I joined because i am inspired by the aquascapes created by members of this forum and because of the enjoyment and satisfaction I'm sure to achieve.
But... The initial few posts have made me hesitant to post questions. I know there is info in the sub forums but there is so much data (some of it very technical and filled with abbreviations) and as a beginner I'm not sure if the advice is going to be applicable to my setup or what some of the abbreviations mean.

That said later posts have been more incouraging so I'm going to stay and learn and enjoy.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk
 
Whatcha guys talking about? I love this place! I'm a member of a few aquascaping forums which I should not mention, but this is the only one I check regularly these days. Seems like you guys are a nice bunch, there are lotsa people sharing journals and a lotta nice photos to look at. I do miss some of the earlier members though like JamesC, Mark (saintly) and even Mr Farmer himself. They were a constant source of inspiration and generally nice people to converse with on the forums.

I can see where the elitist angle is coming from. Simple question like "What causes BBA" goes into arguments about stomata and equations and chemicals and scientific papers and theory1 vs theory2. Almost feels like I need a scientific lab rather than a creative mind. I honestly find it interesting to read but I can see where others may be getting turned off by it. These discussions are necessary to extend and expand our hobby, but the balance is delicate and hard to achieve. I was thinking we should have a separate "advanced" section where those with more than certain number of posts and read and comment, but that would just make it seem more elitist?

As with any gathering of normal flesh and blood humans with different backgrounds and experiences, there will be all sorts of people. Pretty normal I'd say 😎. At least there are no brand-based flame wars!! :cigar:
 
dw1305 said:
He had become very frustrated with some of the "bullying" on the forum, and chose to withdraw.
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That really is too bad and a great shame. Back in the mists of time it was his algae page http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm (together with every post ever made by CEG) that saved me on multiple occasions. He also did an excellent lighting color guide where he tested all the different bulbs and was one of the pioneers of Akadama as a substrate.

People hate using the search function. We could probably use more stickies and articles, for example fter a 5 year absence I was surprised not to see any obvious stickies on lighting (what LED WPG?) or latest filters - had to use search . That said if you lurk for a while and read all the active journals it soon starts to make sense...




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Talking about the search function, one of the controls is that you can't search for words that have 3 letters of less. That basically excludes search items like co2, ada, RO, fertiliser chemical symbols like Fe, Ca, Mg etc. Is it possible to code in some exceptions?
 
Haven't seen or heard anything from Clive (ceg) for a while, maybe he got tired of repeating the same thing over and over again on questions from new members on algae problems and the like. It's not difficult to find the answers to what you want on here, it just can take a lot of time due to the volume of information. I too have been guilty of posting something only to find out someone else has already said it...doh:banghead: Why didn't I look first. We have a sub title to each topic such as algae, lighting, Co2 etc you just have to invest some time looking for what you want, and if you don't find what you want straight away, you are bound to learn a few other things along the way.

Cheers,

Steve
 
Haven't seen or heard anything from Clive (ceg) for a while, maybe he got tired of repeating the same thing over and over again on questions from new members on algae problems and the like. It's not difficult to find the answers to what you want on here, it just can take a lot of time due to the volume of information. I too have been guilty of posting something only to find out someone else has already said it...doh:banghead: Why didn't I look first. We have a sub title to each topic such as algae, lighting, Co2 etc you just have to invest some time looking for what you want, and if you don't find what you want straight away, you are bound to learn a few other things along the way.<br /><br />Cheers,<br /><br />Steve

Posting questions, even if they have already been answered, is how new members begin to engage with others on the forum. It's nice to have support and encouragement from experienced aquascapers like yourself. And if people feel welcomed and gently pushed to where they can find help, well it's bound to help the forum continue. It can be a quite technical hobby and not a particularly sociable one. The work done by people on this forum has expanded awareness of the art of aquascaping and doubtless the increased availability of plants and hardware. I mean 10 years ago I couldn't get hc for love or money. So in short keep happy. Bear with us newbies and share knowledge.

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This looks like an extension of the "Did you search first topic".. 😀

Remeber the time when if we had questions about certain topics and no professor at hand to ask whos willing to repeat himself. Than we needed to visit the library. How many book titles and indexes you had to search for so many hours to find a specific answer about a certain topic. And than only if you asked the question right, if you have that wrong you still don't get the right answer. :lol:

"bone idleness serves humanity" or "Why do things the hardway" So lets ask first.. it's human nature and that's just why internet and it's search machines make use of. That's why it became so darn succesful after all. And internet communities / forums willing to take a piece of that only ask even more for lazy question.. What do you expect??

🙄 Actauly, there isn''t a question to think of which isn't already asked somewhere on the internet several times if not a thousand. No matter what subject it is about. I guess, i think so, at least im using internet now for over a decade and till now didn't find a question which isnt already asked before.. I even did find questions of which i thought nobody would ever ask. :shifty::wacky: Nor did i ever have an (new genius) unique idea about something which isn't already thought of or tried by someone else several times. And in a way its a nice thing about internet, finaly find like wise minded people and finding out you're not the only (stupid/idiot) around.

What would a forum community be without the lazy newcomer who thinks "Why do things the hardway?" and just ask... Let the other do the searching if the question is to hard to answer straight away. We have a lot of people thinking differently and are nothing but intrigued by questions like that and search and find answers. Let them have the advantage. Learning from others lazyness.. And give the questioner the benefit of the doubt.

That way we all flourish, don't we.. 🙂 I guess a forum would be rather dull if we only had to do with people finding all answers on their own and never ask a thing.. There wouldnt be much other left than the journal section for few people to bombard eachother with different opinions because one found another answer on the same qeustion somewhere else. :playful::nailbiting:
 
flygja said:
Talking about the search function, one of the controls is that you can't search for words that have 3 letters of less. That basically excludes search items like co2, ada, RO, fertiliser chemical symbols like Fe, Ca, Mg etc. Is it possible to code in some exceptions?
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There is a good reason for that, the lower you go with the search the slower it takes to search the forum, if 4-5 people are searching for 3 letter words it will bring the forum to a halt and that will affect the experience for every one.

I know its not the same but you can still search using: http://lmgtfy.com/?q=co2+site:ukaps.org
 
Just wanted to chime in here, I've been on this forum for a couple weeks and find everyone more than helpful, I've had no dramas on here, unlike some of the other forums I've been on and left, certainly one of the best forums getting around here for sure, good stuff.
 
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