RC vs 3Reef

Yes, some forums are definitely less tolerant than others. BUT, I joined my first forum in 2000 and I've posted pretty regularly all these years and am pretty vocal I think.... but I've never been warned for anything. I've had some good debates out there too. I'm not known to just go with the flow. Ya gotta know the atmosphere and sync with it. Twice I've been warned by a mod in a PM but both times it was a misunderstanding and one had to go back into that thread, apologize and reopen it.

Y'all are REBELS! LOL!

 

3reef is the bomb.. good peeps, good fun, good knowledge

 

This.

There are so many knowledgeable people there that will help with anything. Spend enough time there and you will find the same helpful folks as most hobbies have. And yes, Randy has taken plenty of time to help me figure some things out and understand things better. He clearly does not have to. Where else can you get access to that level of knowledge?

Enthusiast forum all do the same thing. They all have their same problems. And newbies flowing in on a non-stop basis asking the same questions over and over when the answer is at the bottom of the page gets the same responses everywhere. There the same questions I asked when I got into a new hobby.

Having said that... 3Reef is special in that regard and it is only through the close attention paid by the owner and mods of this site. This is like my quiet place. I can come here and know it will not have any drama. I have never been on any forum quiet like it... except a sport board I go to that has the same atmosphere where I spend most of my time... and they have the same philosophy. Except they allow political debate and grown adults can actually have intelligent "conversations" on the subject. Who knew?

 

But how do expect to learn? I totally get what you are saying... honest. But when you get into a subject like reef keeping, there are a lot of "whys". Yet most people only want "how". So we get tons and tons of bad advice out there because John did "X" and it worked for him and you should do it too... but it only worked for him because of "Z" which was left out and it only worked for him the year he had his tank going and then he got out.

When you start getting more advanced in any hobby, it is important to start understanding the "why". And when this will work and when it won't. Most times when people won't answer a question, it is because it isn't as simple as a the question asks, and there is more to it that they want to get into.

I myself like answering the "why". And even I got tired of writing the same responce over and over and over... so I got smart and wrote articles. Now that some are on the same page, more detail can be brought up. Yet all I did was share the information I learned from other much more knowledgeable people taking their time to talk with me and help me understand things better. Those people are everywhere.

Most times I have found people are happy to meet others half way. It get's tiring to have others expect you to just give them stuff. And I am not saying you are doing that at all. You could have very good examples of situations and just got really rude people on the wrong day. It happens. I'm only blabbering about my experience on the subject. But those types are everywhere. Search for the good, leave the rest behind.

 

I belong to five forums and enjoy each one for different reasons. I enjoy 3reef because of its laid back feeling and it has some really nice members. RC and others have their good and bad points too just like we all do....lol
Even with twenty five years of reefing under my belt I still am learning and meeting really cool peeps at the different forums. I also believe a hobbiest sells him/herself short by not visiting other forums and should give each one an equal chance. One of the neat things 3reef has going for it is Kingfish and his mods they really are good people and do help all they can plus things run smoother when the boss is around
Remember when asking a question on a forum to first do a search and see if your question has been answered. I myself will click out of a thread if the question asked has been asked 100000 times before. Also it takes time to get known on forums but once known members will add more info to your questions and friendships start

 

I have visited MANY other furums MANY times, but the environment is not comfortable. 3reef feels like home to me. People here are very nice, and open to new suggestions, and the admin and moderators are very nice and helpful. On other forums, I feel like im walking on egg shells. If you say something out of the norm, you get flamed for it. So i have no reason to visit other forums anymore.

 

I understand the importance of doing your own searches. Trust me I do that all the time. I normally do not ask a question unless after and hour or so of searching comes up with nothing. I created a thread on both this forum and RC to see if could get an answer to a few of my question.

Here is the link.
http://www.3reef.com/forums/inverts/microalgae-copepods-148513.html

This is only one example. Understanding why is an important process of this hobby, but asking for experiences doesn't mean I want to understand why or how at that point. I have an addiction to this hobby and if you guys have read many of my threads you know I am new, but I don't just ask a question without some understanding of the subject I am asking.

Forums attract many new people because of the information that is found on them, and even though most new people ask the same old questions, like "Why Cycle My Tank?". We have a responsibility to keep this forum a friendly and informative place. A simple link to another thread can help them understand it, or a minute or two of our time can make a big difference of whether that person stays here or goes to another forum, or whether the person even decides to be in the hobby altogether.

Just a few more thoughts in my complex brain. lol

 

I am on a couple other forums myself and I am pretty active on RC. The only problem I have is from some of the posts I have read, its almost like what they do is right and everyone else is wrong. It seems like they think they are reef gods. On one forum which I post alot on there is no bickering. Everyone helps everyone like all of the people on 3reef. The only thing that ticks me off is when newbies post one or two word responses and especially when they havent read the whole build thread. Then you dont see them ever again and usually they are the same ones asking the same question and the answer is a few posts up.

I love the fam here on 3reef. Sorry I don't post more but I know where home is.

 

I normally surface both forums and I will give my honest opinion. I like 3reef because it is calm collective and generally user friendly. I like RC because on advanced topics there and some very very smart people and even subject matter experts. Example Doctor Roy & the mantis shrimp section. The down side is that there is also alot of 'think they are smart' people that like to treat people dumb. Its alot bigger forum and attracts alot of new people, new people that dont search, ignore faqs and just post. That gets old. Its part of the reason I took a break from here to be honest. The difference is how it is handled. There its pretty much responded to with rudeness and bashing. Where as here its more gentle nudges. I have also personally made posts there and been told more than once 'look at your post count, you dont know'. What does post count have to do with anything? Nothing other that self eliteness. So I surf & haunt quite regularlly, but I only post in my local club section. If I feel the need to post I do it here where I feel that my posts get a fair shake and hopefully help someone else.

 

So very true.