What's our combined level of hobby xpertise?

[treesprite]

So, I am interested in seeing the combined WAMAS level of expertise in the reef keeping hobby, or at least were members rank themselves and why. Please answer the poll, and if you can, give a statement about your self-rating.

[zygote2k]

you could listen to master of the universe, i mean zyogte...

 

Sean

 

Thanks, Sean. I second that title.

[dbartco]

Wow, an arrogance poll!

[cabrego]

very subjective poll, but I will play.

[wfoxfox]

so, the Pres, Mr Doug, rated himself pretty low :-(

[Wicked]

Hmm, well my husband had a fish shop when he was single and back in the day, but still fairly new to coral...I myself am a newbee, but love learning about coral and salt tanks. Love this forum...love shared knowledge, always a good thing. Look forward to learning from all of you! Hope we can add some light on some subjects as well, but once again, new to this really...wicked

 

 

[Coral Hind]

Welcome to the club Wicked!!

[mogurnda]

It seems like I know less with every passing year. Is there something that comes before "I've never kept corals?"

[dbartco]

I debated noob vs. low intermediate. I picked low intermediate. Probably should have gone with noob though. I'm with Dave, the more I learn, the less I realize I know. I also think for each coral we have lost we should dock ourselves down a bit.

[Wicked]

Thank you for the welcome Coral Hind. Seems silly responding to this when I've just participated in the slaying of a Frogs spawn...My partner Mark is new to Frogs Spawn as well...Look forward to the growth and education!!

[ctenophore]

I also think for each coral we have lost we should dock ourselves down a bit.

But I've learned a lot about corals from my 55 gallon tote full of dead ones. Such as, they don't like 92 degrees or 4.3 DKH water.

[BowieReefer84]

Is it my fault that I killed a "poker star montipora" when I first started a few years ago? The guy at the store told me it would be fine under power compacts (I assumed he knew what he was talking about) . . . Turned out it wasn't fine and slowly died over the course of the next few weeks.

[dbartco]

Not saying we don't learn from our mistakes. We all do. I have learned a ton from a ton of mistakes. But does keeping a coral for a year, 2 years, make us an expert on it?

 

Consider this. Imagine our everyday jobs were like the hobby. If every coral were a project we were reponsible for? I doubt any of us we be considered an expert in our respective feilds then. We'd probably be considered disastrous failures!

 

Success in the hobby is certainly a matter of perspective. 90% success rate in corals might not be bad, but in industry that is pretty pathetic. Maybe we need to set the bar higher?

[Chad]

I find this topic interesting... I wonder if one's own rating is the same that others would assign to them

 

I rated myself as intermediate.

 

I didnt rate myself higher because there is a whole lot about a lot of topics that I dont know, one of the things that I really love about this hoby is that it forces continued learning. It is rare that a week goes by where I don't learn something new about my tank's inhabitants or a slightly better way to go about things.

 

I didnt rate myself lower because I cannot count the number of tanks that I have either owned or been directly responsible for in my 20 years in the hobby, easily into the hundreds and possibly into the thousands. I have also served as a direct mentor to a bunch of people learning the hobby, to me it is a measure of your own ability if someone else can make your methods work.

 

So, that's that

[Coral Hind]

I rated myself as intermediate.

 

I would have rated you higher. You seem to have shared some good expereince and knowledge here so far.

[trockafella]

Do we have any "experts" ...???

[Coral Hind]

I thought that was you that voted as an "expert" already.

 

I do think we have a few in the club that experts or at least pretty darn close to it.

[trockafella]

Haha, not me... I actually think its funny how some people are ranking themselves...

[Origami]

Self-rating? Argh. There's not a day that goes by where I'm not learning something whether it's here or elsewhere. While it's certain that I don't fit in category #1 (never kept corals), and that I don't feel that I fit in category #2 (infant) or maybe #3 (noob), I haven't a clue as to how much remains ahead to explore, to learn, and to share. I do know that there are many roads of learning ahead whether it's in general husbandry, species identification, reef chemistry & science, etc., and that the pace of progress along each of these roads varies for each of us. So, how can any of us come up with a single rating?

 

Gawd, maybe I am a noob. (In some areas of this hobby, I know that I am!)

[Chad]

I would have rated you higher. You seem to have shared some good expereince and knowledge here so far.

 

thanks for that!

[zygote2k]

Wow, an arrogance poll!

 

I'm not really an expert, I just play one on TV.

I think we are all fortunate to share this forum with some of the experts that many of us know:

Origami- the chemical electric expert

Almon and Doug - the clownfish experts

Justin- the aquaculture expert

Chip- the flower expert

Rocko, Johnny, Leishman, Gadgets- the guys whom have expert looking tanks.

Almost forgot Paul B- the expert of ancient captive reef systems.

 

There are many more that I don't know of and some that probably don't wish to be named, but this is one of those hobbies that is constantly evolving and making experts out of all of us in some small way that helps the greater good of the hobby.

Edited June 1, 2010 by zygote2k

[paul b]

Being that this is a hobby and there are no diplomas, doctorates, or Nobel Prizes there can be no such thing as an expert.

All of the "fish" experts are basically self proclaimed.

[Origami]

Make enough mistakes, though, and we can all become "seasoned."

[Chad]

^haha, using that thought, then I think we are all "seasoned noobies"

 

Now, we just need a poll to discuss how seasoned one is

 

 

[zygote2k]

^haha, using that thought, then I think we are all "seasoned noobies"

 

Now, we just need a poll to discuss how seasoned one is

with Old Bay, of course.