I do not give advice

[paul b]

I don't give advice unless asked.  There are a few reasons for that, first off, I am not the God of fish tanks, second, I don't have the nicest tank between here and Tahiti.  Third, there is so much advice given on these forums that it boggles the mind and I would like to say that much of it is wrong advice, but I can't, because as I said, I am not the God of fish tanks.
Fourth, I run an undergravel filter so even I would not take advice from me and my methods are considered just rediculous.
After saying that and after reading so many posts on here I am glad that I don't give advice unless asked.  Many posts start out with someone asking an inocuous question like "What should I feed my tang?"  The poor guy will unleash a vast plethora of things like, "well you should not put a tang in a tank under 100 gallons, or a tang is an ich magnet so you have to quarantine it for 6 months and feed it garlic while you use hyposalinity on it and feed it nori four times a day at the same time every day.  Or Tangs don't ship well so they should be avoided at all costs, or they don't get along with pipefish, or your social security will be cancelled if you get a tang or tangs are Jewish and only eat Kosher food.
Very few people will, if ever just answer the guys question as to what he should feed the thing.
So many threads go like that.  Someone will ask "What is this invert" and he will get answers from a sea cucumber to a duck billed platypus.
I especially like when someone asks, "help me decide what fish to put in my tank?"  Like, is it me?   First of all, who cares what fish you put in your tank?  There are hundreds of fish to choose from, pick one.  I think you should re phrase the question and ask something like can a percula clown get along with a seahorse or a manta ray.  Something specific will get you a better answer.  But if you really want to know something, search out someone who has a tank that you admire and maybe has the fish or invert in there that you are interested in.  Then try to read his or her threads to see if they seem to have luck with it for a few years (no, not months) then PM the person.  That way you will get one answer and most likely a correct answer without all the drama and nonsence mixed with myth.
This is just my opinion and if I offended anyone.  You could offend me,  (call me bald or something)  or you will just have to get over it.

 

[Enkay]

That is the best piece of adivse I have read in a long time. Thank you!

[ridetheducati]

Can you help my golf swing?  

[Coral Hind]

Wow, you sound like an angry bald electrician that's been shocked way too many times.

[surf&turf]

Wow, you sound like an angry bald electrician that's been shocked way too many times.

[Huly]

Hey paul are blackworms bad for your fish? What do you keep your nitrate levels at?

 

 

JK Great read

[trockafella]

That was a refreshing read. Thanks Paul.

[YHSublime]

Yep, opinions are like bellybuttons, everybody's got one.

 

Sound advice. I've only been in this hobby for about 7 months, but it doesn't take long to realize you should do what gives you favorable results. The hobby has changed so much over 20 years, it's hard to claim what's right and wrong. I believe it will continue to change as well.

 

Rob, and many others harp on it as well, read, read, read. Not the forums (although that's fun too!) but books! I HATED biology and science and chemistry yada yada yada when I was a kid, even in college. Now that I've found a tank that heavily involves most of those things, I find myself reading textbooks on coral propagation and reef husbandry, things that I would have tossed in the trash 10 years ago.

[paul b]

Wow, you sound like an angry bald electrician that's been shocked way too many times

 

 

 

 

Hey paul are blackworms bad for your fish?

 

 

I don't know, but they are great for Duck Billed Platypusses.  I hear it keeps the ich off them

 

 

 

What do you keep your nitrate levels at?

 

 

I don't know as I replaced all the water in my tank with nitrate.

[Sharkey18]

Well said. 

[steveoutlaw]

That tank is too small for an electrician that size!

[Kimchi Corals]

According to the ape show I watched yesterday, the useless banter is normal behavior for apes.

[pizzaguy]

Good read and I agree. I found one person I go to for all advice and if he don't know the answers to my millions of questions then I probably shouldn't be asking them in the first place!! You know who you are and thank you!!

[Shoelace]

What's an undergravel filter?   

[paul b]

It is something that is rumored will keep a reef tank running for over 40 years.  But it must be a myth

[countryboy]

Should I invest in gold or silver? How do you change a muffler bearing? By the way, well said Paul. Advice should be taken with a grain of salt. Experiencing things has been my best teacher

[treesprite]

I'm trying to think of a purposefully stupid question but can't. 

[LCDRDATA]

By the way, well said Paul. Advice should be taken with a grain of salt. Experiencing things has been my best teacher

 

"Good judgment comes from experience."

"Experience comes from bad judgment." 

Edited June 5, 2013 by LCDRDATA

[paul b]

Should I invest in gold or silver? How do you change a muffler bearing? By the way, well said Paul. Advice should be taken with a grain of salt. Experiencing things has been my best teacher

 

Aluminum.

 

Very carefully while wearing ear muffs.

 

Don't use a swing arm hydrometer when taking that salt.

 

I experienced everything, then forgot all of it.

[ErikS]

I don't give advice unless asked.  There are a few reasons for that, first off, I am not the God of fish tanks, second, I don't have the nicest tank between here and Tahiti.  Third, there is so much advice given on these forums that it boggles the mind and I would like to say that much of it is wrong advice, but I can't, because as I said, I am not the God of fish tanks

Best ever...............one might notice that with a few exceptions the the amount of advice proffered is inversely proportional to the length of time spent in the hobby.

 

 

 

I see one arm (though a tool in the other) & it looks to be a glass tank.................so what's the problem?

[Shoelace]

Advice:

 

[wade]

I wrote about this topic, briefly, for Advanced Aquarist a while back... here is the editorial:

 

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2006/10/aaeditorial

 

 

It was from 2006, but hasn't changed.

 

Here is what I would add today, especially to those who like to be helpful to others on forums:  Provide your sources.  If a bit of advice is your experience, say so.  If it is something you read on another forum, say so.  Explain how you came about knowing or finding that information you are passing along.  If there are alternatives, let people know that they exist. If you wish to tack on  a personal note, feel free, but let it be known that it is your opinion.

 

Nothing wrong with trying to provide guidance.  Almost all of us gleaned most of our early information from the internet... the better the documentation/sourcing, the better off people will be when they form their own opinions.

 

 

[YHSublime]

Here is what I would add today, especially to those who like to be helpful to others on forums:  Provide your sources.  If a bit of advice is your experience, say so.  If it is something you read on another forum, say so.  Explain how you came about knowing or finding that information you are passing along.  If there are alternatives, let people know that they exist. If you wish to tack on  a personal note, feel free, but let it be known that it is your opinion.

 

 

 

Sound. I like that!

[paul b]

An eagle just hit my house.

 

Now I live in New York 2 miles outside the city limits and we have a lof of birds here.  Mostly pigeons, sparrows, robins and smaller birds.
Anyway I am downstairs in the basement and my wife is upstairs cleaning the windows.  All of a sudden I hear her scream.  But she screams if she sees a big ant, so I figured it was an ant, beatle, spider etc and I get a rag to kill the thing.  I go upstairs and she said something big just hit the house.
I said, what, like a plane (we are on the approach to JFK airport.
She said, no, a bird.  Now I live in a stone house so the bird would have to be awfully big for you to hear it inside.
She says go outside, it is in the gutter on the roof.  I go outside and see squirels running for their life and birds of all kinds flying away making a racket and I was expecting to see Rodan (If you are not into Sci Fy forget about that)  This eagle is trying to land in my gutter, but it is to big.
Now I have been in Colorado, Arizona and California so I know what an eagle looks like and this thing was an eagle.  I am pretty sure it was an Osprey as we do have some of them on the shore around the Long Island Sound where they eat fish, but I never saw one inland and certainly never on my roof.
So the thing looks at me and takes off, it must have had a wingspan of almost 4'.  Very cool and not a Long Island Sight.

 

Here is what I would add today, especially to those who like to be helpful to others on forums:  Provide your sources.

 

References:

Me

My wife

Birds

Squirrels

Eagle

[ridetheducati]

From a non-authoritative source to another, I shall not reveal my other non-authoritative sources.  

 

Forums are rooted in misinformation and wild goose chases.  Newbies in any hobby have a hard way to go.  I don't trust my local butcher.