Looking For Feedback on Chicago Reefs

I’ll be back and fully participating in a few months. I just had some personal stuff (house fire) that disrupted my tank and my life. Tank is still up, but looking pretty bad. I’ll be back soon.
 
Sawdonkey said:
I’ll be back and fully participating in a few months. I just had some personal stuff (house fire) that disrupted my tank and my life. Tank is still up, but looking pretty bad. I’ll be back soon.
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Man that was a sweet tank too. Heard you lost some of your fish friends too sorry man
 
DD said:
When it comes to hobbies, it seems that there is always an ebb and flow when it comes to interest. I remember when I first joined this community, there was a ton of activity and I learned quite a bit from most of the active members.

The last couple of years I just haven't had time after putting in 12-13 hours a day behind my computer and on the phone for my job. After 6pm, trying to get a workout in, the last thing I want to do is sit behind a screen. So sometimes life gets in the way for most people when it comes to hobbies.

I'm sure the story is the same for most people on here, and have been on here for years. Some of the most active people are rarely active today. I'm sure that's partially due to life's obligations, as well as losing interest. For me, it's a mixture of both. While I do try to lurk, and do my best to help moderate, I just don't have the time to sit on here all day chatting.

One of the worst things was seeing how after the whole drama filled departure of other members, we did our best to keep members interested, hosting get togethers at local LFS, and aside from a few regulars, the turnout was pretty poor despite having giveaways to get people to come.

I would be more than happy to help organize POTM or TOTM if people are interested in that, and if Goat would like for that to happen. I just can't commit to being here all day on chat lol.

Part of what drew me into keeping a reef was how great it was to keep a miniature reef in my home after having been bored out of my mind by freshwater, as well as planted. The comment I've quoted below was what I came to learn about a sect within the reefing community that was pretty bothersome as it seemed to be extremely elitist. One of the corals that really piqued my interest in reefing is Xenia believe it or not. After coming here, and seeing people bash on the coral, as well as members who liked it, it became apparent that people were focused on reefing for all of the wrong reasons. We saw a substantial part of that group leave a couple years back, ultimately resulting in a change in ownership here, which wound up being better for the community, except for what I've mentioned above...that people seemed to lose interest in reefing.

I guess my question is for those who feel that the admin and mods were not active, what exactly were you missing? Because when I was on here, I'd see people complaining about over moderation. I guess that's the part that I don't get is what exactly were people missing? Most other forums I'm a member of, the mods just moderate, and really don't get involved where they don't need to. That's sort of the tact I've taken, where I only get involved when something crosses a line between members (breaks a rule). This isn't a criticism so much as it is a question. There have been several people that repeatedly break the rules, and then when they get moderated, they start crying about the first amendment. The rules really aren't that difficult to follow, and quite honestly are pretty straightforward. Whenever a use reported a thread, comment, whatever, anytime I logged in after getting a notification, usually within a minute, I'd find that one of the other mods had already gotten to it.

I do miss reefing, even though my tank is still up, and hopefully I can make time soon to start stocking it with some stuff that I like.

Specifically what Goat is asking is how do we boost activity on this board, so POTM, TOTM, as well as get togethers are all great ideas. The thing is, how do you get people who were really interested and into reefing, back into reefing or at least being interested in it again? That's sort of the boat I'm in, with the addition of a lack of time, even though I still have a tank up. I believe that's the chasm that needs to be crossed. Over the last couple of years I've seen interest wane in reefing, because this forum did almost run itself due to the owner prior to Josh literally doing nothing and there was a ton of activity. All of those mods left and started their own forum, but that one has far less activity so it's not the result of anything but a lack of interest. It just seems that people aren't as interested in the same numbers as they used to be.
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I dont think any one that mentioned mods not being around ment anything bad about anyone that is a mod. I like all of you most are face book friends or regular friends. And i dont think its about you guys modding if thats even a word . Things fell flat real flat . Peoples lives change time gets harder and harder to come by . But I remember when the mods weren’t just modding the post but they set up the contest the potm just little things that kept it interesting. Not just loging on checking seeing nothing and leaving. I dont think you guys should take it personal again nothing against any of you . But if you guys dont think it ran flat i dont know what to say. I see people ask questions takes three days to get response . Was never like that even if it was a crappy vitamin c response lol least you got a response. Thats all im gonna say i dont want to be in dog house again.
 
madjoe said:
I dont think any one that mentioned mods not being around ment anything bad about anyone that is a mod. I like all of you most are face book friends or regular friends. And i dont think its about you guys modding if thats even a word . Things fell flat real flat . Peoples lives change time gets harder and harder to come by . But I remember when the mods weren’t just modding the post but they set up the contest the potm just little things that kept it interesting. Not just loging on checking seeing nothing and leaving. I dont think you guys should take it personal again nothing against any of you . But if you guys dont think it ran flat i dont know what to say. I see people ask questions takes three days to get response . Was never like that even if it was a crappy vitamin c response lol least you got a response. Thats all im gonna say i dont want to be in dog house again.
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Banned!
:ban: :lol:
 
Sawdonkey said:
I’ll be back and fully participating in a few months. I just had some personal stuff (house fire) that disrupted my tank and my life. Tank is still up, but looking pretty bad. I’ll be back soon.
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Sorry to hear about this. If you need any equipment or wants some clownfish let me know. I have tons of stuff here and would like to help get your tank back up and going if you need it.
 
Bommie said:
I have to admit im not as active as when I first started but that's because I finished my tank. I still look here everyday tho. Never know when I might come across a frag I like or if I'm looking for a frag ill ask. I agree we should have more meets. Oh, and at the meeting I think we should wear name tags of our user name..lol..yeah I know cheesy but it would help meet one another.

Sent from my 6045O using Tapatalk
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I completely agree with the name tags. I am great with faces and horrible with names
 
I wasn't around for the drama as 2017 was the year of hell for me. Life definitely got in the way of the hobby and I was extremely close to shutting everything down. When I came back I was pretty bummed to see not much activity on this site. And the subforum on RC is just a FS forum.

We need to find a balance of sharing opinion and being polite and considerate at the same time. I truly believe that all the negativity and haters online has killed our hobby in Chicagoland or at least fractured the community to the point of disfunctionality. We should have some guiding principles or mission statement that we should all try to adhere to when posting. We should be focused on rebuilding and reunifying the community and think big about where it can go. Big picture stuff instead of political squabbles.

I've been reefing since '99 and still have a lot to learn, but I'm happy to share what experience I have. I don't care if it's about Xenia or a JF Homewrecker, I will try to help.
 
DD said:
When it comes to hobbies, it seems that there is always an ebb and flow when it comes to interest. I remember when I first joined this community, there was a ton of activity and I learned quite a bit from most of the active members.

The last couple of years I just haven't had time after putting in 12-13 hours a day behind my computer and on the phone for my job. After 6pm, trying to get a workout in, the last thing I want to do is sit behind a screen. So sometimes life gets in the way for most people when it comes to hobbies.

I'm sure the story is the same for most people on here, and have been on here for years. Some of the most active people are rarely active today. I'm sure that's partially due to life's obligations, as well as losing interest. For me, it's a mixture of both. While I do try to lurk, and do my best to help moderate, I just don't have the time to sit on here all day chatting.

One of the worst things was seeing how after the whole drama filled departure of other members, we did our best to keep members interested, hosting get togethers at local LFS, and aside from a few regulars, the turnout was pretty poor despite having giveaways to get people to come.

I would be more than happy to help organize POTM or TOTM if people are interested in that, and if Goat would like for that to happen. I just can't commit to being here all day on chat lol.

Part of what drew me into keeping a reef was how great it was to keep a miniature reef in my home after having been bored out of my mind by freshwater, as well as planted. The comment I've quoted below was what I came to learn about a sect within the reefing community that was pretty bothersome as it seemed to be extremely elitist. One of the corals that really piqued my interest in reefing is Xenia believe it or not. After coming here, and seeing people bash on the coral, as well as members who liked it, it became apparent that people were focused on reefing for all of the wrong reasons. We saw a substantial part of that group leave a couple years back, ultimately resulting in a change in ownership here, which wound up being better for the community, except for what I've mentioned above...that people seemed to lose interest in reefing.

I guess my question is for those who feel that the admin and mods were not active, what exactly were you missing? Because when I was on here, I'd see people complaining about over moderation. I guess that's the part that I don't get is what exactly were people missing? Most other forums I'm a member of, the mods just moderate, and really don't get involved where they don't need to. That's sort of the tact I've taken, where I only get involved when something crosses a line between members (breaks a rule). This isn't a criticism so much as it is a question. There have been several people that repeatedly break the rules, and then when they get moderated, they start crying about the first amendment. The rules really aren't that difficult to follow, and quite honestly are pretty straightforward. Whenever a use reported a thread, comment, whatever, anytime I logged in after getting a notification, usually within a minute, I'd find that one of the other mods had already gotten to it.

I do miss reefing, even though my tank is still up, and hopefully I can make time soon to start stocking it with some stuff that I like.

Specifically what Goat is asking is how do we boost activity on this board, so POTM, TOTM, as well as get togethers are all great ideas. The thing is, how do you get people who were really interested and into reefing, back into reefing or at least being interested in it again? That's sort of the boat I'm in, with the addition of a lack of time, even though I still have a tank up. I believe that's the chasm that needs to be crossed. Over the last couple of years I've seen interest wane in reefing, because this forum did almost run itself due to the owner prior to Josh literally doing nothing and there was a ton of activity. All of those mods left and started their own forum, but that one has far less activity so it's not the result of anything but a lack of interest. It just seems that people aren't as interested in the same numbers as they used to be.
Click to expand...

I think you are right on with peoples time for sure. I don't think there is a lack of hobbyists causing the reduction in traffic. I think its because there are so many more places to hang out online. Facebook groups have become numerous and active, and there are more ways to communicate then ever. The key is to try to be different and offer things that other groups cannot. That is our challenge and something I have a lot of ideas on.
 
bryman said:
I wasn't around for the drama as 2017 was the year of hell for me. Life definitely got in the way of the hobby and I was extremely close to shutting everything down. When I came back I was pretty bummed to see not much activity on this site. And the subforum on RC is just a FS forum.

We need to find a balance of sharing opinion and being polite and considerate at the same time. I truly believe that all the negativity and haters online has killed our hobby in Chicagoland or at least fractured the community to the point of disfunctionality. We should have some guiding principles or mission statement that we should all try to adhere to when posting. We should be focused on rebuilding and reunifying the community and think big about where it can go. Big picture stuff instead of political squabbles.

I've been reefing since '99 and still have a lot to learn, but I'm happy to share what experience I have. I don't care if it's about Xenia or a JF Homewrecker, I will try to help.
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This is very well stated. Thanks for the feedback
 
Personally for me the lack of activity killed it for me. I used to be on everyday. Subscribed to most of the builds and constantly involved, but it got to the point where it was so dead then feels like you're talking to yourself. Now my tank has suffered since having my daughter, but I'm hoping that totm and other stuff gets the community involved and in turn hopefully brings back the love of reefing I once had.
[MENTION=1217]madjoe[/MENTION] glad to see you back. We will have to catch up sometime. Need some reefing conversation to get me motivated again.

Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk
 
anarchy said:
Personally for me the lack of activity killed it for me. I used to be on everyday. Subscribed to most of the builds and constantly involved, but it got to the point where it was so dead then feels like you're talking to yourself. Now my tank has suffered since having my daughter, but I'm hoping that totm and other stuff gets the community involved and in turn hopefully brings back the love of reefing I once had.
[MENTION=1217]madjoe[/MENTION] glad to see you back. We will have to catch up sometime. Need some reefing conversation to get me motivated again.

Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk
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I agree completely with this..

It comes down to each of us getting our build threads updated, providing experience and help to newer members, and getting some of the activities going again.

If I take the time to post build thread updates and no one responds, there really isn't much incentive to continuing to keeping it updated.

In a month or two, my new build will be wet and I'll be down for getting some grow out competitions going. I think we should start all-inclusive grow out. Maybe tiered? Zoa, acan, and sticks? Obviously you'll only compete within your category but I think this will boost involvement and reel in some newer members.

Even if it starts sooner, I'll get QT up and going!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
 
anarchy said:
Personally for me the lack of activity killed it for me. I used to be on everyday. Subscribed to most of the builds and constantly involved, but it got to the point where it was so dead then feels like you're talking to yourself. Now my tank has suffered since having my daughter, but I'm hoping that totm and other stuff gets the community involved and in turn hopefully brings back the love of reefing I once had.
[MENTION=1217]madjoe[/MENTION] glad to see you back. We will have to catch up sometime. Need some reefing conversation to get me motivated again.

Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk
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Its good to be back well under the right name lol. Any time man i love talking reef . I keep in touch with most the guys that used to be active on here hopefully then can come back time to time. Btw the new family addition here yet ?
 
madjoe said:
Its good to be back well under the right name lol. Any time man i love talking reef . I keep in touch with most the guys that used to be active on here hopefully then can come back time to time. Btw the new family addition here yet ?
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Yeah she's here. 3 1/2 months old already
fe9900f84f927d4f0f3198b9a662bb83.jpg


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I would love to be more active. I started reefing a few years ago, seems like all the forums were dying and mostly for selling at time. I had started a build thread on my first tank, as someone else mentioned, no comments, whats the incentive. All the activities you guys have mentioned sound awesome, never participated in anything like that, but sounds like fun. I have seen many of your loggins all over threads and would be nice to meet fellow reefers.

I recently moved to a new house upgraded to a 180 wall tank with a fish room! T5's, MH's, and a Reefbrite. Drilled for a closed loop.
 
Ageno said:
I would love to be more active. I started reefing a few years ago, seems like all the forums were dying and mostly for selling at time. I had started a build thread on my first tank, as someone else mentioned, no comments, whats the incentive. All the activities you guys have mentioned sound awesome, never participated in anything like that, but sounds like fun. I have seen many of your loggins all over threads and would be nice to meet fellow reefers.

I recently moved to a new house upgraded to a 180 wall tank with a fish room! T5's, MH's, and a Reefbrite. Drilled for a closed loop.
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Saw the thread sweet set up. I have feeling things gonna change around here with new owners. I have to figure out how to post pics again since photo bucket doesn’t let me even log in anymore.
 
madjoe said:
Saw the thread sweet set up. I have feeling things gonna change around here with new owners. I have to figure out how to post pics again since photo bucket doesn’t let me even log in anymore.
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Tapatalk. It's the easiest way to browse the forum and post imo

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