Me asking a planted aquarium question on Facebook

[Art]

I know it's just my opinion, but this is how I feel when asking a planted aquarium question on Facebook...

You have 98 answers in about 10 minutes.

What's fascinating is that everyone from the newbie that is clueless to the seasoned veterans answer. Then they start fighting with each other. Then scrolling and keeping track of answers becomes crazy.

Most people give up and hope that the right answer was caught by the OP. It's a very transactional relationship very typical of social media. Not much depth possible in such fast paced information sharing.

I don't mean to knock it. It has its purpose and it's very clear that you don't expect or want more in-depth answers. I get it so I don't mean to sound like a grouchy old man.

My point is that while social media platforms like Facebook and Facebook Groups have their place. They make it very easy to share and stay at a very casual level. It is also important to preserve those platforms, like our ScapeCrunch, that curates quality information and allows for deeper relationships and discussions.

Used together is the best of both worlds.

 

[Art]

OK so stepping off my soap box now.

Have a great weekend everybody!

 

[Hanuman]

Used together is the best of both worlds.

I would say, don't use facebook is even better. That place is filled with non-sens despite there being people with knowledge. If you want quality information, forums and videos on youtube are the way to go. Facebook is just a place for people to show who's got the biggest... It is also a place with loads of disinhibition where you get very easily insulted for no apparent reason. I have caught more than once even respected people venture in that game. Facebook is no place to fetch solid and reliable information IMO.

 

[Krandall]

Got to be really careful of YouTube though. There are some good ones… Dennis Wong comes to mind. But there is SO much poor information put out by people with good video skills it can be very hard for people who are not experienced to know the difference.

 

[Pepere]

Got to be really careful of YouTube though. There are some good ones… Dennis Wong comes to mind. But there is SO much poor information put out by people with good video skills it can be very hard for people who are not experienced to know the difference.

That is where I was… Confronted with conflicting information..But then I started looking at what sort of results people got. I had enough results similar to what I saw on some presenters sites and decided to follow advice from people who had tanks that looked the way I wanted mine to…

I still have a lot to learn, but my tanks look so much better than they did…,

 

[Krandall]

If you have time to do that, it’s great. Unfortunately, some people just settle on the first person who sounds good. Also be careful of those who sound “sciency”. Again, some like Dennis get it right. Others are woefully inaccurate.

 

[ElleDee]

I like (curated) Facebook groups because it's neat seeing what people around the world are up to, and there are a few people of note in the hobby who participate who otherwise are not active online and I appreciate hearing their current thinking on things. (Also, I'm specifically grateful for the woman who shared a picture of the 90 120 cm tank I'm setting up - I hadn't considered that it would work, but for my purposes it'll be great.)

But yeah, there's a lot of nonsense. And what I would give for a way to screen out all of the AI tank images that have cropped up in my feed in the last few months. I can see that those fish are just silver smudges! Ugh.

Also be careful of those who sound “sciency”.

This is so true, unfortunately. I would much rather hear from people who take an artistic approach (and there are many!) and just accurately describe their process and the outcome without appealing to science and just being wrong. Along those lines, there's a world of difference between "this is what I did" and "this is what you should do," and the pool of people with the knowledge and experience to pull off the latter on YouTube is pretty small.

 

[Krandall]

Unfortunately, however, if the newer people in the hobby don't learn the (real) science, there is nothing to build on, and nowhere to go. I am all for the art part of the hobby too. If I weren't, I would not have been involved in aquascaping contests since their inception. but it is all just flower arranging without a solid understanding of the science behind it.

 

[Art]

but it is all just flower arranging without a solid understanding of the science behind it.

Love this. I'm going to steal it, Karen, if I may.

 

[Krandall]

Feel free! LOL! I am nothing if not practical about this stuff!

 

[GreggZ]

That is where I was… Confronted with conflicting information..But then I started looking at what sort of results people got. I had enough results similar to what I saw on some presenters sites and decided to follow advice from people who had tanks that looked the way I wanted mine to…

This is the key and something I have been saying for years.

The best path to success is to seek out tanks that demonstrate success in a style you would like to emulate. Then study their methods, and even reach out and ask questions. I have found the vast majority of the successful people in the hobby are glad to share their thoughts and are generous with their time.

It's one of the things I love about the hobby and community. People genuinely want to see others succeed.

The mistake on FB is that people take advice from people when they have no idea whether they have had any success at all. Most will just say "My plants are growing great" but never post even a single picture.

So the bottom line is be careful who you listen to. On FB for all you know you might be seeking weight lifting advice from the weakest guy in the gym.

 

[Art]

On FB for all you know you might be seeking weight lifting advice from the weakest guy in the gym.

Here is another gem I'm going to have to steal!

 

[Hanuman]

On FB for all you know you might be seeking weight lifting advice from the weakest guy in the gym.

Unfortunately that does not correlate well with tanks. Being myself an advanced weightlifter, the strongest and biggest guy in your local gym is often not the most knowlgeable one about what he does at the gym. There's plenty of gym bro-science out there and in some instances I would rather follow a weak guy which is doing things the right way than a hulk which has little understanding about biomechanics.