One of the challenges new folks have, and I'm speaking from my own personal experiences since only getting back into planted tanks at the beginning of the year is that most new planted tankers are learning by watching YouTube videos. While a lot of the channels are putting out great information, the vast majority of the information is pushing aqua soil and lean fertilization. So you typically set your mind to that and then run into EI for the first time and think it's great. You set your tank up with aqua soil, you plant the tank heavily on day one, get the CO2 working, dosing full EI on day one, and blast the tank with light and a couple months later you have an algae explosion. What happened?
The one thing they don't do a great job on is telling you that the reason aqua soil works with lean is because the soil is adding nutrients, especially in the beginning. Full EI on day one is a recipe for disaster, especially if you slack on maintenance which is very common with new people.
I used to see new reef keepers, super excited to get into reef keeping, they'd watch some YouTube videos, not understand the concepts, and misapply literally every concept and run into disaster. They'd try to emulate the tanks they saw on YouTube, but didn't understand the mechanics behind why the things that YouTuber is doing works. If you take a little of this from one video, a little bit of that from another, without understanding why each method works, you're doomed from day one.
The thing I like most about planted over reef, from a forum perspective is the reef community had "elitists". These were people who didn't want to bother helping a newbie. Even worse, a newbie would share a pic of their tank that they were very proud of and here would come one of the elitists to say "ewww, xenia" or something similar. While it's kind of funny, if you're experienced, to the newbie proud of their first reef, it's discouraging. We thankfully don't seem to have that on the planted side, at least on the forums lol. FB is a whole different animal altogether.
The only way you'll really learn is sharing what problems you're seeing, and accepting advice. The biggest turnoff even to the nicest, most knowledgable, and helpful people is arguing that your method is great, someone knowledgeable taught you, and your method can't possibly be the problem. Even I get turned off by those types of people to the point where I'm like, oh ok, good luck then lol. When you're new in anything, you don't know that you're right and the fact you're running into issues tells you that you're not right. Answer the questions that are asked, and be willing to listen to the advice you're given because we all want everyone to have a nice, algae free, successful planted tank.
As someone who only got back into planted tanks earlier this year, I knew my ignorance level was high, until I could learn more. I wasn't married to any concepts, techniques, etc. I think as humans we have a bad habit of attaching things to our egos. Be comfortable with the fact that you're new and look at it as a way to become more knowledgeable, gain experience, and have success in the hobby. Most aquarists who've been at this any length of time, we're not doing this for "likes" on social media, we just love being able to keep a piece of nature healthy and be able to enjoy it in our own homes. I didn't have a tank set up from July through February. I didn't think I'd miss it as much as I actually did.
Lastly, hopefully beginners realize forums aren't FB groups lol. There's actual moderation on forums so any of the trolling dingleberries get tossed pretty quickly lol. Share what questions you have, ask follow up questions, and enjoy the hobby. Heck, I've been keeping fish for almost 4 decades and I'm in here asking questions.
