Y’all are good people!

[s_in_houston]

Anyways. Hi. Just want to offer my appreciation for the quality of discussion here.

Y’all don’t shame. Y’all aren’t a bunch of weirdo “natural” aquarium ideologues.

Y’all have a basic sense of critical thinking. I mean. You understand there’s a bunch of variables and that what works for you may not work for me.

Y’all might be amazed at how many aquarium lovers online lack these foundational intellectual skills. 

Okay I’m thinking of Facebook‘s Aquariums for Beginners specifically. They made me want to pull my hair out. 

Anyways. I’m here in Houston TX. “Only” one aquarium: a 15-gallon (ish) rimless with a whole bunch of little tetras and plants that are faring thoroughly so-so. My goal - I suppose - is for my plants to thrive rather than just survive. 

It’s a very long-term process of trial-and-error in which I make small changes, give them time to take effect, and then make more small changes. 
 

Fish-fish, I’m happy to say things have been doing well since I finally gave up on bettas.  I miss them, but my ember tetras, green neon tetras, and Pygmy corydoras have the superior attribute of staying alive. Same with my gobs of shrimp and snails.  
 

Thanks!

[Tlindsey]

Welcome to the forum. 

[mountaintoppufferkeeper]

Welcome to the forum. I also think this place is a pretty amazing community. Cool set up. Those yellow cherry shrimp are also impressive.  

[Woowala]

Having been here about a minute, I'm gonna say thanks, I am good people 😛

[Whitecloud09]

Welcome to the forum! Yes I think so too, cool and nice community and not like Reddit Facebook and some others I can think of. Cool tank!!

[Odd Duck]

Hang around long enough and you might catch a glimpse of a small squabble or two, but any that take it too far will quickly be instructed to toe the line or they will disappear.  I’ve never seen a better moderated forum.  Ever!  There is no nastiness allowed under any circumstances and it’s a breath of fresh air in comparison to pretty much every other fish forum out there.  It truly is a wonderful thing going here where people can have polite discussions and agree to disagree about their differences but still feel free to express their opinions as long as they are polite about it.

Welcome to the forum!  Glad there’s another here that recognizes and appreciates the value of such a terrific forum and group of people.  Best aquarium think tank in existence!

[s_in_houston]

On 8/8/2024 at 3:18 PM, Woowala said:

Having been here about a minute, I'm gonna say thanks, I am good people 😛

It was you I was thinking of to be honest. 😜

On 8/8/2024 at 4:38 PM, Whitecloud09 said:

Welcome to the forum! Yes I think so too, cool and nice community and not like Reddit Facebook and some others I can think of. Cool tank!!

Thanks! And I will say Aquariums for Beginners has a weird culture that I don’t see anywhere else. Reddit’s downvote button can be misused, but it’s at least nice to see that dead-wrong “advice” gets buried.  For example, “never use Seachem Prime,” written by someone who can’t wrap his mind around the possibility that his source of water is different from the vast majority of people’s. 

[s_in_houston]

On 8/9/2024 at 3:22 AM, Odd Duck said:

Hang around long enough and you might catch a glimpse of a small squabble or two, but any that take it too far will quickly be instructed to toe the line or they will disappear.  I’ve never seen a better moderated forum.  Ever!  There is no nastiness allowed under any circumstances and it’s a breath of fresh air in comparison to pretty much every other fish forum out there.  It truly is a wonderful thing going here where people can have polite discussions and agree to disagree about their differences but still feel free to express their opinions as long as they are polite about it.

Welcome to the forum!  Glad there’s another here that recognizes and appreciates the value of such a terrific forum and group of people.  Best aquarium think tank in existence!

I found it in search results.  I actually liked that people couched their advice with a touch of humility and an acknowledgment of its limitations. For example: “I tried XXX and it worked” is much better than “Do XXX.” When I moved houses for instance I set up my aquarium the same way as previously with all the same equipment and routine and ran into brand new problems. Just cuz. Nothing is set in stone. 

[Whitecloud09]

On 8/9/2024 at 1:38 PM, s_in_houston said:

I found it in search results.  I actually liked that people couched their advice with a touch of humility and an acknowledgment of its limitations. For example: “I tried XXX and it worked” is much better than “Do XXX.” When I moved houses for instance I set up my aquarium the same way as previously with all the same equipment and routine and ran into brand new problems. Just cuz. Nothing is set in stone. 

Yes that can be a huge difference. Trust me, best forum, best (FREINDLY) advice too. Yes sometimes people can kinda be tricky and are hard to work with, but I mean majority here. @s_in_houston.

[Woowala]

On 8/9/2024 at 10:13 AM, s_in_houston said:

It was you I was thinking of to be honest. 😜

Haha, I knew it

[CoryWithAKatana]

I also love this forum bcs they have their own line of fish products so I can get what I need instead of having to be recommended other products that might not work. I was pleasantly surprised when I went into my Lfs and found Aquarium Co-Op products being sold in their own little section 😄

[s_in_houston]

On 8/9/2024 at 3:49 PM, CoryWithAKatana said:

I also love this forum bcs they have their own line of fish products so I can get what I need instead of having to be recommended other products that might not work. I was pleasantly surprised when I went into my Lfs and found Aquarium Co-Op products being sold in their own little section 😄

Well of course! I say this with all due respect to ACO, this forum is clearly a psy-ops soft sell for ACO products. And I’m okay with that. Maybe because this forum is connected to a business that’s trying to make money, there’s people who have a vested interest in ensuring it’s a quality place, so we get better results as a whole. And more SEO for them! (But seriously it’s all good.)