Nano Reef Aquarium Forum?

[Zach]

Hey folks, was just wondering if there are many people here who would like to have a dedicated nano reef forum here. I myself am very interested in them, but if there aren't very many people here into that kind of thing we'll wait a bit before starting it up.

[Ninong]

We had a nano reef forum. It got virtually no attention at all. It was closed after a few months. Specialized forums are great if you have hundreds of members online at the same time. Right now we have dozens of members online on a good day.

[Steve McKay]

Ninong's right,if there's nobody there posting they will post where they can get more attention "Reef Aquariums Forum.I must admit it sounds good and would be useful if it where used properly.I think the only way you could make it work,is if a rule was made that all tanks under 30g or so were made to post there and if they didn't that it would be moved there forcibly if necessary.

[Doodaa]

I can't vote because I don't know what the difference would be aside from more attention. I don't understand the benefit of a separate forum.

[Ninong]

I can't vote because I don't know what the difference would be aside from more attention. I don't understand the benefit of a separate forum.

If you have an extremely large community, then having separate specialized forums allows members who are interested in that particular speciality to go directly to that forum instead of having to wade through dozens (hundreds) of threads that may not interest them.

For example, if you have a 300-gal tank, you're not exactly interested in reading about how to set up a 40-gal tank, and you may not even be the best person to offer up-to-date advice on the various possibilities. You're probably much more interested in reading about the experiences of other members who are running large tanks, say over 250 gallons. The large tank forum on another board is quite popular. I just wish they would increase the minimum tank size for that forum from the present 180 gallons to at least 250 gallons.

Nano tanks present their own peculiar set of problems. Unfortunately, most of the people who attempt to set up one of these little tanks are usually brand new to the hobby and their most common mistake is trying to keep too many fish and inappropriate fish in their little 20-gallon or 29-gallon aquarium. Some people consider 20 gallons and under to be a nano tank. I think a better definition would be 30 gallons and under.

For a board that routinely has 5,000 to 7,000 active members online at the same time, specialized forums allow people to go directly to the topics that interest them most without having to read through hundreds of titles that are of lesser interest. For example, if you're interested in checking the most recent threads about which skimmer is the latest must-have product on the market, you don't want to have to struggle through several pages of unrelated threads. You want to be able to go directly to a forum devoted to equipment.

We already have a separate forum for equipment and a separate forum for lighting but many members end up posting in the reef aquariums forum because they complain that their posts were not drawing any attention in the other forum. Then it becomes a question of whether that thread should be moved or allowed to stay where the member wants it. Sometimes we move it to the appropriate equipment forum but allow the redirect to remain in the original forum for a few days. In fact, we almost always allow the redirect to remain in the original forum for at least three days.

Before we had separate forums for equipment and lighting, members were supposed to post their lighting questions concerning reef tanks in the reef aquarium forum and those concerning fish-only tanks in the fish-only forum. Most of them posted everything to the reef forum. The way it works now is that if a member posts a question in the reef forum about which light fixture is better or which metal halide lamp is better, it will probably get moved to the lighting forum with a redirect remaining in the original forum for three days. If he posts a question in the reef forum about the lighting requirements for say corcea clams or SPS corals, that thread won't be moved because it's related to husbandry requirements.

We even have a separate DIY forum. And it gets a new thread every now and then.

[bautiSTUD73]

Itll be a good add to this site...probably about 50% of poeple on her are interested or have a nano, thigs in a nano can be very different then a larger tank

[Mad Mead]

I have been set up my biocube that is 14"in 8gal. its been 4mth2wk3days I love it!! I"m a big note taker. So this suite me so well. i would love a place that only apointed to nanos would be great