"IMO, you spend too much time trying to CYA. For the most part,"
Those are some harsh words my friend, LOL. When you are dealing with the public, we all know words can be taken out of context and before you know it, hot darts and flames are flying. I have seen it a Ga-zillion times. It's out of respect that I tread very lightly whenever I'm speaking in a public forum. Here's a perfect example to make a long story short. A LFS owner argued and fought with me over something I knew to be a fact and he just didn't believe me because he had never heard of it nor had he had any experience with it happening to him. Sure enough, many months later, after what I warned him would happen in his main display tank, did indeed happen. He lost thousands of dollars. He later apologized to me. He took everything I said as an insult only because he never stopped to think and listen. I was only trying to help. I'm not CMA, I'm only showing some common courtesy with people I don't know. I tried my best to be respectful to him, but he attacked me with a vengence.
Fact, no two systems are alike. Sure, there are some techniques that will work in just about every tank. But again, no two systems are alike. The problem I see, and I'm no pro, just my opinion, is that far too many reefers are highly concerned over matters that will do nothing to sustain, improve or enhance their zoa population, water column or health of their zoas. I visited a reefer who was having some issues with his very expensive colony of palys which he purchased a month ago. He couldn't realize why he was experiencing such a die off. He was an experienced reefer of over 7 years and new to collecting zoas and palys. He had 4 PC bulbs on a 90 gallon tank. 2 actinics and 2 - 50/50 bulbs that were elevated 14 inches off the water. He was running a Euro Reef skimmer as well. It was obvious within 5 seconds of entering the room what the problem was. He knew the name of every polyp in his tank, he knew their value and what he could sell them for, but he knew nothing about creating an enviroment that was most condusive for growth, coloration and health of his collection. The entire tank was near death and he soon lost everything before we could reverse the process.
Don't attack me yet, here's another perfect example.
I saw a reefer on another site who was searching like crazy for something, something that is very expensive, even more expensive than a PPE. I stopped selling frags years ago, but this reefer was in agony over this particular variant. I Pm'd him and offered to sell him a frag for $ 25. That same frag would have cost him several hundred somewhere else. He PM'd me back and forth for 4 days with questions. Do you know what his questions were? Is it _________ _______ _________ . my reply, I don't know if it is or not, I don't name my zoos. He sent me a picture, a pic which I didn't need, I already knew that it was the same. To make a long story short, he never purchased it. He was more concerned with the name, then acquiring that which he searched high and low for. He told a friend about it and his friend read the PM's. Since the first guy didn't want it, his friend Paypal me an amount of money that dropped my jaw. I sold him the frag and sent back all but the $25 I ask for. To date he has over 100 polyps and could easily pay for his credit cards with the profits.
My hope is that we can begin to delve into other topics; there are many that will promote an intelligent discussion on a daily basis. Don't shoot me yet, but there are subjects that have never been posted or discussed here on RC. If someone posts a topic, just hear them out. There's no need to attack him/her. I hope we can also try to keep these discussions from straying off topic. This is where a lot of interest is lost.
Remember this thread.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=796764&highlight=mucho
I hope we can get back to more educational discussions as it relates to zoas.
I hope we can shift our discussions to a more informative and educational format that would guide and direct new and experienced reefers in the right direction. Promoting good husbandry, how to achieve the water quality that will enhance the overall enviorment of a new or mature system. OK, I know I know, I'm rambling again, but I hope you can see where I'm going with this.
Didn't mean to go overboard.
Mooch
