# Cichlids and the internet



## tiredboymike (Jun 21, 2016)

The Forums have a wealth of knowledge for someone who is relatively new to fishkeeping. The question that I keep asking myself is, are these old articles still relevant? So many new products hitting the market introducing new ways of doing "nitrogen cycles" , equipment setups, etc.. For example, if I was searching for nitrogen cycle for fish tank on Google - a lot of links would pop up. You would see so much inconsistent knowledge out there. Getting to the point, it just seems to me that the forums are not keeping up with technology and innovations. For example, I was hanging out at Trophs . com, and the most active thread was I remember 2008-2009. So I'm like hmmm...what's going on here. Looking around other forums, I notice that Site Sponsors actually have their business up for sale. This kinda shocked me, cause I would think a sponsor would at least be reputable. Why buy from a sponsor that is either already gone or in the process of selling his/her business.

The thing that bugs me is that there is so much wealth and knowledge in these forums from dedicated people "donating" their precious time over years to help newbies like myself. My questions is, why haven't these forums moved their platform to the modern age. Their is an abundance of people who loves fishes - especially african cichlids.


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## Aquariguns (Jan 15, 2015)

This is a great forum with current relevant information thankfully. I guess the real problem is just the nature of the Internet itself, there is no way to eliminate or stop what people post - whether it is good info or not. Part of being a good consumer or hobbyist is find an established place, such as this with people that come from a wide variety of backgrounds, and due to geographic limitations, resources, or budget - keeping aquariums can still be accomplished through all this knowledge.

If you could find a way to get everyone on same page and direct all the internet traffic to one place, you would be a genius !!!

I am in the same boat as you, I wish it was just the way - -and we had it all in a nice clear organized place.


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## Scott Bryant (Sep 28, 2014)

Do not believe everything you read on the internet. 
-Abraham Lincoln


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## BrunoZA (Jun 19, 2016)

I experienced more or less the same issue when it came to cycling. I just bought some Seachem Stability and some forums outright said that such "snake oil" is a waste of money etc. It was an almost unanimous opinion on that forum. On here it seems to be quite balanced and atleast most members provide an explanation on their stance so it seems easier to gather data from that and make up your own mind.


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## dledinger (Mar 20, 2013)

I've poked around on trophs.com and the sister sites and noticed they're not particularly active. For the most part, the internet is far ahead of most anything you'll find in printed text. That said, there's still a plethora of misinformation out there. It takes a discriminate user to separate good from bad info.

My take on cycling products...you only need to do it once (minus some great catastrophe), might as well wait it out and do it right.


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## CeeJay (Aug 16, 2016)

This is nothing new all my old cichlid book are full names that most wouldn't even be close to some of the names today. They were the latest greatest when they came out but now are mostly worthless. Yes there is lot of knowledge out there and this site is really good but still comes down to experience . The longer you usually do something the better you get. For me not making those same mistakes is what I try to over come.

How would you change the way information is presented?
How do get people to actually read it?
We have come a long way with keeping fish but what has really changed?

I'm more of and old timer to fish keeping and for me not much has change other than brand name and cost. When it comes to the hardware. The thing that has change is the sharing of information.


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## Riippasaarni1 (Jun 21, 2016)

CeeJay said:


> This is nothing new all my old cichlid book are full names that most wouldn't even be close to some of the names today. They were the latest greatest when they came out but now are mostly worthless. Yes there is lot of knowledge out there and this site is really good but still comes down to experience . The longer you usually do something the better you get. For me not making those same mistakes is what I try to over come.
> 
> How would you change the way information is presented?
> How do get people to actually read it?
> ...


I agree. How ever I see it's an advantage to have specialized forums like cichlid-forum and planetcatfish. (don't care much about tetras and guppy's). Sorry about writing mistakes.


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

I think social media has taken its toll. Sites like Facebook have a million groups that focus on fishkeeping. Any that I happened to visit are usually all over the place and loaded with garbage. New hobbyists, especially younger people, will flock to these groups as it's on a platform they're familiar and comfortable with. Forums for all hobbies, whether it be fishkeeping or scrapbooking, are taking a hit in activity and new members.

This site has relevant articles that will not expire due to time and innovations in technology. The ability to search old posts is priceless, IMO.


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## noddy (Nov 20, 2006)

Iggy Newcastle said:


> I think social media has taken its toll. Sites like Facebook have a million groups that focus on fishkeeping. Any that I happened to visit are usually all over the place and loaded with garbage. New hobbyists, especially younger people, will flock to these groups as it's on a platform they're familiar and comfortable with. Forums for all hobbies, whether it be fishkeeping or scrapbooking, are taking a hit in activity and new members.
> 
> This site has relevant articles that will not expire due to time and innovations in technology. The ability to search old posts is priceless, IMO.


The highlighted part is so true. I am in the process of setting up a Tanganyikan featherfin tank for the first time in years (after going through my Tropheus phase).
And the amount of information that's out there is unreal.

The one thing that I have noticed though is that all the knowledgeable old timers have for the most part dropped off the map, but the younger guys that benefited from their information don't seem to be around to reciprocate. Apparently face book is taking a lot of the forums traffic.

As far as Trophs.com goes, it was by far the best site for Tropheus specific talk.

P.S "why haven't these forums moved their platform to the modern age".
What does this actually mean? Do you mean facebook?


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## awanderingmoose (Aug 11, 2016)

noddy said:


> The one thing that I have noticed though is that all the knowledgeable old timers have for the most part dropped off the map


That's definitely not true on this board. The same folks who I learned a lot from almost 10 years ago when I was first getting started - DJ, Fogelhund, etc, are still here, and every bit as helpful as they've always been.


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## noddy (Nov 20, 2006)

awanderingmoose said:


> noddy said:
> 
> 
> > The one thing that I have noticed though is that all the knowledgeable old timers have for the most part dropped off the map


That's definitely not true on this board. The same folks who I learned a lot from almost 10 years ago when I was first getting started - DJ, Fogelhund, etc, are still here, and every bit as helpful as they've always been.[/quote)

Sorry, I shouldn't say all. I didn't necessarily mean this site.
There were tons of guys from all over Europe that used to post on various sites. A few of them used to regularly dive Lake Tang.
Sidguppy, Paulo, Benoit, 24Tropheus, Pam Chin, Cyatide to name a few.
One of the best posters ever was a mod on this site and helped me immensely when I first got into Tropheus, Gerry V. I believe he was from Manitoba or Winnipeg.

Sorry, buggered up the quotes.


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