awesome thread, now that I have come out of the closet so to speak I may be around more I confessed and no one flamed me!...
Well we want to see more of you surfkat! I hope to see your name up there in lights (so to speak)
I can honestly say that no regular user here wants to "flame" anyone for their practices. That said, I do believe that the community has an interest in promoting
best practices of care. Just check out the "Stickies" here to see a demonstration of the site making best practices available to the general public.
There is indeed much grey-area in the art of keeping our tanks and specimens healthy; it need not be an algorithmic excercise. However (and contrary to the belief of some), there is such thing as plainly incorrect care. For example, placing specimens in an uncycled tank is suboptimal. Anyone who wants to dispute this is going to find plenty of users who will respectfully disagree. Certain specimens have proven time and time again that they need certain tank conditions, water parameters, etc. to be healthy. Arguing to the contrary tends to be an uphill battle.
Not a
single individual at this site is an "expert"... most of us are here to learn each day. If a user elects to post information about their practices, IMO they are electing to receive open, constructive feedback. If they subsequently decide that they will ignore all evidence to the contrary and persist with their own methods, it is their decision and their business. Just don't expect me to validate such practices as unilaterally "OK"; the community may point out that such practices put the fish, invert. etc. at needless risk.
In short, we all can (and do) exchange constructive criticism. This is how we learn and grow within the hobby. Our tank buddies thank us for it
