Specialists, Experts and Gurus

Nemos Janitor

Nemos Janitor

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I see that the forum is reluctant to appoint anyone in the above category to our forum. They are also reluctant to comment on the subject as well.

So I proceeded to ask some of the Specialists, Experts and gurus if they would be interested in becoming a part of MASA as a Specialist.

I thought the refusal answer was going to be a "time" issue. Strangely it was not.

What do you's think the reason for them declining is?

Before the likes of @Mods chime in. @RiaanP sush for a week please. What do the members think? Are we missing specialists. Do we have specialists. Where are our public aquarium marine biologists? What should we do to draw them in to our circle? Do they want to be in our circle? Do we want them to be in our circle? Hmmm.....
 
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I don't think its a huge problem that we don't have specialists. Most of our problems/ questions can be answered by the regular members here.

BUT it would be nice to have some specialists, especially some marine biologists to ask some more in depth questions about what goes on in our tanks. Also there should be people who are in charge of ID or DIY etc.
 
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Guys please don't turn this into a mud sling free for all. :thumbup: and please dont attack any member for what they try to do.

But reading between the lines, one can understand your point and feeling.
 
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Regardless of your system, starfish are generally not suitable for reef aquariums.

And we have just seen one reason why it's so difficult to find gurus
 
459b said:
Regardless of your system, starfish are generally not suitable for reef aquariums.

And we have just seen one reason why it's so difficult to find gurus
Click to expand...

David you are a marine biologist. Without your MASA mod hat on. Thoughts on why our public aquarium gurus done post or become active members?
 
Technically molecular biologist with majors in microbiology and biotechnology, postgrad focused on marine biotechnology...with thesis being on immune gene expression in disease stressed abalone

I honestly think a reason why gurus aren't willing to contribute is because Google has made everyone an expert. Someone sets up a tank, reads an article or two and suddenly knows everything. No matter how much one reads, practical experience still counts a lot and unfortunately people aren't willing to listen.

If you look at the thread mentioned in a previous post, two questions were asked, what is it and is it safe. Seeing as how masa has promoted getting an id before putting anything in your tank, any id thread of something in a bucket should be considered urgent. Do I know exactly what it is? No I don't, but I know enough about marine things to know that a starfish with those characteristics is not going to be suitable for a tank. Finding an id would not have taken me long.
 
My guess would be beckz the majority of the hobbyists dont want to know the insides of a maggots @ss, which is precisely what got the "gurus" to their qualifications in their respective fields.
Most hobbyists just want to know what to do, how to do it and not why we are doing it.
Pretty frustrating when you know and understand what you are doing and a significant number of forumites without a clue (sorry they have a clue... They kept a clown alive for a month and cleared its white spot) chime in.
Just look at the interchangeability of sg and salinity uncle Keith...
Also agree with what David said.
 
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this is a million thoughts compressed into one answer, and these are my views, i too started off as a beginner in 1990 and with no internet i had to use what advice i got from my mentor, but as i gained experience and tried new and different things i learnt, retried them and learnt more, hell i am learning weekly with this hobby :)


the only issue i have with the whole ID thing is that most ask for the ID after they have bought/caught or gotten the animal, yes we all impulse buy etc, but when one gets told its a bad buy/find etc everyone gets upset....

so all the help in the world, articles, google, forums mean nothing if one is not willing to change their ways and actually learn.

its too easy to get bad information these days which end up with most doing the wrong thing, spending money and eventually leaving the hobby. they say proof is in the pudding so before one judges another reefer step back look at your tank/issues, look at theirs, and then still look for others, there are many ways to solve issues some logical, some esoteric but if the result is what you want then decide.

the reason most forums are "losing" experts is that most issues are covered and no longer in the realm of the unknown, yes some topics are less explored, others over done, its the nature of the beast...

do we want experts? i think its all subjective, for example: i have met julian sprung, very knowledgeable, runs TLF and world renowned marine biologist who setup the first artificial ocean in biodome 1, but if one looks at his nice reef which is simple, efficient and not wildly coloured like the DTOTQ pastel paintings on zeovit.com does this make him less knowledgeable? does it make joe soap more? everyone has their strengths and weaknesses in this hobby, some prefer the dieseases, some the biology, some the livestock, what makes forums somewhat beneficial is the collective information that is available via study or experience and i believe both hold the same value..

all this aside the most damaging trait is ego, at some point we will be right in our answers, sometimes we will be wrong, either way make peace and move on, and enjoy the hobby
 
As I said I'm not a marine expert. I'm an IT Technical Specialist. Well, that is my official job description. Just do not ask me to fix your PC.

I learned by trail and error. Plus taking your time, before doing something. Think it through. The solution sometimes are a lot simpler than we think. And a quick fix chemical is normally not the answer.
 
so NJ do tell us....
 
dallasg said:
so NJ do tell us....
Click to expand...

Will do Dallas. I think it would be a good idea to first hear from a bigger audience of members what they really think. What their expectations are regarding advice given.

In this thread, mostly the advanced or long time member are giving their input. That is great, but do or are the other members feeling intimidate or reluctant to share their experiences and input.

I am sure that many of us advanced guys and girls on here want to help all. lets hear input and thoughts from our newbies and upcoming young reefers.
 
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Not that I am an academic but looking at it from an Academic perspective, Wxperts usually want to contribute to the body of knowledge, currently there is a lot of research which has been done on basic maintenance of reef including diseases, so when someone asks a question which there is an answer to, its usually the nice guys who are quick to respond, the experts expect you to do a bit of reading first ie "Literature Review" before asking questions. As a result they end up not being involved in the day to day reef keeping discussions. I guarantee you if reefers were more interested in trying to do more challenging tasks e.g breeding or things which not a lot of research has been done we would have a lot of experts being involved and trying to assist in resolving the issues. Just my 2 Cents
 
First one needs to ask what constitutes a guru, specialist or expert. Just because you have done the theory and know how thing should be done or work, does that make you an expert/guru/specialist or having gone through the experience? If I have learnt anything in my short time keeping marines it's that there is more than one way to do something. If we can't accept advice based on experience then the only guru we need is Google.
 
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