Thread surges

[Hybridfish7]

yes, I do have random bursts of posting threads
why? to kick up activity, start convos and get questions out that I may have already figured out the answers to but are specific enough that the average person may not have found it on their own, so I believe it helps people who usually need specific questions answered (like me)
or just questions I know the answer to through asking other people questions, but can't find on the internet, so I post the question here, get those answers, so other people doing their own research can get that info.
some questions are genuine and from me of course, but it still helps people who may have the same questions or ideas.
main thing is encouraging people to do their own research as opposed to relying on sapping info from asking people questions. while it is of course still a good thing to ask questions, I notice that sometimes people rely solely on word of mouth and don't do their own research, and then end up not really understanding certain concepts and then screwing things up as a result. sort of like cheating on a test. you're given the answers, but you don't really understand how you solve problems to get those answers in the first place, so when you're asked to solve the same questions with different answers you don't really know what to do.
put in fish terms for example, people know they have to dose salt and raise the temps for some treatments or move fish to other tanks when they're not doing well in others, but then they may not know what kind of salt, how fast to raise temps or what temps in the first place, or what fish are compatible to move their fish in with.
I had to deal with a kid who had a goldfish in a 5 gallon with a betta, both had ich, I said to dose salt and raise the temps a bit, didn't know how literally they would take it, because they poured an entire thing of kitchen salt into the tank and then dunked the goldfish into a bowl of shower temp water. hot shower that is. told them to try moving it to another tank, they put it in their oscar tank.
only pain and disappointment, some people shouldn't be in the hobby. regardless, hope my whole specific info bit helps people since I know MFK keywords come up alot in google searches.

 

[duanes]

Because I had to generate lots of scientific reports as a chemist/microbiologist in my job, I found I needed to be painstakingly specific about methods, and the type language used to convey my point.
Now retired i have tried to get away from some of the scientific mumbo jumbo, but some is necessary to be susinct.
When explaining how "I "cure ick, I always say salt needs t be weighed, (3lbs per 100 gallons) or it will not be effective, although as long as its NaCl, it really doesn't matter what kind of salt is used.
But...... I always use weight, as opposed to volume like tsps, tbsps etc because different grain size measures differently using volume, whereas 3 lbs of salt is 3 lbs of salt

I also always try to use scientific names for species, because, for example .....a pearl cichlid in one city of LFS might mean a Geophagus braziliensus, but in another city or store it might mean Herichthys cyanoguttatus, or another place Satanoperca. They all have pearl type markings, so I've heard them all called Pearl cichlids.
Or the term Red Terror used for both Mayaheros uropthalmus, and Mesoheros festae, and heard people then complain when they found out the red terror they got, was not the red terror they expected.