FishProfiles.com Message Forums

it used to be very active, now nobody posts on it.. what happened??

It's usually pretty active, more so than other forums I use. Maybe it's just been a slow day.

Hi,
I find myself kinda curious about the question.
Did you mean the "Recovery Room" or FP in general?
Were you asking something here about a post you made
elsewhere and had few or no responses to?

As a moderator, I've found the sites I monitor very
active with much interaction between members, and
new questions daily, some with "A" single comprehensive
response, and others with responses that spark other
responses.

I find the "Premimum" section interesting with lots
of pictures and comments. One of which I thought would
go no where has suddenly sparked several good responses
and an opportunity to learn more about each other.

The Chat room seems to have "regulars" that show up about
the same time each day during the work week, and others
who show up only on weekends. It too is an interesting
place to check into and a place to learn more about others
or just ask questions. Some of which spark some lively
debate.

I've found FP to be a very exciting place at times...

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

i was a member here years ago, and if i asked a question it would be answered in like 10 minutes.. now some places havent had a response in like 10 days

it has its times. but i have also noticed in my short time here how much slower it has gotten in even 2 years.



Fish tanks are an expensive addiction

I find it really depends. You can go a whole day without the site being very active and then wake up the next morning and find several new threads. It highly depends on when people have off from work, when they arent doing things around the house, etc. The chat room is useuall pretty busy at nights.

There are alot of sites to choose from & that's why i think it slowed down, but personally i still think it's one of the best Forums, if not the best one.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/corydoras/
Member of the Malta Aquarist Society - 1970.
http://www.maltaaquarist.com

Best thing that I would say about this site, is that people are quick to bash you if you do something that could end up with loss of fish. or if you cycle wrong or something.

Fish tanks are an expensive addiction

i was a member here years ago, and if i asked a question it would be answered in like 10 minutes.. now some places havent had a response in like 10 days

You have to also realize that years ago, there were about 1/3 of the forums that we have now on FP, and probably (much) less than a tenth of the threads that are currently active. All of the specialization in the forums (I mean, for a while we had forums dedicated to species, not just families) meant that a lot of the questions there were scientific or very specific on a high order that the average hobbyist couldn't answer.

Additionally, I've noticed that in the past seven years fishkeeping has really opened up, in that all sorts of new species imported/exported every year. These fish become "fads" (just think about the zebra pleco or the Denisoni barb) and everyone has questions about them but few people have the experience to answer correctly. However, as soon as they become common enough for everyone to get, a new fish pops up which everyone has to have because they're the new up and coming thing. Unfortunately, it seems to mostly be beginners who are most affected by these industry trends, and they get frustrated when no one can help them because the fish hasn't been in the hobby long enough for much to be known.

Finally, the number of available fish species in the past 10 years has so exploded that people tend to now "specialize" in a certain family or genus. I've seen many members who started out with community tanks have moved on to keeping only one or two species fish that have very specialized requirements and which renders them completely unsuitable for the general aquarium. As a result, these members either move on to a more specific forum or they become so engrossed in their fish(es) of interest that they actually begin to forget information that doesn't directly pertain to what they like. I know that sounds unlikely, but it's happened to more than a few people I've come across.

Have hope, though. FP has gone through a lot of ebbs and flows. Just as things look like they're tailing off, we get one or two more really knowledgeable members who revitalize and re-energize the boards. Just give it a bit of time.

As a regular FP user some times is it very close to 1-3 people using FP. It could be seasonal, time of day, or just nothing to say. Even with 35+ years experience I am still learning about fish keeping. I do this by helping others who have a problem/s, or by reading the excellent replies If i don't know the answer I will do some research myself or refer them to some on who does know the answer.
I recently had a small concern with a cardinal and I knew who could help as soon as this person showed up on chat I was lead on the correct path of what to do.

It would be good if we could advertise via our LFS as I only know of one LFS that knows about FP that I go to.
This has been put to Adam but there are reasons why it can not be done.

Another thing many use this site but do not VOTE for it. It only takes less than a minute to Vote in AquaRank.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW

i would love to see some imput from Adam on this. Anything new going to happen in FP in the pipelines?

This topic has been discussed in non-fish forums - advent of youtube sucking up people's time that they used to post?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

Perhaps the site should start advertising in magazines or other publications? Tropical Fish Hobbyist has a section in the back that's just for advertising fish-related sites, and I'm sure Practical Fishkeeping has something like that too. I know this is an Australian website, but it might be wise to put an ad in some of the larger international publications.

Or maybe Adam could start selling fish again...

---

I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

Also, here is a graph of how the number of page views of the site has gone up and down over the years. Back in late 2004 and early 2005 was when there were like 30 different forums to post in (and they were all pretty busy).

---

I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

i think the website needs to be upgraded, it looks like a website from 1995.

get nice forums, like vb, and a nice layout, and i think it would attract a ton of new people.. when i see a website that looks old, i usually just close it

Which theme are you using?

i nice new catchy theme with clear fish pics on the homepage would do the trick.

get nice forums, like vb, and a nice layout, and i think it would attract a ton of new people.. when i see a website that looks old, i usually just close it

nah not having that.
Who wants the generic look of the VB or phpBB boards?
Adam scripted this himself, not uploaded it to a database, and hats off to the bugger, he most likely has more control over this forum in his admin panel than any phpbb/VB could offer.
Everywhere uses VB/phpbb - whats wrong with being different?!

There's nothing wrong with being different, James, as long as we all do it together.

There's nothing wrong with being different, James, as long as we all do it together.

so very true joe.

i personally like how this fourm is set up, its user friendly with my dial-up internet connection so i dont have to wait 10 mins for a single page to load. That to me is the biggest turn off when it comes to most webpages today, i dont like haveing a bunch of things flasing on the screen everytime i use the internet.