Mentoring Thread for New Reefers

[BrianAnthony]

I had an idea.. There are a ton of opinions on R2R. Some are based in reality and others, not so much. I would like to see some of us do some mentoring to our newer members. I always see new people come on here after they have a problem.. like their anemone is dying and their tank has been up for 3 months. I would like R2R to maybe establish this program. Doing this would eliminate 1000 opinions for the new guys.

I would love to help someone build their tank from the ground up.. from equipment to selecting corals. And, I hate seeing people lose alot of money and having their creatures die. Getting information from one source is the best for beginners and they would be more successful.

Any thoughts?

 

[blaxsun]

It's a great idea.

 

[Lanceman]

I had an idea.. There are a ton of opinions on R2R. Some are based in reality and others, not so much. I would like to see some of us do some mentoring to our newer members. I always see new people come on here after they have a problem.. like their anemone is dying and their tank has been up for 3 months. I would like R2R to maybe establish this program. Doing this would eliminate 1000 opinions for the new guys.

I would love to help someone build their tank from the ground up.. from equipment to selecting corals. And, I hate seeing people lose alot of money and having their creatures die. Getting information from one source is the best for beginners and they would be more successful.

Any thoughts?

Good idea. Help me lol

 

[BrianAnthony]

Lol.. sure. I'm no expert. But, I'm willing to help.

 

[mdb_talon]

I agree that it can be tough getting advice because so many varied opinions. On the other hand I think the collective knowledge is almost always better than one person. I also think 1-on-1 sharing only helps that person where discussions in the threads can help people for years to come. I have learned a ton over the years by reading other peoples requests for help and the responses.

not that I am against people directly asking individuals for one on one help and am happy to reply when I get sent messages directly I just think overall that is not the best way as a community for us all to learn and share knowledge.

 

[BrianAnthony]

I agree that it can be tough getting advice because so many varied opinions. On the other hand I think the collective knowledge is almost always better than one person. I also think 1-on-1 sharing only helps that person where discussions in the threads can help people for years to come. I have learned a ton over the years by reading other peoples requests for help and the responses.

not that I am against people directly asking individuals for one on one help and am happy to reply when I get sent messages directly I just think overall that is not the best way as a community for us all to learn and share knowledge.

I agree. My mentoring idea would only be for people new to the reefing side. There does come a time when people outgrow the knowledge of any one individual. My goal would be to help those starting up.

 

[ReefGeezer]

By clicking on the members name in a post, you can "start a conversation" with them. This creates a thread that is private. If we started a Mentor Thread and made it a sticky, maybe newbies could choose a mentor and start a conversation thread. I'd like to see that. I need a mentor!

 

[BrianAnthony]

By clicking on the members name in a post, you can "start a conversation" with them. This creates a thread that is private. If we started a Mentor Thread and made it a sticky, maybe newbies could choose a mentor and start a conversation thread. I'd like to see that. I need a mentor!

I love that idea!

 

[Titleist1964]

I had an idea.. There are a ton of opinions on R2R. Some are based in reality and others, not so much. I would like to see some of us do some mentoring to our newer members. I always see new people come on here after they have a problem.. like their anemone is dying and their tank has been up for 3 months. I would like R2R to maybe establish this program. Doing this would eliminate 1000 opinions for the new guys.

I would love to help someone build their tank from the ground up.. from equipment to selecting corals. And, I hate seeing people lose alot of money and having their creatures die. Getting information from one source is the best for beginners and they would be more successful.

Any thoughts?

I think this is a great idea as well, being a new saltwater reefer and fish keeper I'm all for the advice from the Sr members. I'm currently weighing up all my options and now leaning towards a Red Sea Max Nano. All I want is simplicity with a fast growth rate and easy to care for corals. I'm keeping my eyes open for this. Thank you.

 

[Gtinnel]

The problem as I see it is the new reefer is relying on the knowledge of a single person, which means they will only recieve one perspective. One thing I love about this hobby is that there isn't one "right" way for anything.

Why would they want to limit their answers to a single person?

 

[BrianAnthony]

I think this is a great idea as well, being a new saltwater reefer and fish keeper I'm all for the advice from the Sr members. I'm currently weighing up all my options and now leaning towards a Red Sea Max Nano. All I want is simplicity with a fast growth rate and easy to care for corals. I'm keeping my eyes open for this. Thank you.

Very nice.! If enough people like the idea, we can see if r2r can put something up.!

 

[BrianAnthony]

The problem as I see it is the new reefer is relying on the knowledge of a single person, which means they will only recieve one perspective. One thing I love about this hobby is that there isn't one "right" way for anything.

Why would they want to limit their answers to a single person?

I see the opposite for the beginner. There are plenty of ways to do things. But, for a beginner, it's more important to listen to someone than everyone.

 

[Gtinnel]

I see the opposite for the beginner. There are plenty of ways to do things. But, for a beginner, it's more important to listen to someone than everyone.

I see it exactly opposite of you. A new reefer should have options so that they can figure out what works best for them, instead of being locked in to being a carbon copy of someone else's ideas on reefing.

With that said I would still be willing to help a new reefer out who asked me a question 1 on 1, but I don't believe that is the best method for them to learn the hobby.

 

[BrianAnthony]

I see it exactly opposite of you. A new reefer should have options so that they can figure out what works best for them, instead of being locked in to being a carbon copy of someone else's ideas on reefing.

With that said I would still be willing to help a new reefer out who asked me a question 1 on 1, but I don't believe that is the best method for them to learn the hobby.

Understood. I'm not capable of teaching the whole hobby nor is anyone. I am capable of guiding reefers in the right direction. That is what a mentor would do.

 

[Lyss]

The problem as I see it is the new reefer is relying on the knowledge of a single person, which means they will only recieve one perspective. One thing I love about this hobby is that there isn't one "right" way for anything.

Why would they want to limit their answers to a single person?

If I were to choose a mentor I wouldn't ONLY ask opinions from that person, I would just use it as an opportunity, as with a career mentor, to develop a more personal relationship w/the mentor and learn from them. I also think a mentee would be more likely to pick a mentor whose style they like and look up to.

Your career mentor is that person who specifically makes time for you, and checks in w/you from time to time to see how things are going and to give advice. They're not like the only person ever you talk to about your career, and they don't keep you from building other connections. I see a reefing mentor as the same type of thing.

 

[Nick Steele]

I love this hobby and would be willing to be a mentor although I’m still learning myself. I really enjoy sharing my experience and knowledge with people.

I think it’s important for new people to the hobby to read plenty of threads and forums but there is many people out there who get so confused with the vast amount of information out there which is where a mentor can come in handy (point them in a direction).

 

[BrianAnthony]

Let's face it... There are a lot of people who are losing creatures. If a mentoring program could help those people, it would help those creatures.

 

[ReefGeezer]

The problem as I see it is the new reefer is relying on the knowledge of a single person, which means they will only recieve one perspective. One thing I love about this hobby is that there isn't one "right" way for anything.

Why would they want to limit their answers to a single person?

The knowledge and experiences that could be communicated from the right person could be invaluable to a new reefer. They should not have to sift through varying opinions and heated debate on how to accomplish simple tasks like cycling their tank. In many cases, they just don't possess the critical thinking skills and basic knowledge necessary to sort the wheat from the chaff.

I think a new reefer could look at build threads and search for posts by a potential mentor and pick one that could meet their needs. I also see no evil in reproducing systems that work. There is more than one way to skin a cat, but when I have to choose one without any knowledge of what works, I'll ask someone who has performed the task successfully.

 

[Oldreefer44]

Very difficult to find all around experts. Even those that are considered the top experts in the field would tell you that they have high expertise in some areas and very little in others; and often disagree among themselves. We have the "reef squad" available that has different members who are high level experts in certain areas that are happy to help anyone with questions. I have been at this for several decades yet would not feel qualified to guide anyone once past the basics.

 

[ReefGeezer]

Very difficult to find all around experts. Even those that are considered the top experts in the field would tell you that they have high expertise in some areas and very little in others; and often disagree among themselves. We have the "reef squad" available that has different members who are high level experts in certain areas that are happy to help anyone with questions. I have been at this for several decades yet would not feel qualified to guide anyone once past the basics.

Reef Squad?