Mentoring Thread for New Reefers

[BrianAnthony]

Guys.. this is a mentoring program for NEW reefers. This is what I'm proposing. Mentoring as in guide, not God. Lol

 

[BroccoliFarmer]

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?

The issue you reference itself is a paradox. If some opinions are based in reality and others are not, how can you ensure that you get a mentor based in reality vs who is not? And how would having a mentor be any different than the forum boards where people offer opinions? sorry, I love the idea of an apprenticeship in reefing, but you have to find the right mentor and there are a lot of imposter reefers out there.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Doing this would eliminate 1000 opinions for the new guys.

Getting information from one source is the best for beginners and they would be more successful.

Any thoughts?

Total respect to you and your idea, but I would respectfully disagree with the rationale.

There are many ways of doing things in this hobby, there is no one way, so getting only one persons opinion is, in my opinion, a path to frustration. What works for one person, in their house in their part of the world with their climate and tank size and fish mix, etc.... , might not work for everyone.

I believe the path to success in this hobby is to get as many opinions as possible, always cross-reference "opinions" with science, and decide which method works best for you in your unique situation.

A mentor is a great idea, but I believe that everyone should be encouraged to seek out as many opinions and as much scientific fact as possible.

 

[MnFish1]

IMHO - the benefits - and problems with R2R are the philosophy that there are too few and too many opinions. Unless you have some credentials you want to advertise etc - maybe it would be best to let the forum be the forum - and if you respond to people - and they want to PM you all good. The thing is lets say beginner xxx has a question that you answer - the rest of the community is not going to get the answer. No offense - instead of going to you - I would just go to my LFS - as compared to a random person on the internet. I know - this sounds harsh - but - its against what the forum is about. I mean - I guess you could start your own website

 

[mdb_talon]

The issue you reference itself is a paradox. If some opinions are based in reality and others are not, how can you ensure that you get a mentor based in reality vs who is not? And how would having a mentor be any different than the forum boards where people offer opinions? sorry, I love the idea of an apprenticeship in reefing, but you have to find the right mentor and there are a lot of imposter reefers out there.

 

[MnFish1]

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

This has been discussed and offered multiple times. If you look at every forum - there is an expert - you have Randy at the helm of the Chemistry forum, you have Jay at the disease forum. I think its fantastic for you to offer help - IMHO - you can do that by posting here - like everyone else?

 

[Weasel1960]

I have been out of the hobby for 30+ years which is basically the same as never having been in it. I selected R2R as the forum to follow based on the shear volume of daily traffic and membership compared to other sites and the organization/structure is top notch (kudos to @revhtree , @Daniel@R2R and others ).

I think a mentorship is a great idea. But, may be difficult to do for the same reasons as it is difficult to get an answer to some seemingly simple questions. Maybe some well written articles at a newbie level understanding could be part of that mentorship library. Things like basic lighting, pump selection, etc without attaching name brands and $$$. Yes BRS has these but I don’t feel they necessarily go in depth enough.

I have seen a lot of spirited threads with differing opinions that sent newbies down rabbit holes. In the last 1.5 years I have learned to weed out the differing opinions and actually do have a select group of folks that I follow and can PM for personal advice.

Maybe having a directory of mentor volunteers each with a bio or resume of their experiences would be the best place to start. That way a newbie could pair up with a couple of mentors who have similar tanks as to what the newbie is planning.

 

[Peace River]

Thank you everyone for sharing your thoughts in this thread - there are a lot of great comments (pros and cons!). If you have expertise in an area and you would like to share your thoughts, I encourage you to reach out to me about writing an article. You may even want to get with someone that you disagree with, or does it a different way, and write from multiple viewpoints (yes, it is possible to disagree and work together!!! ). Additionally, if you see a gap that would make a good article then, even if you're not the person to write the article, please share the idea with me as well.

What are the basic topics that you think a beginner should know about that they may or may not actually know? Are there articles or threads that meet those topics? Are there some that may need to be updated or improved? Some that are missing?

 

[Lyss]

I have been out of the hobby for 30+ years which is basically the same as never having been in it. I selected R2R as the forum to follow based on the shear volume of daily traffic and membership compared to other sites and the organization/structure is top notch (kudos to @revhtree , @Daniel@R2R and others ).

I think a mentorship is a great idea. But, may be difficult to do for the same reasons as it is difficult to get an answer to some seemingly simple questions. Maybe some well written articles at a newbie level understanding could be part of that mentorship library. Things like basic lighting, pump selection, etc without attaching name brands and $$$. Yes BRS has these but I don’t feel they necessarily go in depth enough.

I have seen a lot of spirited threads with differing opinions that sent newbies down rabbit holes. In the last 1.5 years I have learned to weed out the differing opinions and actually do have a select group of folks that I follow and can PM for personal advice.

Maybe having a directory of mentor volunteers each with a bio or resume of their experiences would be the best place to start. That way a newbie could pair up with a couple of mentors who have similar tanks as to what the newbie is planning.

Yes, this. I feel like some ppl are really overthinking the concept of a mentor. It’s just someone you look up to and want to learn more from, who is also willing to make themselves available in that way.

I was a mentor with my local AIGA chapter, to a high school student. She and I would meet once a month so she could ask me questions, I would take her to stuff like exhibits at the MoMA here, brought her to my office so she could see the workplace setup, etc. It was just a simple thing and nice way to spend some of my free time. She has also kept in touch after graduating, and it’s been great to see her move further on her way to her career.

 

[Lyss]

Thank you everyone for sharing your thoughts in this thread - there are a lot of great comments (pros and cons!). If you have expertise in an area and you would like to share your thoughts, I encourage you to reach out to me about writing an article. You may even want to get with someone that you disagree with, or does it a different way, and write from multiple viewpoints (yes, it is possible to disagree and work together!!! ). Additionally, if you see a gap that would make a good article then, even if you're not the person to write the article, please share the idea with me as well.

What are the basic topics that you think a beginner should know about that they may or may not actually know? Are there articles or threads that meet those topics? Are there some that may need to be updated or improved? Some that are missing?

This is a great idea, and a great way to help mentors and mentees find one another.

 

[Dan_P]

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!

Very clever idea! Things are more relaxed offstage. No need to save face or have the last word. I love conversations…so old fashion -)

 

[Dan_P]

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?

For some folks, getting whip sawed by many opinions does not help. There are very few goofs on this forum. I feel most will be able to help a person in distress.

 

[Dan_P]

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.

We can start slowly with this idea and just start encouraging folks in distress to start a conversation, even not use the word mentoring. Start by identifying folks in distress and suggest that they contact “@somebody”. This means instead of dazzling them with your brilliance you suggest they contact “@somebody”. This is a great way to use your knowledge of the community ( which can take months to a year to acquire) to direct them to the right resource.

 

[Dan_P]

Reef Squad?

Sure, but capacity could become an issue once we all start refering people to the experts.

 

[ReefGeezer]

I stumbled back to this thread and have a question... Is it possible to ask the Reef Squad a question without putting it out there for others to answer?

 

[MnFish1]

I stumbled back to this thread and have a question... Is it possible to ask the Reef Squad a question without putting it out there for others to answer?

#reefsquad - then anyone that answers can answer you with a PM if they want. Otherwise - from what I know - its a discussion forum.

 

[nereefpat]

As far as I know, most people are open for PMs. There might be a couple exceptions. I wouldn't limit yourself to reefsquad folks, although they are usually active and helpful. There are lots of really knowledgeable people. It just takes some time to personally vet which people you can trust as an expert.

I do understand there is ying and yang thing, where if you use private conversations, you aren't overwhelmed with info (some of it bad), but you also might miss something from a knowledgeable member.

 

[New&no clue]

I started to write this post about being all for mentorships and using some examples of how it would have helped me and would still help me today. But then I deleted the whole thing because as I was writing about it, I was almost talking myself out of it. There are many times on here I have reached out directly to people and sent a PM. One person is not an expert on every subject. For example, if I want to talk about anemones, I want OrionN. If I am interested in mixing my own 2-part, Randy's my guy. This hobby is so diverse from fish, corals, inverts, disease, DIY, carpentry, plumbing, etc. No one person will have all the answers, but collectively problems can find a solution.

HOWEVER, I do think that some people learn better in a one-on-one environment. And unfortunately, some people live in rural areas where they don't have a local group or LFS to go to, and for that reason, I think finding a mentor on a site like this would be nice.

 

[TheDragonsReef]

Id be happy to help newcomers as a mentor, but the designated mentors should have a certain amount of years in the hobby and provide pictures of their system to prove they know what their doing.

 

[KQuillan]

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).

This! After reading some 'heated' discussions, my head spins on trying to figure out which direction I personally should take on certain things. Also, sometimes newbies can feel embarrassed and don't want to put certain things out there in public eye. Sometimes fear of backlash has an impact also.