Here are some tips on how to ask questions at Reef2Reef most effectively.
1. Put the question, or at least the detailed topic in the thread title. Most people do this already, but it's the top way to attract the right kind of people to answer your question.
Bad examples:
Quick Question?
Advice Needed
Is this OK?
Problem with tank.
Better examples:
Why dose alkalinity?
What's the best temperature?
Where can I buy a healthy H. magnifica anemone?
2. Put the question or discussion topic right at the start of the first post (especially if it is not clear in the title). Do not bury it 7 paragraphs down in a detailed tank description and history. No one wants to read all that without knowing why they are reading it or and without knowing what is pertinent and what is not.
Triton test shows 54 ug/L copper? Say that up front and ask why you have it and what can be done. Then when reading your tome (if you decide to add it), people know what to possibly look for (broken heater in paragraph 3, corroded light fixture with green stains on it in paragraph 6) and what to ignore (new blenny bought in paragraph 2).
3. Try to ask what you really want to know, and not what you think the answer is. A lot of time can be wasted answering a question that isn't really your situation. Sometimes it can't be avoided since if you are asking questions you presumably have some uncertainty about whats going on, but try to focus on the root question rather than a proposed answer.
Examples:
Don't ask "Do corals take up magnesium?" when the real question is "I saw magnesium drop from 1300 to 1100 ppm over a few days. Why did that happen?"
Don't ask "Is manganese bad" when the real question could be any of:
"I saw manganese on the list of ingredients in my salt mix? Is that bad?"
"Triton showed a level of 310 ug/l manganese. Is that bad?
"I saw some folks add permanganate to reduce infections. Is that a good idea?"
" I want to dose iron and Kent's product has manganese in it. Is that bad?"
4. It's OK to put relatively little info in the first post. The people trying to answer will guide you as to what other info they may need. Writing your tank's life history in the first post may simply turn off some folks who don't have 10 minutes to read it all, unless it has a very interesting premise that makes folks want to do so (like a title that says "my green chromis turned a red color).
5. Don't be offended if people trying to answer suggest that some parts of your question cannot be true, when you presumed they were just the facts behind the question. This happens all the time when reefers assume test results are completely accurate and they want to know how to explain the result. But it also happens in a lot of other contexts where there are assumptions made in the question that make going back and addressing those assumptions (whether they are stated or just implied) more important than the answer to the originally stated question.
Example: How much oxygen does it take to raise pH?
6. If you are telling us how much you dosed, please tell us the product, or better yet, what that product is actually adding so we do not have to calculate it ourselves.
Bad example: "I add 25 mL of alkalinity supplement every day. Is that too much?"
Better: "I add 25 mL of the alkalinity part of normal B-ionic every day. Is that too much?"
Best: I add the equivalent of 1.1 dKH of the alkalinity part of normal B-ionic every day. Is that too much?"
Hope this helps!
Happy Reefing.
