Hi Everyone.... thanks. I needed a day or so to have a clear head. I want to share with you what I sent to Will regarding my thread:
Thanks for reaching out. I just read over the new buy/sell forum rules and I am impressed by the level of detail and completeness. To be honest, this was one of my biggest concerns: How were new members like myself to know who is actually selling to promote the hobby and who sells and flips. I appreciate the BOD's attention to this matter and love that you all took members' concerns seriously. I just see the same names all the time. That may be because those members are more active, I'm too new to tell.
I think what really bothered me was the discussion around a member selling his tank and the DBTC corals that it contained. I guess I don't understand what the difference is between what that member wanted to do and the current 2 frag rule before being able to sell corals originating from DBTC. I think it is a great program, but it is also an easy way to start a coral business. If the rules are that specific, why not just a) get rid of the rule completely or b) require all frags coming from DBTC are to go back in the program. There are plenty of folks who are starting out that would love to break into corals but it is really cost prohibitive. This way the club is really building the hobby, and not supporting a start up business.
Also, it would be great with some of the available funds to go towards some non-coral club buys or equipment purchases. For example, it would be cool to have some extra (used) equipment laying around so that members could borrow the equipment in case of a failure... (I'm thinking heaters; sumps; maybe even a few tanks). Or to even have an emergency list of who can take on additional livestock in case of emergency... evacuations; fires; tank failures etc.
Finally, i think I did overreact a bit on a thread I started regarding HOB skimmers. I understand the importance of tank parameters when diagnosing problems, but I thought my question & OP was pretty straight forward.. maybe not. I am used to be in the sailing community and as a former instructor I remember too many times I went above and beyond to show my knowledge and complicated simple questions. And in my professional life I often see the differences in how men and women communicate. I'm going to take the mulligan on that one, and I sincerely apologize. I think that overall this is a great club. And I also have a lot to learn.
Again, this is coming from a newbie place, I don't want to disrespect the BOD and Staff who work hard to keep this going, especially with COVID. Thanks for listening and please keep the check, it is money well spent.
Much gratitude,
Susan
