# Keeping the community alive.



## neven (May 15, 2010)

I noticed we still have new people registering to this site, which is good, but it seems many of them are just too shy to post. Feel free to post any questions, or resurrect old topics relevant to your question. Open dialogue is what forums are for so don't be ashamed to ask anything, people need to start somewhere.

Same goes for the photo gallery / journals. They are for all aspects of fish keeping, whether its planted tanks, discus, rift lake setups, monster tanks, shrimp keeping and even gold fish bowls. If it you like your set up show us, if you hit hurdles or problems feel free to share it, some may be able to help even when you are not soliciting for it. Look as the section as your fish tank blog.

There is also the chat room. Lately with a few of the regulars being too busy with real life chat has taken a real nose dive. I know many don't care for it, but its a nice feature to have in a community. I often stop in several times a day to say a quick hi or to see if anyone is on, lately its been a bit slow though.

Lastly, for the older members, there will always be user turn over on a forum. People have lives, they lose interest and they gain interest in varying degrees (and different hobbies). To see some old faces absent does not mean its the end of a forum, it means that you need to embrace the new faces and let them become apart of the community. Its how things work.

Believe it or not, this forum is actually drama free for the most part. (I've been on game forums and non hobby focused local forums before, i know what drama can happen...) The mods have done an excellent job letting people have their freedom to voice concerns without letting things get too out of control. There's a fine line to balance free speech and keeping the peace in these communities and i find them to be on the right side of the fence for the most part.


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

good post Neven


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## katienaha (May 9, 2010)

agreed. good post. some people do get busy for sure! i am one of them.. but i resurrected my old thread and posted an updated shot of my tank. 
tip for new users: cant find the thread you started 2 weeks ago? go into your profile page by clicking on your own name, and go into the Statistics tab, then to "find all threads started by (yourself)". Probably much easier than searching through pages of threads.


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

katienaha said:


> agreed. good post. some people do get busy for sure! i am one of them.. but i resurrected my old thread and posted an updated shot of my tank.
> tip for new users: cant find the thread you started 2 weeks ago? go into your profile page by clicking on your own name, and go into the Statistics tab, then to "find all threads started by (yourself)". Probably much easier than searching through pages of threads.


i do that all the time, but for me its more of a pain, lol, damn that forum addiction!


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

I've been really busy with work and other projects, not to mention taking care of Felicia. Not a lot of time left for fish or surfing the forums. 

Thanks for this thread Neven.


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## sdfish223 (Jul 27, 2010)

I stop buy a few times a week, but all my tanks are in storage at the moment and being unemployed and trying to figure out how to deal with the inability to keep my home, has kind of kept me from posting a whole lot.

Although I never posted a ton back in the day either..


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

no worries man, life is tough for many right now. 

The post is not meant to rag on the older members not being here, it was meant to tell the ones who stay here that complain now and then how they missed the old BCA (before crash) talking as if it was a totally different community. They fail to realize the crash had nothing to do with where the community stands right now, it would be like it is now anyways, just with a bit more information posts stickied.

We have quite the welcoming crew here when new people join, so we know people are still very active, just want to entice them to post rather than lurk.


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## crazy72 (Apr 22, 2010)

I totally second this. Thanks for posting neven.


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## Guest (Mar 9, 2011)

i agree with what you say but since the crash it has never been the same ... new people or old people, regardless, it is not the forum it once was ... i do agree it is moderated well to minimize drama which is nice ... but i don't spend time here like i used to because it is not the same ... i used to pop on almost daily for a peak, now i can go weeks ... i come to check something specific and then leave ... and one thing i loved to do on this forum was see videos of other peoples' setups and post my own videos ... for some reason posting youtube videos is only possible for what seems like a select few ... which is a bit off putting ... the procedure to post youtube videos used to be so easy and now no matter how many times i post i can not get the instructions on how to do it the new "easy" way ... so as much as i appreciate your post, this is not the forum it used to be which is sad ... and if the "old" members do not feel comfortable why would new members feel comfortable ???


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

hoolagal said:


> i agree with what you say but since the crash it has never been the same ... new people or old people, regardless, it is not the forum it once was ... i do agree it is moderated well to minimize drama which is nice ... but i don't spend time here like i used to because it is not the same ... i used to pop on almost daily for a peak, now i can go weeks ... i come to check something specific and then leave ... and one thing i loved to do on this forum was see videos of other peoples' setups and post my own videos ... for some reason posting youtube videos is only possible for what seems like a select few ... which is a bit off putting ... the procedure to post youtube videos used to be so easy and now no matter how many times i post i can not get the instructions on how to do it the new "easy" way ... so as much as i appreciate your post, this is not the forum it used to be which is sad ... and if the "old" members do not feel comfortable why would new members feel comfortable ???


I just don't get how it isn't the forum it once was. Many re-registered except several lurkers, and many helped rebuild much of the knowledge that was lost. There has been very little suggestions put forth that i've seen and i know from personal experience that if you bring something up it is addressed by the moderators asap.

The youtube point is a great one though, video posting is flawed and hit and miss, it needs to be fixed and now theres reason to expedite it. Before it was probably seen as a minor issue so put on the backburner. I doubt the mods realized it was causing people to not use the site as often. But for people posting videos, it seemed to have increased lately compared to before so perhaps your favourite feature is about to make a come back.

I am curious as to why its uncomfortable to post though. I have never seen comments like, "you are a moron go bleach your tank." And very rarely see heated discussions. Figured the people here were very open minded to how aquariums should be.

Any other points that can be fixed (or clarified) should be brought forth, it takes communication to get things rolling.


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## Morainy (Apr 21, 2010)

A good post, Neven. I have benefitted from this forum a great deal and it's enabled me to meet some helpful and warm-hearted hobbyists in person, too.


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## katienaha (May 9, 2010)

I never know the forum before the crash. I LOVE this forum. Thank you all for being such a fantastic community.


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

neven said:


> I just don't get how it isn't the forum it once was.


I think it's great you took the time to make an attempt to make people feel more comfortable about posting on here Neven!
I totally agree with that quote. I was only a member for 4 months before the crash, but I don't see anything much different than it was before. Of course some members have disappeared , but most have returned & there are alot of new members. Still very informative and a great bunch of people and lots of fun still. As for the Youtube problems, I know Shawn was just trying to make life easier for some. But as far as I know that has only been a problem for a few weeks, that problem is fixed and the size of the videos on the post are bigger now , which I really like. With the exception of a few people, I can't see that as a reason for most others to stay away. As for being "uncomfortable to post" ...there is no reason to be. I know some are just shy while others are afraid to ask a question in fear of looking stupid. But one thing I have found here is that there are NO stupid questions, nor are they treated that way. This is a great community and nothing but great help and info. Trust me I know all to well how to ask a stupid question or give a stupid/wrong answer lol 1100 post later and I'm still here doing it 
As for BCA not being the same as it used to be (which I started seeing the first week the site was back up) , well that's life. Nothing ever stays the same. There's always this thread if someone wants to improve something to make it more fun or whatever:
http://www.bcaquaria.com/forum/prob...-culture-improvement-suggestions-please-5956/
We'll be coming up on a 1 year anniversary of the "new" BCA next month, we should do something for this. This really is a great forum with alot of awesome people! just my 2 cents


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## Nicklfire (Apr 21, 2010)

we are also coming up to the 9 year anniversary of BCA  

I never understood the term new bca and old bca... it's always been BCA regardless of a crash, i never felt it changed.. nor do i now..

I have ALWAYS tried to make this a VERY newbie friendly place, flaming people new to the hobby is something i have ALWAYS been very strict on, there is no reason for it.. people are new to the hobby all the time... of course they will have new questions.. and i hope everyone can appreciate that they were.. or are new to the hobby and asked the same questions..

as for the youtube.. yup that sucked.. fixed now. It was supposed to be a improvement over the old system but the mod itself sucked... so i had some trouble finding a good alternative. 

Good thread!


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## target (Apr 21, 2010)

I also haven't really seen the difference between before and after the crash. I am so happy to have found this forum and appreciate all the deals, trades, and people I have met through it. I agree with there being no such thing as a stupid question. Better to ask if you are unsure.


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

sorry to refer to it as the new BCA Shawn, more of a reference to since the crash lol WOW 9 years this awesome site has been around 'eh. Wish I'd found it sooner, proabably would have had a lot less fishy deaths lol, then again I'd probably have 6 more tanks too lol


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

wow i didn't even know it was 9 years, that is a very decent mile stone for a forum to keep chugging along for.


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## Shell Dweller (Jul 11, 2010)

Whether your a newbie to the hobby or an oldbie returning to the hobby this is the place to be. There is a wealth of information at your fingertips here. 

We have ALL been newbies at onetime and I'm pretty sure we all have asked what may seem to be stupid questions at onetime or another but rest assured your questions wont be regarded in that light and you will most likely get more responses than you can imagine from people eager to help and share their experience and knowledge. So all you newbies dont be shy and ask away.


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