[thekoimaiden]

Me again! I follow a lot of fish tank journals on this site. I enjoy watching how tanks grow and the conversation that is generated from the pictures. But right now these threads can be spread out in a number of sections. Some post them in the freshwater photography section; some people post them in the general photography section; and others have them in the general freshwater section. This can make finding new tank logs and following old ones rather difficult.

Why not consolidate all of these threads into a "Tank Log" section? There could be one for the entire site or one one under the freshwater section and one under the saltwater section. Bettafish.com has something similar in the "Journal" subforum, but that seems to be more general journaling. This would be aimed at those of us who like to post periodic pictures of our tanks and describe how our tanks are coming along with the additions of new plants and fish and watching the growth of plants.

As there are already a number of tank logs in place (I know of at least 5 that I follow), if this subforum is created, the mod team could post an announcement asking members with currently active tank journals to PM a mod to have the thread moved. And all further tank log threads could be directed there to make finding them easy.

So. Thoughts? Ideas? Concerns?

 

[Chesh]

My thanks button is missing again, but thanks for posting this, Izzy! You already know this is something that I would really love to see happen. I'm a tank thread junkie, too!

My understanding right now is that we're working on how best to rearrange the various areas of the forum to make them more easily accessible for everyone, but there is also a lot of programing stuff involved that I don't understand, and is being handled by Admin, so that part is going to take some time to work out. . .

I've always thought that it would make sense to combine the journals with the all of the photo/video areas - of which we seem to have two (not counting saltwater). I'm still not entirely clear on what should go into which area, but I also follow tanks that are in the Freshwater, Freshwater Fish Pictures and Videos section, and of course the Photography area. . . I *think* there also might be a few scattered through the individual fish areas, too - I know of one in the Live-bearer thread, for sure.

Watching people's tanks grow and flourish is such a wonderful way to build our TFK community, and I really love watching the tank sharing that these types of thread seem to generate. We both have plants from other members now, and I know I've sent some on to new homes, too. I feel comfortable sending fish to certain people, because I know how well they care for their babies! And how much fun when two of our members met up and swapped fish IRL not long ago. Very cool.

Would love the input of the more experienced mods, here. They have a better understanding of all of these things! Thanks again for bringing this up, I hope we can make this happen eventually!

 

[redchigh]

I like the idea.

 

[ao]

+1!

 

[SeaHorse]

I think this is a great idea too. I don't go looking for this type of thread but when I find one I will "subscribe" to it so that I get updates even if I have not posted in the thread.
This would be a wonderful addition to the site I think.

In a perfect world, and we could have what we asked for how would you see it set up?

Tank Journals: FW Section
SW Section
Other/whatever?

This type of thing? or something different to that. We can likely have a new section on the main forum added... then we just have to ask for the subsections. Or do you want an official Tank Journal TAB in each of our existing sections already set up. One in the SW area and One in the FW area.

You guys frequent this type of thread so give us some ideas to discuss/compare and we'll see what we can have Yungster do for us.

 

[thekoimaiden]

I hadn't even thought of a new section specifically for tank journals. I thought it would be an additional subforum to the sections we already have.

1) Saltwater gets one and Freshwater gets one.

• Pro: I feel that more people would see it as these sections of the forum are the most traveled
• Con: It wouldn't promote any cross-over between SW and FW people. Truth be told I kinda forget about saltwater some times if Neil didn't remind me it was there.
• Con: But what about people who want to journal about a tank that doesn't fit neatly in those categories like brackish tanks or ponds?

2) One Tank Journal subforum for the whole community under Fish Forum Community.

• Pro: Promotes communication (and jealousy for some ) between the saltwater and freshwater communities as we'd all be able to see each other's tanks easily.
• Pro: would include all tanks no matter what is in the water; it would even allow people with immersed setups to put a log there.
• Con: I don't feel like that section gets as much traffic and threads would be overlooked. I admit I only scroll down that far once a week or so. But people could put links in their signatures to show people the journal thread.

I'm torn between the two. The BettaFish.com Journal subforum is under the Community section, but they only deal with one species of fish. On other forums I visit, I've seen it in different places, too. Some have it under the general section and others have it under the community section. I'm eager to hear what others think about this.

 

[AbbeysDad]

I like the idea, just wish there was a good way to tie it to the aquarium log. Perhaps the log could allow a URL to a journal?

 

[Chesh]

That's a good idea AD. I feel like the tank logs don't get enough love. There are also the albums we have in our profiles that don't seem to be used or viewed nearly as much as they could be. . . I'm guilty - I keep my tank thread more or less up to date - mostly because people leave comments reminding me that I need to update if I don't! - but haven't updated my tank logs for ages, and have no images in my profile album.

I'd be happy with it either way, Izzy! I just really want to see these sorts of threads put into one area! But I think we should keep the salt and fresh sections separate, because everything about them is so different. People looking for saltwater setups may find that they have a difficult time 'weeding' through all of the freshie tanks to find the threads they're looking for. If fresh and salt had different areas under the 'community' heading, it could work - but I'm not sure that the salties would think to look/post there. If we didn't already have separate sections for these tanks, I might feel differently. . .I've only just barely started following saltwater tank threads, and I don't comment on them because I don't have anything to say aside from "Wooo, pretty," and I suspect that many of the freshwater people feel the same, so the saltwater threads might not get as many productive comments - though that may not matter! While there there is always a lot of experience sharing on these journal threads, they also tend to be more 'laid back' and chatty than the rest of the forum, being not as Q&A based. . .I feel like they would do well under the community heading because of this looseness. Depending on the thread and what is going on (or not) with the tank, they often tend veer 'off topic' and end up being a bit of a fishy coffee-house chat until the OP brings them back with an update.

As far as the other types of setups (be it an immersed setup, a pond, a tub, a tank, or a jar on the windowsill!) as long as freshwater is involved, they should belong in the same area as the rest. Wherever they end up on the front page - even if it's at the bottom of the screen - once these threads are pulled into one area the traffic to that section will increase, I'm pretty sure. . .

 

[SeaHorse]

I'll add this topic to Monday's meeting agenda for discussion.

Koi... we'll keep you posted.

 

[thekoimaiden]

I was thinking about a way to incorperate the Log, AD. I don't feel it gets enough attention either (which reminds me I need to update my shrimp tank). I LOVE how the pictures rotate in chat and how pictures will appear above threads. I do click on logs when I see interesting pictures and I love being able see my friend's tanks as I chat with them. Super props to Mike for doing that.

Having a link to the journal in the log could be a good idea. Just allow the users to change it from time to time. I can see there being multiple logs for a tank especially if someone takes a break from the forum for a year or so and does a major overhaul of the tank. It could be used in lue of a "last updated" or something like that.

I certainly understand where you are coming from, Jes. We couldn't really offer much constructive criticism to the salties or vice versa. And if one of us was looking to break into the saltwater world I imagine that person could easily go seek out that section.

Thank you for putting it on the docket, Sharon.