# Pablo... Pablatola... Pablissimo...



## Tabatha

Man this place is quite without Pablo...


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## Chris S

Yes, but he was a bad boy.


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## Tabatha

LOL! Yeah, I know.


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## dekstr

What happened? I'm gone for a day and I missed something?


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## Tabatha

Yeah, he got booted off again.


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## pat3612

Yea even though he ticks me some times it sure is quiet without him.


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## Ciddian

You know..... Pablo is a great person even if he doesnt always have the best forum habits.

Somtimes when i set somthing up and i dunno where i am going its very refreshing for someone to tell me the truth about it. Like.. I dunno.. How can we improve upon ourselves if we are too afraid to tell eachother the truth about some things?

Pablo does that.. he'll tell you whats what.. he doesnt mean bad by it as its very hard to find a tone of voice when it comes to posted notes. Cause thats what this is.. just a bunch of notes left for eachother and we all know how they can be taken the wrong way.

Face to face its much different.... i find pablo is an extreamly caring person who can ya... flip off the handle but how many times have we wished someone gave a shit about the hobby... he does. Without question. lol. 

Ahhh dunno.. Its so easy to get piffed about somthing said on a forum but i wouldnt waste time on it.. Pablo has helped me a lot.. 

Its just unfortunate that some people want to be cuddled and praised no matter whats going on in thier post.. Just because someone disagree's its fine. That will happen. As long as some sort of respect is maintained.

And its sad that Pablo might not always have the control on the forums as i would hope he would have..


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## holocron

I agree that Pablo is an asset, but only as much as he is a liability. He provides excellent advice, but in times that care is needed (noobie making a mistake) then his words can really do damage. 

Look at it like spiderman, with great power comes great responsibility, for Pablo, with great aquatic knowledge comes responsibility. He needs to speak so people actually respect and listen. A lot of the time he is probably right in what is says, but the tone in which he delivers isolates vs. builds respect. The newbie is left feeling defensive and stupid, vs enriched and guided.

I would hate to permanantly ban Pablo, but he has to learn how to control his temper and share his knowledge in a productive way.


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## Brian

I agree with everything said.

The thing is, he can come off as offensive to new members who don't know him and that hurts the forum by driving them away due to negative feelings.

He has been doing better but there is much room for improvement towards the newer members.


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## Chris S

At the same time, he is the handsdown the most helpful person on these forums.

He checks them often, offers advice often and as Ciddian mentioned, isn't scared to say what needs to be said. 

To remove him from here is doing a LOT more damage than good in my opinion.


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## Brian

Noone is removing him and we completely agree that he has a lot of information to share but that doesn't justify pushing new members away.


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## MacFish

No matter how good the information is, how it is offered makes a huge difference. 

If someone were to serve a nice juicy steak on a dirty trash can lid, most people are not going to enjoy eating it.

What he forgets is that everyone is new at some point. We all made mistakes when we started out. Ridiculing people for asking questions to find out what they did wrong is not cool and does not help build a friendly environment. It certainly does not encourage people to ask more questions.


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## Grey Legion

So...Pablo is Spiderman... I knew he was slinging something just didn't know it was webs.. 

I joke, I kid..


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## Brian

ROFL!

No comment


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## Chris S

I agree Macfish, but...

I would say 80% of these new members ask their questions, get their answers, don't like them and leave to never return.

The ones that do stay are the ones who are dedicated to the hobby - I've seen members who are still active get ribbed by Pablo pretty bad, but they stay because:

a) the information they get is good
b) it is helpful information
c) it is timely information

Any mature adult should be able to deal with a bit of rudeness, if they have no experience with it than they really live in a different world than me.

Not to say that perhaps Pablo shouldn't tone down his comments etc. a bit, I just think that if you start kicking your best members out, you are really putting a dent in the growth of the forums.

I don't mean any offense to you guys, but I don't often see you guys giving your 2 cents when someone asks a question here - maybe you don't say anything nicely, but to be honest, if I came here to ask a question, I would rather get a rude response than none at all...


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## Brian

You have to realize as mods and admins, its our job to keep the peace... when we are getting multiple complaints about someone and the same reason over and over, there is only so much we can do.


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## Tabatha

Wow Chris, you said what I couldn't, perhaps because I'm a bit of a coward.

I'm afraid of what people might think of me whereas you, Pablo, and my husband, don't give a fig what others think of them. You also know what you're talking about. I admire that.

I also agree that Pablo could be a bit more gentle with his words.

There are indeed people who ask a question, feel overwhelmed or don't like to hear the truth and run away. There are so many people who only want to hear what THEY WANT TO HEAR!

Pablo is an asset, period, despite his harsh words. I wish I had 1/4 the amount of fish knowledge he does.

Tabatha


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## Chris S

Brian said:


> You have to realize as mods and admins, its our job to keep the peace... when we are getting multiple complaints about someone and the same reason over and over, there is only so much we can do.


For sure Brian, that is why being a mod is a crappy job =)


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## Brian

Lol, as long as you guys understand that than we are happy.

And once again, Pablo isn't banned... he's just suspended for a bit.


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## kweenshaker

Brian said:


> And once again, Pablo isn't banned... he's just suspended for a bit.


So does that mean he's sitting in a corner somewhere with a dunce cap on?


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## Brian

If that's what he does on his spare time... yeah


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## holocron

Tabatha said:


> There are so many people who only want to hear what THEY WANT TO HEAR!


It's true ... partially. I remember being a newb on another forum (all things aquatic) and asking some pretty dumb questions, making some bad mistakes, etc. and I never was made to feel stupid. I was corrected and guided in the right direction and was happy for it. Had people made fun of me, and called me all sorts of names, I'm not sure I'd feel that great or even be in the hobby still.

Point is, that's not a good way to teach someone how to get better. It's a great way to make people feel below you.

Everyone makes mistakes the first time (and maybe even the 100th time) and one of the main points of a community like this is to support. This isn't a clique where you have to prove your worth to be accepted, its a community that encourages all to get better!

Pablo is capable of this, I have no doubt. He's proven it, he just slips from time to time.. and if he breaks the rules, he breaks the rules.


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## Chris S

Well, let me turn this thread into a new direction then.

I was thinking about writing up some articles that can be stickied on most of the basic questions around, like water chemistry, filtration, bioload, planted tanks - one for each common area.

Maybe we can all contribute on a thread, then I can edit (or someone else can) it to make it a one post, easy to read instruction manual.

Could have a forum dedicated to stickies of a variety in nature.

What thinks yous guys?


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## holocron

I am going to create a beginners forum now. Stickies like this would be awesome start for the forum.


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## KevD

I have no idea what or how it happened but when I first started posting messages here not too long ago, Pablo was a little abrasive but his intentions were always good. He puts the life of the animals in question first over anything and that, I fully respect. I hope he's not banned for too long as I kind of miss the back and forth messaging between us as well as others


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## pat3612

When I first joined this forum Pablo made a rude comment about my corys being starved to death or something . I was pretty shocked however he did say he was sorry as he didnt mean anything bad about it. Anyway the fs told me to feed them crap food so Pablo helped me get the right foods for them. I have the utmost respect for him. Pat


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## kweenshaker

I agree with what people are saying, but it's frustrating to see the same things happening over and over. Sometimes I'll read a post and want to go slap people silly! lol It's really sad that so many uninformed decisions are made. I mean, yeah, people make mistakes, but there are many 'mistakes' that can be prevented by doing some research. It's scary to think how many fish have died in this hobby because people didn't know how to care for them. i mean, would it be treated the same if it were puppies? That said, most people that come onto a forum are people already in the hobby, so reall y all we can do is help them out and try to prevent future errors. And it never hurt anyone to be nice, even if you feel like throttling someone 

Maybe instead of shooting down the newbies we should do a crackdown of the people selling noobs things they shouldn't have lol


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## Tabatha

Laura, I was thinking that very same thing this morning!

If we walked into a pet store and saw puppies rotting away in cages or kittens eating dead kittens, the store would be shut down immediately, fined and thrown in jail for cruelty to animals.

Now I'm not completely stupid, I realize fish are an entirely different ball game. You can't cuddle them, they have relatively short lifespans and in comparison, die quite easily, seemingly, without reason.

BUT, it simply amazes me that large and small fish stores can't keep their tanks clean, humanely euthanize sick and dying fish and remove the deceased. 

Rodents are kept in better conditions. Is it because they aren't mammals? Is it because we can't touch or cuddle them? They still have a nervous system... They seem to be able to feel pain...

What am I missing?


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## Shattered

Wow, even when he's gone Pablo still manages to cause some good discussions and changes. 

I like the new section.


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## gunnerx

Actually, other animals are in no better condition. A big example of these are dogs. If you go to a lot of pet stores, you see a lot of dogs confined in tiny spaces. Most of these dogs are bred purely for selling quickly and are removed from their mothers way too early. There have been several of these breeding places that have been closed down due to deplorable conditions. However, they just seem to pop up elsewhere. When we first got our Shih Tzu (not from a store), I did a lot of research on the breed and found out a lot of these things through several forums. And in those forums, there are several people that are similar to Pablo. Very concerned about the health of the animals. So many people buy puppies for their kids for christmas and end up neglected and go to the SPCA within a month or two.

Now that I have setup an aquarium, it's the same story all over again. Too many LFS that are there just to make money and will say anything to the customers to get a sale. 

What's sad is that my sister seems to have fallen in the same trap. I visited her house one time and they had this nice SW setup. The next time I get there, you can barely see through the glass as everything was covered in Algae. I wonder how it is now.


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## Tabatha

gunnerx, that's true to an extent. I think many of us know about puppy/kitten mills, they're especially bad in Quebec where many stores outside the province, get their "stock" but at least there are laws which, are for the most part, enforced. 

These laws don't seem to apply to fish.

Edit: BTW, I'm not claiming I'm better than anyone else and that's not really the point I'm trying to make anyway. 

I realize there's a clear and distinct difference in the way mammals and fish are kept. You wouldn't trade a Jack Russell for a Pug or a Persian for a Siamese, but you might trade some guppies for shrimp.


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## lili

I got it .... i got it ... Pablo is Spiderman ....


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## Shattered

lili said:


> I got it .... i got it ... Pablo is Spiderman ....


Really??!!! must have missed the memo on that one.


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## Pablo

I'm back...

I was on 'vacation'


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## Tabatha

Nice new avatar, I love it!


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## Pablo

thanks 

its a cracker


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## Tabatha

I know it's a cracker, was one of my son's favorites. 

- t.


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## Pablo

couldve been a deformed walmart goldfish


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## Grey Legion

Pablo said:


> I'm back...
> 
> I was on 'vacation'


Welcome back


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## hojimoe

welcome back pablo, love the avatar...what's funny is I took those for a snack in my lunch today... i'm 21 lol


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## t2lieu

ohs snaps you're 21...
dude i thought you were 25+ and married
i'm older than you LOL

what's with bein asian and young its a curse up until i'm in 30s that is  lol


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## lili

Wellcome back.


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## hojimoe

t2lieu said:


> ohs snaps you're 21...
> dude i thought you were 25+ and married
> i'm older than you LOL
> 
> what's with bein asian and young its a curse up until i'm in 30s that is  lol


HAHA! i thought you were like 17!!!!!! i'm nearly married, does that count?


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## Shattered

Grey Legion said:


> Welcome back


Welcome back, your secrets out.


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