# Awkward question but.... where is everyone ?



## Aquaman111

I was a member for quite some time and this was a vibrant forum full of locals! The posts are older and doesn’t seem to be as active. It’s a shame. 

Some of the people that were on here don’t seem to be active anymore like altchracter to name just one

I am not posting this with any malicious intent. I am just wondering if there is another access to this forum. Like Facebook or something? 


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## slipfinger

Its a shame but the site has basically become a Kijiji for aquarium stuff. 

I'm a planted tank guy and the planted tank section of this forum is basically dead, sad to say I really don't bother journaling on this site anymore.


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## martelvis

Aquaman111 said:


> I was a member for quite some time and this was a vibrant forum full of locals! The posts are older and doesn't seem to be as active. It's a shame.
> 
> Some of the people that were on here don't seem to be active anymore like altchracter to name just one
> 
> I am not posting this with any malicious intent. I am just wondering if there is another access to this forum. Like Facebook or something?
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


 Just an FYI, there is a new fish club in town - GTA aquarium club. The next meeting is Tues Nov 20, 2018, at 7:30 PM., legion 527, at 948 Sheppard Ave West, with free parking, and a 5 minute walk from the Downsview subway. Cheers.


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## slipfinger

martelvis said:


> Just an FYI, there is a new fish club in town - GTA aquarium club. The next meeting is Tues Nov 20, 2018, at 7:30 PM., legion 527, at 948 Sheppard Ave West, with free parking, and a 5 minute walk from the Downsview subway. Cheers.


Nothing against the GTA Aquarium Club, but this right here is my point. I know its a legit club and all you are trying to do is promote it, but random not really relevant to the OP's original post responses like yours turn your post into spam.


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## tom g

*forum*

the forum has taken a huge hit &#8230; not sure why but its the same on some of the bigger forums as well. maybe forums have run there circle don't know . this forum has taken a hit since it was sold and new owners took it over . I have not seen any positive actions from them promoting , or trying to get site action up . ie &#8230; contests ,not that I need to win anything but before we had photo contests , we had a annual bbq . this was a tight forum .lots of commadare . now its a huge buy and sell forum with no restrictions on posting items for sale .I have seen new members with 2 post post right to buy and sell and then gone . I agree u need to have new members join and u cant restrict them or they strictly will go somewhere else .from what I see most mods are gone and no new mods are stepping up . this site was usually self running ,mods were always quick to deal with stuff .not sure if the new ownership has taken away the mods powers .
there have been a few new members who have posted build threads and such and kudos to them .there was a coral show this past week and there was not even a buzz to who was going or who went or what they got . I use the forum for info ,prefer it to the facebook forums which are great for instant msg exp when u need help or want a question answered but its hard to find info to read when u are trying to solve something .
anyways im still lurking ,unfortunately most are the same or gone .
cheers

just my thoughts sorry about the rambling on


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## Aquaman111

tom g said:


> the forum has taken a huge hit &#8230; not sure why but its the same on some of the bigger forums as well. maybe forums have run there circle don't know . this forum has taken a hit since it was sold and new owners took it over . I have not seen any positive actions from them promoting , or trying to get site action up . ie &#8230; contests ,not that I need to win anything but before we had photo contests , we had a annual bbq . this was a tight forum .lots of commadare . now its a huge buy and sell forum with no restrictions on posting items for sale .I have seen new members with 2 post post right to buy and sell and then gone . I agree u need to have new members join and u cant restrict them or they strictly will go somewhere else .from what I see most mods are gone and no new mods are stepping up . this site was usually self running ,mods were always quick to deal with stuff .not sure if the new ownership has taken away the mods powers .
> 
> there have been a few new members who have posted build threads and such and kudos to them .there was a coral show this past week and there was not even a buzz to who was going or who went or what they got . I use the forum for info ,prefer it to the facebook forums which are great for instant msg exp when u need help or want a question answered but its hard to find info to read when u are trying to solve something .
> 
> anyways im still lurking ,unfortunately most are the same or gone .
> 
> cheers
> 
> just my thoughts sorry about the rambling on


Hey Tom! You were one of the first that reached out to me and helped me out when I was a noob on this forum. It's sad to see this forum going down. There are so many aquarists in the GTA and southern Ontario in general and it's shocking to see the lack of interest on here. Real shame. This used to be such a vibrant community.

If I had more time I'd consider picking up the slack on here and bringing back but sadly I'm too busy for such commitment.

Any news on altcharacter ? He was one of the main guys! He also helped me out huge

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## tom g

*hey*

yah its a shame , alts still around I think he called oout and said hes done but he will be in the lurker corner &#8230; I have talked to him but not recently .. hes doing ok but I think life happned &#8230; 
we are still here nice to see u h ave a new tank , cant wait to see some pics when u have a chance 
cheers


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## Aquaman111

tom g said:


> yah its a shame , alts still around I think he called oout and said hes done but he will be in the lurker corner &#8230; I have talked to him but not recently .. hes doing ok but I think life happned &#8230;
> 
> we are still here nice to see u h ave a new tank , cant wait to see some pics when u have a chance
> 
> cheers


Thanks Tom! Dave is a good dude. When I was a noob here you guys were awesome. I should stop by the fragcave and see Alex too! Although I don't have salt I love his set ups lol

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## tom g

*fragcave*

alex is no longer in the frag business , I heard he packed up and moved away .. not exactly sure of where he ended up ..


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## Aquaman111

tom g said:


> alex is no longer in the frag business , I heard he packed up and moved away .. not exactly sure of where he ended up ..


What!! Man oh man.

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## Sea MunnKey

tom g said:


> alex is no longer in the frag business , I heard he packed up and moved away .. not exactly sure of where he ended up ..


Alex has moved back to South America (if I'm not wrong) to be close to his family ...


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## solarz

It's really a shame. I remember when I first joined 8 years ago, this forum was full of useful and advice and friendly people.

Slowly, the content dwindled, and only buy/sell posts are left. I stopped regularly visiting this forum when I could no longer find anything interesting read about.


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## Aquaman111

Maybe through word of mouth we can bring people back here! Maybe some social media posts and Instagram etc... even the classifieds section is dwindling. There used to be so much stuff on there. Canada corals doesn’t seem to be posting as much either. This is sad. It was a great way to meet people fairly local and didn’t have to worry about shipping costs etc... kijiji is full of nonsense and BS ads selling garbage lights that are on amazon for cheaper. I have hope for this forum still!


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## liz

I just came back to the SW hobby from about 4-5 years away and I can't believe the changes. Where is everybody? I agree about the lack of activity. Post's use to be abundant and enthusiasm for the hobby was high. Very disappointing - kinda makes you feel that you are on your own.


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## tom g

*ditto*

im here , but feel the same &#8230;..


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## liz

Unfortunately, I think it's going to take more than a few soldiers to get this forum back.


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## tom g

*soldiers ...*

well I have been trying to kick start some movement but unfortunately not much movement &#8230;. seems unless I put for sale in front of something then I get responses &#8230;. its really a shame for some of the new members cuz they have posted some amazing pics of tanks and stuff ...


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## liz

tom g said:


> well I have been trying to kick start some movement but unfortunately not much movement &#8230;. seems unless I put for sale in front of something then I get responses &#8230;. its really a shame for some of the new members cuz they have posted some amazing pics of tanks and stuff ...


I agree. New tanks always look great but then a couple of months down the road all hell could break loose. Tom with the seasoned and knowledgeable reefers that are still here I think any new hobbyists would be smart to tap into that knowledge. As I am sure you know most of us made some costly mistakes in the beginning and new reefers could avoid the same mistakes. The learning is never ending in this hobby and way too expensive to waste money on trial and error. 
The advice/answers/tips are here for the asking and I think any new or seasoned reefer should never be afraid to ask or question something.


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## Sea MunnKey

A former AquariumPros member myself and thought it might be better to "cross over" to GTAA forum but then over the last few years it has been getting less and lesser busy with reef members.

What gives? Strange thing is whenever there's shipments, there's always folks that are there to pick and purchase stuffs but not so much as online activities ...


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## Jackson

The buy/sell issues after forum was sold killed it imo 

Became pn # 2 

I still come here when I need something I hope a local hobbyist has and to see what’s new but honestly not much except old shit being sold


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## liz

Sea MunnKey said:


> A former AquariumPros member myself and thought it might be better to "cross over" to GTAA forum but then over the last few years it has been getting less and lesser busy with reef members.
> 
> What gives? Strange thing is whenever there's shipments, there's always folks that are there to pick and purchase stuffs but not so much as online activities ...


S#*t AP is starting to look good after all lol. I think one of the issues missing on this forum is that it needs to be set up so that it is equally geared to SW as it is FW. Perhaps if there were more links in the SW forum area such as DIY, reef chemistry, aquascaping, lighting, new to SW hobby questions, current reef problems, etc there might be more interest and/or discussion. Why would anyone search here for information when there is no information to be had? Reefers are right is this just a buy and sell site.
Does anyone know who owns GTAA?? I think if it is too survive it needs some serious revamping.


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## mmatt

I'm still here.... When I can be. Lol the hobby is def bumping but not this forum. Honesty I got sick of all the BS as I'm sure most did. Final straw in my opinion was the whole ramerz thing. I wish that wasn't the case. This was a great spot for info, contacts and buying and selling. Great for everything. It's really to bad.

Even look at the sponsor section. It's been cut to less than half.


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## mmatt

liz said:


> S#*t AP is starting to look good after all lol. I think one of the issues missing on this forum is that it needs to be set up so that it is equally geared to SW as it is FW. Perhaps if there were more links in the SW forum area such as DIY, reef chemistry, aquascaping, lighting, new to SW hobby questions, current reef problems, etc there might be more interest and/or discussion. Why would anyone search here for information when there is no information to be had? Reefers are right is this just a buy and sell site.
> Does anyone know who owns GTAA?? I think if it is too survive it needs some serious revamping.


100% agree


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## Jaysan

This forum has basically become Kijiji. 
I think this is how things became how it is in no particular order...
OG’s lost interest and left the hobby and left the forum
Forum got sold and they never cared for the hobby. They just wanted the money from advertisements 
The moderators are not keeping up with moderating the forum. 
No new mods were appointed...this is basically an unmodded forum full of kijiji ppl now

I do agree, this forum used to be my main source of information. Now I just search google instead...and Gtaa is no longer part of those results...real shame


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