# *sigh* Big Al's Newsletter fail



## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

So I checked out this newsletter @ BA's scarb today. It was about aquarium lighting (vol 2). At the end it had some blurbs about plants fish and corals. Little profiles. One was a Sargassum 









Reef Safe? "YES"  *(May eat small invertebrates. Will eat fish up to its own size)

Um... That's the definition of not being reef safe guys. It's not just 'will eat eat coral polyps'. That's SUPER non reef safe. Eats invertebrates and fish up to its own size is not reef safe. Fail BA's.

What do they expect you to have? A zero biodiversity reef with one sargassum and some coral? Morons much?

It also had an Aulonocara species in there. Listed maximum size as seven inches (eyeroll). Suggested mainly live food but will also accept prepared foods. Sure. Peacocks. live food. They won't eat A N Y T H I N G or anything. Just pathetic I don't get their deal.


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## cablemike (Jan 7, 2009)

how are they gonna sell these pricey fish if they tell you the truth? its all about the dollars..


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

Well why are people ok with that? Why not complain en masse?


Talking about a lake malawi cichlid like it was HARD to take care of or something too.. that's just screwing themselves out of an easy sale. They make the super difficult evil fish seem easy and the super easy fish seem hard.


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## caker_chris (Apr 22, 2010)

AquariAM said:


> Well why are people ok with that? Why not complain en masse?
> 
> Talking about a lake malawi cichlid like it was HARD to take care of or something too.. that's just screwing themselves out of an easy sale. They make the super difficult evil fish seem easy and the super easy fish seem hard.


The problem is that people will still shop there and as long as people will go there, they will continue to do it.

They are really expensive too, and granted they will do price matching on their dry goods but live stock is rediculous. Percula clowns are double the price than anywhere else, the other day I wanted some hermits and they were also double the price.


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## TEEJAY (Jun 10, 2010)

Seriously guys?

I got linked to this page through another forum, and I had to join just to clearify some things here since you are incorrectly quoting published work.

It's totally cool if you hate big als - or think they are overpriced. Personally I have no issues with them, sure their corals are lacking most of the time, and sure they may have some "overpriced" items, but if you are going to try and discredit them, at least be reasonable about it.

Firstly - regarding the diet of that peacock, this is EXACTLY what is printed 
*"Diet: Small live or frozen foods such as brine shrimp, krill; will also accept protein and spirulina based pellet & flake food"*

That seems to be a very straight forward and truthful answer. They didn't say they were picky eaters, and rated the difficulty of keeping the fish a whole 2 out of 5. Where did it say that it suggested "mainly live foods" - How about QUOTING FAIL?

And for picking on the term REEF COMPATIBLE (Not reef safe, another quoting fail) it says yes - but then goes to mention that it can eat small fish and inverts. When the term "REEF SAFE" came about, it was largely because of the many angels and butterflies that eat corals. So essentially, it is reef safe by that term. You could have a tank filled with corals and clams and sponges and have a frogfish in there. Are you going to argue that it is not a reef tank at that point? All because it has a frogfish?

Come on folks, please use your brains.


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## TBemba (Jan 11, 2010)

TEEJAY said:


> Seriously guys?
> 
> Come on folks, please use your brains.


+1 on this statement. If you are on this forum for any length of time you will better understand where this is coming from....


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## KhuliLoachFan (Mar 8, 2008)

Hehe. Pwnd.

W


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

KhuliLoachFan said:


> Pwnd.


Can you explain that reference?



TEEJAY said:


> Seriously guys?
> 
> I got linked to this page through another forum, and I had to join just to clearify some things here since you are incorrectly quoting published work.
> 
> ...


It lists 'live OR frozen foods' and then pellet and flake under 'also'. That's the poorly written part. They will gladly take absolutely any fish food they can chew and swallow. Saying 'live or frozen foods OR..." makes it seem like it's a more difficult fish to feed than most.


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## TEEJAY (Jun 10, 2010)

Their really isn't anything poorly written about it. You are simply adding subtext that doesn't exist. There is absolutely no implication that the fish would be difficult to feed.

Here is a simple way for me to prove my point:
It says "will also accept" not "may also accept"

That alone tells the reader that the fish WILL eat the following foods, which implies that the fish is not picky.

If you have a problem with how it was written, or have suggestions for the writers/editors of that newsletter, try contacting them via the email addresses on the back of the newsletter. Editors love getting feedback from folks - even negative stuff. It helps them improve their product.

I am sure they would be happy to include the definition of "reef compatible" that they are using when describing saltwater fish, or maybe even reword the list of foods fish will accept.

Be constructive, not destructive!


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

TEEJAY said:


> Their really isn't anything poorly written about it. You are simply adding subtext that doesn't exist. There is absolutely no implication that the fish would be difficult to feed.
> 
> Here is a simple way for me to prove my point:
> It says "will also accept" not "may also accept"
> ...


I see people don't agree with me on this whole newsletter thing.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

AquariAM said:


> Um... That's the definition of not being reef safe guys. It's not just 'will eat eat coral polyps'. That's SUPER non reef safe. Eats invertebrates and fish up to its own size is not reef safe. Fail BA's.


Actually, reef safe IS "won't eat coral polyps". If it doesn't eat coral, it's safe on the reef. If it eats other fish or inverts, it doesn't matter if it's in a reef or a FOWLR - it still eats fish and inverts. But not coral.


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

AquariAM said:


> I see people don't agree with me on this whole newsletter thing.


lol, you are just too picky.

Big Al's aqua care thingy is pretty bleh though, including that newsletter. I think issue #2 has been sitting there for the last 3 months =D


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## qualityshrimpz (Dec 15, 2009)

one good thing is they are the cheapest i can get food around town


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