AeternusPulvia;80605 said:
Ok, I understand. Maybe I just need better explinations of what these pieces actually are. I have read the setup guide in the Ceph Care Articles, but I don't think I completely understand what all of the items actually ARE. Maybe that's what I need.
I realize that I sound rather inexperienced, but I feel confident that I can handle raising an octopus. I have raised many species that have been deemed "only for experienced owners." I just need some guidance. So if someone could give me some, that would be great.
I think you make a wonderful point. I've noticed (since I've been hanging around here for years, but I haven't kept a saltwater tank since I was a teenager, and I never had one with all this fancy stuff) that there is a lot of discussion that uses terminology that all the experienced tank-keepers know by heart, but that newcomers aren't so familiar with. Something that you could do that would be a great addition to the articles would be to re-read, and keep a list of all of the terms and equipment names that you run into that aren't obvious (even if you happen to know them or can make a good guess), and post it here. I'm sure all the "tank talk" experts would be happy to explain them, it just doesn't occur to them that not everyone knows that HOB stands for "hang on back" and that a ramora is some type of ?powerhead? brand. Maybe some of you could even provide pictures of each component to illustrate on the "a picture's worth a thousand words" sort of principle. In fact, maybe we should have a new part of the image gallery for "equipment"-- there are a few examples in the "tanks" gallery, but mostly that's just the fully assembled tanks.
I'm sure that folks are right that it's important for people to learn the details themselves instead of trusting an "octo tanks for dummies" list, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't make it as easy as possible for people to learn those details!
(also, please don't feel self-conscious-- I think it's great that you're asking, and I know some people get a little touchy because we get a lot of people around here who say "I just bought this octopus that the store said could be kept in my goldfish bowl, but all your intructions are so complicated, just tell me what I need to do" and that drives everyone crazy, since once someone has the octo, it's a race against time to get things good enough that it won't be doomed to certain death.)
Oh, yeah, and

to TONMO!