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Re: To ALL from DQ



To All:
  It's DQ again. Some may take issue with that and find it even harder
to believe it's me, because I'm going to apologize. :-)  Before I do, I
would like to suggest a few things so I can avoid having to ever do this
again. I also promise to use the most delicate words I know.
  Like all of you, I have a strong attachment to plant tanks. My
interest in plant tanks goes beyond my personal enjoyment. This may
sound a bit corny, but I am only a decade shy of spending a half century
in the pet industry (fish farmer/retailer/mfg. rep) and I would like to
leave a little legacy before I become worm poop, as a payback for a
great time.
  My mission is to help this counrty increase , (however humble) it's
ratio of plant  tanks to fish tanks. MY belief is that many things will
have to fall in place before that will happen. I won't get into all that
here, but two of the pieces are beginners and a simple, easy to
reproduce, inexpensive, safe method to maintain plants. Maximum growth
is secondary to inexpensive and safe. To that end I wrote the article
that appeared in FAMA and created a web page. When I figure out how to
work the web pages, I want to add other low-tech methods if I can get
permission from the authors.
   No part of my plan includes trying to convert or convince people
that  are happy with there technique, that my methods are better. Since
my agenda is to get people started in a plant tank and most of the
subscribers to APD have done that, my interest here was as a lurker.
   Then I started seeing comments. The first I recall was something
about my article probably not having much credibility because it was in
FAMA. I bit my lip and didn't post. Then the bubble thing was generated
because of something I wrote. Although I was amazed at how many words
could be said about bubbles, I thought it was good solid posting and
again I didn't post (as if you needed another poster).
    Then more posts about my article that were negative and generally
one-sided. At this point I came out of the closet. The more I said the
more I had to defend. To a point, I think thats OK and probably a
purpose of APD. Then my replies started getting twisted. I would say
that I don't think heaters are necessary in most aquariums and the next
thing I see is a post that says I think heaters are high-tech.
Then there were quotes of mine that were snipped a little to much so the
poster could make a point. Anyway, in spite of some very credible help
that didn't find anything wrong with my methods, I was still a topic
bigger than bubbles. A little overwhelmed and frustrated I started
getting stupid. The tone of my replies became much harsher than they
should have been.
   I apologize to all that I offended including the anonymous. A SPECIAL
APOLOGY to Karen and George who have the same agenda (different
methods)as I.  I have enjoyed both of your writings, learned from you
and admired your tireless willingness to help others. And to the owner
of APD whom I probably tested the patience of, I also apologize.
   I am going to try to go back to just lurking here. If you want to
play around with my methods thats fine, maybe I will have to adjust some
methods because of something I've learned here.  In the interest of fair
play and/ or keeping me in a lurking status, it would be nice if your
posts were a little better than the person who posted about his
experience with Osmocote. His conclusion was that it turned his/her
water green and should only be used in the substrate. Left like that, it
would be easy to imply that I suggested it could be used in the water
column. I have only suggested it be used in the substrate. and just in
case, to save someone a post, I never said it was better than PMDD.
 Best to you all.
Dan Quackenbush