What do you think about a Reefing Mentor? Could it work? Would you mentor or be mentored?

[Peace River]

Having a single individual mentor may work for some, but I encourage and personally take more of a “it takes a village” approach (aka community mentorship) most of the time.

There are several people who have had a bigger than normal impact in my formation as a fish keeper and I have filled that role for others. Sometimes it was a feedback to my question “Why did this happen?” And the response from someone who has spent 50+ years at the highest levels of this hobby came back “Because your stupid”. At another point the same person responded with positive encouragement said something like, “You know, I don’t think anybody has ever bred that species in that way”. This last weekend weekend he patiently walked me through (again) exactly how he raises a type of live food. I highly value these moments that have taken place over the last few decades with this person, but most of the time my support, learning, and encouragement comes from the community.

 

[AnTrider]

After 18 months so far, I am still very much a newbie. I would very much appreciate a mentor. One that could help with setup I currently have. We can watch all the you tube and Google there is but an experience with an advanced individual would be much more useful..

 

[smokie]

dibs on Humblefish

 

[Braves Fan]

I have always thought this was a good idea ,, not sure how I would go about setting it all up ,, we all know how people get into and out of the hobby ,, you don't want to have the mentors wasting their time with people that get in and out of the hobby ,, get dejected and give up being a mentor ,, I am sure smart people could come up with a plan ,,

 

[Da8]

I would like to mentor and being mentored also.

I'm experienced but have many masters to learn from also

 

[Braves Fan]

I would love a SPS mentor

 

[Hemmdog]

I would be a mentor for a beginner and I would like a mentor for the advanced .

+1

 

[Gonzo74]

Having a single individual mentor may work for some, but I encourage and personally take more of a “it takes a village” approach (aka community mentorship) most of the time.

There are several people who have had a bigger than normal impact in my formation as a fish keeper and I have filled that role for others. Sometimes it was a feedback to my question “Why did this happen?” And the response from someone who has spent 50+ years at the highest levels of this hobby came back “Because your stupid”. At another point the same person responded with positive encouragement said something like, “You know, I don’t think anybody has ever bred that species in that way”. This last weekend weekend he patiently walked me through (again) exactly how he raises a type of live food. I highly value these moments that have taken place over the last few decades with this person, but most of the time my support, learning, and encouragement comes from the community.

I don’t disagree with you, however, geographically, sometimes it is helpful to have someone there helping in person. Though I agree with that, maybe a Geo Mentor is more of what I was talking about.

also, just because one person is mentoring, it does not mean they can’t tap into the knowledge of everyone else.

 

[Gonzo74]

I hate driving 20 minutes to the LFS to ask them questions. Having a mentor to tell me what I should be doing (as I’m only a month in) would be a god send.

Feel free to hit me up anytime

 

[eric.tech]

I think this is a wonderful idea! Someone may be interested in reef keeping, but may be intimidated by what it actually takes to keep a reef going. There is also a glut of information out there that can be overwhelming. Having someone to guide the person through the process takes the mystery and fear away.

 

[Crashjack]

I think it would work best for dealing with complete newbies for a few reasons.

• Newbies have the least amount of experience, some even without FW experience, and need basic help.
• Newbies are less likely to ask basic questions on the forum for fear of looking dumb and have the greatest chance of getting flamed in threads due to their lack of knowledge/experience.
• There is probably less chance of a newbie getting pigeon-holed into specific "advanced techniques"... Triton, Zeovit, ULNS, etc. Once a newbie gets the basics and some experience under his/her belt, he/she can research and make better decisions in regards to what if any "advanced techniques" they want to use.

 

[ReefGeezer]

A mentor with like interests would be great. Personally, I'd like to find someone close that is willing to help me improve my so-so SPS reef.

 

[Marie7]

What is a mentor?

Mentor - an experienced and trusted adviser.

One of the best ways to learn things and to get connected is to have a mentor help you! Not do it for you but lead you, guide you and befriend you! But could it work for the hobby? In many ways we do this on a local level with friends and reef clubs and it even spills over into the online world with hobbyists befriending one another and making a "next level" connection with like-minded people. So let's talk about that today.

What are you general thoughts about Reef Mentors? Could it work and what would be the challenges?

Would you be interested in being mentored or being a mentor? Why or why not?

It will be nice to be mentored, there’s things i can dominate very well but others still learning and will like to be mentored and learn from the pro’s Experts, the bad about it is..... if u want yo mentor.... are you sure what are u really talking about? Or give s good advised, be clear and concise as what u are advising and how u advising, giving half answers to specific issues are not good mentoring, don’t try to ridiculizase those who made mistakes or try to show u are better or known all .....

 

[Xandernfs]

As a teacher, I would LOVE to be a mentor. However, I do feel there would be some challenges to this but could be successful if implemented correctly. I think this is a great idea, especially for people who get a tank and get ready to throw in the towel a few months later. We've all made mistakes, but a mentor would be a great resource for people just getting into the hobby.

 

[ScottB]

+1

+2

 

[hotdrop]

A local mentor is an opportunity to share expensive resources. A new reef keeper often can’t afford to keep a microscope a electric saninity checker a tds checker, a par meter and a lot of other very useful but low utilization items but someone established in the hobby may be able to share.

 

[Sea MunnKey]

In all honesty I'm still learning from others ...

 

[Rick Mathew]

I think this is a Great Idea!!! Would love to be of help where I can

Rick

 

[cvrle1]

Its a good idea that could backfire as well. Unfortunately in this day and age there are many self professed experts at everything. They read something here and there, and then use it as gospel and be all end all truth. They suddenly know everything there is to know about everything, even though they are completely useless. How does one find a person online that lives 1000s of miles away from you, without never actually meeting? There are hundred ways of skinning a cat, so how do you find a mentor that has same/similar views on reef tanks, their setup, maintenance and so on. How does one find a mentor that is open to listening to your suggestions, and not just saying my way or the highway (or even worse, mentor giving up after few months and leaving you stranded) I personally believe that because there are so many different schools of thought and so many different ways of doing things that working with just 1 mentor may in fact be detrimental, as you could be missing a lot from other really knowledgeable folks.

 

[scott11106]

i think this is a great idea and i would gladly mentor others. I do think people need to still be hooked into the R2R community as no one person will have all the answers and to be honest some things work for some tanks and not others but it would be good to have a source to walk down the road with (sort to speak)

in theory we find mentors every time we do a thread and i find that most of the time the same people reply and in the case of a real mentor they would or should point you to someone else if they dont know