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View Full Version : An Invite to come along on a Journey....



brewmaster15
02-20-2014, 10:34 AM
Hello all,

About 12 years ago, the forum was started by a bunch of Discus Nuts looking to create a place to talk about Discus. Its done amazing things in this hobby since that time and helped many hobbyists become better Discus Keepers. Its gone far beyound my wildest dreams when I think back to its humble beginnings.

For all its done though there are things that just aren't possible for me to do with it here. There are software limitations and design limitations. Theres also so many ways to do things that its confusing to many hobbyists. Top it off with me having a bad habitat of perpetually expanding things here, trying to do everything and be everything. This is not always good, though it is well meaning. In coming weeks we'll be doing some re-organization here as to how the boards and threads are layed out...Some sections will disappear and be integrated into others. We will be doing this to make the board more streamline, less bloated. You can expect these changes shortly and they may take some time to get used to. We'll give them a try and see how they work out .

I've embarked on a new project and I would like to invite you all to come along. I've started a new website. Its a bit different than most out there on Discus. Most Discus websites are either forums like this one, or websites of breeders and sellers. My new website is going to be focused on Discus obviously... but it will take the form of a hybrid Blog and static website. Its a place where I can share my many years experience with you all on various topics. I plan on doing many things with my new site...won't go into all the details yet. Its my personal website for all things Discus Today.

The New website is Discustoday.info (http://www.Discustoday.info)

SimplyDiscus is a community of Awesome Hobbyists Sharing their experiences and Knowledge. DiscusToday.info will compliment this forum, and I will use it to help Hobbyists with focused blogs, topics, and articles. I guess you could call it my Discus Blog...but I hope for it to become much more, an important resource and an extension of this Forum where I can continue to promote Discus Keeping and help people understand this hobby better. It will give me a place where I run a bit more wild than I can here with my ideas and topics.

I have alot of work to do on it. Its just an outline, but in many ways its the same skin and bones SimplyDiscus was in the old days before we really fattened it up. So if you want to follow along on this journey.. You are all very welcome. I will also welcome suggestions for topics and content.

I haven't put any bells or whistles into the site yet as I am quite honestly still learning wordpress which is what its based on. Most websites are put up in their completed form. I've opted to make this a public work in progress just like we did SimplyDiscus. Some of the sites content will actually come from its development. Truth is since I have cut back on my fishroom I need something else to focus on, and this new website is one of those things, both in the software and the discus content.

Content to date there include some reworked posts I have made here which fit what I am trying to accomplish.There is also the beginning a blog series on Discus Health Problems....Part 1 is posted. There will more series covering all the things we find important in the Hobby.

Its really rudimentary...but that will change in time.

Stop by often and check it out.
Thanks,
Al

treemanone2003
02-20-2014, 10:55 AM
Thanks for the heads up and the invite, Al. Looking forward to hopping over and checking it out. Best of luck with it.
-George


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Second Hand Pat
02-20-2014, 11:00 AM
I am looking forward to watching it progress also Al.

CobaltBerry
02-20-2014, 11:04 AM
Count me as excited to see it develop.

Kirbs
02-20-2014, 11:22 AM
Thanks Al! I'll be checking it out!

BODYDUB
02-20-2014, 12:14 PM
So its a separate site, and a blog? IDK, it may not be visited that much, but you never know. Any thought to just making a blog section here????????

Second Hand Pat
02-20-2014, 12:15 PM
There is a blog section here.

BODYDUB
02-20-2014, 12:18 PM
Oh, I've honesty have never checked it out but I will.......

brewmaster15
02-20-2014, 12:42 PM
So its a separate site, and a blog? IDK, it may not be visited that much, but you never know. Any thought to just making a blog section here????????

John,
Theres an old saying..."A tree that grows too big in the top will eventually fall." Okay...its not an old saying I just coined it.:)


Seriously, Love this forum, but I need my own website to do what I need to do beyound what I can do here.:) Even if I am just talking myself there.

-al

MKD
02-20-2014, 12:43 PM
very nice Al and informative site. Best wishes to DiscusToday.info

i subcribed it.

btw, who is that good looking man on front page?

brewmaster15
02-20-2014, 12:49 PM
very nice Al and imformative site. Best wishes to DiscusToday.info

i subcribed it.

btw, who is that good looking man on front page? lol... Just some guy sporting a SimplyDiscus sweatshirt. ;)
al

jsalas623
02-20-2014, 01:28 PM
Looks good and informative!

dirtyplants
02-20-2014, 03:54 PM
Sounds like a very interesting project. I will be looking forward to it's existence and fruition. Looking forward to the reading.

musicmarn1
02-20-2014, 05:20 PM
great stuff !!! exciting to see a clear, distilled version that can be very helpful to very many people me thinks. this is a vast sprawling metropolis, which i love and adore and would not be without...but it will be nice to see a clear *book* version of what you know and believe to work after many many years as not only a discus keeper but as the founder and moderator of this think tank.

i see huge potential !! id still like a database of SD so i can look at a pretty graph now and then LOL...i dream of seeing nice clear data (yes data is not to be trusted i know haha) 7434739 people on SD used BB method 34556 mixed sources of discus and of that 34556 , 2 had zero disease.....677 used medications and 12980 did less than 50% wc daily .....

or then there is this. Al's way, Al's experience, his journey and what he has learned from the forum. thats a lot easier and simpler !!! :o

brewmaster15
02-20-2014, 05:39 PM
[QUOTE] id still like a database of SD so i can look at a pretty graph now and then LOL...i dream of seeing nice clear data (yes data is not to be trusted i know haha) 7434739 people on SD used BB method 34556 mixed sources of discus and of that 34556 , 2 had zero disease.....677 used medications and 12980 did less than 50% wc daily .....
Thats not off the table Marnie... we are still kicking it around discussing the logistics and realistic parameters...Its something I too would like.:)


or then there is this. Al's way, Al's experience, his journey and what he has learned from the forum. thats a lot easier and simpler !!! :o This on the other hand..I can make happen a bit faster!

Thanks,
al

DonMD
02-20-2014, 06:02 PM
It's great, Al. I like the look of the site, nice and clean, crisp. Uncluttered. I had already copied and pasted your post on QT onto my computer, but now I see that you'll be putting these types of advice on your blog, great idea. I'm all in.

nc0gnet0
02-20-2014, 06:19 PM
Ya know, I have this cookin show.......just sayin.............


-Rick

yim11
02-20-2014, 06:23 PM
Ya know, I have this cookin show.......just sayin.............


-Rick

Maybe you could post more about that....

I do youtube vids for my love of discus fish.

treemanone2003
02-20-2014, 06:38 PM
Just for the record,
Looked at it.

Loved it.

Subscribed.
And perhaps since you're in Ct someday we could get together and I'll buy ya a beer or a coffee for all the knowledge your sharing.


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brewmaster15
02-20-2014, 07:11 PM
Just for the record,
Looked at it.

Loved it.

Subscribed.
And perhaps since you're in Ct someday we could get together and I'll buy ya a beer or a coffee for all the knowledge your sharing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sounds like a plan! Thanks!
-al

April
02-27-2014, 12:51 PM
Great. Keep going...maybe you should write a book also?.while your on a hyper phase!
I have two copies of Wayne's book.looked to see how much they are going for! Anywhere from 250 to 435.00!
http://www.alibris.com/Wayne-s-Discus-Guidebook/book/-962862861
I bet you could do a book with more information,
In thr meantime this website will be a great resource for everyone!
Can we link to it on our websites?

OC Discus
02-27-2014, 01:34 PM
Best wishes for the new site. Thanks for the help you continue to provide to everyone, and keeping the forum alive so members can help each other.

DonMD
02-27-2014, 01:57 PM
You know, Al, April is right. You should do a book, all your experiences with not just the fish, but with the fish mongers on the forum. But, don't forget to change all our names to protect the innocent! (and guilty, hahaha)

OC Discus
02-27-2014, 02:29 PM
Yes Al. Do a book and provide a digital copy free to premium members on sd. Might boost membership and increase profits.
I will offer free editing of grammar and layout on digital draft copies.

Having a large number who have already bought the book and the backing of sd might help entice a publisher to cover all startup costs for printing.

Title: "Simply Discus"

Chapter headings: major themes from SD from startup to breeding.

Possibe Sections:

1. Essentials of a healthy discus tank
2. Water quality
3. Tank size
4. # and size of fish
4. Start Up
5. Converting an established aquarium for discus use- remove contents, sterilize tank, filters, decorations, tools, etc.
6. Cycling
7. Quarantine
8. Plants and substrate- types, pros and cons
9. Disease- causes and cures
10. Tank mates
11. Filtration Options
12. Medications- when to use
13. Lighting
14. Requirements of Juvies
15. Requirements of adults
16. Normal growth time line
17. Foods- good, bad, ugly
18. Breeding- pairs, tanks, crosses, raising fry, selling fry
19. Fish rooms-
20. Possibilities in Plumbing
21. Low Maintenance/high tech systems
22. Stunting- causes
23. Strains
24. Foods affecting color.
25. What not to buy

The list is endless.


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treemanone2003
02-27-2014, 02:36 PM
+1 to April, Don and OC. After the next payroll deposit I'll be a premium member but I'd still buy the book. But definitely change the names lol.

musicmarn1
02-28-2014, 11:34 AM
so i spoke with a software analysist (ok my Brother in England but he is the best ! :p )


he said its a high geek factor to get what we need from the existing data in the forum, if someone cant put together a spread sheet from existing data - which is a long tedious job, he said FAR better and easier but much geekier and we may or may not have someone here who can or would do it for is

its called SCRAPING THE FORUM - any geeks out there able to help? maybe we should start a thread. so we have option one a spreadsheet, id happily write up all the parameters but picking them out cleanly not the easiest task.


so unless someone with mad spread sheet skills is out there and has that much free time


its either scraping the forum OR a new survey for data, how to incentify people taking it? so ill make one from a spread sheet genius program that will collect the new data and turn it into a spread sheet we might need to encourage people with a raffle or something but ill send you the preliminary survey so you can point out all the q's i missed or dont need :)







[QUOTE=musicmarn1;1070803]


Thats not off the table Marnie... we are still kicking it around discussing the logistics and realistic parameters...Its something I too would like.:)

This on the other hand..I can make happen a bit faster!

Thanks,
al

brewmaster15
02-28-2014, 12:22 PM
[QUOTE=musicmarn1;1073384]so i spoke with a software analysist (ok my Brother in England but he is the best ! :p )


he said its a high geek factor to get what we need from the existing data in the forum, if someone cant put together a spread sheet from existing data - which is a long tedious job, he said FAR better and easier but much geekier and we may or may not have someone here who can or would do it for is

its called SCRAPING THE FORUM - any geeks out there able to help? maybe we should start a thread. so we have option one a spreadsheet, id happily write up all the parameters but picking them out cleanly not the easiest task.


so unless someone with mad spread sheet skills is out there and has that much free time


its either scraping the forum OR a new survey for data, how to incentify people taking it? so ill make one from a spread sheet genius program that will collect the new data and turn it into a spread sheet we might need to encourage people with a raffle or something but ill send you the preliminary survey so you can point out all the q's i missed or dont need :)










Data Scraping.. thats a tough one Marnie. I would be afraid that we would have too many variables here in each data set/point as theres just so many factors in each post. But I do appreciate that your gears are turning and you have so much interest in that Discus Registry.

Hmm... Write a book... I don't know. Its been suggested before, and is possible I suppose that I could add something, even if it were a small amount, to the general body of excellent informations Discus Authors have already put out there. If I can keep up with Simply and the Discustoday.info I'll give it some more thought! Thanks.

-al

OC Discus
02-28-2014, 12:47 PM
Al,

I successfully wrote a handbook for a doctoral project, and graduated. This required extensive proofing and re-writing for spelling, grammar, layout, and some content. I enlisted some friends skilled in English to proof for spelling and grammar and some friends skilled in my subject to proof content.

I'm sure others, like myself, would offer such proofing service. You could select and ask whoever you like. 2-3 could proof grammar, spelling, and format while 2-3 others could proof content in different sections- plant expert, disease expert, breeding expert, etc.

My offer is still good. Proofing one section or chapter at a time would be relatively easy and could be returned to you in digital form in 1-7 days.

Best Regards


[QUOTE]





Data Scraping.. thats a tough one Marnie. I would be afraid that we would have too many variables here in each data set/point as theres just so many factors in each post. But I do appreciate that your gears are turning and you have so much interest in that Discus Registry.

Hmm... Write a book... I don't know. Its been suggested before, and is possible I suppose that I could add something, even if it were a small amount, to the general body of excellent informations Discus Authors have already put out there. If I can keep up with Simply and the Discustoday.info I'll give it some more thought! Thanks.

-al

OC Discus
02-28-2014, 12:49 PM
Ps. I gave credit to my editors in the forward of the book. That would be enough credit for most "friends" on this kind of project. I might even be able to scrape up some writing guidelines for professional writing if needed:)

musicmarn1
02-28-2014, 03:19 PM
id love to hear those guidelines :) i want to write a dog training book and yet a few attempts so far been a bit short of what i want ....

OC Discus
02-28-2014, 03:43 PM
Hey marine. I'll see if I can dig them up.


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treemanone2003
02-28-2014, 05:21 PM
FWIW, I'd love to assist if possible. All my closest call me the spelling/grammar nazi lol. Although I failed it 2/5 years in high school, (yes the extended plan) I learned how to write after my pop took me to his job to write his incident (fire officer) reports. Honestly I think he had a thing going with his boss to kick them all back but I'll never know fore sure, ha ha !! Computers and spread sheets, sorry but I'm out on that side of things.

I'll keep following here but now back to my WC's on 3 tanks.

brewmaster15
02-28-2014, 06:51 PM
Thanks for all your offers everyone.. Should I ever write a book, I'll definetly give you a shout as my spelling and grammar are sub par at best.:D.... but seriously between Simply,The new website, other ventures and hobbies, Family.... I'm good for now, Thanks!

-al

musicmarn1
02-28-2014, 10:41 PM
DISCUS FOR DUMMIES……just sayin :p;)