Hello Everyone,
In celebration of our anniversary I asked discuspaul to put together a spot light on SimplyDiscus itself. Not an easy task at all, so before I go any further, THANK YOU Paul!!!You did an incredible Job here!
SIMPLY DISCUS SPOTLIGHT
(Questions and Answers by the original Three :Al,April, and Ryan)
Q - How did the forum get started, who was involved, and how was it done ?
AL'S COMMENTS: -----
Looking back, I never thought I would be here like this today. SimplyDiscus for me started long ago, when I participated on several forums that didn't meet what I saw as the needs of the hobby. Theres was a lot of bickering and fighting and simple requests for help with Discus went largely unanswered. I tried several forums and for a short time I thought we had something at a place called Jedds. A bunch of us, April, Ryan, TonyS etc, participated in a sub board on a general fish forum there. But that too fell short.. to the point where the owner threatened to shut down our section. I don't remember the details why..but he soon announced he was selling the board. I decided to start talking with him about buying it so we could have a place to call our own. Enter my friend April..She happened to know someone in discus that was a techie...and she introduced me to him. You guys know him as Ryan Smith, who up until this past year was our webmaster, and pretty much built this place from the ground up software wise. Our goal was to create a place where were could talk about our fish. A place where we could share information and to promote the proper care of Discus. My personal goal was to be sure it was a civil and mature website, where members felt welcomed. Its always been my goal and always will be. Without Ryan's skills, SimplyDiscus may never have come about though . My background at the time was business and Biology..I knew zip about computers and the internet. So really the Forum as you all know it came to be Simply by chance... A mutual friend brought 2 discus enthusiasts together. I will be forever grateful to these two friends.
APRIL'S COMMENTS:
"Here's how it got started in 2002. Al, Ryan and I were on other forums that were dysfunctional to say the least. I used to talk on chat and emails etc. separately with both Ryan and Al. Ryan kept telling me he wanted to start a forum. The Al had an idea but he didn't know Ryan. I knew both so I told Ryan to talk to Al, and Al to talk to Ryan. It got started. Ryan registered as first member, then Al, and then myself. I chose not to be an Admin, so it was Ryan & Al, and me as a mod. We soon began inviting all of our devoted friends who were long term members of other forums.
You went to member listings and start at 1,2,3,4,5, etc. and see who the founding members were. I could name most: Ryan, Al, April, Karen, Tony, Rod Lewis, Jack (Discus_kc), etc. - all the long term ones. John Nicholson was still on daah with Jim Quarles. Hans was on the one we left, with a few others. We were a small group of serious hobbyists who wanted to have a good learning center for discus hobbyists and beginners. The other forums had a lot of arguing, silliness, etc...... and Al & Ryan had a vision. I was the first test dummy to test out the software and see if the forum worked.
I'm not sure if Kenny was a very early member. He was with another partner in Los Angeles at first. They split after awhile as Kenny wanted quality, and Forrest wanted a solid partner that was committed. At first Kenny did other suppliers as well as Forrest. He did a few shipments of Wayne's discus and he did Tony Tan. Then Forrest got him to partner up & commit. There weren't any sponsors at that time - it took awhile.
I don't believe even Hans was a member in the early days - he was just coming to the USA at the time. When we first got started he came for the NADA show, then went back to Holland. Cary of Great Lakes was there with us, and he became a sponsor. Cary was breeding discus like crazy at the time and was the most loved breeder of the whole North American discus scene, so he was most likely the first sponsor. He was my role model. He helped me a lot and I did some shipments from him. I used to do group orders into Vancouver - just share shipping. Rod was also there from the beginning, and he taught me a lot. I did 2 shipments from Rod from Australia. Shipping was only $400. at that time on a group order."
RYAN'S COMMENTS:
"Al and April may have a better memory than me about the origins of Simply. Most of the work I did then was fueled by caffeine and insomnia, and most of it feels like a blur now. The date on my profile is actually wrong; during one of our software upgrades it messed up the registration dates on all the member profiles, so mine shows 2000. It should probably be February or March 2002, a month or two before we launched the site publicly (which happened in April 2002).
I met Al through April. We were members of a general aquaria forum called Big Head Jedd's. I talked to April quite a bit in chat at the time. There was a small but dedicated sub-forum for discus. I don't even remember how we ended up deciding to start our own forum -- I think it was an idea that Al had, and he needed someone to implement the technical aspects of it.
I had a very basic knowledge of HTML programming at the time and had designed personal websites for myself and friends. We were offered free web hosting from a friend of mine who worked at an internet provider at the time, and I downloaded and installed free forum software (YaBB, or Yet Another Bulletin Board, which is now known as SimpleMachines) which was much more labor-intensive than the software Simply is running now. All the installation and upgrades had to be done manually, as opposed to the software now which has automated scripts built into it. A lot of what I did was trial and error, and much to Jedd's disappointment (sorry, Jedd!) I used his site as a template when building the first version of Simply. This led to me being banned from his site because I copied him. It was sort of like Mark Zuckerberg versus the Winklevoss twins, except far less drama and I'm not worth billions of dollars now.
You can actually use the Wayback Machine to see a snapshot of the site from April 2002: http://web.archive.org/web/200206061.../yabb/YaBB.cgi
Initially we thought Simply would be a small, freely run site with a tight-knit group of dedicated hobbyists. In the first five years, it proved to be way more than that. The site kind of snowballed and we began experiencing growing pains. We outgrew our tiny free web hosting plan, and also got hacked for the first time. This led us to move the site, this time to the server of a local friend who worked at an internet company in central Florida. They provided additional storage space, speed, and security. This was around the time we upgraded to paid forum software because it was supported by its developers and also patched more frequently against security risks. Unfortunately that, too, would be challenged by hackers and we continued to experience growing pains due to the large database and heavy traffic generated by our members. This led us to dedicated hosting, putting Simply on its own server with virtually unlimited bandwidth and storage space, but also at a cost. The site was no longer free, and it was no longer a pet project for Al and myself -- it had become a second full-time job.
Looking back, the beauty of building a site like Simply was learning from our mistakes. It kept me on my toes for twelve years. Every time something went wrong, we had to re-evaluate our approach to various aspects of the forum, implement changes where the site was lacking, and question our goals for the site and what we wanted it to be. All of the decisions we've made along the way, whether it's how we moderate discussions, organize the content of the site, or deal with technical issues, have been the direct result of feedback from our members and the ever-evolving situations and circumstances we encounter. Just when you think you've got it all under control, some weird curveball comes out of nowhere and you think, "Well, that's a new one." The site is sort of like a living thing. It evolves and grows, and you always have to be prepared to change with it.
We've had a lot of lows from a technical aspect, as I mentioned above, but the high points are the members. I've met so many people, bought so many beautiful fish, had engaging conversations, and learned so much. I've watched people start out as newcomers to discus and go on to breeding and selling their own stock. It's a great feeling, knowing that the site has helped people in their journey and brought us all together. Al or April may remember which magazine it was, but one of the fish magazines (I think either FAMA or TFH) did a little article about the best discus resources on the web and they featured Most of our early success came from word of mouth. The online discus community was a fairly small, tight-knit group so when one person came, others followed. Everyone was excited to learn as much as they could, and see as many discus as they could, and so you just registered at every discus site you could find. I would say most of our members were (and maybe still are) members of multiple sites, not just Simply. The only real "marketing" at the beginning came in the form of submitting Simply to as many search engines and lists as I could. At that time you sometimes had to manually submit your websites to search engines, and there were online services which would do it for you.Simply. That was a huge accomplishment for me, knowing we'd built this place and we were being recognized by such a popular publication. I went out and bought a copy for each of our mods at the time. I still have mine in a box somewhere. That's when it really sank in that we'd done something big."
Q - Please give us an outline of say, the first 5 years of existence - early membership growth, was there any type of marketing for new members done - what part did referrals play - what growing pains were experienced ?
RYAN'S COMMENTS:
Most of our early success came from word of mouth. The online discus community was a fairly small, tight-knit group so when one person came, others followed. Everyone was excited to learn as much as they could, and see as many discus as they could, and so you just registered at every discus site you could find. I would say most of our members were (and maybe still are) members of multiple sites, not just Simply. The only real "marketing" at the beginning came in the form of submitting Simply to as many
search engines and lists as I could. At that time you sometimes had to manually submit your websites to search engines, and there were online services which would do it for you.
AL's COMMENTS:
I left the web related things to Ryan, and focused on the people. My Role was management initially. I felt that if we could get people here and show them that the forum had content and had a welcoming atmosphere that they would stay. I believe even to this day that this is key for any forum that wants to survive and thrive. To that extent I added as much content as I could and focused on the atmosphere and tone. I actually used to pm a personal welcome to every new member when they signed up in those early years. Eventually the content we built here also benefited us with search engines and fueled our growth.
[B]Q- Provide some insights into the forum's achievements in the early going, and how certain topics or approaches helped to get the forum successfully through the first few years, and into the next 5. Did certain programming changes need to be made to help out ?[/B]
RYAN'S COMMENTS:
I touched on this a bit in my answer to question #1. The only real programming changes were in converting from free software to paid software, just because it was more stable and feature-rich, which gave people a better user experience. No one wants to browse a site that's slow or glitchy because that's frustrating. I think the real success in the early days was just showing new hobbyists how simple it was to actually raise out a tank of discus. People came to the site with all these preconceived notions regarding RO water, fancy filtration, live foods, and all the things that general aquaria books parroted for years. Then they saw big, beautiful, high quality fish being raised fairly easily and it made discus keeping a reality for a lot of people.
APRIL'S COMMENTS:
We wanted to make a difference and be there to help new discus keepers succeed, raise the bar on quality discus , quality sellers, customer service, and helping discus to survive and fish and keepers to have a positive experience.
Also sharing techniques and ideas amongst us.
A forum with no dysfunction and try to keep it harmonious.
AL'S COMMENTS:
We tried to expand the forums sections to include as much information as we could and we started to involve membership as moderators to help us . We literally went to the school of hard knocks.. Everytime there was an issue we faced we would try and learn from it. Literally every rule we have in place today and every policy on the forum came from our experiences in the past as to what worked and what didn't. As more and more people joined us, there were times when fights broke out or members would turn out to be a problem. We made a choice at that point to be a moderated forum. One where we actively tried to enforce rules and set a certain tone. We had our critics along the way..and still do. But the path we took has enabled us to continue to provide the content and atmosphere we set out to have as a core to SimplyDiscus. It can be a pain at times, but I know deep down that we made the right choices and its why we are still here today.
Q - What anecdotes might you have on particular highlights of the forum's evolution towards its 10th anniversary - and were there any serious setbacks during that time ?
RYAN'S COMMENTS:
Please see my previous comments about the hackings, server growing pains, etc. Al and April may have better answers from a content/social perspective.
APRIL'S COMMENTS:
Some of the ones that stand out in my head was when Jack of Discus_kc went to Iraq during the war. He was able to log on to simply and we kept his morale up . In the meantime he was planning his fishroom from Iraq with our help . He came back..and started the thread on his fishroom. Well over 100 pages . We all followed with excitement
The other most important one was Cary Strong of Great Lakes Discus who was an amazing breeder and seller, and got breeding some newer strains with great success. Mainly his butterfly .
At that time..the first spotted leopards were arriving in usa and we all got some. They were the first..and they were highly hormoned but we were all pretty excited.
Then came the solids. White butterfly pigeons, snow white, cleaner reds..it went from Marlboro to melons..and the san merahs.. etc. It was an exciting time. There were no albinos yet..and the lss and leopards were so new and amazing.
Hans was still in Holland..but was making his way to usa for an aca show. Then he moved to usa.
Discus Hans USA was born.
Al'S COMMENTS:
For me these years were very trying...The forum was growing so fast it was hard to keep up, We started having a lot of sponsors which meant I had to come up with some core methods to ensure that we provided the membership with as good a quality supplier as possible. It meant I had to actively try and screen would be sellers and I had to hold sellers accountable here. I had to remove several sponsors over the years that did not hold up their end..Even today sponsors are screened and understand that they must be ethical sellers and must treat their customers fairly. There were several issues going on with other forums as well, that I won't go into details on, but to say that they put a tremendous amount of stress on our moderator staff, and Ryan and I. It was around this time that I had to take a hard look at how I dealt with members that caused problems here. I have never liked banning members, and I really would prefer to have members self moderate... but unfortunately thats not always something that happens.
Q - Further to the above, did the forum ever suffer a serious disruption, causing loss of material, and necessitating a large restructure ?
ALS COMMENTS:
We have run into several hackers over the years but have kept the actual loss of data to a minimum. One of the changes we made was to pay for dedicated server support and paid software. It made it much harder for a hacker to compromise us.There is a psychological effect though when you do get hacked. Its a surreal feeling like that knock the breath out of you as you know that you could lose everything you worked so hard to build.
RYAN'S COMMENTS:
There were a handful of instances where hackings or server moves cost us a few days of downtime. The only real loss of material came when we converted to vBulletin software and we lost all of the thousands of picture attachments in posts.
Q - Care to highlight any significant contributions from early members who really had a strong hand in garnering popular interest in the forum as time went on ?
RYAN'S COMMENTS:
I will always tip my hat to Carol Roberts. Not only was she a moderator, but she served as a sort of mentor for most of the newcomers to the forum. Her straight-forward, simple, friendly approach to explaining things and answering questions was really admirable. I hear she's breeding dogs now but I still hope one day the discus bug will bite her again and she'll drop in to say hello.
APRIL'S COMMENTS:
Cary Strong was loved and admired by everyone. He went out of his way to help members and spent the time helping on the forum and the phone. He was better at the phone..he was a huge part.
Rod Lewis had always helped and had valuable insight and breeding knowledge. Patient..polite..informative
Some others were first and foremost - Carol Roberts. She still has some great beginner topics stickied in the beginner section.
Another was Walter Wu. He had some great articles and a website that won a lot of awards.
Tony Stout, TonyS, Karen, kqt111 helped bring a lot of people together.
Kayceo, Ryan , Al of course. Some others who have left the hobby.
One member who we all cherished was Barb Newel, who passed away . It was a sad time. She contributed a lot and did some great discus keeping and breeding in Canada.
Al'S COMMENTS:
We had so many members that helped make this forum what it is today, but some of the original ones, Carol Roberts,Ardan, CaryStrong, TonyS, Karen, Sly, Walter Wu, Rod Lewis.Barb Newell I will always cherish as well and miss even today. I often think of the many fine moderators we had that came and went and there were so many people that either passed away, or moved on.They all left their Mark just as everyone here today that posts will leave their mark.
Q - Any particular milestones that stand out as being major game changers along the way ?
RYAN'S COMMENTS:
I don't feel like there's been any singular event that was a game-changer. I think it's been a pretty natural evolution. The site has continued to grow and change from day one. Celebrating ten years here was a little bit surreal because no one ever plans to do be doing this for a decade when you start a project like Simply, and yet here we are.
AL"S COMMENTS:
We have had alot of milestones and alot of high and low points... we always try and learn from them. I think the building of our website and Library were important. It was an amazing accomplishment at the time and took alot of teamwork.. Its something I need to see rebuilt....but it will not diminish the accomplishment of that first time. 10 years was pretty cool too!!!
Q - Tells us about getting a sponsorship group in place. Who were the first ones, when, and how did efforts progress to where the sponsor section is today ?
RYAN'S COMMENTS:
I'm going to let Al tackle this one!
APRIL'S COMMENTS:
The first was Cary Strong of Great Lakes Discus. There were a few others but they didn’t continue to be sponsors.
At the time..Kenny was a member..or became a member. He was known as Loverboy..he wooed us with photos of his fish. Then he started selling with a partner. He soon went on his own to be sure to bring quality rather than volume and good customer service to the members.
Hans became a sponsor ..Rod Lewis became a sponsor.
As some came, some left..Al and Ryan wanted to bring value..credibility..quality..good customer care and ethics to being a sponsor. They gradually set up a check list of what was expected of sponsors.
More about good husbandry and good customer care and service rather than just monetary value to the forum. I'd say from most forums I've seen, this is the main difference that makes simply stand out.
AL'S COMMENTS:
I've touched on the sponsorships a bit, but to elaborate. I felt that we needed a way to generate revenue for the forum and have a say in the quality of the fish sold. Up until this point, I largely covered the costs of the site out of my pocket with the help of donations. My financial situation was not great at the time and it seemed we needed a change.. So sponsorships were born as a way to finance the forum and guide sellers here that could provide what we felt was good quality. Readers have to understand that today we are spoiled by what is available on the forum as far as quality and healthy fish. Before Simply and Before sponsorships here, there was significantly more junk fish being pedaled. It was not an easy process and even today its challenging to find good sponsors, which is why I encourage everyone here to support them. They do a great job here bringing you quality healthy stock...and they help bring you the forum!
Early Sponsors were guys like Cary Strong, Mike Wells, Rod Lewis,...Kenny and Forrest have been with us a long time now as has Discus Hans, and Lawrence Soon. We've has many great sponsors that have moved on to other things like Jack Taylor, Mike Beals and Jeffrey Yang, Darren in Australia and Rod Lewis in Australia. Its been a long time so please forgive m if I forgot someone.
I am always looking to add to our current awesome group of sponsors provided these new comers can pass the bar set by our existing Sponsors and of course our forum members!
Q -Any thoughts on how the discus-keeping hobby itself changed over time, and affected how Administration made changes, or incorporated new ideas to keep up with the times, and improve member interest ? Were there any serious setbacks in this regard ?
AL'S COMMENTS:
I like the direction the hobby is taking as far as quality is concerned, we have reached a point where I think we have a good understanding of how important it is for us to strive for quality and to strive for healthy stock. We still see far too many members that come to us with Diseased and sickly fish. There are still far too much mis-information on treating Discus out there and their general care. At times I want to smack my head into a brick wall because I feel like people take the easy route with their fish. They don't research all the wealth of knowledge that been assembled on Discus particularly at sites like Simply. We are still plagued by poor advice or advice based on “It worked for me” without regard for any other facts. We still have parrots that repeat what so and so posted and act as if they experienced it.I still need my muck boots because the BS gets too deep.:bandana: The Internet has given us all so much access to information, but in many circles there is no vetting of that information. To quote my friend , “Its good for Discus Seller” why? Because as people kill their fish they need to buy more!
My goal has been to combat misinformation any way I can. Our beginners board, our experimental section, Our recent endeavors with facebook, out changes to how the disease board works are all in response to this need for quality and accurate information. Its not easy, Sometimes people just don't want to hear what you are trying to teach them because it doesn't fit into their plans. Its frustrating.But we have made much progress today compared to yesterday and the day before.
Another way the hobby has changed is the advent of digital techology. Its so easy to take and post pictures these days. But to do it well takes some practice, so in response we have set out a complete section devoted to media....complete with professional mentors to help members take better pictures or videos.
RYAN'S COMMENTS:
In a lot of ways I think the hobby has changed for the better. The amount of information right there at your fingertips, accessible immediately, has drastically improved the quality of fish we've seen in the hobby. There is still a fair share of junk floating around out there, but I feel like people are more educated now about quality fish than they have ever been. I think we've always tried to incorporate learning tools at Simply to address that very subject, whether it's policies about critiquing fish or trying out the Discus University section for a few years
Q - Al, Ryan, April, and any others who would care to contribute, give us any special thoughts on what you feel has made the forum successful to date, and what changes you might like to see implemented beyond what is covered in the prior question ?
RYAN'S COMMENTS:
I think the name of the site says it all: SimplyDiscus. The idea from the beginning was to remove a lot of the myths surrounding discus by educating and showing people that these fish were not impossible. The site's success stemmed from that -- a community of hobbyists showing everyone that with a little time and effort, it could be done and done well. I also think the social aspect of Simply has helped people make new friends and partners, and that has led to great sponsorships, local meet-ups, and shows. Coming together to meet and share with like-minded people fuels the hobby, and I think Simply has given people a platform to seek out and find that.
AL'S COMMENTS:
I have to believe that the success of this forum is linked to the content posted and the people that post it. That may sound like common sense... but the content only attracts guests that read. Our Existing members, These are the people that create a tone and atmosphere that keeps members engaged and feeling welcome, and they give guests a reason to become part of our community.
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As part of this special spot light I asked discuspaul to go through our forum archives and pull up some quotes. I also reached out to our current membership and asked them to share their thoughts on Simplydiscus and what the forum means to them.
RANDOM SELECTION OF QUOTES BY OLD AND NEW MEMBERS ABOUT WHAT SIMPLY DISCUS HAS MEANT TO THEM:
FROM JOHN NICHOLSON:
What does Simply mean to me? Man that is a loaded question. Through the years it has been a place of joy, a place where I have learned things about discus that I did not know, a place where I hope I have taught lots of people things that they did not know, and a place where I have been labeled a jerk more times than I can count....LOL. At the end of the day Simply has become a daily destination in my discus oriented life. A place where I have made more friends than I could have ever hoped for.
When a new discus keeper arrives it is all about the fish. I was in a different boat in that I was already a successful discus breeder when Simply arrived on the scene....but I promise that I learned lots of tricks from this place. For me Simply became a social gathering place of like minded people ( at least in terms of a hobby ). If I start to complain to my wife about some discus issue she just looks at me with a blank stare, but if I open up on Simple I can find lots of folks that understand.
It is also a place that has changed a tremendous amount. In the beginning almost all of us were pretty solid discus keepers.....now many of the members are not. Simply has now become a major teaching tool for the world a discus. A place that has been around long enough that some of the things that we do cannot longer be questioned. A place that has laid down a track record of successful discus keeping. A place for a discus keeper to call home.
FROM BILLSG:
This is my favorite one from my wife. After I had been on Simply for maybe about a year, my wife said to me "Wow, it's been awhile since you've killed any discus
FROM SMARTINICH (Steve):
It’s hard to believe I’ve been a member of this forum since 2009. That means I’ve been keeping discus for about 8 years. This is the only forum I’ve ever become a member of, and my enjoyment of keeping discus wouldn’t be the same without it. I’ve made most all the mistakes one can make in that time, and I continue to still make some, but I’ve learned an amazing amount from the people on this forum and I continue to improve my husbandry because of it. I'm also feeling like I'm getting to know others in the hobby from around the US and the world! Nowhere else do I get that! I think there’s a lot of myth and mystery, and misinformation out there about keeping discus. SD has been a great source of real experience and knowledge. I’m sure my discus are much happier and I’m enjoying the hobby much more than I would had I never found SD. OK, so I just looked online and 335 members have visited the site today. MEMBERS, most of whom I have never seen a post from. So, just the fact that I’m willing to post anything, hopefully means I’m offering something, too! Thanks AL and to the whole SD team, and congratulations on 13 successful years!
Steve s".
FROM KENNY CHEUNG:
"Simplydiscus has been from day one the most informative and enjoyable discus site I've been in, where not only were I able to obtain any info that are discus-related, I was also able to meet many of my fellow discus enthusiast friends and shared our passion for the "King of the Aquarium". SD is simply the best."
FROM TANKSTER (Greg):
What SimplyDiscus means to me:
Simply put, it is a community and an invaluable resource. It is a group of people that understands my love of discus; where else can you talk so passionately about a “fish” and not be looked at as a loon? It is my support group that gives me a pat on the back when I need it, and my minders and mentors when I need to be pointed in the right direction. It is people I can count on for accurate solutions and honest advice.
I can’t begin to imagine the frustration, or financial loss that would have been my fate without this forum. I was fortunate in that I was particularly attracted to the beauty of this fish first, then researched and built my systems around the fish. In my initial research I stumbled across the forum and found its members to be some of the most experienced and knowledgeable individuals on Symphysodon. This is what kept me coming back and eventually, encouraged me to make my first post.
The fact that this is a single species forum that advocates the proper care of discus, above all else, elevates the hobby to its highest level.
FROM KOZYKEITH'S SPOTLIGHT:
When I got back into discus and was a stranger here on SD and trying to update my discus education Martha Morris was a God send. Besides all the guidance she gave me to update my skills she also introduced me to Paul Butler (pcsb23) who has fielded some of my more baffling water and husbandry questions.
FROM EDDIE'S SPOTLIGHT:
100% of the credit goes to all the amazing members of Simply Discus. Several of the members that have helped me the most are: Al, Paul, Rod, John Nicholson, Carol Roberts and all of the members of Simply. I would also like to mention the North American Discus Association and its members, past and present. I had the pleasure of being trained as a Judge by John Nicholson, Dick Au and Larry Matinchek.
FROM SECOND HAND PAT's SPOTLIGHT:
There are many people here on simply who I credit with helping me on my journey, Larry (Bugman), Gary (Turk64), Darrell Ward, Mark (Discus Origins) and many others. There is one person who deserves a very special thanks and that is Nandi (NanDiscus). Nandi has helped me from the beginning not only here on Simply but on many long hours on Facebook chat. Nandi is one of the few people I know who has breed wilds consistently. For those of you who may not know Nandi he has raised wild Xingu and had three breeding pairs in his group of seven. So Nandi, if you see this, a very special thank you.
FROM DISCUS HANS SPOTLIGHT:
Of course the Stendker family, without them, I wouldn't be here in the USA. For the forum, hmmmm I think I came on Simply around 2002, just before I came to the USA, I was playing with Discus approx. a 25 years and understand me well, I don't know everything, but their were not many things I hadn't seen before.
There are a few friends that helped me lot, special in times you need them the most and are were there for me when I was in need of help. To name a few Jim H., John N., and Al S.
FROM MKD (Tony):
My name is Tony, proud to be SimplyDiscus' member (MKD). It's a great active place and awesome members.
FROM DON IN VIRGINIA:
I began like so many other SD Forum members, by seeing my first discus at a local fish store, and bringing it home. Many deaths later and after searching the internet for help, I came upon this forum. Aside from the tremendous archived resources here that are available with a simple search, the forum members are a great, supportive community who really want to help you figure out how to improve your discus care.
So, thanks to the forum I have gone from killing all my discus due to importing diseased fish, to having bred over 500 discus, without losing any except for culling (you may think that’s small potatoes, and it is compared to the long-time breeders, but for me it’s a huge success story). SD introduced me to Discus Hans, where I buy all my breeders, and so many other great individuals, and even paved the way for me to visit Al Sabetta in Connecticut. No wonder this forum has not only survived, it’s thrived, just look at how many members all over the globe belong. Way to go SD team! Kudos!
FROM ARDAN:
I have been a member at Simply Discus since the first year. I have been a moderator and now a sponsor. Many things have changed over the years, but it has always evolved into a better forum. Simply Discus is a great place to learn about discus and other aquarium and fishkeeping aspects, but more importantly it is a great place to meet great people and learn from each other.
Recently I have begun to transform a hobby into a small business and became a Sponsor on Simply Discus to give it a try. Simply Discus and my friends there have helped me to accomplish this. This gives me an opportunity to bring to market custom laser engraving, woodworking, pen making, custom acrylic work and other hand made items. These items make unique "one of a kind gifts" for special people or a unique item for oneself. It has been a real learning experience!
FROM ERIC LACROIX - (CAROLINA DISCUS):
Dear Al,
I wanted to take a minute and congratulate you and the admins on your 13th year! I cant express how helpful Simply Discus has been to me as a hobbyist first and now a breeder. The information provided on such a wide variety of topics has gotten me out of many jams over the years but the people I have met on Simply have been even more important to me. Simply discus members are "simply the best"!!!!!
I recommend all our customers to become members of and to support Simply Discus any way they can....thank you again for the endless hours of behind the scenes work and the countless headaches you have had to endure to keep this forum the best it can be...there truly isn't another place like it and I feel we are all very lucky to have a place like this we can call home.
Looking forward to the next 13 years together...
Your friends
Eric & Hannah
Carolina Discus
FROM LOUIS (SLY) SPOTLIGHT:
• Louis (Sly) - by John Erdman (November 2002)
I have to say that ever since I have been in this hobby I have met many nice people around the world and Simplydiscus is one of the forums that I would love to have stay around for a long time. I have to thank Al introducing this forum to me when it first started and props to the mods team for doing such a good job maintaining the forum. It's this forum that brought me closer to these wonderful people like Karen, April, Pamela, Julz, Jason, Don, Tony, Jack, Carol, Cary, Mike, Ari, Scott, Rod, Dave, David and everyone else who I have not had much of a chance to talk to in another forum. I hope this forum will stay around for a long time.
FROM BORRERO -TAYLOR & SENA SPOTLIGHT:
• Francisco Borrero, Jack Taylor and Tyler Sena - by John Erdman (January 2002)
Francisco: Yes. The various forums, with all participants, experienced and otherwise have been invaluable to me. When I began with discus, TeddyJ from Australia, whom I dont know personally and doesnt post anywhere anymore, was the single most helpful and dedicated person I can think of. He answered my questions both on the Buffo forum and by e-mail, and was very patient. I wish he would visit some of the current forums for I think he is a good guy despite having received a lot of fire. The next one was fairly recent and may come as a surprise. Over a year ago, we had the first Northeast discus meeting at Als, the Brewmasters house. It was John (DarkDiscus), Don Lee, Al and myself, along with our families. That afternoon, speaking with Al, and seeing his setup and having him answer my questions was the single most instructive day in my 3 years of discus keeping. Sure I knew some things already, but magic happened to me that day nonetheless. Plus the food, the beer and the company were great as well.
Tyler: A lot of credit has to go to me parents for just plain putting up with me and the hobby. They even let me take over the basement! I also have to thank Mike Wells for really hooking me up with some great fish, even when I was so new to the hobby. I have to thank everyone here at simply, as I wouldn't even have these fish without you. But most of all I really have to thank Ryan, the admin here. He taught me pretty much everything when I was first coming around, and really made me feel comfortable here.
FROM KRAIG KOONTZ -_ KINGDOM COME DISCUS:
I just wanted to take a minute to share with everyone here about what Simply has meant to me over the years.
I have been in and out of the discus hobby since the late 80's. The first ten years I read every book and article I could get my hands on. It seemed the more info I digested the more confusing the hobby was to me. Although many discus problems are similar, every person who has the problem feels their problem is unique. This is where the experts on this site step in. Your problem is spelled out, then submitted here and then addressed by qualified people who care not only about you but your fish. More times than none there are solutions to your problems that work. There have been many discus experts come and go here in the last 13 years and the information they have been willing to share with others is very valuable not just to hobbyist but even to advanced discus keepers because they are responding to specific problems of the individual.
Here's to the Simply team who keep the peace and make this forum work like a well oiled machine as well as all the members of the Simply family who are just that, a family who cares. May Simply continue to help the discus community world wide, for many, many years to come.
Kraig Koontz
FROM DISCUSPAUL:
As some of you may know, I've been early retired for quite a few years, and at first it took me a while to find interesting and useful things to keep me occupied each day. Over 5 years ago my day was pretty much taken up with the newspaper, crossword puzzles, some home design work, a bit of financial consulting, sports events, and a re-vamped interest in discus-keeping.
I spent a couple of hours each day with tank maintenance, wcs, or simply gazing at the few juvie discus in my tank. Kind of ho-hum at the time.
Then I met April who put me unto the Simply forum, and it was like a breath of fresh air to be able to relate daily with other members, learn new things, make new friends, and hopefully contribute in a positive, helpful way when I could. The biggest satisfaction for me was to write a Beginner's Guide to Discus-Keeping which April suggested I offer to Al, who kindly accepted it as a forum Sticky. After 4 years, the Guide is nearing 50,000 views and my sincere fondest hope is that it has helped to avoid some early discus deaths usually attributable to a lack of basic discus-keeping knowledge by novices.
The wonderful early experience with SD led me to seeking other aquarist forums where I could develop more knowledge of equipment, lighting, keeping planted tanks, and so on.
Well, I'm nearing the 5 year mark with SD, and not a day goes by that I'm not logged in to the forum several times each day, and enjoying the back & forth of member participation, along with the entire friendly and professional atmosphere that emanates from the forum.
It was recently an honor to be asked to join the moderator team where I'm having even more fun - so far that is - lol - than I was before. Lately I see the forum Admin undertaking some fairly major changes to keep up with the times and to continue to draw in increasing membership, and of course I find that quite exciting. Simply has 'simply' become a paramount part of my enjoyment of each day. I'm looking forward to a strong progressive future for Simply !
FROM SECOND HAND PAT
Being one of the newer admins it is easy for me to recall my impressions as a new member. I was unsure of where I wanted to go with my discus adventure. Many members reached out to me with warmth and information. I recall when Ardan posted in one of my threads and I was like "oh wow", a moderator noticed me (I wasn't even sure what a moderator was at the time ). When I finally decided to try wilds many of the wilds keepers were free with both advice and information. Basically I felt accepted by the membership.
As a regular member I was surprised at how generous the Simply membership can be. If a member has issues or falls to bad times I have seen the membership pull together and help that member out, be it moral support and a money drive. Sponsors have even joined and offered discounted fish. So SimplyDiscus is a community…a community bonded in their dedication to a particular fish, but also a place to come, spare other aspects of our lives, make friends and even arrange social gatherings and meet in person. So in many ways Simply is more the sum of its parts.
As the forum enters its 14th year which is a lifetime in forum years I would like to see it flourish and continue to grow. However there are some things which need tending to. The main forum website needs a desperate facelift, the SimplyDiscus library needs to be pulled from the back corner and given a good dusting and revamp. I love the new Photo Centre and in time believe members will make good use of it and the expertise it offers.
As a member of the SimplyDiscus team we will continue to support Al is his never ending quest to breathe life into the forum thru new ideas, new projects and other wild venues. We are also here to support our membership because when you sum it all up, Simply is nothing without its membership.
FROM RALPH CIARDULLO (ALTUM NUT)
What does Simply Discus mean to me….Having an extreme passion with all aquatic life since I was a young pup has to date been tainted into my blood. While browsing the net in 2008 I stumbled across Simply Discus as a guest just feathering the many threads of valuable information one would think can only be taught in a higher place of learning. It did not take too long before I requested a member status on this forum in 2009. From that day forward to date my family still believes I require medication for the addiction. Simply Discus has become a second home, a stress reliever and somewhere to turn when family is away.
Simply Discus with its members have treated me like a close knit family community over the years and have offered a great deal of knowledgeable advise in Discus keeping, which is the reason I have succeeded as a Discus hobbyist today.
When I thought life could not get any better it did as I was approached by Simply Discus owner Al Sabetta with some crazy proposal of interest to join the Simply Discus team as a Moderator. I accepted and today a month in still in training.
Simply Discus is now a part of my everyday life and I will offer what I can to the present and future members of this great forum.
FROM DISCUS NOOB (MATT):
What does Simply Discus mean to me? It personally means a consistent welcoming home on the internet for the past 12 years. I grew up here, literally, as I've spent my late teen years forward on this board. Even when you are without discus, its still a place that you can come to see familiar faces and have some good discussion. Simply Discus is a permanent tab on my browser. Its a family. To keep a forum going this long, this strongly, as well as holding its functionality and information level at this height for this long is a task in itself and its just a representation of Al's amazing drive, passion, and work ethic towards that goal. Simplydiscus is currently the pillar of discus information and forums in North America. I'm proud to now be a part of your team Al and hope I can help push it many more years into the future. Congrats SD!
FROM RICKZTAHONE (RICARDO)
In order to tell you why I am where I am today, I must tell you how I started with discus. The truth is, it was forced upon me. My cousin was getting rid of a small 29g (I believe) and he had 3 discus in there. He was moving and couldn't take them with him. He gave everything to me and told me to do 1 water change every month or so and only top off in between, lol.
Shortly after, 2 died and in retrospect I believe it was because the bully of the group weakened their immune system so much that they succumbed to some kind of infection. Of course I didn't know that back then and went to an LFS and he sold me some penecilin. So I treated with the penecilin and shortly after is when the 2 died. The last didn't die but he went blind in one eye. I kept this lone discus on his own for a long time until I got the nerve to get small discus. If I remember correctly they were about 2" when I got them. They were shipped from Florida and all arrived safe and sound.
The little discus were actually not bullied by the larger one. I wanted to provide them better conditions than what my previous setup was, so I researched. I read books and everything just seemed outdated. So, I stumbled upon Simply by simply googling I believe.
From there, I researched and asked questions and I am pretty certain I was hated by many by the shear amount of questions I was putting out there. Long story short, Simply discus taught me early on that I was not raising discus in the most optimal fashion. Luckily for me, I took the advice of those with more experience and I removed the gravel, started doing frequent WC's and got better food for them. 2 of the red melons I had turned out to be 2 of the largest discus I have ever owned. When I sold them, they were both right around 6.5".
From then on, I purchased a whole bunch of discus, some from Eric, a lot from Kenny and I could provide better care for them now.
Now I find myself on the other side of the fence, answering the multitude of questions simply because I would like to give back, just like so many gave back to me with the very important information that I so desperately needed. If it wasn't for Simply, I most certainly wouldn't own discus because they would have all died on me, and I wouldn't have cared. Simply helped shape my appreciation for discus with their grace and elegance. I would find myself sitting in front of my fish tank(s) just observing their behavior. When one of my groups became older and starting showing signs of pairing off, my whole family would just look at them sizing each other up and cracking up at how they interacted. Simply discus is simply here because we all have a common goal and appreciation for this phenomenal fish that is rightfully referred to as the king of the aquarium.
All of us have different views on which way must be better than the other. The truth is, there isn't just the one way to do things. Person A can make BH in this fashion, and Person B can make it in another fashion, but at the end, they both may raise perfectly healthy and nice looking discus. We are all just gathered here to share our cheat sheets and encourage each other not to give up the hunt for that perfect aquarium.
That is what Simply Discus has given me, and that is what I will try to give back as payment for the wealth of information that has been plastered all around our board.
FROM LEN
SimplyDiscus is a large community of people that share the same passion for discus. It could be compared to an online encyclopedia of sorts but with the added benefit that it comprised of real life practices, results, problems, solutions and long term outcomes as well as a place to discuss them. SimplyDiscus has also been responsible for some invaluable friendships that have developed through the interaction with some great people.
From AL (Simply's Owner)
About this Spotlight and in closing. I asked Discus Paul to put this together for our anniversary. Its been a long time and I wanted to showcase the past with April and Ryans input and memories and then a selection of some of our past and present members and what they have said about the forum and what it means to them.
The past few years have been trying to say the least. As a forum we have faced many challenges. Last year I got pretty sick and was at my limit .I literally was burnt out and almost threw in the towel. I couldn't do it though..Too many memories here...too many friends, and quite honestly too much attachment to this forum. Much as a captain is attached to their ship I guess. I am to SimplyDiscus. I managed to come back and have been trying the last year or so to really revamp the forum. I feel we have a new vigor and life here at the forum this past year, even though we have been challenged!
In the midst of this we have had to say goodbye to some of our team.. Ryan Smith stepped down as Admin after so many years. It was a a hard transition for us, and me personally. To say he was a huge part of the forum is an understatement. I leaned on Ryan immensely for support..He was my anchor when I was about to blow a gasket. For years I deferred to him in all things web, I have had to learn first hand all that he did.. I'm glad he is still part of SimplyDiscus though and envy him at times! Not my time yet folks ...sorry you are stuck with me a bit. Our next change was we had several moderators step down for various reasons and brought on several new Mods (Ricardo, Matt, Discus Paul, Ralph) .These new moderators have made so much progress in so short a time here.It reminds me of my first team when we built the SD website..Truly a blessing having them. We also brought Len into the Admin fold as part of the current team. We again have had to say goodbye to one of the team. Paul Butler stepped down as Admin for personal reasons , and I wish him well in all he does, he has been a friend and mentor to many on the forum, and truly was a huge part of SD's management team. Like Ryan I could always count on him, and these two admins have left their marks on the forum and me personally. I am a better person for knowing them and Simply is a better Forum for their efforts here. I have had to try and learn more to compensate as well with Pauls moving on. So again as a team we have had much to deal with, but we owe it to people like these to continue so that their contributions aren't lost.
I have a strategic plan in place which you may have seen some bits and pieces here and there like changes to our image posting systems, additional board sections, media gallery, Face book, upgrading to a new faster bigger server. WE have much more to do. We are in the planning stages for a complete overhaul of the website and forum. We are currently evaluating new software and trying to decide the exact direction we will take. You will no doubt be seeing more auctions, an online store,more forum projects, and several contests... In short a lot to do.
As a member you may read this and say, “How can I help? “ Or at least I hope you might say it!:) You can help in many ways. Participate in the forum discussions, and try to help your fellow hobbyists. Content has always been a key part of the forum's success. Get out there and recruit Discus keepers. Find ways to encourage people to try and keep discus. I will often times put up posts and threads and run ideas past the group....thats a great time to get involved. I do draw alot of my goals for the forum from the input and suggestions made.
Financially you can always help by sending in funds here... http://forum.simplydiscus.com/misc.php?do=donate or becoming a premium subscriber ... http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...um-Memberships. Support our sponsors and try to encourage other sellers of quality discus and dry goods to seek sponsorship here. We have a small group of dedicated supporters here on SimplyDiscus. It would be great if we could expand that. The forum is free for your use, we have always wanted that and all these years have kept it as such to you.. That doesn't mean support isn't needed or appreciated.
In closing I would like to share with you what the forum means to me and ask you to add what it means to you.
To me, SimplyDiscus is home. Its the feeling of friendship and belonging to something that is bigger than I am alone. Its passion...a place where you can share something that
is important to you with others that recognize it. Its a place where friends are made, and memories too. I have made so many friends over the years here. Its no stretch to say the vast majority of people I count as friends in my circle are members here. Of course I feel a tremendous amount of pride in what the forum has accomplished over the years, I do also feel a burden, its a weight that I have chosen to carry. To keep the forum going and improve it as long as possible. Its a heavy burden, but I don't mind it as long as members are finding worth In the forum, and as long as I have amazing people like April, Pat, Len , Ricardo, Discus Paul,Matt, Ralph to help carry it I will continue. The Forum has made history in its last 13 years and has plenty of History left to make. I hope that you all will help support it, help me to nurture its growth, and add value to it for future keepers. The future of SimplyDiscus is largely in your hands. By myself I can only do so much...but together, the skys the limit.
Happy Birthday SimplyDiscus! AND HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!!!
I wish I could take you to dinner, or buy you a present in gratitude for all you have done for so many people... but this will have to do. Thank you my friend! I look forward to many more years with you and the amazing community here at SimplyDiscus.
Thank to everyone that has helped make this forum great. I hope you will help me to continue to make this the premier place for Discus Hobbyists.
Best always,
Al
ps.. I would welcome our members to add their quotes to this list. :)