Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

The names of some significant contributors to this great forum don't appear alongside posts on any current threads. I often wonder where these people are now and why they are no longer active on the forum?

For instance, does anyone know what has happened to any of these members?

Veggie Boy, 9072 posts, nothing heard since Nov 2012

johnnie7au, 1083 posts, nothing heard since May 2012

aquamad, 5413 posts, nothing heard since Jun 2011

Aquaddict, 1119 posts, nothing heard since Jan 2007

GotFish?, 1908 posts, nothing heard since Nov 2009

TimC, 1884 posts, nothing heard since Aug 2012

bio-farmer, 1007 posts, nothing heard since Oct 2008

Daniel, 933 posts, nothing heard since Mar 2012

bundaberg kid, 1854 posts, nothing heard since Jun 2009

EllKayBee, 5323, nothing heard since Feb 2009

My understanding is, a while back, there was a bit of a spat among BYAP members - it still bubbles up every now and then. Would all these have stopped posting before that? I've seen people leave forums in droves due to bickering, particularly if Mods/Admins are involved.

Maybe that explains some of them?

Perhaps the Admin team could get a list and send out an email (just send a PM and they should get notified) asking how they are doing? It would be interesting to see how many (if any) have abandoned AP altogether.

bio-farmer gave it away
TimC still has an aquaponics system as far as I know

Les (Ellkaybee) got smashed by a storm... rebuilt a small system (from memory)... but both himself & wife have had medical problems...

Likewise Bundaberg-Kid and Aquaddict had some problems... and departed...

The rest.. have just faded away... probably more to do with life than anything else....

There are a few more names that could have been added to the list....

But very few have left or been banned over the years of the forum... over disagreements/spats.... very few....

And several that left through disagreement... did so of their own volition...

I tried to visit EllKayBee a couple of weeks ago, but they weren't home

VB's is silly busy with home and work

Really?

Well Steve hasn't posted for a while.

Come on, Sleepe, what's happened to your sarcasm detector? I could have put hundreds - even thousands - of names on the list, if I felt so inclined, but I limited my inquiry to members who joined the forum very early on and who contributed around 1,000 posts or more.
Current members are welcome to post the names of other significant contributors who are MIA. Ironically, it was Steve that I was thinking of when I started this thread but when I researched it I found that he had visited the forum just last month (although his last post was early 2011)!

Fair enough, I am always a bit slow and serious in a morning.

It's just a bit unlike Steve not to comment (bit like Rupe not commenting on a commercial system thread)

I join 2009 and very few of the regular posters from then still post now and those that do are very infrequent. I think what happens is that when people discover AP they get very excited and want to learn as much as possible so they join the forum. When starting a system there is lots to post about as you build, cycle, grow fish/veg, fail and learn from your mistakes, first you need the support of those that have been there done that then you become the guy that has been there done that and want to help others in the situations that you yourself were in a few years before.

As time goes on your system becomes stable and trouble free and as you can only get excited about so many "look how fast my veggies have grown" posts and you no longer have any problems you need help with, basically you simply have nothing interesting to post about. Because of this you find that you don't access the forum as often as you did and when you do the "new guard" of BYAP veterans have already adequately answered any questions one of the newbies might have posted so you don't feel the need to chime in. After a while you have done, seen and read almost everything related to AP and interest starts to wane as indicated by the periodic turn over of moderators, this changing of the guard ensures the forum stays fresh and prevents the inevitable "this has been discussed before try searching the forum" reply to a newbies questions which will turn off new members and prevent learning.

I myself still only visit the forum to help others out as I was helped before and find I only access BYAP forum during work hours to pass the time, if not for my job allowing this luxury I do not think I would be active here as my interest have shifted more to permaculture, dirt gardening and fruit trees.

In short AP is a relatively finite area of interest and once the forum has served its purpose people tend to fade away quietly while still actively maintaining their systems in reality.

Very well stated, Simo.

I hope your fish, fruit trees and various other interesting plants are all doing well.

Simo, we should spend some more time over at Backyard Farming. I keep forgetting about that forum.

I check it daily and post an update of my garden at least each month

TimC dropped in here 2-3 weeks ago, and I spoke to Steve a couple of months ago..

OBO is quite busy these days and is away from home a lot of the time.