Planted Tank “Under New Management”

[KyleT]

Dear PT Members,

It is with great excitement that I am here to tell you that The Planted Tank has a new owner. As of today we are now owned and operated by PetGuide.com. PetGuide.com specializes in managing online communities and has a proven track record of success with communities that they have taken control of. I have complete confidence that they will continue to support and grow the community to a level exceeding what I could ever manage myself.

Why?

I understand that this announcement more than likely comes as a huge surprise. I originally had no intentions of passing the torch and have resisted more offers to do so that I could count. PetGuide.com contacted me at a time and in a situation however that made perfect sense. They have vastly greater resources available to them and will be able to more with the site in a shorter amount of time than I could ever imagine.

Why PetGuide.com?

From a technical standpoint I’m sure you know I’ve largely been a one man show. I’ve taken care of running/upgrading/crashing our many servers over the years. We are now at the size where our site deserves more stability, better performance and more reliability. Something I can’t provide with all of my current commitments. The last thing I want to see is the Planted Tank suffer because I can’t give it the attention it deserves.

PetGuide.com has a dedicated technical team to handle these things.


What changes can I expect?

That is the great part about it. For the most part you won’t even be aware that we are under new management. Very little will change. The site will be snappier and more responsive but from a functional standpoint daily life on Planted Tank will largely go unchanged. All of the familiar moderating faces will still be here if they so chose.

It has been a great 10 years. Starting from humble beginnings as a personal site for my 55 gallon tank, we have grown into the #1 resource for planted tanks. I will remain as a member and can always be contacted via PM. Please feel free to contact me at anytime about anything PT related or not.



Regards,
Kyle

[forumadmin]

As you have read above, PetGuide.com has come to an agreement with Kyle and will now be the owners of PlantedTank.net. We here at PetGuide.com bring with us staff and resources to make this site grow by leaps and bounds. We provide the resources necessary to run this site and maintain the day to day technical and managerial tasks that are time consuming for one person.

With that I would like you all to know that this is still YOUR community and we are here to work with the community and the existing staff to keep this site a place for you to come and feel at home.

My name is Adam, please feel free to ask questions in this section of the forum and I will do my best to answer any and all of them. As of now I will be the only PetGuide.com employee to join the site, I am here to answer questions help with technical issues and make sure we are doing our job and keeping you all happy. If you have any issues, feel free to discuss below. I hope you all enjoy this new chapter in PlantedTank.net life.

Thank you all for reading.
Adam

[moosenart]

Originally Posted by forumadmin

As you have read above, PetGuide.com has come to an agreement with Kyle and will now be the owners of PlantedTank.net. We here at PetGuide.com bring with us staff and resources to make this site grow by leaps and bounds. We provide the resources necessary to run this site and maintain the day to day technical and managerial tasks that are time consuming for one person.

With that I would like you all to know that this is still YOUR community and we are here to work with the community and the existing staff to keep this site a place for you to come and feel at home.

My name is Adam, please feel free to ask questions in this section of the forum and I will do my best to answer any and all of them. As of now I will be the only PetGuide.com employee to join the site, I am here to answer questions help with technical issues and make sure we are doing our job and keeping you all happy. If you have any issues, feel free to discuss below. I hope you all enjoy this new chapter in PlantedTank.net life.

Thank you all for reading.
Adam

Allow vendor reviews and fix the broken SnS system

[hydrophyte]

Originally Posted by moosenart

Allow vendor reviews and fixed the broken SnS system

The SNS is not "broken". The admin and mods put a lot of effort into developing the new system and it is a substantial improvement over how it was before.

[kevmo911]

Kyle: Thank you for everything. You deserve more than a simple "thanks", so I hope you've been sufficiently compensated in other ways for your time, problem-solving efforts, and general frustrations

Originally Posted by forumadmin

As you have read above, PetGuide.com has come to an agreement with Kyle and will now be the owners of PlantedTank.net. We here at PetGuide.com bring with us staff and resources to make this site grow by leaps and bounds. We provide the resources necessary to run this site and maintain the day to day technical and managerial tasks that are time consuming for one person.

With that I would like you all to know that this is still YOUR community and we are here to work with the community and the existing staff to keep this site a place for you to come and feel at home.

My name is Adam, please feel free to ask questions in this section of the forum and I will do my best to answer any and all of them. As of now I will be the only PetGuide.com employee to join the site, I am here to answer questions help with technical issues and make sure we are doing our job and keeping you all happy. If you have any issues, feel free to discuss below. I hope you all enjoy this new chapter in PlantedTank.net life.

Thank you all for reading.
Adam

Adam, thank you for making the effort to make yourself known and offering a forum for questions.

I, and likely most other forum members, would like to know exactly what changes or additions, however small, that you plan to make to our beloved website. Clearly, there must be a financial incentive for acquiring a (relatively, considering the popularity of the hobby as a whole) popular site such as this, so I assume ad revenue is one of those incentives. Anything else? If so, what? Your finances are your concern, but how they affect "us" is ours as well.

This is probably evident if your corporation owns and runs a large number of websites, but we, the populace, will be kept happier if somebody is around to explain what's going on.

In any case, good luck, and I hope we will all benefit from the change in ownership and management.

[Fishly]

Kyle, I don't know you very well, but I love this forum you built and would like to thank you for all your effort.

Originally Posted by kevmo911

Adam, thank you for making the effort to make yourself known and offering a forum for questions.

I, and likely most other forum members, would like to know exactly what changes or additions, however small, that you plan to make to our beloved website. Clearly, there must be a financial incentive for acquiring a (relatively, considering the popularity of the hobby as a whole) popular site such as this, so I assume ad revenue is one of those incentives. Anything else? If so, what? Your finances are your concern, but how they affect "us" is ours as well.

This is probably evident if your corporation owns and runs a large number of websites, but we, the populace, will be kept happier if somebody is around to explain what's going on.

In any case, good luck, and I hope we will all benefit from the change in ownership and management.

+1

I have no complaints so far, Adam, but I must admit I, too, am a little worried about what's going to happen to the forum and would like to know more about your plans for us.

[herns]

Originally Posted by Fishly

Kyle, I don't know you very well, but I love this forum you built and would like to thank you for all your effort.




+1

I have no complaints so far, Adam, but I must admit I, too, am a little worried about what's going to happen to the forum and would like to know more about your plans for us.

+1 ,would love to hear the future of TPT as well under the new owner.

[plantbrain]

Originally Posted by forumadmin

My name is Adam, please feel free to ask questions in this section of the forum and I will do my best to answer any and all of them. As of now I will be the only PetGuide.com employee to join the site, I am here to answer questions help with technical issues and make sure we are doing our job and keeping you all happy. If you have any issues, feel free to discuss below. I hope you all enjoy this new chapter in PlantedTank.net life.

Thank you all for reading.
Adam

What aquariums do you keep Adam?

[forumadmin]

Originally Posted by plantbrain

What aquariums do you keep Adam?

I used to be big into aquariums when I was younger, but started moving around a lot with jobs and such, so sadly had to stop. Moving it became a huge PITA.
I'll probably get back into it when I'm firmly in a house and not in an apartment.

[msjinkzd]

Originally Posted by forumadmin

I used to be big into aquariums when I was younger, but started moving around a lot with jobs and such, so sadly had to stop. Moving it became a huge PITA.
I'll probably get back into it when I'm firmly in a house and not in an apartment.

A common story! Hope you come back to the fold And welcome!

[styxx]

Originally Posted by robbowal

Kyle
you can be very proud of the community you have helped to thrive and survive over the past ten years.
best of luck to you in your future endevours.

And for the new owners welcome to our world, you have very big shoes to fill.
Robert

I completely agree, they do indeed!

Originally Posted by chad320

Thanks for all that youve done to provide us with a top notch forum Kyle. As with any changes, there will be growing pains and some folks are better able to adapt than others. Ones person, or even a few peoples opinion isnt likely to sway the odds, but just make you look like a poor member. With that being said...Welcome Adam! I look forward to having you aboard

Originally Posted by msjinkzd

i have to agree with that sentiment as well. You have been available, had an open ear, and very receptive to my needs and ideas. I am very sad to see you go, and just al ittle apprehensive at new ownership, lol. You have spoiled us, Kyle! I do hope that some day when life is less hectic, I can help you stock a tank as a thank you!

I agree with the sentiments expressed here, Kyle you deserve a reward after a decade of continual development, expansion and the level of commitment that you've shown over the years. I remember joining back in 2003 and though I've not been as active as I'd like and have been in and out of the hobby over the past decade, I have always relied upon the site for advice, information, and a sense of community. Thanks for making that a reality not just for me but for the rest of the community members, old and new alike. A decade is a long time and you deserve the break, lol.

Originally Posted by antbug

oh boy, the ad's have started.......

Hmmm...well we already have those now, the question is will there be more? Will they be larger, more offensive and obvious? That would definitely turn me off, but we'll have to wait and see. According to Kyle, there won't be much of a change, so I suspect (and hope) that things will remain the same in terms of current advertisement practices, placement, etc.

Originally Posted by forumadmin

I used to be big into aquariums when I was younger, but started moving around a lot with jobs and such, so sadly had to stop. Moving it became a huge PITA.
I'll probably get back into it when I'm firmly in a house and not in an apartment.

I know how that is. I just bought a 90P and Gods help me if it isn't heavy without anything in it, so I'm dreading the day when I have to move out of my apartment. Just transporting the thing is going to be an issue by itself!

[antbug]

Originally Posted by styxx

Hmmm...well we already have those now, the question is will there be more? Will they be larger, more offensive and obvious? That would definitely turn me off, but we'll have to wait and see. According to Kyle, there won't be much of a change, so I suspect (and hope) that things will remain the same in terms of current advertisement practices, placement, etc.

Not the random ads at the bottom of the page. Next we will see ads in between post. Someone said it above..... Companies like these buy sites for one reason, to make money. They don't care about you or your tank. They only care about your activity on this site.

[tonytrout2001@hotmail.com]

Originally Posted by forumadmin

As you have read above, PetGuide.com has come to an agreement with Kyle and will now be the owners of PlantedTank.net. We here at PetGuide.com bring with us staff and resources to make this site grow by leaps and bounds. We provide the resources necessary to run this site and maintain the day to day technical and managerial tasks that are time consuming for one person.


With that I would like you all to know that this is still YOUR community and we are here to work with the community and the existing staff to keep this site a place for you to come and feel at home.

First off, thanks Kyle, for starting this AMAZING site which has guided me through many a hard-times in aquatica. I HATE that this has to be this way, but I understand and respect your decision. I don't like it at all, or even agree with it, seeing what is happening on here since I was here last. I do kow that, deep down, you had the interest of your loyal followers at heart and I love that about you.

Originally Posted by forumadmin

My name is Adam, please feel free to ask questions in this section of the forum and I will do my best to answer any and all of them. As of now I will be the only PetGuide.com employee to join the site, I am here to answer questions help with technical issues and make sure we are doing our job and keeping you all happy. If you have any issues, feel free to discuss below. I hope you all enjoy this new chapter in PlantedTank.net life.

Thank you all for reading.
Adam

I wanted to post this because there was some heated discussions about some questions asked earlier, after Adam TOLD US TO POST QUESTIONS HERE!! If you all have noticed, he is still not answering any questions here. As a matter of fact, he hasn't been back in here posting for a month and a half to answer the questions previously asked by members that I, also, would like to know the answer to. He has been on, just not back in to answer our questions like he said he would IN HERE.

Issues? I have issues!
1:How do you warrant putting ads for INSURANCE companies on a forum for aquariums? I mean, I know you are wanting to make money, but that's ridiculous!!
2:An admin on an AQUARIUM site and he doesn't even own an aquarium? Atleast get a nano tank so that you can easily transport it or something.
3:What are all the embedded links about? Most aren't even about AQUARIUMS or the equipment, fish, or plants that go along with that!!

Kyle, you had better reward us with some awesome tank journals as you are missed already

[wkndracer]

Wow!
Maybe have a little "free" time now Kyle? congrats I guess.

[NWA-Planted]

:what:

Didn't see that coming, but in my short time here Kyle hasn't steered us wrong!

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