# Killies Import > Planted Tanks >  pls see where to improve thnx all.

## raxhephon

http://www.arofanatics.com/members/z...ve/image01.jpg

----------


## FC

raxhephon (May I know your name, please?),

Before you will be given feedback by forumers here, you may be asked (by memebers here) to do 2 things:
1) Can you write properly, please?
2) Can you sign off the post with a name?

The above are deemed as basic manners here.

For 1), look at the topic name you wrote, kindly use capital letters where applicable. And use punctuation where needed.

I can understand if you wonder why we are doing/demand this. If you are often here enough, and then compared with the sites you had been (which allowed everything under the sun), then I hope you will begin to appreciate what we are doing here.

----------


## azn_fishy55

The lillies won't stay like that very long as they will start sending leaves to the surface and block out alot of light,if you want,you can replace the lotus with rocks.Along with the hair grass,Hemianthus callithrodes would look good in the forground.Take out the Crinum sp. in the back and use a white back ground.Use less fish and smaller fish as they look better when trying to focus on the aquascape.What are those grids in the front?

----------


## raxhephon

So sorry FC mi seldom post msgs in forum. Thx for educating mi..
where to do tis "2) Can you sign off the post with a name? "

----------


## raxhephon

About RTLs has been there for more then a yr lo. Thats the MAX hieght for my RTLs. So no worrys. If want to put stones, put where nice?

----------


## FC

raxhephon,

Thank you for being positive towards my remarks.

To automate the signing off, please go to "Profile" which can be found at the top part of the screen. From there, key in your name at "Signature" part of your profile.

Allow me to go one step further, kindly restraint from using sms words like "mi", "tis", etc, sorry but they are not encouraged here. I knew they are deemed cool in some forums but not here.

Kindly also correct the topic name to "Please see where to improve, thank you".

Thank you and have good time here!

----------


## greenmiddlefinger

No offense fc, but your english is not that good either.  :Confused:  

"Allow me to go one step further*, and say that you should refrain from*  (restrain is odd here; should have a subject like 'restrain yourself from' or you could say 'excercise restraint in') using sms words like "mi," "tis," etc*.* (This should be a new sentance) Sorry, but *their use* (a noun, 'they,' cannot be 'encouraged' as a verb) is not encouraged here. I kn*o*w (unless you have forgotten) they are deemed cool in so*me* forums but not here."

Well, I am being nit-picky, and I do appreciate the sentament of trying to use proper english. However, I believe a man should excercise what he preaches.

Personally, I feel odd forcing those who are unskilled in using english to speak it perfectly on an international forum.

----------


## Robert

Hi Steven,
I guess the point is that we want all users to follow some simple rules to make communication among all members easier. Everybody is able to start a normal sentences with a capital letter and end it with a single dot, question mark or exclamation mark. 

To use whole words of the English language instead of simplified versions like "u" , "thx" etc. should also be no problem, yet. That is all we want. 

BTW, I like these rules and that is the reason why members of my own forum should follow similar rules, too. In my opinion someone, who registered and agreed to the rules and who does not follow them in several posts, wants to offend other members or he is not interested in the forum and the opinions, suggestions and ideas of other members. These rules have nothing to do with a somebody's English skills. He can even use a translation-software. I just want them to write in normal sentences with normal words, so that everybody can understand the posts. 

What I dislike too are text fragments like "hi bro, can u help me pls .... i wanna improve my tank .... " and so on. Are dots, question marks and exclamation marks old fashioned nowadays? Is it cool/modern to write groups of words and connect them with several dots?


Best regards
Robert

----------


## timebomb

> Well, I am being nit-picky, and I do appreciate the sentament of trying to use proper english. However, I believe a man should excercise what he preaches. 
> 
> Personally, I feel odd forcing those who are unskilled in using english to speak it perfectly on an international forum.


Steven, 
What we ask is that all users make the effort to present their posts in a considerate manner. We insist on proper English but we do not demand good English. There's a difference. With the former, we expect all users to spell correctly, to use capitals instead of small letters where it's appropriate, to break up their posts into neat paragraphs etc. 

Freddy's my close friend and believe me, no one tries harder than him. His command of the language isn't very good but whenever Freddy makes a post, he first runs it through "microsoft word" before posting it here. Unfortunately, the software cannot help him distinguish the difference between words like "restrain" and "refrain". We shouldn't hold that against Freddy because like many Singaporeans, English isn't his mother-tongue. 

There's a difference between someone who tries and someone who doesn't care. With the former, their posts may not be well-written but the words are spelled correctly. With the latter, their posts may be well-written but it's full of spelling mistakes. If you ask me, I think the former deserves a lot more credit. 

We also have a small group of users whose posts fall into neither category. They are the ones who don't give a damn. Usually, they are the new users. They come in here and posts questions like the first one in this thread. It's hardly even a question as what is shown is just a link and nothing else. I usually ignore such posts because I think it's very rude for someone to ask a question this way. Hey, is it that hard to type, "please take a look at this link and let me know how my tank can be improved?". 
If they don't give a damn for our feelings, why should we even bother to try and answer their questions? It's not like we owe them a big favour, you know. 

What you do not understand, Steven, is how bad the situation is in many local-based forums. Sms short forms and Singlish have become the norm. Young Singaporeans think it's cool to write their posts in sms short forms. They do not understand that with an international message board, users who do not live in Singapore will have no idea what their posts are saying.

Young Singaporeans think it's cool but whenever I see a post peppered with sms speak, my first thought is "i c u r stoopid".  :Laughing: 

Loh K L

----------


## whuntley

It is the same all over, KL.

Here we have young folks who put a baseball cap on backwards. The only effect I can observe is a 30-50 point drop in IQ, when they do it.  :Very Happy: 

The original poster on this topic came across as particularly rude. Wish I could see how he wears his cap.  :Wink:  

Wright

----------


## greenmiddlefinger

> What you do not understand, Steven, is how bad the situation is in many local-based forums. Sms short forms and Singlish have become the norm. Young Singaporeans think it's cool to write their posts in sms short forms. They do not understand that with an international message board, users who do not live in Singapore will have no idea what their posts are saying.
> 
> Young Singaporeans think it's cool but whenever I see a post peppered with sms speak, my first thought is "i c u r stoopid". 
> 
> Loh K L


You are quite right about this Loh. I did not realize that Singapore was having such an issue-- or I should say I was not aware of it. I am sorry for the insensitivity. I swear it was only from ignorance.

Just to add, when I said, "I feel uncomfortable . . ." I did not mean that the rules are unfair. I also read them when registering, and have a lot of respect for them. It is just that I would personally feel like an *** if I insisted that others had to speak my language well (being from a predominantly English speaking region).

----------


## timebomb

> I did not realize that Singapore was having such an issue-- or I should say I was not aware of it. I am sorry for the insensitivity. I swear it was only from ignorance.


I'm glad you're so understanding, Steven. Sms speak and Singlish have become the bane of the English language here in Singapore. And it's far worse than you think. I wanted to show you an example so I carried out a search in another local-based forum where I'm an infrequent participant. It didn't take me long to find this:

*moi had 2 handled espn
u knue
espn
u all knue
dat sport channel in india
with more dan 4000++ members?
left terkan
rite terkan
evereebodee komplaint Y?
moi bekum moderator on 1st postin
while all zee kontributers had 2 wait in line?
todae dae had accepted moi singlish rojak
links junks
as a matter of fact
moi gif dam a lifeline
ow 2 relac
noe stringents rules
juz b yrself* 

The above was written by a person who calls himself "moi", in reply to my suggestion that the users in his forum make an effort to spell correctly. As far as I know, moi's capable of far better English but for reasons best known to himself, he chooses to write this way. It may not seem like a big deal but the fact is "moi" is a moderator in the forum where the post was taken from. Needless to say, I no longer post in his forum. 

It was very hard for us in the beginning. When we started, almost every other Singaporean who comes into killies.com posts in sms speak. "Tomorrow" was spelled as "2mrw", "thought" became "tot", "is it?" was written as "izzit?", "me" was mangled into "mi". I spent most of my time then encouraging users to spell correctly and after a lot of tiresome reminders, endless threats and frequent coaxing, this forum has become the standard bearer for all other local-based forums. We are not the largest but we're definitely the best. 

I couldn't have done it without the help of my moderators, of course. Freddy may not be good in English but he's definitely one of our champions for the cause. 

Loh K L

----------


## FC

Steven,

Thank you for your positive correction :P . Yes, I meant "refrain"  :Opps:  .

I do have constant struggle with English, especially, as my age catches up. Not that I am (very) old but my brain is failing me prematurely. I am also frustrated with myself being slow in writing and when I rush a little, mistakes show up  :Mad:  .

----------


## FC

> What we ask is that all users make the effort to present their posts in a considerate manner. We insist on proper English but we do not demand good English. There's a difference. With the former, we expect all users to spell correctly, to use capitals instead of small letters where it's appropriate


KL, thank you for the supporting words. Yes, that summarised what this site advocates. We appreciate all who embrace this guiding principle.

----------


## RonWill

Guys, 
We're going waaaayyyy off topic with application and styles of the English language. Let's get back to our regularly scheduled programme, ya? 

raxhephon, 
Comments about your setup? One word, bare. It can do with more plants. 

I wanted to say that for a new setup, your bioload looks a tad high but judging from the BGA below substrate (at front glass), my guess is that this is a rescape job. 

You didn't leave enough details for others to start contributing ideas or comments, so what you give is what you get.

----------


## raxhephon

Omg, sorry all for the touble caused.

----------


## fish newb

a bit off topic.....

i never knew it was that bad over there....

green middle finger and i should just try to learn your language and all the dialects of japenise.... (sorry i think i spelled it worng somewhere...)

now come on. that would be even worse.

as for your tank... the picture won't load for me...?could be my computer..

- fish newb -

tried it again and the tank looks great! i would just let the hairgrass fill out. also watch that SAE and make sure he doesnt eat your moss. looks as if he is eating it.....

(sorry i spelled gmf as mgf so i think thats the sms short you where talking about whops!)

----------


## timebomb

Sigh, here we go again  :Sad:  

Please refrain from using sms short forms when you post. You are welcomed to take part in the discussions here but please mind your spelling. There's a spell-checker in the forum which you can use to check your message before posting it. Please do so. Thank you.

Loh K L

----------


## |squee|

You could do with a little hardscape, like driftwood for instance. 

However if you do not want to, try the "island" concept where there's a small mountain in the middle of the tank. Think of a typical picture of Mt. Fuji.  :Laughing:  If you decide to do the above, shifting the long-ish plant at the back to the slight off-centre will help.

----------


## greenmiddlefinger

Fish Newb--

Welcome to the forum! Just for your information, we prefer it if posts end with the poster's real name on this forum. Please attach it in the future.

 ::smt043:  

Just kidding dude. By the way, I'm trying as best I can on the Japanese-- and I think mine is getting better, living in Japan right now. Though, still a long way to go.  :Opps:

----------

