# TPT banned me



## jrIL (Apr 23, 2005)

I've seen some other posts and see I am not the only victim of the mod somewhatshocked on TPT. After being banned for 30 days for pointing out his accusations against me were incorrect I returned and asked who I could appeal his actions too. I was then banned forever.
Just wanted to vent. Good therapy.
Thanks.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

There are several people who were banned, at least for a short time, at that forum. I'm not sure why they do that, but it certainly does happen.


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## jrIL (Apr 23, 2005)

What really got me ticked was the permanent ban for requesting an appeal. Oh well.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

You have come to the right place! We may not have as much activity as TPT, but we do respect our members.


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## jrIL (Apr 23, 2005)

hoppycalif said:


> You have come to the right place! We may not have as much activity as TPT, but we do respect our members.


Indeed. I've been back and forth here for years but always return. Never understood why activity dropped off. But I have been as guilty as everyone else for not being around. Hope to be a more frequent participate.


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## Stan510 (Dec 23, 2018)

WHATS the story? What is TPT?


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## CRS Fan (Nov 25, 2008)

Stan510 said:


> WHATS the story? What is TPT?


TPT = The Planted Tank forum.

Best Regards,

Stuart

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## jrIL (Apr 23, 2005)

Stan510 said:


> WHATS the story? What is TPT?


In short a moderator accused me of posting snails for sale in a local section in order to avoid who knows what. Even though I had always posted in the for sale section for years so what was there to gain by posting out of for sale. I objected, was accused of arguing with a mod and suspended for 30 days.
Several months later I returned and asked that same mod how to appeal his decision to clear my record and he banned me for life. 
I had been a member for years.
But, I'm mostly over it but wonder who else he is bullying.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Here at APC we don't tolerate spam, abusive rude behavior, or post padding just to use the sales forum. But other than those things, you would have to do something pretty outrageous even to get an infraction, much less being banned. Even before I became a moderator, I really valued the polite, helpful, and generous spirit of this forum.


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## ukamikazu (Jun 4, 2010)

Michael said:


> Here at APC we don't tolerate spam, abusive rude behavior, or post padding just to use the sales forum. But other than those things, you would have to do something pretty outrageous even to get an infraction, much less being banned. Even before I became a moderator, I really valued the polite, helpful, and generous spirit of this forum.


Michael, I'm not saying this to merely to stroke the ego of another fellow Texan or as someone who grew up in Arlington, but I have always felt safe and civil under your watchful eyes. I even remember years back we were talking about soil and capping material and you moderated that discussion and, invariably, the discussion started going in tangents and you deftly and expertly got us all back on track. You were kind and firm.

When I was a moderator back on Aquatic Plant Enthusiasts, GLA's old forum, I think I only banned one person for extreme disrespect in those 10 years that I served and the evidence of their rudeness was left visible for the public.

Ever since Kyle sold TPT to that commercial pet concern, it does seem to have become, a little less kind and feels more like Trader's Village than a community resource.

jrIL, I'm sorry that happened to you. Their loss is our gain. Though you're a senior member of this forum already, maybe a second welcome is not out of order .


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## jrIL (Apr 23, 2005)

Thanks for the re welcome. I have always dropped in from from time to time but plan too more often. I usually don't feel I can offer much over some others here but did do alot with citric acid and backing soda co2 for awhile so I could help folks with that. Right now my planted tank is low light, 20 gallon standard that's been up for around 5 years. I also breed and from time to time sell Crystal red shrimp. I also have two reef tanks so I like a variety of things.


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## BearHug (12 mo ago)

Zombie alert on this thread:

Recently joined TPT. Same mod, same situation. Asked for a worm ID (with pictures), bumped the thread and was accused of not using search - "it's clear someone hasn't put in much effort." I was kindly asking for a worm ID and I'm an experienced aquarist. Responded in an entirely factual manner and mentioned that I found his post rude and incorrect and a poor welcome. 30 day ban with zero warning. So, created an account here, and here I shall stay. Was somewhat shocked by somewhatshocked.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Welcome to APC! It is very discouraging to a new member to be blown off and told to "do your homework". Although forums have search functions, it can be tedious or even fruitless to use them for a very specific question. I hope this never happens to you here.


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## jrIL (Apr 23, 2005)

BearHug said:


> Zombie alert on this thread:
> 
> Recently joined TPT. Same mod, same situation. Asked for a worm ID (with pictures), bumped the thread and was accused of not using search - "it's clear someone hasn't put in much effort." I was kindly asking for a worm ID and I'm an experienced aquarist. Responded in an entirely factual manner and mentioned that I found his post rude and incorrect and a poor welcome. 30 day ban with zero warning. So, created an account here, and here I shall stay. Was somewhat shocked by somewhatshocked.


Yep, somewhat is a real piece of work. I even tried to contact admin there and was turned away. I had been a member for many years.


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## BearHug (12 mo ago)

Michael said:


> Welcome to APC! It is very discouraging to a new member to be blown off and told to "do your homework". Although forums have search functions, it can be tedious or even fruitless to use them for a very specific question. I hope this never happens to you here.


Hey Michael, thank you for the warm welcome. Totally agree on all fronts regarding search - I did my best, but after two days of searching for "red worm in shrimp tank" and reading every post about detritus worms and Planaria, I gave in and posted 😂. 

Anyway, looking forward to getting to know folks here - seems like a good group of folks - mods included!


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## jake37 (Mar 18, 2021)

Never even heard of TPT before this thread; don't see a reason to check it out; but there are several forums with short fuse and quick banning. I don't see the reason to list my personal experience and I have mix views on the matter. Being a mod is a pia when you consider the task 24/7 and the number of spammers (esp for larger forums); but conversely there are quite a few folks who just shouldn't be mods. But it is what it is and folks have to just accept it. In 20 years I've only gotten 2 or 3 infractions and banned from one forum but it sure does tick one off when it happens (the infractions occurred on a forum in which i was not banned - but it occurred because I told a mod i disagree with their technical answer... disagreeing with some mods is quite dangerous (it had to do with how cpu utilize cache nothing related to fishes).


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## SpicyCrawdad (10 mo ago)

Funny to have found this. I was simply comparing how difficult the trade/sales section is to access is compared to other sites. They don't tell you how to gain access, they just say "be more active". I was pretty active for about 6 months. Questioning the rules got me banned. Appealing got me permabanned. 

Another victim of somewhatshocked. Oh well.

Hello everyone!


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## jrIL (Apr 23, 2005)

SpicyCrawdad said:


> Funny to have found this. I was simply comparing how difficult the trade/sales section is to access is compared to other sites. They don't tell you how to gain access, they just say "be more active". I was pretty active for about 6 months. Questioning the rules got me banned. Appealing got me permabanned.
> 
> Another victim of somewhatshocked. Oh well.
> 
> Hello everyone!


Lol, yep he is something else alright. I even tried contacting corporate since I kept seeing complaints about him but couldn't get through.


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## jake37 (Mar 18, 2021)

Ok. TPT is THAT forum. Yes I will agree from what i see somewhatshocked is totally inconsistent and unpredictable not to mention heavy handed. The biggest problem is he is unpredictable so no one knows the exact 'true' rules.



SpicyCrawdad said:


> Funny to have found this. I was simply comparing how difficult the trade/sales section is to access is compared to other sites. They don't tell you how to gain access, they just say "be more active". I was pretty active for about 6 months. Questioning the rules got me banned. Appealing got me permabanned.
> 
> Another victim of somewhatshocked. Oh well.
> 
> Hello everyone!


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## easternlethal (Mar 28, 2014)

I was having a perfectly interesting discussion there with father fish about Walstad and somewhatshocked the moderator waded in saying he disagreed about something and how it's not good advice for newbies. Now granted, that Walstad is not as easy as aquasoil but I said that newbies are smart enough to figure things out and would be happier to read about different things. Then he went off on a rant and removed my ability to post. When I woke up the next day I saw another post from someone reflecting his opinion about how information was not being presented properly.

At no point were there any insults or anything bad said about anyone and this was a perfectly friendly exchange between two old timers. 

Now I get the feeling that TPT is not only preventing discussions about things the moderator disagrees with but is being censored and only views agreeing with the moderator are allowed. I have been a member for many years and made many contributions in order to build up what I thought was a members community. I feel sad to realise now that the moderators are keener on promoting a specific agenda than allowing discussion between members - and also that the contents on the site can be censored for reasons that have nothing to do with abuse or bad behaviour.

Anyway sorry for ranting. It has never happened to me before and quite a surprise to see how a forum can be coopted in this way. I live in Hong Kong and know full well what it's like to have a public opinion watchfully moderated to fit some kind of narrative and see this now happening at TPT.


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## rafael.nicolaidis (Dec 23, 2021)

Recently there was a very interesting thread on TPT about very low KH / low temperature non-CO2 injected tanks.
The author provided lots of pictures of the evolution of his tanks and showed good evidence for "difficult" plants thriving in such systems.

Suddenly, the user that introduced the author to the forum was banned and the thread disappeared. After some complaints, somewhatshocked stated that the banning was unrelated to the thread and that the thread was hid by the system because of too many links in some posts and reinstated the thread. However, a little digging in yet another forum (UKAPS), it seems that the banishment was indeed related to the disagreement of the moderator and the users.


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## jake37 (Mar 18, 2021)

It might be a different thread; but someone express concern that too much fertilizer might be harmful to fishes; somewhatshocked called it fud and quickly banned some people for spreading fud.


rafael.nicolaidis said:


> Recently there was a very interesting thread on TPT about very low KH / low temperature non-CO2 injected tanks.
> The author provided lots of pictures of the evolution of his tanks and showed good evidence for "difficult" plants thriving in such systems.
> 
> Suddenly, the user that introduced the author to the forum was banned and the thread disappeared. After some complaints, somewhatshocked stated that the banning was unrelated to the thread and that the thread was hid by the system because of too many links in some posts and reinstated the thread. However, a little digging in yet another forum (UKAPS), it seems that the banishment was indeed related to the disagreement of the moderator and the users.


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## easternlethal (Mar 28, 2014)

The thing I find really unfair is that a moderator can block all posts which he doesn't agree with, allow posts he agrees with, and then advertise the totally skewed discussion thread and overall site as a public forum reflecting the views of its members. 

TPT has advertising revenue and now I really regret contributing to it and wish they would delete all my posts.


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## Steven F (Aug 1, 2021)

I was surf on that forum for years. Then one day out of the blue he sent me an email as I was starting work at my job. quickly followed by a second email asking why I didn't reply and then by the time I took lunch and checked my personal email I was already banned permanently. Then over then next several months I saw a dramatic drop in replies to posts. In fact most of the people that were active at that time simply disappeared. So many people were kicked off that what were simple questions that were answered in less than a day went unanswered for days. The site has gradually recovered but still not back to were it was. 

The moderator accused me of being a Hanna instruments sales rep. due to a post I made in a discussion about their checkers. I have a couple and answered based on my experience with them.


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## uRsAsSy (8 mo ago)

Greetings APC,
I come from TPT, however i was only a member a short time (still new to the hobby). 
I just got banned by somewhatshocked too lmfao. 
What a clown, he spent an hour getting offended about how i called him dawg
Granted since I'm since a noob i couldnt find out how to post in the wtb/sell forum. The site just wouldn't let me i didn't have permission i guess. So posted a wtb post in the shrimp subthread lookin for malawa shrimp cause they're nowhere, ;( the first line was like Apologies if this is the wrong thread. i just wanted to know where to find them. I got my thing removed so i asked somewhatshocked, and she got bootytickled by my verbage and banned me. "Give the sass a rest" she said. 
I learned a lot of things pretty quickly on that forum so I'm sad to be banned already but it's really funny to me. People that control information that's allowed to spread give me giggles. 
hearing your situations made me happy i didn't invest any time into their community. 
Hopefully APC is better, I'll have to be active on here. 
Hope to contribute soon
#newb


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## CRS Fan (Nov 25, 2008)

I would suggest trying the Shrimp Spot as another forum as well.

Best regards,

Stuart


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Donald C (9 mo ago)

jrIL said:


> I've seen some other posts and see I am not the only victim of the mod somewhatshocked on TPT. After being banned for 30 days for pointing out his accusations against me were incorrect I returned and asked who I could appeal his actions too. I was then banned forever.
> Just wanted to vent. Good therapy.
> Thanks.


That person has banned a lot of people...not just you. I'm not sure why.


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## uRsAsSy (8 mo ago)

Donald C said:


> That person has banned a lot of people...not just you. I'm not sure why.


somewhatsalty is not fit to be a mod for anything. he'd prolly make a good janitor or sum tho


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## Donald C (9 mo ago)

uRsAsSy said:


> somewhatsalty is not fit to be a mod for anything. he'd prolly make a good janitor or sum tho


I have read on other peoples posts that "somewhatshocked" is a woman...not that it matters. I am on TPT but I tread lightly with my posts. Years past it was a great forum with lots of information, now it is more of a social club. I continue to access the forum because some of the old timers are still there.


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## jake37 (Mar 18, 2021)

Donald C said:


> I have read on other peoples posts that "somewhatshocked" is a woman...not that it matters. I am on TPT but I tread lightly with my posts. Years past it was a great forum with lots of information, now it is more of a social club. I continue to access the forum because some of the old timers are still there.


Now and then folks sell less common crypts; that is the major feature of the site (for me).


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## Steven F (Aug 1, 2021)

rafael.nicolaidis said:


> Recently there was a very interesting thread on TPT about very low KH / low temperature non-CO2 injected tanks.


Just a note that I found in my tank that sulfate fertilizers (Most aquarium fertilizers on the market ) are not comparable with KH. The KH reacts the sulfate ingredients and micro nutrients go from soluble to insoluble. The nutrients have to be soluble for plants to use them. insoluble nutrients are cannot be used by the plants. Unfortunately thatmeans acidic water which is not good for snails. Also temperature does'n't have an effect. CO2 can make the water slightly acidic which can cause solid calcium carbonate in the substrate to dissolve and interact with sulfates.

The solution to this problem is to use zero KH water, RO water with no carbonates in the substrate or water, Dose more often once a day or every other day, or use a Chelated fertilizer. but I don' tknow of a good chelated fertilizer on the market and making your own is proving to be difficult because I cannot find some of the ingredients.


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## Bens pico reef (4 mo ago)

I just signed up here as I to was just banned by somewhatshocked. So seems like im not the only one that wasnt allowed to have a difference of opinion. He even missread and replied to it showing full well missunderstandings. Called me a troll even after I agreed I had miss id'd a fish and would be to big. This was my firat and last interraction with them in months I was on. Other moderator was helpful and made changes. I made sure I got permabanned as well by creating al account and naming it similar. I dont want to bother posting in a place your not allowed to disagree and discuss. Ill be posting my latest project in this forum shortly.


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## uRsAsSy (8 mo ago)

Bens pico reef said:


> I just signed up here as I to was just banned by somewhatshocked. So seems like im not the only one that wasnt allowed to have a difference of opinion. He even missread and replied to it showing full well missunderstandings. Called me a troll even after I agreed I had miss id'd a fish and would be to big. This was my firat and last interraction with them in months I was on. Other moderator was helpful and made changes. I made sure I got permabanned as well by creating al account and naming it similar. I dont want to bother posting in a place your not allowed to disagree and discuss. Ill be posting my latest project in this forum shortly.


Welcome . 
somewhatpsycho said i was sassy  i also got permabanned for making alt called somewhatsassy. 
someone should really intervene on that power trip
this forum seems to be better anyway. good luck lol


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## Bens pico reef (4 mo ago)

uRsAsSy said:


> Welcome .
> somewhatpsycho said i was sassy  i also got permabanned for making alt called somewhatsassy.
> someone should really intervene on that power trip
> this forum seems to be better anyway. good luck lol


Thank you. Already working to get thread going here
Update: thread is completed best I could as lots of information is at TPT but nothing I cant explain. Since It may seem im allowed to do that here lol.


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## Bens pico reef (4 mo ago)

Update. Ironically I wrote to verticlescope inc. that also owns this forum. I expect to be banned here as well more than likely. as it seems, Somewhatshocked is either hired by this company at this point or has some sort of pull. So I called them out on it in the followup emails and was not holding punches on the situation or how it was handled.(I did not curse). This was do to when I sent the email, pretty sure somewhatshocked opened, read and was replying with a vericlescope email. So if I get banned here, you know why lol.


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## jrIL (Apr 23, 2005)

Bens pico reef said:


> Update. Ironically I wrote to verticlescope inc. that also owns this forum. I expect to be banned here as well more than likely. as it seems, Somewhatshocked is either hired by this company at this point or has some sort of pull. So I called them out on it in the followup emails and was not holding punches on the situation or how it was handled.(I did not curse). This was do to when I sent the email, pretty sure somewhatshocked opened, read and was replying with a vericlescope email. So if I get banned here, you know why lol.


I emailed them as well and never received a response. Crazy that they seem comfortable doing business that way. I was even a paying supporting member.


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## Bens pico reef (4 mo ago)

jrIL said:


> I emailed them as well and never received a response. Crazy that they seem comfortable doing business that way. I was even a paying supporting member.


Opinions and discussions arent allowed. I am all for disagrements as it promotes meaningful discussion. They were just looking to shut me out as they didnt like my plan for new build. nothing I would have done would prevented.the whole thing is on TPT for all to see and how he twisted it all lol.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

I've been a moderator on this forum for many years. As far as I know, no member has ever been banned by anyone other than a moderator. And that only happens after repeated infractions and discussion among moderators. The only people who are banned immediately are spammers.

And to clarify one other thing, no moderator is compensated by VerticalScope or the previous owner of the site. All of us were volunteers here before VerticalScope bought the forum.

Your discussion of the Forum Which Shall Not Be Named doesn't bother me a bit. Even more years ago, I was a member of both TPT and APC. I was never banned from TPT, but the overall tone of the forum was rude, angry, and confrontational. By contrast, APC was (and is, I hope) polite, friendly, and helpful. So I dropped out of TPT, and was delgithed when I was asked to be a moderator here.


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## Bens pico reef (4 mo ago)

Michael said:


> I've been a moderator on this forum for many years. As far as I know, no member has ever been banned by anyone other than a moderator. And that only happens after repeated infractions and discussion among moderators. The only people who are banned immediately are spammers.
> 
> And to clarify one other thing, no moderator is compensated by VerticalScope or the previous owner of the site. All of us were volunteers here before VerticalScope bought the forum.
> 
> Your discussion of the Forum Which Shall Not Be Named doesn't bother me a bit. Even more years ago, I was a member of both TPT and APC. I was never banned from TPT, but the overall tone of the forum was rude, angry, and confrontational. By contrast, APC was (and is, I hope) polite, friendly, and helpful. So I dropped out of TPT, and was delgithed when I was asked to be a moderator here.


Thank you. This seems to be a more welcome forum so far. Thank you for replying and reverifying. Just dont want to waste time if it was going to happen lol. Was very first time I have ever been banned from anything in my almost 40 years of living lol. So came as A suprise how they acted. Looking forward to the community here.


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## FernKing (4 mo ago)

I never made an account at TPT but I did try reading some on that forum. I did NOT appreciate the tone I that I saw from its participants. The people there also seem to have strong opinions on tanks with dirt and the attitude was overall not very helpful or friendly. I’ll stick to posting here.


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