Atlanta Reef Club
Terms of Service v4.2
Date: 12/13/2020
Registering and participating with the Atlanta Reef Club constitutes an agreement to abide by the following the Atlanta Reef Club (ARC) Terms of Service. The Board of Directors, hereafter referred to as “we”, reserves the right to modify these rules at any time without prior notice. By using the services of this web site, you agree in advance to accept any changes. There is no charge for joining this forum.
This is a community of individuals who share a common interest in aquariums and aquatic life. Please think before you post and keep your comments limited to the topic at hand, and above all be nice. We aim to ensure that the forum is an enjoyable place that you want to visit time and time again. Our underlying philosophy is that the strength of the member relationships built here is what sets the Atlanta Reef Club apart from the other forums - we aim to create an environment that is friendly, civil, insightful, mature, and fun, and we ask that you, our members, help us to maintain such an environment. Please be mindful of yourself and others. If rules are violated we retain the right, at our discretion, to remove, edit, or delete posts and, if determined necessary, to ban or remove members.
If you come across any violations to these guidelines or have any challenges navigating the site, do not hesitate to contact the Board through direct message, or report any posts you believe may warrant investigation. We are happy to review posts and address your concerns, and trust our site moderators to collectively respond appropriately to each unique report. We encourage everyone to participate in and enjoy the community while at the same time adhering to the following rules and guidelines:
Be Welcoming
- Welcome newcomers to our growing community. Many of our community's members have a wealth of knowledge and much to share. Please help new members learn how to find information and resources and how to get involved in the Community.
Exemplify Courteous Behavior
- The language of this forum is English. If you are not a native English speaker, we request you to please do your best. We are glad to have you as a member and will be supportive and polite.
- The ARC encourages the beneficial exchange of information, ideas, and opinions and we expect members to do so respectfully and thoughtfully. Personal attacks on others will not be tolerated.
- Do not post unsubstantiated gossip, libelous remarks, or directly misleading information.
- Trolling or cyber-bullying are not allowed and are grounds for account restriction or removal. Harassment, stalking, or predatory behavior may result in account suspension or removal.
- We take the "be nice" rule very seriously! We do not tolerate any harassment or insults.
- Please don't post it here if you wouldn't say it to your grandmother. Posts containing explicit, obscene, or vulgar language or images, links to websites with adult content, or punctuation marks designed to circumvent our obscenity filter will be removed. There is a zero tolerance of profanity, vulgarity, and masked vulgarity; any posts which contain such are subject to deletion. The ARC prides itself in being a family friendly and work safe website, and we ask that members keep it that way.
- The posting of topics containing situations or products that are not family friendly is not permitted.
- Politically-charged discussions, statements, or rants are strictly prohibited.
- Participants agree not to bash any other community forums or bulletin boards.
Respect Copyrighted Content
- Information copyrighted or owned by any individual or entity other than the member should not be posted on the discussion forums without the consent of the owner. Copyrighted material includes images and text produced and owned by others. If such occurs, the individual posting the information shall be held solely responsible. Even if an article is attributed correctly, it can still fall under copyright infringement. You may look up “Fair Use” provisions with your federal, state, or local government. If you are unsure that you are allowed to copy or post something, you may consider posting a link to the original source material instead. Photos, articles, and posts submitted to our forums may be used by the ARC in the sharing of links and articles.
Posting Standards
- Forum members may use standard fonts available on the forum.
- The use of ‘all caps’, bold, large, or colored fonts should be used sparingly. Posts containing inappropriate formatting may be removed or modified.
Support Ethical Livestock Care and Collection
- The ARC adheres to certain standards of ethical fish keeping. We believe that aquarists are directly responsible for the health and well-being of all aquatic animals in their care. These responsibilities include providing a healthy environment, humane treatment, humane euthanasia (when required), as well as obtaining and disposing of aquatic animals in such a way that does not damage sensitive local ecosystems. Posts advocating the illegal collection of fish or invertebrates, inhumane treatment, flushing live animals down the toilet, or releasing them into the wild will be removed.
Uphold Ethical Behavior
- Participants may not send out spam via the forums or private message system.
- Members may have only one account. If duplicate accounts are discovered, they will be deleted or consolidated.
- Our user base is not a resource to be "mined" by individuals, groups, or businesses, either for-profit or not-for-profit. This includes but is not limited to: shilling, linking to off-site surveys, linking to crowd funding sites, or requesting donations. These activities are prohibited without prior moderator authorization.
- No price fishing (i.e., using threads or posts to try to increase maximum monetary gain from an item for sale).
- Do not use this website as a platform to threaten lawsuits or stage boycotts.
- The ARC encourages fair and ethical selling within the appropriate forum. Please limit buying and selling activities to approved forums and events and follow all relevant rules.
- Non-Commercial member accounts are not allowed to use the ARC as a place to make commercial posts, as defined in the Bylaws.
- Links to external websites or forums are permitted, but only for informational purposes and must be in accords with all the ARC Terms of Service.
- Participants may not disguise links in a deceptive fashion.
Participating in Group Buys
- Group buys are permitted for all ARC Supporting Members.
- ARC encourages the use of our Sponsors in organizing Group Buys.
- Please read the ARC Bylaws for more information.
Buying and Selling Responsibly: ARC Marketplace
- Participation in the ARC's Marketplace (buying, selling, or trading) is restricted to members aged 18 years or older.
- Purchasing in the ARC Marketplace is a benefit to all Supporting members, regardless of their post count.
- Non-Supporting members must have a minimum of 25 meaningful posts (e.g. comments and bids in sale/auction threads do not count) prior to posting their own sales or auctions in the Marketplace.
- Do not post any For Sale (FS) or Want to Buy (WTB) thread outside the designated forums.
- Threads which appear to be commercial will be removed, unless in the appropriate forums by accounts with the required permissions, as determined and defined in the Bylaws.
- If a member wishes to list multiple items for sale at one time, these should be consolidated into one thread. If multiple threads are created in close proximity, a member may be asked by the staff to combine them, or the staff may consolidate the posts.
- Requests for free or donated items must be reasonable. Requests for high dollar equipment or corals must be submitted to a moderator or site administrator to determine if it is appropriate as our organization also offers donations to schools, orphanages, etc.
- Items listed for sale must be owned by the seller and currently in the seller's possession.
- Posting to bump a thread is permitted once per week.
- Staff may ask at any time for the seller to show proof of ownership.
- Additional selling/buying rules may apply; consult the sticky threads in the sales forums.
- Posts may be removed by our staff at any time for any reason.
Requirements in Marketplace Posts
- All Marketplace Sales threads must include an asking price.
- The asking price, including for OBO posts, must be a legitimate, realistic, and acceptable price point, and not a simple placeholder (e.g. $1 or $1,000 may be unacceptable unless those are reasonable prices for the items being sold).
- All WTB threads must include an intent to purchase or trade.
Working with Commercial Parties
- Many participants have commercial interests associated with the forum topic and bring valuable information and expertise to share. Non-commercial participants may not use the forums for commercial gain of their business.
- The forum does not endorse nor discourage any commercial entity. ARC Commercial Account members must adhere to all the forum policies. For information about how to become an ARC Commercial Account member, please contact a member of ARC’s staff.
- Only authorized Commercial accounts may post commercial content.
- Please read the ARC Bylaws for more information.
Leaving Feedback and Handling Disputes
- Do not leave feedback for a user unless a sales transaction has occurred, and you are directly involved as the buyer or seller.
- For serious infractions, please settle your differences with the seller, manufacturer, or dealer through the legal or arbitration systems or the Better Business Bureau, but not through our community.
- In the case of a vendor, buyer, or seller feedback thread, the posting of emails, text messages and private messages are allowed as long as ALL personal info (names, addresses, phone numbers, etc.) have been removed.
- Please keep feedback professional, and based only on the transaction of interest. Please do not reference alternative interactions, nor make personal criticisms.
- Comments on posts should only reference one transaction. If you wish to contribute a “me too” comment on a similar experience, then please refrain and simply make a new post.
Final Notes from the Board
- Additional rules may apply to any forum and will be governed by any sticky thread(s) in that forum. This agreement is subject to change to fit the community’s best interest.
- Ultimately it is the responsibility of the ARC Board, site administrator, and moderators to interpret the above guidelines and how they apply to this forum. If you have any questions about these guidelines, please feel free to contact us.
- When using ARC forums, you are agreeing to abide by all rules set forth by the ARC. This includes that all data entered as posts, photos, and attachments, belong to the ARC.
- Any abuse toward our staff may result in immediate suspension of your account.
- Complaints about moderator decisions may not be made in posts; instead, please send a private message to a moderator. All complaints and feedback will be shared and considered by the collective moderator team.
- If a moderator deletes or edits one of your posts and you disagree with the action, do not repost deleted material. Rather, please contact the moderator concerned. All complaints and feedback will be shared and considered by the collective moderator team.
- The Board of Directors (“We,” “Our” or “Us”), may make changes to these terms at any time. Such changes shall be applicable immediately upon their being posted. Therefore, you must review these Terms on a regular basis to learn of any changes.
