Beginner Book & collecting questions

[Ric Seyler]

Is there a definitive how-to book for
marine beginners? Maybe one that covers
FO and REEF tanks with plenty of photos
showing equipment usage etc and is current.

I live about a block from the Gulf of Mexico.
I am also interested in the advantages/disadvantages of
getting my own Gulf water, sand, fish and live rock. I live on the
coastal panhandle area of NW Florida (Pensacola Beach).
The Gulf on the "Emerald Coast Area" has Pure White Sand.
Some colorful fish can be seen in rocky areas in summer.

Could I use this sand?

Would live rock from this area have anything useful in it?

Slurp gun a good idea to try to get my own fish?

--
Ric Seyler
Online Racing: RicSeyler
rics...@pcola.gulf.net
http://www.pcola.gulf.net/~ricseyler
--------------------------------------
"Homer no function beer well without."
- H.J. Simpson

[squin...@my-deja.com]

Good to see you didn't give up. :)

Aside from this newsgroup, another good source for info is the
discussion boards on www.reefcentral.com. They have excellent FAQ
references and archives too.

I don't have a "difinitive" beginner book recommendation, but I'm sure
other here will join in and suggest some good titles.

If you stock you tank primarily with local fish, you may find that many
of them are not listed in reference books for marine aquarium keeping
because they are not well suited to small environments for various
reasons (diet, temper etc.). Some will be listed with pictures, but of
course, you can't take a book into the water and check before slurping
up a fish! And if you take a diseased fish (probably slower moving and
easier to catch), its malady will be more apt to spread to other
creatures in your small marine environment. You should be able to
collect a great "cleanup crew" though; with snails, crabs, hermits,
brittle stars etc.!

Getting local water is really a great idea. No salt mix is as true as
the REAL salt mix. Bear in mind that the surf zone on the beach is
nature's skimmer -- best to get the water from beyond the surf zone
(but not a stagnant lagoon), from a foot under the surface to avoid
floating debris, and oil.

Perhaps you could use that 2.5 gallon tank as a quarantine / refugium,
taking water out of your BIG tank to add to the small one as a water
change, and putting new sea water in the big tank to replace it.

I would think that local sand could be beneficial also, but I'm not an
authority on sand (or anything else "marine") -- I'm sure someone on
this board, or the ReefCentral board can speak from experience on it.

I have a ton of links to good marine aquaria sites. I will e-mail them
if you want them.

In article <3A38EBE2...@pcola.gulf.net>,

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[john greenwood]

Hi Ric
If you go to thaddress below there is a 60 odd page booklet free download
that I found very helpful.
Regards John
www.reefkeeper.co.uk/pages/index.html
Ric Seyler <rics...@pcola.gulf.net> wrote in message
news:3A38EBE2...@pcola.gulf.net...

[Kevin]

Ric Seyler wrote in message <3A38EBE2...@pcola.gulf.net>...

>Is there a definitive how-to book for
>marine beginners? Maybe one that covers
>FO and REEF tanks with plenty of photos
>showing equipment usage etc and is current.

I'd recommend the Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Bob Fenner, an excellent
book on FO and reef aquariums.

--
Kevin
(Remove the "x-" prefix from my address in order to reply via email)