HELP!! STARTING FIRST REEF TANK!!
Steve Smith
The trouble is I really don't know where to look or what to consider.
Does anyone have any insight or guidance?! All help will be greatly
appreciated!
Steve
Email:smit...@mindspring.com
Ed McDonnell
If you are already experienced with saltwater fish only tanks I would
suggest that you read "The Reef Aquarium" by Delbeek and Sprung. If you do
not have marine aquarium experience I would also suggest "The Marine
Aquarium Reference" and "The Marine Aquarium Handbook", both by Martin Moe.
The FAQ for this newsgroup is another source of information.
You might also want to look into any clubs (reef or more generic aquarium)
in your area. People love to show off their tanks and you get to see first
hand how different approaches work. One thing your research will uncover is
that there are a lot of different ways to succeed in reefkeeping.
Good Luck.
Ed
"Steve Smith" <smit...@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:38B01A07...@mindspring.com...
Y2K2
>The trouble is I really don't know where to look or what to consider.
>Does anyone have any insight or guidance?! All help will be greatly
>appreciated!
Since you're web savvy, I'd start with free web sites. There are
zillions of them, and yes, some have questionable information, but
hey, lots of books - particularly the older ones - have some pretty
dumb reef information. Some of my favorites are www.masla.com or
www.garf.org. But really, there are zillions. I have some listed on my
web site at:
http://www.quikstor.com/reef/reef_links.htm
And by the way, it's an excellent decision to start with research.
Good luck,
Dennis
Hongkong Tim
Natural Reef Aquarium by John Tullock
Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Robert Fenner
If you are a complete beginner:
New Marine Aquarium (? - something like that) by Mike Paletta
These 3 are all pretty much modern reef-keeping books.
I'd hold off on Delbeek & Sprung until after you've read these.
My 2c,
Tim Houghton
Steve Smith wrote:
>
> I am in the process of starting research for my first reef aquarium.
>
> The trouble is I really don't know where to look or what to consider.
>
> Does anyone have any insight or guidance?! All help will be greatly
> appreciated!
>
> Steve
> Email:smit...@mindspring.com
qwe...@tex.com
> I am in the process of starting research for my first reef aquarium.
>
> The trouble is I really don't know where to look or what to consider.
>
> Does anyone have any insight or guidance?! All help will be greatly
> appreciated!
>
> Steve
> Email:smit...@mindspring.com
READ, READ, READ.
This news group is a great resource. I worked in a high end fish store
through my Biochem undergrad, serviced tanks, and read everything that I
could find. I left the hobby for a decade and came back and found this
newsgroup.
Everything that took me years of asking and reading about, was laid out
here (but there is no substitute for hands-on experience). Hardware
questions such as advantages of variouse brands and what skimmers are
junk routinly come up here. Additionally, you can get strait (no
financial gain to be maid) info from a lot of people that are using the
systems you are interested in.
Bottom line, read every article in this news group for as long as you
can wait. Can you wait 2 or 3 months to buy the tank? I have done
exactly that and have been very happy with the results.
As an example, I got a turbofloater skimmer. Before I bought it I knew
that the three major problems with the unit are that it can be tricky to
set up (poor documentation), the standard powerhead that drives the
shreader impailer can be a bit under powered in some peoples opinions,
and the venturi is prone to clogging with salt creep. So before
I bought, I knew that (for an additional $10) I should upgrade the pump
and that I should let the venturi intake suck in 1/2 cup of HOT DI water
every two weeks. Problem discovered and fixed before I ever saw the
unit.
Aquarium Frontiers is great as well for a more in depth look at
http://www.aquariumfrontiers.com/fish/aqfm/default.asp
or you could spend $300 on books that will tell you the same thing and
only be one persons opinion.
wayne
MJD41
Plus,
I would buy a book though. Maybe Conscientious Marine Aquarist.
You'll see many of your questions answered on the newsgroup, and the people
here can help you out of many problems.
General questions such as "I'm new, tell me what to do", don' t receive as many
replies as specific questions like "Would it be ok to put a clown trigger in my
reef tank that has many decorator shrimp", or "what skimmer would you
recommend for a 1 quart nano-reef".
Another good link, that has links to many other places and links is
www.aqualink.com.
mjd
Brad Westcott
Wayne is pretty much dead on.
Research will be your best friend before you buy one piece of equipment.
Pour over every article in this news group. Just one word of caution,
nothing is edited or screened, so a grain of salt may be need to sort
through them.
This is the one advantage of books from recognized authorities.
Go to Amazon.com and other places and look for books by Moe, Sprung,
Delbeek, Tullock, etc.
Also check out web sites like F.I.N.S. and Bingman.
Do not rush into this. Your patience and research will be its own reward
when you are done.
westcott