Help Wanted - New Person

[john1327]

i would like to build my own reef but i know nothing about fish, coral, tanks, lights, filters. i am very new to this scene. does anyone have anny suggestions where to look, or could give some suggestions as to where to begin. thanks in advance!

 

[twoods71]

The absolute best place to begin is with some good books. There are many books that will walk you through step by step on the setup of a reef aquarium.
Dont rely on one source of info though. Get input from as many sources as possible, this site included and make the decisions that make the most sense to you.
Good Luck.

 

[fender]

Do a search on this site for the following and read up
Substrate (Deep Sand Bed or DSB or Crushed Coral or CC differences/advantages)
Skimmers
Lighting (VHO, Metal Halide (MH), Power Compacts)
Test Kits - ( Nitrate, Nitrite, Ammonia, PH, Calcium, Alkalinity)
Live Rock
Live Sand
Sump
Refugium
Clean Up Crew
Reef Safe Fish/Inverts

 

[miner]

You will also learn there are conflicting ideas all over the place. Ask advise over and over again. Everyone seems to have different opinions, some are very good. I think I learn more on these boards then reading some of the books. One thing for sure you will never stop learning !!! Welcome to the board !! marym1@peoplepc.com

 

[flydan]

Hey,
Welcome to the board!
I went to the local library and checked out a bunch of books. If you decide to do the same, don't bother reading anything printed before, say 1990. There have been so many advances in the hobby that you'll get bad info if you read ealier stuff.
Anyway, once I had a pretty good idea of what was going on I then bought a couple good books as reference material. I also asked a lot of questions here. You can also go to your lfs (local fish store) and look around. If they look like they have a good selection of saltwater stuff and their fish and corals look healthy you should talk to their saltwater specialist. Don't take everything they say as gospel though since they may be just going for the $$$$. You'll learn who to trust after a while.
Take care,
Dan'l

 

[sbustobante]

Another thing - visit as many lfs (local fish stores) as you can. Ask questions but don't buy immediately. Compare their answers against each other. See if their tanks are well maintained and specimens are healthy. Some stores are more reliable than others, and a knowledgeable trustworthy lfs employee is worth their weight in gold.

 

[q]

I agree. Surf around on the web a lot, check this BB every day. This is where I have gotten a large portion of my knowledge. Then after you know what you are talking about a bit buy a couple of good books. I bought some books when I was first intrested in the hobbied and wasted my money because I didn't know enough to sort out the generic info from the really good cutting edge books. None of the books I bought even mentioned a DSB (Deep Sand Bed)
Take your time and enjoy learning. Besides it will give you more time to save up the wads of cash you'll end up spending.