New Video inside, SWF.com order

[bang guy]

Hey Big, Welcome to the board!
I give my opinions and advice based on almost 30 years of keeping reef systems and experimentation (read mistakes). I answer questions based on experience and I do my best to steer hobbiests in the direction that will give them the best odds for success.
In the end, it's your aquarium and you need to do what you think is best for your system. I will advise against choosing the easiest, cheapest or fastest path in this hobby. Eventually the odds will catch up with you.
Feel free to take advice from hobbiests with 2 or 3 weeks under their belt, it's your call.
Happy Reefing!

 

[reefreak29]

***)

 

[fgcu14]

Originally Posted by Sharkboy13
d) i can give w/e f****** opinion i want on keeping fish since most of it i research, w/e i dont i know off the top of my head.
Exactly what is wrong with the world today. Control yourself boy!

 

[fgcu14]

P.S. Nice Video!

 

[jason490]

lol thanks,
Yea everything is doing great. Thinking of writing a tutorial for those who don't want to wait 6-8 weeks to add fish. Mine are just fine and there is algae growing all over the glass. Levels are great, bacteria is great.

 

[big swolt]

Thanks Bang. And I do appreciate people like you who do give good advice, and even when I do get advice I do my research as well. I dont just take anyones word for it. I look at what lots of people say and what they have done and go from there. If I hadnt felt that doing it the way I did would have worked I wouldnt have done it. But having seen the results first hand I didnt feel I would have a problem. I have been in the hobby for a while myself and I was skeptical at first but my results speak for themselves.

 

[reefreak29]

Originally Posted by jason490
lol thanks,
Yea everything is doing great. Thinking of writing a tutorial for those who don't want to wait 6-8 weeks to add fish. Mine are just fine and there is algae growing all over the glass. Levels are great, bacteria is great.

i dont think u can say 2 weeks is a success, also if u have algea groing all over the glass thats not really a good thing, and just curios if u have something to detect good bacteria levels?

 

[beth]

Home videos of SWF items....what a marketing idea! Great show!

 

[big swolt]

I have plenty of coraline algae growth. I have my water tested weekly for everything and have had no probs what so ever. And my tank is now prob 3-4 months old. I started putting fish, LR, corals, ect in my tank after a week. I have had no deaths in my tank.

 

[1journeyman]

Originally Posted by jason490
lol thanks,
Yea everything is doing great. Thinking of writing a tutorial for those who don't want to wait 6-8 weeks to add fish. Mine are just fine and there is algae growing all over the glass. Levels are great, bacteria is great.

Patience is a key ingredient to this hobby. If you don't have it, you are going to kill a lot of pets. If your guide comes with the disclaimer that you killed $400 worth of pets the first time around have at it. I suspect it won't be a huge success.
There is a lot more than just bacteria involved in a cycle. The time away from predation allows your micro critters time to get established in the tank. The time also allows hitchiking algaes, sponges, corals, etc. time to get established. If you are using a sand bed the time allows your bed to become established with the beneficial worms, pods, etc. it needs to function properly. The time also allows hobbyists to learn to test their tanks, figure out what's going on, do a few water changes, etc.
As for your comments that alot of people here expect hobbyists to spend huge amounts of money; That's nonsense. Just look at the amazing nano tanks on this site.
What many of us, including all of the Mods, expect is that hobbyists come here with the desire to learn and the compassion to treat their livestock appropriately.

 

[renogaw]

erm, back to the fish discussion...
i don't see a dragonet in the movie. anyone able to tell me about what time in the movie it shows up?

 

[renogaw]

Originally Posted by jason490
Nemo, this is the best one I can get of him, he hides a lot. You can see the back of him here. My camera is a sony cybershot 6mp and it either sucks or I don't know how to use it.

I see so many super clear pictures here on the board, wish I knew which camera they used. :notsure:
i still dont see the dragonet, all i see is your damsel lol.
i use a 4.0 mp kodak and my pics come out well enough. if your camera lets you, change the setting to one that lets you take clearer pics of 28" or closer items. the problem i run into is my camera tries to autofocus on the glass instead of beyond it.

 

[scsinet]

Originally Posted by 1journeyman
If your guide comes with the disclaimer that you killed $400 worth of pets the first time around have at it. I suspect it won't be a huge success.
Or at least indicate that this is your first time being successful at this. Be careful about passing off information as fact before it can be reasonably regarded as such versus a "one-off."
Originally Posted by 1journeyman
As for your comments that alot of people here expect hobbyists to spend huge amounts of money; That's nonsense.
What people here expect, I've found, is that you spend the money to provide an appropriate environment. If you want to keep pomacanthus angels, tangs, etc, a huge amount of money is what you are going to need to spend as big tanks and the equipment to support them are expensive. Where people get blasted by members of the board is when they decide go against what this hobby stands for and experiment with the animal's lives, and even worse, subsequently declare that "it works" after observing for a day... month, couple months when true success is measured by time.
This is one board where ethics are a top priority for a very large percentage of the membership population. They will hammer you for doing things that they consider to be a betrayal of those ethics because it places everyone's learning experience and the sustainment of the hobby in general in jeopardy. What you are observing is a cold hard fact of saltwater aquariums: They are expensive. When you attempt to cheap it out, you will get hammered... hard in some cases. Remember that the people doing so are looking out for the safety of your fish and for your success in the hobby. They aren't trying to belittle you.