so many questions...

[phenom5]

hello, been keeping african cichlids for a while, a 29g and 75 g long, want to start a reef tank, a small one ( getting married, going on a honeymoon, getting out of debt, buying first home-all being paid by my fiance and I-in the next 18 mos.). so i'd like to stay with a small tank for budget reasons. also i saw a 30 hex set up at a lfs that was sweet. so i have lots of freshwater and tropical experience, but absolutely none with saltwater.
rather then ask ten thousand questions, can anybody reccomend good web sites; tank set up, equipment, fish profiles, live rock, water parameters,etc....
do you use scientific or common names with saltwater fish? see, this is the kind of stuff i don't know, cichlids you have to use scientific names. one time i was looking for info about a fish a local breeder had, found 10 different species the were called, or had been called a yellow blaze.
thanks for any help, i'll be back after i do some research....

 

[phenom5]

and why does it say peppermint shrimp under my name?

 

[pufferfan]

Originally posted by phenom5
and why does it say peppermint shrimp under my name?
Thats just your "title." After a certain # of posts it will change to something else. If you want to change it to something specific, Private Message a moderator and they can (dunno if they will though) change it for ya.

 

[flydan]

Hey,
When I started I bought several books. (I now have about a dozen and still keep an eye out for new ones.) I wouldn't suggest anything that's been in print more than a couple of years since there have been great advancements in swf. My personal favorites are "The Reef Aquarium" Volume 1 and 2 by Delbeck and Sprung. (Note I said my favorites.)
Another good source is the "search" feature on the top of this screen.
BTW, if you're just starting out in sw you may want to start with a FOWLR (Fish Only With Live Rock). Learn how to keep your water perfect and your critters alive, then upgrade your lights and try some easy corals such as mushrooms. Jumping right into a reef is hard and expensive. (Especially if you kill everything.)
HTH,
Dan'l

 

[elan]

i dont have much expereince between fresh and salt, but i have read a post which said that the difference between keeping saltwater and freshwater is just the salt... same types of problems with keeping your water stable and within limits...
My favorite book is "the conscientious marine aquarist " by fenner... a great all around book... then i would get others depending on specific information you may want to know such as corals, fish, etc....
As far as a budget... i would not plan on getting a tank. the smaller the tank, the harder it is to keep your water stable (probably same in freshwater too) and the larger the tank, the more expensive everything becomes... i am already at about $30-35 per gallon for the startup and have much more to buy (although i dont think i will ever stop) and spend about 50-75 monthly (electric and food)... and there are always things i want to buy....... this hobby is very very addicting.

 

[phenom5]

thanks, will check out bookstore tomorrow.
elan-that's what I was thinking, about the smaller tank=less stable water..we'll see when i get started, i just doing research to get good base knowledge, probablily won't even get the tank for atleast 6mos.
FlyDan-didn't even se the search tab, thanks..FOWLR you say, doesn't sound as fun, but neither does and empty tank b/c everybody died
thanks for the info everybody, i get this figured out eventually!