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ReefApprentice

Buy books, they are invaluable resources and you can glance at them whenever you please. Seriously. N-R is 7/10, but the 3 volume series by sprung and delbeek is 10/10 and you will thank me and your tank will too.

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N-R is 7/10, but the 3 volume series by sprung and delbeek is 10/10 and you will thank me and your tank will too.
Absolutely true, no board can be 10/10 though in the realm of nano's I would rate this board as the single best reference for the specific issues that come with running nano's (there is no book at this time better).

 

Here are some books for those that are willing to spend some bucks (aquarium books are almost prohibitively expensive) in order of first bought to last IMO:

 

1a) Natural Reef Aquariums by John Tullock

and/or

1b) The Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Robert Fenner

2) Aquarium Corals by Eric Borneman

3) The Reef Aquarium Vol. 1 by Delbeek and Sprung

4) Vol. 2

5) Vol. 3

 

And at any time after #1, depending on how into either of those subjects you are:

 

Clownfishes by Joyce Wilkerson

Reef Invertebrates by Calfo and Fenner

 

Happy reading. There are alternatives to "The Reef Aquarium" series, most notably The Modern Coral Reef Aquarium, though I find it to be a little hard to follow sometimes, maybe a bit too European for me.

 

Edit: I've never actually owned The Conscientious Marine Aquarist, I'm only going by others recommendations (I do have all the rest of them though). There are books by Delbeek and Sprung on Invertebrates and Corals, but I don't think they're as good as the books by Calfo/Fenner and Bourneman.

 

Don't be afraid to spend the money on these books. While the internet is an invaluable resource, reefing books are not like video game hint books. Reading good reefing books will save you so much future aggrevation and make your hobbying so much more satisfying since you'll know what everything in your tank is and how it all works together; the money spent is a pittance.

Edited by Chupacabras
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mandarin dragonet

don't do a water change during the cycle, and dont wash sponges under the tap, even if the diagram on the sponges packet looks so!

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a bag of the poly-fil pillow stuffing from any wal-mart or craft store makes a good inexpensive mechanical filter

 

the reason i say this: i kept reading it, but never tried it, then i tried it, and it worked really well.

Edited by mascencerro
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  • 2 weeks later...
[WDT]TardFarmer
a bag of the poly-fil pillow stuffing from any wal-mart or craft store makes a good inexpensive mechanical filter

 

the reason i say this: i kept reading it, but never tried it, then i tried it, and it worked really well.

 

 

Just make sure the stuffing is not flame retardant.

 

 

 

Don't trust the LFS, research on the forums and consult with your peers, e.g. "It's ok to put a Maroon clown in your 12gallon dx" /me are you sure? lfs, "oh yeah people do it all the time". I goto a different lfs in town where they say a mandarin goby will do fine in my 12 gallon also.

 

thankgod for nano-reef

 

Take your time and research

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Support your local fish stores.

 

It's nice to save a little money by buying online but if you don't give your local retailers business (fish stores operate on a very low profit margin), they'll either disappear or won't run a quality operation.

 

It's much like people that complain about the disappearance of Mom & Pop stores yet do their business at Walmart.

 

 

Something else to point out about your LFS is that if you're in there enough and they get to know your face, they'll often price match another local store's pricing since you're making it clear that you'd prefer to buy from him over the other guy.

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Something else to point out about your LFS is that if you're in there enough and they get to know your face, they'll often price match another local store's pricing since you're making it clear that you'd prefer to buy from him over the other guy.

 

 

So far I've seen that. Since I started SW, and have been frequenting and they know my name now, and my different projects and likes/dislikes, when I come in, they clue me in to new stuff they've got available to order, give me good price deals (they know I'm not afraid to order online if cheaper), and seem to be interested in my progress and how things are going. They also stopped the "can i help you, can i help you, can i help you..." bit and just let me look around until I find something.

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"Live sand doesnt help." I was quoted with this buy an odd LFS owner, and never went back. Live sand DOES help and has LOADS of pretty organisms like tubeworms.

Edited by Uploadead
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firstimereefer

1. Bigger fish=more bio load=a crash in your tank

2.Upgrade the flow on your JBJ 12G

3.There are plenty of small colorful fish to add in your tank, don't think bigger is better (trust me I just found this out)

Edited by firstimereefer
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don't use filter cartridges unless your water is "dirty" (sponge) or something had died or went wrong (carbon). afterwards you take out the cartridge when your water is "clean" again.

 

Tim

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The Ultimate DanK

Resaerch everything you are even thinking about doing before doing it. These forums, while helpful are no substitute for the knowledge gained from indepenent research. So once again, read, read, and read some more before doing anything. Also, while people here are more than willing to help you, trying to work things out on your own is more rewarding than being spoon-fed answers.

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Resaerch everything you are even thinking about doing before doing it. These forums, while helpful are no substitute for the knowledge gained from indepenent research. So once again, read, read, and read some more before doing anything. Also, while people here are more than willing to help you, trying to work things out on your own is more rewarding than being spoon-fed answers.

 

agreed, because once you think you understand a part of it, you will read the exact opposite elsewhere, so you would do well to form your own informed conclusions based on a variety of sources, not one site and never one person

 

i sum it up as everybody knows a little, nobody knows it all, but ultimately you are responsible for your own success or lack thereof, so make your own decisions

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  • 3 weeks later...

All I can advise is

1.READ BEFORE YOU DO IT - read everything you can. Everthing!

2.SLOW DOWN

 

Leave at least a month before you do anything new...it will take you a month to read about it enough to fully understand it.

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  • 2 weeks later...
spend lots of money

 

then spend more realizing you didn't spend enough.

 

here's my tip:

 

Look at your tank 10 months ahead. Do you want that Oregon tort to branch out into a nice colony or do you really want to glue it right next to that Green Mille? Recognize the growth pattern of your corals plan accordingly.

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Don't let a Purple Monster fall on a Mille!

lol!

 

HAHA! If you are going to buy a purple monster dont let a crappy coral fall on it and kill it

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21. Chaeto is a nice macro algae to use in a refugium

Is it possible or even advisable to keep chaeto in the main tank? Will it survive with crabs? or will it overgrow everything? I'm just wondering because I have a spot behind some live rock that would make a good spot for some chaeto.

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I've put some in the main display before. Haven't seen any adverse effects from it. The only thing is that it doesn't grow as fast under tank lighting as it does under daylight or 6500k fluorescent lights, such as the cheap screw-in compact fluorescent bulbs at Wally*World.

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THE MOST IMPORTAN RULE TO NANO REEF KEEPING:

Dont get a Royal Gramma!

 

Hi there - I was in terestedi n a royal grama to go in my orca Nano - please can you shed some light on why this is not a good idea as I thought these were suitable?

 

Many thanks,

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  • 3 weeks later...

I've got something to add...

 

Stop dosing additives! Stop dosing for calcium, stop dosing pH buffer, stop dosing strontium, and stop dosing iodine.

 

Unless you have corals that specifically need those things (SPS, clams), don't dose it!

 

 

And I've already said this once, but it needs to be said again, don't throw anything in your tank that you can't test for!

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  • 4 weeks later...
cmgreenone

Just setup my 24gallon aqua pod. It's glass not plastic. Here's what it did and where I am...

1. knew I wanted a tank seven years ago.

2. waited until now to be sure that I would not have to relocate (which I just did in Jan.)

3. Went to the fish store and asked questions and saw examples.

4. picked my space in my home, the ledge between the kitchen and living room. near the front door for feng shui principles.

5. Returned to the fish store and got prices for aqua pods and nano cubes. Then I went online and found the tank for around 40 bucks less after shipping. I then also got a nice hose for 25 (fish store 49.95) and a bag of seasalt (which I didn't end up using) and some all in one dipstick testers.

6 Get the glass tank to avoid scratches. I went with the 24 gallon Aqua Pod. It has a little more style I think. But that may just be me!

7. I set it all up when it arrived a week later. Inbetween ordering and arrival I visited another fish store..and found a much more informed staff. I made arrangements for some live rock and water for after a weektrip for business.

8 When I returned I went to the new store and bought 25 galloons of pretreated water. This was way too cool. It had all of the salt and was ready to go. I also got to hand pick my live rock. CAREFUL ordering online. You may get a lot of "ugly" plain flat rock. You also may not. Handpick if you can. I was able to select big pieces that weighed less because of "caves" and curves. A really fun experience also.

9. I also bought two bags of live sand. I only used 1 and 1/2.

10 I went home added the ingredients and left the lights off for four days.

11.I began to turn the lights on and checked all my filters and stuff and discovered very tiny organisms that were beginning to appear on the rock.

12. After a few more days we bought 6 crabs and 4 turbo snails. Also we bought two timers for the lights. The aqua pod is cool because it has lights for daylight, sunset, and moonlight. From the minute they were added the crabs have not stopped eating off of the rock. The water began to fill with stuff lifted off of the rock. I haven't seen them take a break! It finally cleared after a day. :D

13. I have tested the water with the dipsticks and all of the marks for Nitrate Nitrite Salt etc. are dead on 100% I know this may all change but I just wanted to give folks an idea of cost and time.

Tank 199.00+ 25 shipping

Rock, Sand, Water 210.00

Testing, hose, salt 40.00

6 crabs, 4 snails, two timers 55.00

14. I am going to move slower now that I am approaching week three. I am going to pickup a coral today and a clown fish. After that I am going to just sit back and enjoy.

post-28120-1178727220_thumb.jpg

Edited by cmgreenone
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