Help Me Out

There have been a lot of requests for a good FAQ for our newbie friends, and I'd love to get everyone's input on what to include.

Please post your questions here, or questions you see asked often. Include the appropriate answer as well if you have one. This will save me time in compiling a good FAQ list.

Thanks for your help!

How about a section on 'growths in the reef'. Maybe outline what algal growth is normal in a new tank. Maybe prevent more people from asking 'What is this purple stuff on my rock?'.

A pest section would be good too.

What is a good temperature to keep my reef?

What specific gravity should my water be?

How do you get rid of hair/bubble/brown algae?

How long will it take for my tank to cycle?

Should I leave my lights on during the cycle?

How soon can I add corals?

Why is Dave so mean?

Answer: He's not mean, he's only drawn that way.

Ok, done being a clown.

Question: What kind of lighting will be needed to keep sps, shrooms,softies, etc?

Question: What should I feed my corals and softies?

Question: how much live rock per gallon?

Question: How much live sand per gallon?

Question: what is live rock?

Question: what is live sand?

Question: what type of pests and hitchhikers should I be on the lookout for?

If I think of more, I'll gladly add them.

what is "cured" rock?

what is "un-cured" rock?

Something Like an FAQ area.

A lighting section:P....(shamless plug) if you like mine you can use it if you'd like. I am doing a few touch up's on it st the moment.

Cameron

A FAQ section is an outstanding idea..... Im glad I thought of it.. LOL well at least suggested it....

I would think of picking a heading like : AIPTASIA ( and all its mispellings) and lave one SOLID faq and a bunch of threads that are submitted as cross referances.

THAT will eleminate the repetitive questions...... and agervation of the regulars and those who view this board all the time.

and the answer is:.... Im not mean, ya just have oversensitivity issues.

Dont spare the the paddle !

Sometimes the gene pool needs a little more chlorine.

I think some important sections would be:

What is a Nano Reef

Equipment Needed (tank, filters, powerheads, etc)

Types of Filtration

Live Rock and Hitchhikers

Cycling Process

The Clean Up Crew

Livestock that isgood for a Nano

Livestock NOT to use

Feeding and Basic Care

Basic Identifications

Fixes for Common Problems

Things to Have Around the Tank (Buckets, Measuring and Mixing tools, nets, sealant, etc.)

A list of common mistakes made by beginning reefers.

I can think of many other things, but these seem to be most important off the top of my head.

popular/recommended equipment to use or a list of things not to use.

Let's not forget:

"Where's a good place to buy...?"

Maybe we could compile a list of suppliers that we've had good experiences with.

The couple of questions that I have had:

Water changes durning a cycle?

What is that smell? (and more importantly, when will it go away?)

The other idea I would suggest is to incorporate Christopher Marks articles into this - so all this wealth of info is in one place, because if it isn't, us newbies will get lazy, not use it and post the same question over and over :

Just thought of another:

Is there a general rule of thumb to follow when it comes to flow rates? Like xxgph/gallon of tank? Something like this would be very beneficial in establishing a starting point for what PH's could be used in a set up.

Maybe somehow you could make the information link more obvious (I know, it seems pretty obvious the way it is, but I think many people new to the site seem to miss it). It answers a lot of essential, basic questions.

Tasha

research... its fundemental.

people just have to scroll back a few pages...... its all here.

Catering to the lazy is not what reefing is about. Its about learning and research..... Mistakes can be avoided.

I just point them out.

J/K.

How much should a nano reef cost to set up? HOW MUCH?!?!

After a quick read through what you have so far and my own scratchings, I have come to the conclusion that you'd almost need a list the size of this board!!!

Nanoreefing is a fast-moving target, FAQ's can get stale very quickly and there are also very few hard and fast rules suitable for their creation.

IMO we would be far better off adding a page about how to use the search facility more effectively with perhaps a few embedded hyperlinks to existing threads on the stuff that never changes. Funny thing is ... I can't think of any at the moment.

This is not an exact science so experience and a lot of mumbo jumbo comes along. Lots of expert get shaken when their FAQ's turn out to be opinions. (especially hurt egos)

So experience sharing is more valuable then fact thumping. Sharing what we learn to gather a collective data/forum.

remember when "experts" used to say "anything less than 20 gallons cannot be used for saltwater tanks!" or "you absolutely need an UV sterilizer to keep your fish healthy".

IMO - I think a faq would not really do much good. To better understand this, if anyone here has ever worked retail you will understand exactly what I mean.

A customer comes up and asks where the "sale" items are. Seems like a normal question right? Well, the problem is - the sale items are right in front of them with a big sign that says SALE ITEMS. They go Oh, didn't see it.

Thats the problem. People don't pay attention. Doing a faq is a good idea, but it won't do anything for the people that will still ask "where do I start". There will be question after question. The best thing to do is have a START HERE forum. A place where new, seasoned and advanced hobbiests can correlate together. Don't call it newbie, or anything along the lines, sounds intrusive.

Besides, you already have a faq. At the top it says INFORMATION.

There was this guy that posted, something about willing to shell out BIG $$$ for a nano-setup...

Chris, how'za bout a section on setting up the first nano:

2.5 g

5 g

6 g eclipse

7 g bowfront

10 g

15L

15 g

20L

20 g

29 g

etc.

#LR, "LS, PH, Lights all that stuff fer each.

that'll stop the STFU posts and give ESPI some downtime and preventative carpal tunnel syndrome therapy

After reading and SEARCHING (Dave) thoughts for many months, I have come to the conclusion that there is no one 'ideal setup'. With some reading, research and the application of common sense, a workable plan can be resolved. The idea of posting "I did this and it is great, you can too" is crazy, based on my research. Things such as seasonal temperatures, local water quality, locale of the tank, and equipment placement , all play into the end product. In my opinion, the trick is the application of all these factors to your individual situation. A huge banner that says "research first" is my suggestion.

I have an idea!

Why don't you open a forum called FAQ and allow the members to post questions and answers.

That way you won't get just a single angle on a single question. If something is left out, then maybe someone else will chime in and add to it. This way you will get lots of information that is both fact and experience.

Then after a pretty good pile of information is compiled, someone can go through it, revise it, and create a full blow FAQ using all of the wonderful information that has been posted.

Oh and yes, people don't always bother to read or look for FAQs, however when someone asks a noob question, we can post a link to the answer! It can still be useful no matter what.

I think you should add "where can you find a picture of aitipsia?" (Lol, inside joke)

List topics you need info on and ask for volunteers. Email the volunteer and give them a topic or two. Let them compile something and send it back to you. You give proof read and approve or disapprove it. That way it takes alot of the load off your shoulders and I know with some of the very vocal experts in here you should be able to put together a very detailed FAQ.

Give them credit for it as the writer and there you go.

you might want a heading at the top of the FAQ section saying: YES, NANO-REEFS ARE TINY BUT THEY STILL COST A LOT OF MONEY

also, i think it should be easy (or atleast possible) to set up some links to yer php scripts... e.g. http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/search.php...d%20AND%20algae gives links to "red algae" posts.

make links for each "faq" topic which will help out the arses who are too lazy to go through the process of THINKING up their own search terms, TRUDGING off to the search area of the site, TYPING in the words PLUS any boolean terms they might desire, and CLICKING the search button... this'll help out those who want quick answers to their common questions. on the other hand, something tells me that someone who is too lazy to execute a search on the forums doesn't have enough discipline to follow advice or maintain a reef for too long.