tgrupert Posted August 29, 2002 Share Posted August 29, 2002 I have expireince with FW aquaria, but I feel it's about time I get a reef. there is a great LFS near where I live that sells cultured LR fresh out of the water for 3.50-6.00 a lb, but he says i'm better off starting with uncultured. he has a salt waterclub that meets every friday and gets first dibs. I would like to know a good sourse where I can find info on tame corals, sponges, polyps and the like as well as livestock. right now I'm thinking of a 20 gallon tank but I may just go all out and get a 55 gallon. I love snails. and will have a FW streaming snail cam comming soon and would love to have as many SW snails as posible. does anyone know if the GARF bullet proof plan is any good? Link to comment
tgrupert Posted August 30, 2002 Author Share Posted August 30, 2002 see, I ofiously don't know what I'm talking about. that's why I'd like to know a place that describes the advantages and disadvantages of different species. is their a great book anyone could recomend? Link to comment
Inpha Posted August 30, 2002 Share Posted August 30, 2002 Do a search for books on this message board. You should get some posts. I know there was just one recently on good books for newbies. I myself am too much of a newbie to reccomend anything.... Link to comment
tgrupert Posted August 31, 2002 Author Share Posted August 31, 2002 well if you are a newbie and a book helped you then wouldn't your recomendation be better than someone who already knew the information? I mean, you be able to atest to the fact that it is easy to understand and helpfull to a beginer Link to comment
printerdown01 Posted August 31, 2002 Share Posted August 31, 2002 Welcome... I favor books by Sprung... Thus, my best recommendations for books are The Reef Aquarium Volume One & Two... But they are expensive... However, the face of reefing has changed so much in the last 10 years or so... Most books out there deal a lot with information that is out of date.. These are fairly cutting edge, and very comprehensive. Most people complain that these go to in depth... As far as I am concerned that is a good thing... Reefing really isn't that hard (not much harder than FW)! It may look over whelming to you as a newbie, but in a few months time of reading books and hanging out on boards like this and you'll know everything that you need to know... Boards are quite useful since you can ask a question and get various points of views as well as a plethera of sorces (everyone has read different books and thus will have different recommendations).... Honestly I would just bite the bullet and buy LR... You can create your own aquaculture, but you just won't end up with the biodiversity that you will with LR... -By the way, snail fanatic, I recieved 4 or more species of snails with my LR!!! lol ok so they are teeny and almost useless, but they are pretty cool... How to get started tip: READ READ READ, and post as many questions as you can possibly think of!!! By the way, if you are worried about stability, the 55 will be more stable than the 20 -BUT honestly I don't think you will have any problems with the 20!! A lot of people around here jump into fishkeeping all together at a 7 gallon and have had great success! Link to comment
tgrupert Posted August 31, 2002 Author Share Posted August 31, 2002 WOW 7 gallon success on the FIRST TRY!!!!!!!!!!! I want to go as natural as posible a 7 gallon tank is small enough to lift! what 7-15 gallon tanks are more than just square and could be retrofitted with 2 13w CF lamps? I figure it's probably harder to do the balencing act with a smaller tank so a skimmer would be a bad Idea. If I go out and buy the LR got long will the tank take to be cycled? thanks a lot for the help. I will checkout those books. Link to comment
tgrupert Posted August 31, 2002 Author Share Posted August 31, 2002 Designed to help you create your reef aquarium with minimum effort and expense. yeah exept for the $120for the two booksX) Link to comment
printerdown01 Posted August 31, 2002 Share Posted August 31, 2002 Well I don't know where you are located, but Alifes and Aqua Vias are pretty cool! Down here in San Diego we have a store that has had both of them for showtanks... The aqua via is oddly built (very tall and narrow front to back) and the Alifes are bowfronts... I believe both come with lighting that will surpass the 2x13W (might be wrong on the aqua via)... The Alife sells for about $120, it comes with full filtration system, tank, lights, ect... Essentially this is the easy way to go! Reefs are a lot more stable than they used to be, lol! Aquatic Warehouse, has an online store (although the Alife isn't on there, I would bet that they would sell it to ya ). *I'm going there today, I'll see if I can drum up some more info on the aqua via for you... As well as look at some books, to see if I can find something that would be a great beginer book (cover as much as possible) w/o costing an arm and a leg!! I swear though if you buy The Reef Aquarium Vol 1 you will not be dissapointed (although Vol 2 is the one that covers soft corals and gorgonia in detail... Vol 1 covers the reef basics!). Link to comment
printerdown01 Posted August 31, 2002 Share Posted August 31, 2002 Ok, just got back from the fish store: Aqua Vias sell for approx 160. They come with 2x18W PC. Although you might want to add some sort of filtration system to this guy... I still think that Alifes are better... However, they do have a problem with their lights.... If you slam or drop the hood you will kill the lighting! Another thing is that you might want to find some way to seal off the plastic inside the hood, they are subject to salt creap (where salt evaporates with water and lands on a sourse out of the tank, in this case the inside of the hood, when the lights come back on the water evaporates again leaving a salt residue behind). Creap can get onto the circutry of the Alife and short out the lighting... Link to comment
tgrupert Posted September 1, 2002 Author Share Posted September 1, 2002 how many gallons are they? I thought all the filtration I would need is life rock. I can't find any info on the alifes. couldn't I just get a all glass mini bow 7? some guy on the internet retro fitted his with 2 28 watt bulbs in a canopy that he custom built. Link to comment
tgrupert Posted September 1, 2002 Author Share Posted September 1, 2002 on your website you say penguins are good. would I be well advised to just get a eclipce system 12? Link to comment
printerdown01 Posted September 1, 2002 Share Posted September 1, 2002 The Aqua Vias are 11 gallons... Odd shape... which makes them very interesting and very attractive... All glass with bowed corners, for a smooth appearance... OOOH OOOH hold on, let me find the post (just seen it a couple of minutes ago, thanks NanoReeFin): My favorite LFS . Ok NanoReeFin actually took pictures of the LFS that sells both tanks... And ironically he has a pic of the Aqua Via set-up and the boxes that contain the Alifes... As for the MiniBow... Yup, you could def use one of these! I don't really see any need for more than a 27W or 28W on a 7 gallon tank... And in regards for filtration: I always like having somewhere to put chemical filtration if it is ever needed -just a personal thing. Occasionally you can clear up an algae problem quickly by running Activated carbon or a phosphate remover... But it is certainly NOT nessicary! Link to comment
Inpha Posted September 1, 2002 Share Posted September 1, 2002 More experienced peoples reviews are more valuable, because they know what is accurate. They have probably read a lot more books than I have (in terms of reef keeping). For a hobby like this i prefer a couple of good books... such as those printerdown mentioned... and a wealth of others experiences (THIS BOARD....as well as those like RC and the like)... BLAH BLAH BLAH YADA YADA YADA Link to comment
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