Free Corals!!!!

[sjpresley]

Okay, not really, but sort of.

 

Here is some free advice that is just like getting free fish, free corals, and free invertebrates...plus you may learn something and Dave won't yell at you anymore. [He hasn't yelled at me yet, but I'm sure it is coming; and when it does...I will probably have deserved it.]

 

BUY BOOKS. Buy a lot of them. Buy books from different authors as opinions differ (as you all know). Buy new books and old books to get a sense of history in the hobby. Then read them, be familiar with their content and reference them when you have questions.

 

You will learn much faster than posting, "just bought this, what is it". If you are fanatical enough to be reading/posting here then safe some animals lives by reading a book by people that probably have more experience and expertice than anyone posting here. I started my first (and only) reef tank last January. I bought 2 books first, I now have.....49. Now I am a bit of a collector and lean to excess but I have bought them on a graduate student's budget. Not all of these books are useful on a regular basis, but I have read books from Tullock's "Your first marine aquarium" and Moe's "Marine aquarium reference" to the baensch atlas series, Sprung and Delbeek, Borneman, Fenner, and Fossa and Nilson. You get ideas about equipment, water parameters, biology, chemisty, and innumberable photos to boot that help you quickly ID critters and give you a wealth of information about them before you buy. It is like getting free stuff and a lot easier than watching things die or wondering where they went.

 

Just don't look for books on ebay, they are horrible ripoffs, and this guy sjpresley buys up everything.

[printerdown01]

If any San Diego Area nanoreefer has 49 Reef books, I will actually back up his title of "free corals" and give you a couple cuttings from my tank! LOL

[sjpresley]

Unfortunately, I just can't justify the move.....well....what kind of coral cuttings are you offering? And how is San Diego as far as places to live go?

[BCOrchidGuy]

I've got a few books on reefing but the bad thing is that some of the ideas are 10 + years old.

 

Wow things sure change, when I first got into marine it was when the UnderGravel filter was still considered the best filter for marine tanks. Back in the early 80s there was no internet and information was tough to find, the LFS was the expert source of information and sadly the only source. Now a site like this people can share experiences and opinions. Even just a few years ago a refugium for a 90 was usually just an over flow built into the corner around the down pipe to the sump, now they are recommending a refugium up to and including the same size as your main tank. I think Printer had the idea of a nano tank with a 40ish gallon sump/refugium for someone who wanted to keep a mandarin, he saw the sump/refugium as a food source for the mandarin even though he didn't agree that it would still qualify as a Nano. The books I have al say a mandarin is reef safe but should be put into an established aquarium, nothing about size or the needs of the fish, as we discussed mandarins probably shouldn't be kept in a Nano, and I think it safe to say a number of people feel they shouldn't be kept in captivity at all.

 

I think the buy books and read is good advice as long as you realize, read, read and read more, then research and find out if the information is still valid.

[ross76053]

Hmm....graduate student....Lubbock....would that be....

 

Texas Tech? I'm a UT grad myself (live in the DFW area).

 

So do you have Sprung's new Algae book? Pretty good reading, although the same information is out there in other resources. He doesn't uncover anything new, but it's a good read anyway.

[SoS]

plus you may learn something and Dave won't yell at you anymore. [He hasn't yelled at me yet, but I'm sure it is coming; and when it does...I will probably have deserved it.]

 

Hmm aren't you kind of asking for it. You know he'll find something. :o

[sjpresley]

Yep, it would be Tech. I'm not a Texan though and had never heard of either Texas Tech nor Lubbock when I came here. I was trained as a mammalogist and came here to work on a grant doing field work in Paraguay and was able to spend 18 months down there.

 

Even though I do attend Tech I am a pretty smart guy (look at all the people I got to read a post admonishing them for not doing their homework) so Dave may not yell at me for a while, I have taught for a long time I know better than to ask a question I am capable of finding the answer to myself.

 

The point about reading literature from different eras is that you can follow the progress of thought so that you understand WHY things are currently the way they are. Why do some people run their tank at 78? Because that was an appropriate temperature way-back-when most animals in the hobby were collected from cooler reefs and contained animals that did fine at those temperatures. That is no longer the case and now most animals come from reefs that haven't sniffed 78 for nearly 10,000 years and they do much better around 82-84; 78 is like a slow death. All these views should give you perspective which will aid in UNDERSTANDING which is not the same as knowledge but a little bit better and a whole lot more important.

[Dave ESPI]

If some one post like a 'tard they are more detrimental to the community when they fly off the handle, than the one or a few people straightning them out.

If I ever do something stupid, I would expect the same responses back for doing so. Its how it works.

You screw up on a jobsite, you get reamed.

You flunk a course, you take the class again.

You ditch the girlfriend's parents aniversery party to hang with the buds and fo drag racing, yer not going to get any nook nook fer a week.

Ya suck it up, and say "sowwwiieeee" and with tail tucked between legs, you acknowledge "Well I aint going to do that again" and become a smarter poster and better reefer.

 

any ways... WTF was my real reason to post....

OH YEAH ! books.... I have 6 less than "the king" Mr Presley

but I dont count the Phonebook, the pornos, the coffee table books, or the bible in that collection.

 

Do you have Origin of species by Darwin? damn fine book, but Its fn-confusing to read cover to cover.

[ross76053]

Yeah, but books only go so far. Books only provide a small portion (maybe 20%) of the knowledge you'll acquire by "doing" in the the reefing hobby.

 

What did I learn through college texts that I use in my job? Jack.

 

I'm in the computer network business, and have read tons-o-books and have many certs. Did any of it help me with my job? Maybe 20%.

 

Ya won't find answers to most of your questions through books. Just look at the high volume of posts here that say things like, "HELP - TANK CRASH - WHAT DO I DO?". Maybe I don't have the right books, but I don't have one that lists the possibilities for saving livestock, detailing the needs of each animal in times of crisis.

[BCOrchidGuy]

The best book I ever bought was a Barrons book on discus it had the best disease section I have ever read.... Other than that it was just warm soft water and some nice pictures.

[BrianR]

Originally posted by Dave ESPI

You ditch the girlfriend's parents aniversery party to hang  with the buds and fo drag racing, yer not going to get any nook nook fer a week.

 

um......me guess is personal experience here huh Dave? I will have to put that in my Not To Do Book.

 

OH YEAH ! books.... I have 6 less than "the king" Mr Presley  

but I dont count the Phonebook, the pornos, the coffee table books, or the bible in that collection.  

 

Rharharharharharharhar!!!!