I have had fresh water tanks, but never salt water or reef. I am trying to gather information as to what to purchase. Do you have suggestions for a couple of good books to buy. Can you recommend a good reef store close to me. I think I want to buy about 120 gal tank but not set in stone. If you have any suggestions feel free to call me at 7208517664 thanks in advance Kevin.
new member, new to reef
- Thread starter Blue Oval
- Start date
PSEUDOREEFER
Premium Member
Welcome to the RMRC
For books I would suggest "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist" by Robert M. Fenner and "The Reef Aquarium" 3 book set by J. Charles Delbeek and Julian Sprung (as my personal favorites 
). What are you planning on keeping? You may want to research what kind of aquarium you want to make before deciding on equiptment. Looking over past "Tank of the Month" aquariums on the home page can be a great source of inspiration.
Madman133
New member
If you need a tank check this out... Sometime you can find really good deals there. Just refresh it every couple of days to see the new posts. Hope this Helps!!!(BTW Welcome to the forums)
http://denver.craigslist.org/cgi-bi...ium&catAbbreviation=sss&minAsk=min&maxAsk=max (also when you say lineman do you mean like football lineman???)
http://denver.craigslist.org/cgi-bi...ium&catAbbreviation=sss&minAsk=min&maxAsk=max (also when you say lineman do you mean like football lineman???)
adams0816
Premium Member
first thing you need to determine whether to go reef setup or fish only with live rock. that will help decide on what kind of tank. then I would suggest on the pocket expert guide on marine fishes to determine what kind of fish, if your going reef then get the marine invertebrates. If going reef you need to determine what kind of corals, this will determine what kind of lighting you will go(just so you don't have the extra expense of spending all your money on the wrong lighting). & welcome to the rmrc forum, this is definitely the first step to determine which way to go. theres a lot of knowledgeable people on this forum.
MBX5
Premium Member
For books I also like the The Reef Aquarium set by Delbeek and Sprung but for me the Aquarium Corals by Eric Borneman and Book Of Coral Propagation by Anthony Calfo are better. They are a bit less money and go in-depth about setting up and maintaining reef aquariums. For fish books I like Reef Fishes 3 book set by Scott W. Michael. Sorry I don't know of any stores out your way but I'm sure others will post if they do.
PSEUDOREEFER
Premium Member
Another here for Aquarium Corals by Eric Borneman Forgot about that one. I don't have the book of coral propagation unfortunately though 
Forgot about that one. I don't have the book of coral propagation unfortunately though 
FCdenzreef
New member
a great reef book is "the natural reef aquarium" dont remember the author but its in the same series as the conscious marine aquariust.
rmougey
Chair, MACNA 2014
Kevin,
In addition to the reading matter suggested above, use the following link to see what stores are near you (the site is maintained by Artful-Dodger):
http://www.artful-dodger.com/fish/lfs.html
Given that you are in Parker, your close stores are probably Neptunes @ County Line & University, Quality Aqua (just moved and not open yet) @ County Line & Broadway, Key's Island @ Santa Fe & Oxford or Todd's Tropical Fish @ Hampden & Havana.
Check out a couple of stores, ask a bunch of questions and see who you like the best.
As for tank selection, if you are doing a reef with corals and live rock, big wide rectangles are usually better (choose a 70 over a 55), while fish only tanks do well with more length than width. But it depends on what you like, what's for sale at the store and most importantly, where it's going to end up in your home.
If in doubt, buy bigger.... probably the best advice anyone could give you!
Welcome!
-Rob
In addition to the reading matter suggested above, use the following link to see what stores are near you (the site is maintained by Artful-Dodger):
http://www.artful-dodger.com/fish/lfs.html
Given that you are in Parker, your close stores are probably Neptunes @ County Line & University, Quality Aqua (just moved and not open yet) @ County Line & Broadway, Key's Island @ Santa Fe & Oxford or Todd's Tropical Fish @ Hampden & Havana.
Check out a couple of stores, ask a bunch of questions and see who you like the best.
As for tank selection, if you are doing a reef with corals and live rock, big wide rectangles are usually better (choose a 70 over a 55), while fish only tanks do well with more length than width. But it depends on what you like, what's for sale at the store and most importantly, where it's going to end up in your home.
If in doubt, buy bigger.... probably the best advice anyone could give you!
Welcome!
-Rob
I would check back here for making your purchase. You can very frequently find deals on people breaking down their entire setups. This would be the easiest thing I can think of for a beginner with the cash to spend. You end up with a system that is proven and works for a fraction of the cost. You end up having a working system immediately without to much experimenting. Speaking for myself I've made some great buys here and met some great people. I've also acted impulsively and bought the wrong equipment thinking it was what I needed at the time. If you buy an entire system from someone here then I would ask the person what he would improve upon.
Good luck on your buying decision. Welcome to CRMRC. Check back here frequently. Good deals usually go fast although people selling entire setups usually take longer to sell the entire package so just browse the forum.
Good luck on your buying decision. Welcome to CRMRC. Check back here frequently. Good deals usually go fast although people selling entire setups usually take longer to sell the entire package so just browse the forum.
