Noob from Vandenberg

[Tokyolow81]

Hi all.

I just picked up a 28G Nano Cube (with lots of corals and two Clown Fish) on Friday from a buddy that's PCSing today (I'm sure he's a member of this forum). I'm a complete noob to saltwater tanks; however, I have experience in fresh water. Just perusing the forum to get educated and saw this section so thought I'd pop in and say hi.

The tank is doing surprisingly well after the transfer from his house to mine, but the thought of killing something has kept me up the last two nights, hence why I am researching this forum.

A little about me: Retired E-7 from AF two years ago. Former CE Power Pro, Ground Radio, and Client Systems Tech. Now, I'm a GS employee at Vandenberg AFB, CA.

Cheers,

Pete

 

[nmotz]

Welcome to the hobby, it'll definitely give you something to do in your down time, haha. Maybe a little too much to do if I'm honest. I'm at Beale right now (north of Sacramento). Hope you enjoy your new tank.

Keep reading. After a while you'll notice just how many opinions there are out there for even simple concerns like where to keep salinity (1.021? 1.026?). Reading through thousands of these opinions and the experiences that come with them is one of the best ways to develop your own decisions for your tank. Yes, there is science to confirm or deny some of the anecdotal stuff, but in the end a glass box of water and the environment therein is very different from the actual ocean and any scientific data that might be derived from there. Best of luck to you!

 

[Tokyolow81]

nmotz, thanks for the reply. I'm a member of several non-reef related forums and they all seem to have the same types of members: post whores, highly opinionated because of what they read elsewhere on the internets, a-holes just to be a-holes, and nice ppl that actually take the time to interact with others and provide insightful information. It's a spread that's shared in all forums.

I was stationed up at Travis '07-'11 and travelled to Thunderhill Raceway in Willows, CA on occasion so I've been by Beale a few times.

And yes, this tank is pretty awesome and I'm learning something new about it every day. the wife isn't too thrilled about my newfound hobby because every new hobby of mine seems to involve a significant financial commitment. Eh, what are you gonna do? I've seen these coral open and close; the first time they closed, I thought I did something horrible so I'm all over the forum looking for info; luckily all seems normal. Gonna do my first water change on Sunday if I can get a heater in time to condition my spare salt water. I think while I've got the tank drained, I'm going to redo the aquascape since everything was put in just to get it functioning and get the marine life back in there swiftly. Once done, I'll try to get some pics and post them up in here.

Anyways, thanks again and I look forward to soaking up some good info here.

 

[nmotz]

Yeah you're right about the internet. Forum browsing is something I have to put a limit on sometimes because people are just exhausting! Always upset about something or someone, blah blah, but that's just life in general I suppose.

I think you'll find many people on this forum share your experience of "spousal difficulties" with the hobby. My wife is more concerned about the amount of time I dedicate to the tank, not so much the money at this point. But I keep myself on a tight leash, Lord knows I'd love to go nuts and buy $1K worth of coral sometimes!

I'm thinking about going over to Travis to catch a hop to Hawaii in February. I've never been on base but I've been by there and it's a nice part of California. Not as hot as Beale in the summer and closer to SF. I do really enjoy Sacramento though.

Right now I have a mantis shrimp tank that is a lot of fun. My small inverts tank is cool too though. I like unique marine creatures of all kinds. Still trying to figure out how to take care of coral though, haha.

 

[vikinglord13]

I might be joining the ANG unit at Vandenberg, would enjoy helping you out in person.