Let me apologize in advance for the length of this post, forgive me, I am excited to start this new hobby!
Hello Everyone,
I am a brand new member to the forums here, as well as to the entire aquarium hobby. First and foremost, I just wanted to say hello to everyone out there, and let you all know I am excited to be here!
Now that the pleasantries are over… lets get down to business. I mainly wanted to outline how I will approach my first aquarium and get some feedback. To do this, I will start by briefly outlining my position:
1. I have decided 100% that I will most definitely be thinking about starting an aquarium sometime in the near future. I have a tendency to get an idea and then over commit both financially and emotionally before I fully think about the long term aspects. As this hobby involved living creatures, I am doing my very best to avoid my natural tendency. For once, I am trying to research before just going all out.
2. As far as past research goes, a few years ago I picked up Saltwater Aquariums for Dummies and read it. I decided not to purchase a tank at the time because my wife was pregnant and I knew I could not make the required commitment in the coming months. While I have forgotten 99% of the book and its advice, I did learn two very valuable lessons that make the book worth while:
a. This is way more complicated then I thought it was going to be. As a result, I NEED to research like I have never researched anything before! I will need to approach research and planning like a job.
b. This is not a hobby based on instant gratification. More than anything, this book drilled into my head that I need to be patient.
3. As ‘Dummies’ isn’t going to be a good source of up to date information, I purchased a few other books this week and am reading them now. If anyone has suggestions, please let me hear them! Currently I am reading:
a. ‘How to Set Up a Marine Aquarium Like an Expert’ by David Chipperfield
b. ‘Reef Aquarium Fishes’ by Scott W Micheal
c. ‘You can Create a Stunning Saltwater Aquarium’ by Laurren Schmoyer
4. I went to a local Aquarium this pat week and almost bought a Biocube 29 Gallon Aquarium. The clerk said it was a great deal for a brand spanking new person and that I would not be able to match the equipment and setup for that price (assuming all new equipment). She warned me I could not make the tank as crowded as the picture and that I would always need to be conscience of the size of fish I would want to include as there is not a lot of room once you start adding elements to the tank. Lastly, she mentioned that this would be a great quarantine tank down the road should I decide to move on to a larger tank. Recalling that patience was key, I decided to do some online research on biocubes and I am seeing mixed results. I would love the communities opinion.
5. After not pulling the trigger on the Biocube 29g, I decided to check Craigslist.com to see what used goods were available in my area, and I was blown away! There is a lot great looking tanks and complete setups that are the same price as the biocube. This has really confused me. I talked to a couple pushy sellers who were trying to get me to commit to buying something immediately without answering my questions, so I stopped talking to them and am currently just monitoring ads. I think I am very nervous to buy from someone who is either trying to rip me off or assuming that I can do more than I can (one guy tried to give me his entire tank including all his critters – he said I would have no problem keeping them alive and thriving…). My questions for picking up a used setup would be:
a. Can someone do something so terrible to their tank/water that even draining it there would be some toxic trace chemicals on the tank that need to be addressed before you begin (for instance, I understand copper is a killer to some critters, could there be leftover copper residue or something that could sabotage my efforts?)
b. How can a novice determine the quality of equipment (its current state as opposed to just its original value)
c. Can any tank be modified if I wanted to do something slightly different than the previous owner? I know this is impossible to answer, but maybe someone can address the ease of modifying a strangers tank…
6. I understand having a basic blue print of your future desired tank is key, but with some many choices out there for livestock, I just can’t commit to anything. So, in order to save myself and livestock from a rocky path of indecision, I decided to go for a tank that can house the following elements:
a. Clownfish. Yes I realize these are fairly cliché, but I have two daughters under 4 and they would love to have a Nemo. I know this is probably something everyone here has heard and is tired of hearing again, but I will risk being a lemming for anything that helps my daughters with their imagination while keeping them away from the television.
b. Anemones. I assume these are an obvious choice when the main “feature” of the tank is the Clownfish. Plus they are stunning and I could stare at them all day.
c. Janitorial Livestock. My limited research so far has lead me to learn about some livestock that can help maintain a healthy environment inside of a tank. I will be researching what live stock I can add that will not interfere with the Clownfish or Anemone, but I would love some suggestions.
d. I imagine that a tank that “features” clownfish is fairly common, so I would love any and all suggestions that can be offered as to livestock that can harmoniously add to a tank of that nature.
7. I no longer assume anyone is reading this as I have been droning on and on. If you are reading this, we should do something like a secret code so that we know who got this far. Hmm… maybe type the name of a particular breed of dog in your opening sentence without giving away why…
8. I will be moving in the near future (anywhere from 3-6 months). I am hesitant to buy even a Biocube let alone a 90+ gallon tank as I have no idea how traumatic and difficult moving an aquarium is. Does anyone have any thoughts or opinions on this? How difficult would it be to move a tank 1 hour drive away?
9. I can already tell from the limited poking around on the Forums that I am definitely behind on my lingo. Is there a good resource for lingo? I know it sounds silly, but it can often derail a thread for me if I can’t figure out terms.
10. Last topic for this post… I noticed in some of my reading the books instruct you to “clean” certain pieces of equipment or live rock etc… However, I never seem to find out how to clean these things. As everything is so fragile, how do I know what kinds of soap to use? How do I know what kind of brush to use, or water etc…
Thank you very much for your time and effort in reading and responding to my post. I apologize again for the huge wall of text, but I am just VERY excited! I will be trolling the forums here and seeing what answers I can learn on my own, but mostly, I feel like I am so ignorant to the hobby that it becomes difficult to follow some threads.
In the future, I will continue to post my progress and questions in this thread (so bookmark this thread if you want to see my misadventures!). I imagine that in the end this could potentially be a decent thread for anyone else who is a true know-nothing novice.
Hello Everyone,
I am a brand new member to the forums here, as well as to the entire aquarium hobby. First and foremost, I just wanted to say hello to everyone out there, and let you all know I am excited to be here!
Now that the pleasantries are over… lets get down to business. I mainly wanted to outline how I will approach my first aquarium and get some feedback. To do this, I will start by briefly outlining my position:
1. I have decided 100% that I will most definitely be thinking about starting an aquarium sometime in the near future. I have a tendency to get an idea and then over commit both financially and emotionally before I fully think about the long term aspects. As this hobby involved living creatures, I am doing my very best to avoid my natural tendency. For once, I am trying to research before just going all out.
2. As far as past research goes, a few years ago I picked up Saltwater Aquariums for Dummies and read it. I decided not to purchase a tank at the time because my wife was pregnant and I knew I could not make the required commitment in the coming months. While I have forgotten 99% of the book and its advice, I did learn two very valuable lessons that make the book worth while:
a. This is way more complicated then I thought it was going to be. As a result, I NEED to research like I have never researched anything before! I will need to approach research and planning like a job.
b. This is not a hobby based on instant gratification. More than anything, this book drilled into my head that I need to be patient.
3. As ‘Dummies’ isn’t going to be a good source of up to date information, I purchased a few other books this week and am reading them now. If anyone has suggestions, please let me hear them! Currently I am reading:
a. ‘How to Set Up a Marine Aquarium Like an Expert’ by David Chipperfield
b. ‘Reef Aquarium Fishes’ by Scott W Micheal
c. ‘You can Create a Stunning Saltwater Aquarium’ by Laurren Schmoyer
4. I went to a local Aquarium this pat week and almost bought a Biocube 29 Gallon Aquarium. The clerk said it was a great deal for a brand spanking new person and that I would not be able to match the equipment and setup for that price (assuming all new equipment). She warned me I could not make the tank as crowded as the picture and that I would always need to be conscience of the size of fish I would want to include as there is not a lot of room once you start adding elements to the tank. Lastly, she mentioned that this would be a great quarantine tank down the road should I decide to move on to a larger tank. Recalling that patience was key, I decided to do some online research on biocubes and I am seeing mixed results. I would love the communities opinion.
5. After not pulling the trigger on the Biocube 29g, I decided to check Craigslist.com to see what used goods were available in my area, and I was blown away! There is a lot great looking tanks and complete setups that are the same price as the biocube. This has really confused me. I talked to a couple pushy sellers who were trying to get me to commit to buying something immediately without answering my questions, so I stopped talking to them and am currently just monitoring ads. I think I am very nervous to buy from someone who is either trying to rip me off or assuming that I can do more than I can (one guy tried to give me his entire tank including all his critters – he said I would have no problem keeping them alive and thriving…). My questions for picking up a used setup would be:
a. Can someone do something so terrible to their tank/water that even draining it there would be some toxic trace chemicals on the tank that need to be addressed before you begin (for instance, I understand copper is a killer to some critters, could there be leftover copper residue or something that could sabotage my efforts?)
b. How can a novice determine the quality of equipment (its current state as opposed to just its original value)
c. Can any tank be modified if I wanted to do something slightly different than the previous owner? I know this is impossible to answer, but maybe someone can address the ease of modifying a strangers tank…
6. I understand having a basic blue print of your future desired tank is key, but with some many choices out there for livestock, I just can’t commit to anything. So, in order to save myself and livestock from a rocky path of indecision, I decided to go for a tank that can house the following elements:
a. Clownfish. Yes I realize these are fairly cliché, but I have two daughters under 4 and they would love to have a Nemo. I know this is probably something everyone here has heard and is tired of hearing again, but I will risk being a lemming for anything that helps my daughters with their imagination while keeping them away from the television.
b. Anemones. I assume these are an obvious choice when the main “feature” of the tank is the Clownfish. Plus they are stunning and I could stare at them all day.
c. Janitorial Livestock. My limited research so far has lead me to learn about some livestock that can help maintain a healthy environment inside of a tank. I will be researching what live stock I can add that will not interfere with the Clownfish or Anemone, but I would love some suggestions.
d. I imagine that a tank that “features” clownfish is fairly common, so I would love any and all suggestions that can be offered as to livestock that can harmoniously add to a tank of that nature.
7. I no longer assume anyone is reading this as I have been droning on and on. If you are reading this, we should do something like a secret code so that we know who got this far. Hmm… maybe type the name of a particular breed of dog in your opening sentence without giving away why…
8. I will be moving in the near future (anywhere from 3-6 months). I am hesitant to buy even a Biocube let alone a 90+ gallon tank as I have no idea how traumatic and difficult moving an aquarium is. Does anyone have any thoughts or opinions on this? How difficult would it be to move a tank 1 hour drive away?
9. I can already tell from the limited poking around on the Forums that I am definitely behind on my lingo. Is there a good resource for lingo? I know it sounds silly, but it can often derail a thread for me if I can’t figure out terms.
10. Last topic for this post… I noticed in some of my reading the books instruct you to “clean” certain pieces of equipment or live rock etc… However, I never seem to find out how to clean these things. As everything is so fragile, how do I know what kinds of soap to use? How do I know what kind of brush to use, or water etc…
Thank you very much for your time and effort in reading and responding to my post. I apologize again for the huge wall of text, but I am just VERY excited! I will be trolling the forums here and seeing what answers I can learn on my own, but mostly, I feel like I am so ignorant to the hobby that it becomes difficult to follow some threads.
In the future, I will continue to post my progress and questions in this thread (so bookmark this thread if you want to see my misadventures!). I imagine that in the end this could potentially be a decent thread for anyone else who is a true know-nothing novice.
