TheJourney of Getting Started
We allget involved in this hobby for differing variances of the same reason – to experiencea reef environment on a daily basis. Most of us have always been attracted to the hobby as long as we canremember but may not have had the resources (time, money, geographic stability)to jump right in. However eventuallysomething changes in our circumstance and we are motivated to enter into thisexciting adventure. Though beforegetting too far into the adventure it is important to learn the first thingsfirst - here is what it looked like for me.
Itstarted with talking to an employee at a big-box pet store, I was given enoughinformation to gain some traction about the things I needed to learn next. Interestingly enough the first book I readwas from the Animal Planet series Setup and Care of Saltwater Aquariums. As you can expect that book was quite fundamental, but fundamental iswas I needed at the time. Unfortunatelythe next two or three books that I picked up (probably from a used bookstore ifI recall correctly) were out of date and seemed flawed in that they did notexplain much of what I had seen or had explained to me in passing at the bigbox pet store.
At the time I set out to begin thisadventure of keeping saltwater fish it is worth noting that my circumstanceshad one major obstacle to overcome, I wasn’t exactly bringing in a lot ofdisposable income. This gave me a lot oftime to do some reading. I would popinto a “real†bookstore and thumb through the pages of more versed aquariumbooks, but that was a lot of information to take in. I came across Scott Michael’s book ReefAquarium Fishes, I thought this was a perfect book to buy at the time becauseafter all I am getting into this hobby for the fish not the equipment. Not too surprisingly I was a littledisappointed that I would not be able to keep a shark in my basement. Speaking of sharks as pets, when I go to theaquarium and watch sharks, I am mesmerized by them because of their powerfulswimming motion – therefor what is the point of putting some sort of small CatShark in a 180 gallon tank so it can just lay there and turn in a circle everynow and then? But, at least one would beable to say they have a shark… Now backto “normal†saltwater fish, I spent a considerable amount of time thumbingthrough Scott Michael’s book searching for the fish that jumped out at me mostand determined what kind of care they needed.
Again through natural progression I gottired of looking at information and pictures of fish and needed to take thenext progressive step towards getting some live ones of my own. I had an empty 12 gallon Eclipse tank systemin the closet from keeping some freshwater fish years previously, and with thecircumstances of my budget being what it was I knew that would have to do forthe time being. I still didn’t know whatI didn’t know, and what I did know wasn’t very much. But I knew that my first tank was going to bequite small, I had even heard someone refer to it as “nanoâ€. Nano? 12 gallons didn’t seem that small to me, I remember thinking to myself “Youpick up 12 gallons of water, and tell me that feels nano to you!†Of course I know differently now, 12 gallonsin the marine world is quite “nanoâ€. This awareness led me to buy the Nano-Reef Aquarium Handbook by Chris R.Brightwell. This book is hands down thebest book I could have read before ever putting a drop of water into atank. While the title and subject mattervery much do focus on nano-reef aquariums, I can assure you that theinformation I read in that book has served me well when engaging in largersystems, specifically reef-chemistry.
As most experienced hobbyist know, thechallenge of keeping a small system is that there is less water to dilute yourmistakes or other catastrophes. Thisawareness instilled a greater sense of attention to detail about what I did andhow I went about it when it has come to operating a smaller system. I eventually pulled together the additional$250 or so it took to outfit my 12 bucket of ocean with a new light bulb,heater, live sand, and live rock. Iwaited through two weeks to allow the tank to cycle, which I now know thatisn’t long enough, then added my first fish.
By this time I had been deep intoreading and research for about four months and had found a few local fishstores that were not the big box pet store variety. My journey into these stores was an adventureall its own. Some stores had employees thatwere eager to help and told me magical tales of being able to keep anything Iwanted to “until it was time to move it to a bigger tank†- they never mentionhow difficult it can be to get a fish out of your established display at home. Some stores were quite established in theiroperations and their employees seemed to have little time or patience for meand my newbie curiosity. It is somewhatunderstandable why some stores didn’t spend much time speaking with me aboutequipment and set up. For starters itwas clear that I wasn’t going to be dropping $600 on a light fixture that dayafter it comes up in discussion that I didn’t even have a tank yet. Secondly it is difficult for a lot of brickand mortar stores to compete with price and selection of online retailers. So why spend time with a new hobbyistdiscussing equipment or defending why retail prices are higher than online? Here is why: That new hobbyist needs to gain traction somehow, and they often don’trealize how expensive it will be. Ifmanagement and their staff are aware that they are indeed running a business itstands to reason that someone on staff should be well versed in setting up smallersystems, specifically the popular all-in-one systems that have become sopopular. Having inventory on hand ishelpful in this regard as well. Irealize there is an expense in overhead and keeping inventory on the shelf, butit is so much easier to sell to someone what they can see – especially whenthey don’t even know what they are getting into. I know for me I ended up being loyal to thestore that took the time to discuss my options with me even if it cost a littlemore. This element of loyalty issomething that has served me well when setting up much more elaborate andlarger systems.
I ended up going to one of the moreestablished fish stores in the area told the clerk that I had just set up myfirst tank and that it was 12 gallons. The clerk set me up with a Yellow Tail Damsel, gave me some quickfeeding instructions and sent me on my way. Before you think that the clerk did me a disservice by sending my homewith an aggressive damsel, we had discussed that I wanted a bulletproof fish tostart off with; after all I wanted to set myself up for success. The short version of the short story is thatI was able to gather more funds and I ended up owning my damselfish and havingmy 12 gallon setup for about a month. Once more funds became available I ended up planning and setting up a 29gallon BioCube, and of course I made my purchase through the store thatestablished the most report with me.
I have no regrets about starting outwith an “entry level†all-in-one system. These types of systems are very forgiving in my opinion, which means tome that it is not all that possible to have the tank overflow and flood myliving room, thus upsetting my wife. Aside from that I think these types of systems protect a hobbyist fromthemselves. If I had started out with a75 gallon reef tank I am fairly certain that I would have ended up buyingequipment with too much haste, and costing me a lot more money in the long run. After all, there is only so much I could doto a 29 gallon BioCube, but there is still tinkering that can be done.
I understood from all the reading that Ihad done up to this point that I needed to be very selective about the fishthat I wanted to keep. On one of my manytrips to the fish store I happened upon a Blue Spotted Jawfish calmly hangingout by the front pane of glass. I was inawe of this fishes color, pattern, and overall beauty. After this experience I knew I would bebuilding my stock list around this fish. I took into consideration the adult size of fish and paid closeattention to what books and online resources recommended for tank size. There were certainly books, pet storeemployees, and posts on forums suggesting that I could keep just about anythingI wanted – I learned the importance of sourcing reputable information. Going back to the example earlier aboutwatching the powerful swimming motion of a shark, it is the same with anyaquarium animal, the joy is derived from watching the animal behave naturallynot just simply owning it.
After I got my BioCube set up andcycled, properly this time, I thought it would be neat to keep a pair of ocellarisclownfish. I ended up going to one ofthe more established stores and picking up a pair of ocellaris clownfish. Not long after having them in the tank one ofthem developed some sort of infection (Brooklynella, I think) and waseuthanized, I subsequently gave the other one back and have never bought a fishfrom that store since. I still pop inthere from time to time as this particular store does carry some interestingfish, but there practices leave little doubt that their fish are not cared forin the best manner. On one particularoccasion I recall seeing a Picasso Triggerfish lying on the floor that hadapparently jumped out of its open aquarium.
After doing a little reading aboutdisease and a fair amount of impatience, I determined that it was time for meto get another fish. I decided to go forthe Blue Spot Jawfish. I was exciting tofinally get “the fish†that I had been pining after. After having the Blue Spot in the tank for afew weeks, I added a Tail Spot Blenny. Iremember thinking to myself that my Blue Spot was going to consume my tiny TailSpot Blenny in one gulp as soon as it was put into the tank, needless to saythat was not the case. A few monthspassed by and I got sort of tired watching my two fish not do very muchswimming around, it was just the nature of the two species I chose to put inthe tank. I determined it would be safefor me to put in one more small fish, so I opted for a Six Line Wrasse, andwhat a great addition it was as it swam at all levels constantly. This trio of species worked out well, and ittaught me the value of enjoying watching fish behave naturally at variouslevels of the tank.
My BioCube experience taught meimportant lessons about maintaining salinity, temperature, and weeklymaintenance in general. After 11 monthsmy Blue Spot Jawfish suddenly died, this caused a behavior change in my SixLine Wrasse. After the Blue Spot diedthe wrasse began picking on the blenny and it died; I then made the mistake ofputting a Rainford Goby in the tank – it lasted a week. I knew by this time in my saltwater fishkeeping that clownfish can behave quite aggressively so I picked up a pair ofjuvenile Perculas. To my surprise theytook quite the beating, I then removed the Six Line. It is also worth mentioning that early on Ihad a Cleaner Shrimp in the tank, which is certainly a novelty but I quicklybecame disappointed with the shrimps habit of resting on corals and rippingfood out of the clutches of my LPS corals. At this point I was already planningan upgrade to 120 gallon system, so I thought I would experiment and put aDotty Back in with the clowns, which coexisted nicely until the 120 was setup.
When planning and setting up my 120 Iwas fortunate that I already had a tank up and running. It was certainly way easier being patient andallowed me to build on what I had already learned, without making rushed andexcited decisions because I was anxious to “have a tankâ€. I knew when I was setting up my 120 that Ihad a few goals hardware wise. I wantedmy tank to have minimal impact on my electric bill, run as cool (generateminimal heat) as possible, and I wanted my yearly maintenance cost to below. For all those reasons I spent alittle more up front on my equipment, and is a large reason for me choosing touse LED lighting. This keeps my electricbills low(er) and means I don’t have to worry about replacing bulbs yearly.
My 120 has been up and running sinceNovember 2012, and I still have a lot to learn. Perhaps this larger slice of the adventure can be another articlethrough the eyes of someone wading into this hobby. It is sufficient to say that I would not havehad the minimal success that I have had without taking the time to read books,research online, and ask questions at the LFS. So it should come as no surprise that my advice to any new hobbyist isto read, read everything, and read current books specifically (forums are agreat place to build on the foundation). I have found myself reading the same chapters of some books numerous times,and this repetition has served me well. Eventually it does come down to making your own decisions and being responsiblefor them – and that is why it is important to have fundamental knowledge torefer to when progressing within the hobby. It is my hope that this article conveyed more than anything that rushinginto decisions can be bad and that reading and research is best.
We allget involved in this hobby for differing variances of the same reason – to experiencea reef environment on a daily basis. Most of us have always been attracted to the hobby as long as we canremember but may not have had the resources (time, money, geographic stability)to jump right in. However eventuallysomething changes in our circumstance and we are motivated to enter into thisexciting adventure. Though beforegetting too far into the adventure it is important to learn the first thingsfirst - here is what it looked like for me.
Itstarted with talking to an employee at a big-box pet store, I was given enoughinformation to gain some traction about the things I needed to learn next. Interestingly enough the first book I readwas from the Animal Planet series Setup and Care of Saltwater Aquariums. As you can expect that book was quite fundamental, but fundamental iswas I needed at the time. Unfortunatelythe next two or three books that I picked up (probably from a used bookstore ifI recall correctly) were out of date and seemed flawed in that they did notexplain much of what I had seen or had explained to me in passing at the bigbox pet store.
At the time I set out to begin thisadventure of keeping saltwater fish it is worth noting that my circumstanceshad one major obstacle to overcome, I wasn’t exactly bringing in a lot ofdisposable income. This gave me a lot oftime to do some reading. I would popinto a “real†bookstore and thumb through the pages of more versed aquariumbooks, but that was a lot of information to take in. I came across Scott Michael’s book ReefAquarium Fishes, I thought this was a perfect book to buy at the time becauseafter all I am getting into this hobby for the fish not the equipment. Not too surprisingly I was a littledisappointed that I would not be able to keep a shark in my basement. Speaking of sharks as pets, when I go to theaquarium and watch sharks, I am mesmerized by them because of their powerfulswimming motion – therefor what is the point of putting some sort of small CatShark in a 180 gallon tank so it can just lay there and turn in a circle everynow and then? But, at least one would beable to say they have a shark… Now backto “normal†saltwater fish, I spent a considerable amount of time thumbingthrough Scott Michael’s book searching for the fish that jumped out at me mostand determined what kind of care they needed.
Again through natural progression I gottired of looking at information and pictures of fish and needed to take thenext progressive step towards getting some live ones of my own. I had an empty 12 gallon Eclipse tank systemin the closet from keeping some freshwater fish years previously, and with thecircumstances of my budget being what it was I knew that would have to do forthe time being. I still didn’t know whatI didn’t know, and what I did know wasn’t very much. But I knew that my first tank was going to bequite small, I had even heard someone refer to it as “nanoâ€. Nano? 12 gallons didn’t seem that small to me, I remember thinking to myself “Youpick up 12 gallons of water, and tell me that feels nano to you!†Of course I know differently now, 12 gallonsin the marine world is quite “nanoâ€. This awareness led me to buy the Nano-Reef Aquarium Handbook by Chris R.Brightwell. This book is hands down thebest book I could have read before ever putting a drop of water into atank. While the title and subject mattervery much do focus on nano-reef aquariums, I can assure you that theinformation I read in that book has served me well when engaging in largersystems, specifically reef-chemistry.
As most experienced hobbyist know, thechallenge of keeping a small system is that there is less water to dilute yourmistakes or other catastrophes. Thisawareness instilled a greater sense of attention to detail about what I did andhow I went about it when it has come to operating a smaller system. I eventually pulled together the additional$250 or so it took to outfit my 12 bucket of ocean with a new light bulb,heater, live sand, and live rock. Iwaited through two weeks to allow the tank to cycle, which I now know thatisn’t long enough, then added my first fish.
By this time I had been deep intoreading and research for about four months and had found a few local fishstores that were not the big box pet store variety. My journey into these stores was an adventureall its own. Some stores had employees thatwere eager to help and told me magical tales of being able to keep anything Iwanted to “until it was time to move it to a bigger tank†- they never mentionhow difficult it can be to get a fish out of your established display at home. Some stores were quite established in theiroperations and their employees seemed to have little time or patience for meand my newbie curiosity. It is somewhatunderstandable why some stores didn’t spend much time speaking with me aboutequipment and set up. For starters itwas clear that I wasn’t going to be dropping $600 on a light fixture that dayafter it comes up in discussion that I didn’t even have a tank yet. Secondly it is difficult for a lot of brickand mortar stores to compete with price and selection of online retailers. So why spend time with a new hobbyistdiscussing equipment or defending why retail prices are higher than online? Here is why: That new hobbyist needs to gain traction somehow, and they often don’trealize how expensive it will be. Ifmanagement and their staff are aware that they are indeed running a business itstands to reason that someone on staff should be well versed in setting up smallersystems, specifically the popular all-in-one systems that have become sopopular. Having inventory on hand ishelpful in this regard as well. Irealize there is an expense in overhead and keeping inventory on the shelf, butit is so much easier to sell to someone what they can see – especially whenthey don’t even know what they are getting into. I know for me I ended up being loyal to thestore that took the time to discuss my options with me even if it cost a littlemore. This element of loyalty issomething that has served me well when setting up much more elaborate andlarger systems.
I ended up going to one of the moreestablished fish stores in the area told the clerk that I had just set up myfirst tank and that it was 12 gallons. The clerk set me up with a Yellow Tail Damsel, gave me some quickfeeding instructions and sent me on my way. Before you think that the clerk did me a disservice by sending my homewith an aggressive damsel, we had discussed that I wanted a bulletproof fish tostart off with; after all I wanted to set myself up for success. The short version of the short story is thatI was able to gather more funds and I ended up owning my damselfish and havingmy 12 gallon setup for about a month. Once more funds became available I ended up planning and setting up a 29gallon BioCube, and of course I made my purchase through the store thatestablished the most report with me.
I have no regrets about starting outwith an “entry level†all-in-one system. These types of systems are very forgiving in my opinion, which means tome that it is not all that possible to have the tank overflow and flood myliving room, thus upsetting my wife. Aside from that I think these types of systems protect a hobbyist fromthemselves. If I had started out with a75 gallon reef tank I am fairly certain that I would have ended up buyingequipment with too much haste, and costing me a lot more money in the long run. After all, there is only so much I could doto a 29 gallon BioCube, but there is still tinkering that can be done.
I understood from all the reading that Ihad done up to this point that I needed to be very selective about the fishthat I wanted to keep. On one of my manytrips to the fish store I happened upon a Blue Spotted Jawfish calmly hangingout by the front pane of glass. I was inawe of this fishes color, pattern, and overall beauty. After this experience I knew I would bebuilding my stock list around this fish. I took into consideration the adult size of fish and paid closeattention to what books and online resources recommended for tank size. There were certainly books, pet storeemployees, and posts on forums suggesting that I could keep just about anythingI wanted – I learned the importance of sourcing reputable information. Going back to the example earlier aboutwatching the powerful swimming motion of a shark, it is the same with anyaquarium animal, the joy is derived from watching the animal behave naturallynot just simply owning it.
After I got my BioCube set up andcycled, properly this time, I thought it would be neat to keep a pair of ocellarisclownfish. I ended up going to one ofthe more established stores and picking up a pair of ocellaris clownfish. Not long after having them in the tank one ofthem developed some sort of infection (Brooklynella, I think) and waseuthanized, I subsequently gave the other one back and have never bought a fishfrom that store since. I still pop inthere from time to time as this particular store does carry some interestingfish, but there practices leave little doubt that their fish are not cared forin the best manner. On one particularoccasion I recall seeing a Picasso Triggerfish lying on the floor that hadapparently jumped out of its open aquarium.
After doing a little reading aboutdisease and a fair amount of impatience, I determined that it was time for meto get another fish. I decided to go forthe Blue Spot Jawfish. I was exciting tofinally get “the fish†that I had been pining after. After having the Blue Spot in the tank for afew weeks, I added a Tail Spot Blenny. Iremember thinking to myself that my Blue Spot was going to consume my tiny TailSpot Blenny in one gulp as soon as it was put into the tank, needless to saythat was not the case. A few monthspassed by and I got sort of tired watching my two fish not do very muchswimming around, it was just the nature of the two species I chose to put inthe tank. I determined it would be safefor me to put in one more small fish, so I opted for a Six Line Wrasse, andwhat a great addition it was as it swam at all levels constantly. This trio of species worked out well, and ittaught me the value of enjoying watching fish behave naturally at variouslevels of the tank.
My BioCube experience taught meimportant lessons about maintaining salinity, temperature, and weeklymaintenance in general. After 11 monthsmy Blue Spot Jawfish suddenly died, this caused a behavior change in my SixLine Wrasse. After the Blue Spot diedthe wrasse began picking on the blenny and it died; I then made the mistake ofputting a Rainford Goby in the tank – it lasted a week. I knew by this time in my saltwater fishkeeping that clownfish can behave quite aggressively so I picked up a pair ofjuvenile Perculas. To my surprise theytook quite the beating, I then removed the Six Line. It is also worth mentioning that early on Ihad a Cleaner Shrimp in the tank, which is certainly a novelty but I quicklybecame disappointed with the shrimps habit of resting on corals and rippingfood out of the clutches of my LPS corals. At this point I was already planningan upgrade to 120 gallon system, so I thought I would experiment and put aDotty Back in with the clowns, which coexisted nicely until the 120 was setup.
When planning and setting up my 120 Iwas fortunate that I already had a tank up and running. It was certainly way easier being patient andallowed me to build on what I had already learned, without making rushed andexcited decisions because I was anxious to “have a tankâ€. I knew when I was setting up my 120 that Ihad a few goals hardware wise. I wantedmy tank to have minimal impact on my electric bill, run as cool (generateminimal heat) as possible, and I wanted my yearly maintenance cost to below. For all those reasons I spent alittle more up front on my equipment, and is a large reason for me choosing touse LED lighting. This keeps my electricbills low(er) and means I don’t have to worry about replacing bulbs yearly.
My 120 has been up and running sinceNovember 2012, and I still have a lot to learn. Perhaps this larger slice of the adventure can be another articlethrough the eyes of someone wading into this hobby. It is sufficient to say that I would not havehad the minimal success that I have had without taking the time to read books,research online, and ask questions at the LFS. So it should come as no surprise that my advice to any new hobbyist isto read, read everything, and read current books specifically (forums are agreat place to build on the foundation). I have found myself reading the same chapters of some books numerous times,and this repetition has served me well. Eventually it does come down to making your own decisions and being responsiblefor them – and that is why it is important to have fundamental knowledge torefer to when progressing within the hobby. It is my hope that this article conveyed more than anything that rushinginto decisions can be bad and that reading and research is best.
