Hello Friends,
I am working on a 'starters guide to reefkeeping' article that addresses the elementary aspects of this hobby and how to be (in most cases) fairly successful.
I see so often many who jump into the hobby with little-to-no knowledge, only to fail because they lack the basic education/patience that would have helped them to make a balanced decision on whether to venture into reefkeeping or not (for those who don't know me, I have been keeping saltwater fish for 20 years and designing/keeping reef tanks for a decade)
My goal is to address the following areas where I'm looking for advice (please, FROM EXPERIENCED & SUCCESSFUL MARINE AQUARISTS, PLEASE! Not looking for arguments!)
I am working on a 'starters guide to reefkeeping' article that addresses the elementary aspects of this hobby and how to be (in most cases) fairly successful.
I see so often many who jump into the hobby with little-to-no knowledge, only to fail because they lack the basic education/patience that would have helped them to make a balanced decision on whether to venture into reefkeeping or not (for those who don't know me, I have been keeping saltwater fish for 20 years and designing/keeping reef tanks for a decade)
My goal is to address the following areas where I'm looking for advice (please, FROM EXPERIENCED & SUCCESSFUL MARINE AQUARISTS, PLEASE! Not looking for arguments!)
- What equipment you (essentially) need and realistic costs to keeping a successful reef tank? One of my goals is to document the realistic budget (not luxury) price-range one can expect to spend to succeed in this hobby, while avoiding needless expenditures on luxuries/'snake oil' solutions
- PATIENCE! Best practices on thoroughly cycling/balancing a tank UNTIL its mature and ready for coral additions (avoiding the mistake of adding (and killing) corals by adding them to a system too soon
- Differences in dry rock (basic calcium carbonate/limestone) vs manufactured rock at the outset of a tank (while I agree genuine live rock is the best option, because it is increasingly difficult/expensive to come by, I'm excluding this from this discussion).
- The importance/benefit of quarantining new fish to your system (in some capacity, whatever fashion you feel appropriate), as many fish are subject to disease through the supply chain and pose a substantial threat to your livestock