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View Full Version : advice for noobs from noobs!!!


kurquhart1
12/28/2008, 06:58 PM
so i just added 2 clownfish to my tank today and was very excited. the trouble made it all worth it watching my children get really excited. i thought id create this so we can all share experiences and pass on advice.


my advice.......



BE PATIENT!

let nature take its course. i didnt try any bacteria in a bottle things. i looked into it but thought it would be better in the end for nature to take its course. if you dont wait, youll harm all the living things in your tank as well as waste your hard earned money. we all wanna add that fish in there once it gets goin but its best to wait! it pays off in the end it did for me.

read and read and read some more!!!! ask questions theres alot of people here more than willing to help and are also very friendly and approachable.

YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR.....

buy cheap products and you'll get poor results and wish you never bought that cheap powerhead or cheap filter or skimmer. do the research!

kurquhart1
12/28/2008, 07:08 PM
cmon people share advice!

PermaNoob
12/28/2008, 08:58 PM
So how long were you able to wait?

jbird69
12/28/2008, 09:15 PM
I always say, buy the best and cry once, or buy cheap and cry later....again and again....

Now if I could just practice what I preach:cool:

Jay

kurquhart1
12/28/2008, 09:25 PM
PermaNoob

i waited until my tank was ready for fish based on ammonia and nitrate testing

dbrann11
12/28/2008, 09:58 PM
patience and decent equipment +1, keeping in mind that decent equipment doesn't have to be thousands of dollars if you do some research...

- If you use RO/DI either install a float valve or remember to turn it off before the tub is full!
- Read until you can read no more, take no one's word as gospel and figure out what works for others, then see how that fits in with your schedule/budget/desire. - Be realistic, a high difficulty sps tank that has a pump, heater and a PC light with water changes every 8 weeks probably isn't going to be successful.

gillesec
12/28/2008, 11:42 PM
+1 on buying good stuff. If the cost is cheap, alot of times product is cheap

+1 on reading. My library/bathroom is full of literature, start with the dummy guide and work up. Can't tell you how many times I read the "Newbie's read this first" thread

The best thing I did was get everything perfect before adding water. Everything being sump placement, tubing connected, lights where I wanted them, wires neatly bundeled forming drip loops, stand and canopy fully prepared, etc. Then walked away for a week and looked at it again. Then waited another week, triple checked and then added water.

After that comes the hard part of patience and limiting how fast creature are added and making sure your system can maintain them. I think the best part of using a QT is that impulse purchases are kept in check.

fisherman2
12/29/2008, 01:03 AM
you def get what you pay for! i work at a LFS and always tell people the longer you wait the better(atleast two to three weeks) sometimes they listen and sometimes they ask one of my associates who will tell them what they want to hear"yeah you can add fish in 24hrs"

Jaded_Falcon
12/29/2008, 03:18 PM
Best advice I can give? DO WATER CHANGES! Slacking on these will cause a LOT of headaches! +1 on good equipment. Buy cheap, Buy twice. Save $ on cheap equipment and you'll double that later when you have to upgrade. You actually save money in the long run if you spend a little more up front. (Thanks to my seaclone skimmer for that lesson!)

SleepyJ
12/29/2008, 03:28 PM
Do research BEFORE buying and adding live stock. Putting up a thread on this MB entitled, "Is the fish I bought reef safe?" is kind of late.

Research and know what you want BEFORE you go to the LFS. Some LFS are good and helpful and want to see the hobby succeed. Most just want your money and will sell you their flooring as a reef-safe alternative to live rock.

Elan L.
12/29/2008, 05:40 PM
especially research corals before you get them. If you see one in the lfs that you like but never heard of, go home and research it. never let anyone pressure you into it like me. Just because its a soft coral it doesnt mean its easy. I just accidentally bought a carnation for $45, because my brother really wanted it and i figure out these things are impossible to keep and it is dead 2 days later. I have about 4 expert corals in my tank that i should have never have gotten.


Also another thing is dont get depressed whenever a fish dies because in the begging it will happen alot! Thats just life, and many times it wont be your fault.

DustinLH00
12/29/2008, 05:40 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14031197#post14031197 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kurquhart1
cmon people share advice!

Lol, I think it is hilarious that your post was about patience and 10 minutes later your demanding posts. Lol, anyways.

My biggest lesson learned was not doing enough research. I just listened to 1 person who I shouldn't have and did everything wrong. I mean EVERYTHING! I got a 55 gallon not RR with a canister filter, crushed coral and a seaclone. I then was given fish from a reefer getting out of the hobby who put 3 damsels, 1 clown and a tang along with 3 snails, 4 crabs and a pencil urchin in my cycled tank all at once without acclimation or anything!

Then while battling my hair algae nightmare, I found Reef Central and have been reading every day ever since. This is the most productive forum in existence on the internet, btw. Long live RC!

slimy fish
12/30/2008, 02:51 AM
Great advice!

jadams7
12/30/2008, 03:07 AM
Yea I bought an 'established' tank (or so I thought at the time) and was pretty much forced into a certain level of trial and error. Like many before me I had no clue how quickly a bioload can be overloaded, having no fish experience since being a kid with some Oscars (couldnt kill them if I tried). Long story short, listen to quite a few people before you act (this website can answer pretty much any question you will have, wish I would have been on here), dont get down on yourself if you make mistakes (we all do, still), and when you are flushing a $50 fish you bought 3 days ago, consider it a lesson learned and DONT TELL THE SIGNIFICANT OTHER!!

VacavilleFC3S
12/30/2008, 05:11 AM
don't name your fish

MrsHaggis
12/30/2008, 06:04 AM
I'm glad that I've been on holidays since I got my tank (about 4 weeks ago) because I have been reading every single posting on reef central since I bought it. I only wish that I had had the good sense to read it for 4 weeks BEFORE buying anything. I actually went to get some tropical fish for my birthday (already had the tank and filters and what not just needed the fish) and the guy at the LFS caught me admiring the marine aquarium on display.

Before I knew it we (my husband and I) had spent 2 hours talking to this guy and had bought about 1000 dollars worth of equipment.....but no fish!!

I'm really glad that we took the plunge since we have been talking about getting a marine aquarium for about 1 year but I really do wish that we had turned that talking into research.

I haven't suffered any losses or huge problems so far and now I am taking things really slow. I went back to the LFS yesterday and bought everything I need for a quarantine tank (yes, I am taking the advice here on reef central - my LFS thinks I'm stupid to be spending all that money on a quarantine tank, but they are French and it's part of the mentality here).

My LFS would like to sell me more fish on Saturday (new stock arriving) but I have decided to wait until my quarantine tank is established before buying anything else!!

I have learned to be patient - my husband is amazed and very thankful......

MrsHaggis
12/30/2008, 06:07 AM
Oh and get a RO/DI water purifier, making thingy.......my nitrates, phosphates, nitrits, etc levels all dropped straight away. Tap water is a curse (especially where we live, can't even use it to cook with never mind keep fish!!).

Test your tap water, then test some RO/DI water - you'll be amazed at the difference.

And don't be afraid to spend money - I just really hope that I have everything I need for a while.......for the amount that I have spent recently in the LFS you would think that I am trying to spend France out of the credit crunch all by myself!!!

Freed
12/30/2008, 06:13 AM
Alot of LFS cringe at the thought of any saltwater hobbiest using a QT tank because that means fewer losses for the hobbiest and less money for the LFS.