BIG favour required

[Bantam]

i am looking to start a marine tank. the trouble is i would like know as much as i can before i start. i have found an article/website which seems pretty comprehensive;

http://www.bluebin.net/article_beginningsaltwater.shtml

can any tell me if the info is accurate - i never quite trust internet sites 100% (apart from this one of course).

my alternative is of course a book - any recommendations?

thanks in advance for your time

craig

[VoodooChild]

I didn't have time to read all of it, but it sounds alot like what people here told me. However, he mentions crushed coral as a substrate, which I have to disagree with, even in my salt water infancy. I wish now that I had set up a sand bed, as that seems to be the preferred manner around here. They also talk about filter media, which I have learned first hand is a bad idea. A sponge clogs up like you wouldn't believe in a marine tank. I just use a HOB filter for moving water.

[Bantam]

cheers for the reply. what makes sand better? i think the filtration thing is definitley something i need to learn more about.

thanks again
craig

[BrianH]

Buy the Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Robert Fenner. It's a great book to start you in this hobby.
Brian

[VoodooChild]

Another good one is the New Marine Aquarium by Paletta and that fish guide, can't think of the name, by Michael Scott....drawing a blank, anyways, it's a great little bible for most fish you'll find out there. Fairly new....thiiiiiink.....

[gcvt]

Originally posted by VoodooChild
Another good one is the New Marine Aquarium by Paletta and that fish guide, can't think of the name, by Michael Scott....drawing a blank, anyways, it's a great little bible for most fish you'll find out there. Fairly new....thiiiiiink.....

Marine Fishes - by Scott W. Michael :)

Great resource!

[Elmo]

Originally posted by Bantam
what makes sand better?

Crushed coral tends to trab debris and becomes a veritible nitrate factory over time. Whereas a good DSB(Deep Sand Bed) will actually reduce nitrates through denitrification.

[Bantam]

thanks for the book recommendations.

is there still the problem of anaerobic spots in the sand as you get with freshwater tanks?

cheers

[OrionGirl]

A sand bed is maintained by various critters, such as stars, snails, hermits and worms that slowly churn through the sand in search of food. This prevents bad spots from developing. The denitrification process results in layers, where the nitrates are consumed, and then those by-products are consumed, and then those by-products...In a chain of various bacteria layers. Serious disruption would be bad, just as in a FW tank, because it would break up the layers. In any case, the sand bed is maintained by critters.

[Bantam]

thanks oriongirl. i just need to get down to some serious reading now!