How do they do it?

[cpetrosky]

i have personally ran an 8 gallon biocube reef for over a year now, just upgraded the tank to a 24 gallon nano cube last month. These AIO tanks rant bad IMO, they offer everything you NEED for a Softie/LPS tank right out of the box and the mods are usually straight forward. On a tank this small for a lighting upgrade i would just goy DIY LED. My 8 Gallon had 30 W of LED's and my 24 now has the stock lighting (compact floresent) plus the same 30 W LED kit added in on top. I keep anything from mushrooms to an elegance coral and a bubble tip anemone. There Great tanks for the beginner.

 

[Ballyhoo]

The bf and I were looking at a fluval edge teeny reef for our kitchen, because why not have a tank in every room lol. We have this deep corner of our counter that would fit it nicely. But a few more twists of his arm, a couple more pictures of adorbale little dwarf puffers, and a dash of puppy eyes and ill have him convinced to turn our spare 40 breeder into a high tech planted dp tank

Sent from my Droid using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

 

[platytudes]

None. I will probably never buy a book again when I have the Internet at my disposal.

We're going to have to agree to disagree on this one. Books are still incredibly useful. For one thing, they are generally written by experts. Plenty of people claim to be experts on forums and websites, but you have to be cautious. With authors, many of them have degrees (not that this is a must, but it shows you their dedication and commitment to the field) and usually decades of experience. Sure, you can't talk to them or ask them questions - but by reading what they have to say, you extract valuable knowledge, not just the answers to your burning questions. And sometimes listening (or in this case reading) without asking questions is a good thing!

For another thing, they are written with some chronology. If you get a basic "how to" reefkeeping book, you'll see from start to finish the progression of an aquarium. This is difficult to find in a combination of websites, forums and online articles. You would have to piece together a lot of these to come up with something like The Conscientious Marine Aquarist (423 pages, so more of a reference book). You can get it used for about ten bucks.

Speaking of reference, here's a book called A PocketExpert Guide to Marine Fishes: 500+ Essential-To-Know Aquarium Species:
http://www.amazon.com/PocketExpert-Guide-Marine-Fishes-Essential/dp/1890087386
A book like that could be very helpful for you in stocking your 125 gallon tank. Again, 447 pages. It would take you forever to find that much information on the internet. Again, around twelve bucks.

My guess is you haven't picked up a book lately. You should really try going to a major bookstore and browsing the aquarium section. For one thing, you're bound to get inspiration from the pictures. Many of them break it down step by step, from gathering the equipment to fully stocking the tank. One such book is The New Marine Aquarium: Step-By-Step Setup & Stocking Guide, by Michael Paletta. This book is only $7 used, including shipping. That's less than you probably spent on iTunes this week

The internet is amazing, no doubt, but it is definitely not the only resource...and when you're just starting out, it's important to build a foundation of general knowledge. It will save you a lot of money and heartache if you know more than just what directly applies to what you want to accomplish. There is no better way than starting with quality information to begin with! Set up in such a way that even the person who doesn't know what questions to ask, gets answers.

 

[Nepherael]

LMFAO nah you have me mixed up. I read all the time (actual books I mean) and I'm not the angry birds type. I'm not the person I seem when I'm asking questions that have obvious answers on here and even more obvious responses from myself. I just like driving discussion and social interaction. It's just that my opinion on informational books is that if the information is static (as in e=mc2 which will not change) then it will be written online somewhere and if the information is dynamic (which is the case with many facets of this hobby) then I wouldn't even want to own a book that says it. I don't only use forums as my source online because, like you said, I can run into all sorts of misinformation but that's why I've made a few topics looking for people's specific resources they use online to figure stuff out. I just prefer to glean knowledge from multiple sources especially in an ongoing discussion because (while I may be wrong) I think there's a lot more knowledge to be gained that way and I also retain it easier. I'll retain ten times more being told something (yes, for some reason, even when reading an answer on here) than if I am left to my own devices.

Sorry about the laugh there. Your post made me really think about how ignorant I must seem sometimes when I'm anything but (well in this hobby I am because it's only been a few months but I've already built quite the foundation just being here having questions answered and being offered so many great references to page through)

 

[platytudes]

LOL, "the Angry Birds type" I'll have to use that one...describes a few of the people I work with!

The way you expounded your viewpoint was very eloquent. I guess the only remaining argument I have is - you want a coffee table tank, right? What about a coffee table book on marine aquariums for your guests (or residents?) to read while they admire it? It might give them a whole new insight. I actually don't have a coffee table...but tons of bookshelves and every non-food surface is littered with books, we are a very bookish household. All the way from airport bookstore trash to American lit course material.

 

[Nepherael]

Haha right on. You know that isn't such a bad idea. I have a couple people I know that might even pick it up!

 

[Nepherael]

I used to have loaded bookshelves. Not with informational sources but mostly storybooks. I could read a good fantasy novel any day of the week. You have actually made me think a bit about picking up some broad subject books like the ones you mentioned earlier that will cover a tank from start to finish and go over all the processes. I'm definitely not against good reference material. On top of that a book with species listed could help also instead of just checking out places like live aquaria and could kill two birds with one stone because who isn't gonna marvel at the beautiful fish pictured in it when they come to my house and see the book there!

 

[Ptrick125]

A book with the description and picture of marine fish would be helpful to put near the tank. I have 3 books like that and I use them all the time.

Half price books sells very cheap aquarium books for only a few bucks.



Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

 

[platytudes]

Glad to hear you say that I don't read about aquariums as much as I used to, but I definitely dove headfirst into any reading material I could get my hands on when I first started becoming passionate about them, which I believe helped me tremendously. (I had a 10 gallon tetra tank that was just blah for about a year...then I found a 29 gallon tank in the dumpster, bought a stand for it, and away I went!)

Granted, some of the books are older (hard to think of 1999 as older, yikes!) but while equipment changes, things are not so different when it comes to the fish. It's corals that have changed so much, before you could only sustain a fraction of what you can reasonably keep now. Live rock as the media of choice is a relatively new innovation too, but books like "The New Marine Aquarium" I believe are already into that time period. Just avoid books that say, undergravel filter...crushed coral...etc. since that's all history!

 

[Kakashi]

"airport bookstore trash" LOL, I think we all have our weakness at the airport for any form of entertainment even if it's the "angry birds type". And now back to a question regarding this discussion.......I actually have invested in a lot of saltwater books over the past few months (FW hobbyist for about 8 years, now its time to try SW), I wanted to ask platy if you have any other book recommendations for a newbie SW hobbyist? I have "The New Marine Aquarium" and I bought "Natural Reef Aquariums" by Martin A. Moe last week. I also have a great LFS who mainly specialize in SW....wish they had more FW, but that's another gripe for another time. Two of the employees really have a good knowledge base it seems to me and one even offered to come over and help me get one set up, very nice of her.

​