Welcome as well.
One of the things that makes this hobby tough for new people is knowing what you want for the long run and the many changes we make along the way to getting to what we finally like and having the appropriate skill to successfully manage that tank setup.
What are you trying to accomplish? What kind of tank do you like? What have you seen that you like.
The thing that most beginners do and I did my self is that I would see something I liked and i would do some research and add it to the tank. The problem with research on a single fish or light or filter, etc is the information is singluar in nature, it only pertains to the item we are researching. The research does not talk about how this item fits into different various systems.
Are you trying for a fish only tank, fish only with live rock, lots of fish, coral tank, soft corals? sps? lps? the list goes on and on. You may be starting with one goal in mind and then you buy a peice of coral or an anemone, etc and that begins to change the dynamics of the tank and what happens is you (we) have trained our selves to ask questions as it relates to the present state of our tank. It takes time to learn the new questions for our new tank goal. The frustration comes from dealing with so many iterations and gradual transformations and it becomes expensive and unsuccessful as we buy things and manage our tanks to be one thing and yet we have a different goal in mind. Sometime when we begin also we may not even have a goal in mind but simply add things to our tanks based simply on the fact that that "thing" is really cool.
So when asking for advice there is a big gulf between the experienced reefer and the inexperienced reefer and the main problem is that the experienced reefers condense years of experience into a paragraph and as an inexperienced we dont have the knowledge to fill in between the sentenses with the reasons for their advice and their failures and why there advice makes good sense.
There are two approaches to getting a nice fully developed reef for the inexperienced reefer.
1. Slow with many iterations and failures. Lots of thinking and observations and making slow changes and adjustments across months and years.
2. Fast (LOL) perhaps over a 3 to 6 months. Have a clear tank design and vison in mind. Visit a knowledgeable and respected reefer in your area and have them visit your tank and you will find that a couple hours with someone who has gone through it "all" will incredibly help your learning curve and save you lots of money. The interaction will help you to avoid buying and doing things that a waste of money, energy and killing our little ocean friends.
The problem with seeking advice is that many people have an agenda or are predisposed to answer. Also sometimes when seeking advice we dont give critical peices of information which will elict great advice.
So my advice for quicker success is find a mentor in your area, use Reef Frontiers and communicate your goal for your tank as you seek advice. This reply is for people seeking advice not just singling out this thread but I have noticed sometimes as experts, we dont always get the right info before we give advice.
One of the things that makes this hobby tough for new people is knowing what you want for the long run and the many changes we make along the way to getting to what we finally like and having the appropriate skill to successfully manage that tank setup.
What are you trying to accomplish? What kind of tank do you like? What have you seen that you like.
The thing that most beginners do and I did my self is that I would see something I liked and i would do some research and add it to the tank. The problem with research on a single fish or light or filter, etc is the information is singluar in nature, it only pertains to the item we are researching. The research does not talk about how this item fits into different various systems.
Are you trying for a fish only tank, fish only with live rock, lots of fish, coral tank, soft corals? sps? lps? the list goes on and on. You may be starting with one goal in mind and then you buy a peice of coral or an anemone, etc and that begins to change the dynamics of the tank and what happens is you (we) have trained our selves to ask questions as it relates to the present state of our tank. It takes time to learn the new questions for our new tank goal. The frustration comes from dealing with so many iterations and gradual transformations and it becomes expensive and unsuccessful as we buy things and manage our tanks to be one thing and yet we have a different goal in mind. Sometime when we begin also we may not even have a goal in mind but simply add things to our tanks based simply on the fact that that "thing" is really cool.
So when asking for advice there is a big gulf between the experienced reefer and the inexperienced reefer and the main problem is that the experienced reefers condense years of experience into a paragraph and as an inexperienced we dont have the knowledge to fill in between the sentenses with the reasons for their advice and their failures and why there advice makes good sense.
There are two approaches to getting a nice fully developed reef for the inexperienced reefer.
1. Slow with many iterations and failures. Lots of thinking and observations and making slow changes and adjustments across months and years.
2. Fast (LOL) perhaps over a 3 to 6 months. Have a clear tank design and vison in mind. Visit a knowledgeable and respected reefer in your area and have them visit your tank and you will find that a couple hours with someone who has gone through it "all" will incredibly help your learning curve and save you lots of money. The interaction will help you to avoid buying and doing things that a waste of money, energy and killing our little ocean friends.
The problem with seeking advice is that many people have an agenda or are predisposed to answer. Also sometimes when seeking advice we dont give critical peices of information which will elict great advice.
So my advice for quicker success is find a mentor in your area, use Reef Frontiers and communicate your goal for your tank as you seek advice. This reply is for people seeking advice not just singling out this thread but I have noticed sometimes as experts, we dont always get the right info before we give advice.
