i dont understand how following Lee's directions is gonna make any differance on ''if something goes wrong''in the aquarist will know how to fix it.Furthermore,if every aquarium you have ever set up was done following these guidelines,than you really have nothing to compare your results to.
Could you please clarify? Cause it sounds like you're stating that unless you screw it up at least once, you wont know how to fix it when things do go wrong in the future. What do you mean by the last sentence I copy/pasted? Do you mean that by following Lee's guidelines you wont have a bad experiance to compare against? If so....uh.....thats whole point.
i will gracefully bow to the ''moderator''and accept defeat,and continue setting up aquarium's one after another with no fear ,no guidelines,and use my star polyps,ziniya,and macro algaes as a warning flag to when things are a mis.I will continue to put puffers and shrimp together in harmony[almost all the time]in every reef tank i build,and will always experament mixing species that are not recomended.And in the end i will know that every one is a one of a kind.And if i get that call from that person who wants a full blown reef tank with Angels,, puffers,a grouper,and a Harlincan Tusk,and o ya a Sea horse,and they want it up and running for their big party this weekend.My answer will be ''50% down and 50% when i'm done...................''what can be done with less is done with more in vane'' don't fear the nitrogen cycle,and don't always take the safe and tested route because that's the boreing route,and you will end up with a copy of a copy.
Are you intending to come off as someone who is only in the hobby for the money w/o regard for the animals in your care? Because thats how you're coming across in this post.
Like DonW stated there is a huge difference between setting up a tank as a hobbyist, and employing a service to set up and maintain the tank.
You need to learn to walk before you run.
Lee's post is geared towards the beginning hobbyist, (who may or may not have a good handle on the best way to start up a tank), not the experianced reefer. You talk about paying attention to the animals in your systems tell lwhen something is off...Hey great. I do the same thing. The difference is that I know what normal behavior is for my animals, based on years of experiance. How is someone who doesnt have years of experiance...(setting up their first tank maybe?) supposed to know what normal behavior is or how things can be "made better" when they get out of line?
Lee's intent, and the intent of all us here, is to give board members and visitors alike, the best chance for success in this hobby. Some of it is altruistic and just based on the desire to help people. But I'm very much concerned about this hobby being seriously regulated in the upcoming years. So its in my best interests, (and in the best interests of all the animals we keep) to make sure that everyone who comes here gets the best possible advice and help to be ultimately successful in this hobby.
Your post sounds alot like its advocating playing fast and loose w/ the "rules" of the hobby. I will admit, that under certain circumstances, (which were not the subject of this thread), it is possible to "bend" some of the "rules". But if you dont know what you're doing, you're most likely going to fail, and kill all the critters in the tank that you just spent alot of money on. The "rules" (which Lee is attempting to help new comers to the hobby understand) are guidelines that have been developed after decades of experiance. They are proven. Your suggestions and the way you appear to do business can work...if you know what you're doing. The beginning hobbyist, by defination, does not know what they are doing.
This hobby has come a long way in the last 10 years. I personally attribute alot of the success with the internet and online boards and forums like this one. Places where people from all over the world can share success and failure and learn what works and what doesnt. Yes, if you dont push the envelope, and risk failure, you wont every improve or better the hobby. But there are ways to push the limits and increase chances of success.
Thats what we're here for.
Like DonW said, some people who employ a service to set up and maintain tanks get instant results. But those "instant" results that are long term successful, are the result of the service pretty much doing what Lee has described, before the tank has been set up. They've let the liverock cure, they've QT'd the critters they plan on putting in the tank. They are doing all of the hard/boring work early and behind the scenes. And they know what they are doing.
Nick
Attached photo is day two after set up,with cured live rock,live sand,and quaranteened fish.
