DonW
R.I.P.
Whoever took it just put it back and no questions will be asked.
This is a hobby called reefkeeping. Its a combonation of keeping ocean life in a box of water, science and deductive reasoning. Its not like building model airplanes where there is a specific set of instruction.
There is no miracle in a bucket, bottle or box. In order to succeed a person needs to educate themselves, there is no school for reefkeeping. Deductive reasoning seems to have gone by the wayside with the popularity of internet forums. Much like a spell checker we get lazy and really dont need to look at a dictionary. This becomes a serious problem when the guy that made the spell checker cant spell.
Do you need to be a scientist or some high IQ individule, NO. You do have to take the time to understand just what you are doing with the box of water. Right from the begining there are processes that need to be understood prior to even seting up a saltwater aquarium or reef tank. You cant setup a tank properly without understand the biological processes that are going to take place. You cant monitor the tank without test kits why would you even put water in a tank without knowing what your putting in the tank. If you understood the biological processes you most likely wouldnt. Today most are concerned with just getting water and rocks in the tank so that it can cycle, but dont even know what a cycle is or what it is doing. Terms like aerobic and anaerobic seem to foreign to most new reefkeepers when they should have a full understanding of them prior to ever putting water in the tank. Understanding these processes will mostly eliminate most of the simple problems that we see on a daily basis.
If its in your tank its there because YOU put it there wether it a single ppm of N or an aptasia. Being proactive when it comes to pest and nutrients is something that has also gone by the wayside with the need for speed and the almighty dollar. Were all adults and know about safe sex. What about safe reefkeeping? Live rock is one way we bring in pest. Do you actually need LR? Simply put the answer is NO, dead sterile rock is fine. Of course you will have to sacrafice time. There is plenty of room for a middle ground. You dont have to have a tank devoid of lower life forms to practice safe reefkeeping but again you will need patients.
The equipment can be a big concern for alot of people. Its expensive and this is an expensive hobby. If you dont have the resources then its not a hobby for you. There is absolutly no need to become an equipment junkie. If you took the time to learn about the biological processes taking place then you know that there is alot that is just plain NOT a necessity and purely luxury. Skimmers for example have come way down in price over the years, Deltec's hayday has past. Are big buck skimmers needed for the average reefer? NO, they are a luxury that affords you time between real hands on maintenance. If you find that you need more time but are lacking the big bucks for a better skimmer then go back and look at the biological processes and with a little deductive reasoning you will find an answer. You may not like the answer but at least it will be one that works for your tank. 9 out of 10 time its just a matter of getting rid of one or two fish that shouldnt be there in the first place.
Your live stock is another issue. Folks blindly purchasing LS because that nice guy at LFS says its ok. Most of the time he's the one that wrote the spellchecker and cant spell. Do the research before ever going to the store. Go back and think about the biological processes. Can your tank handle any more bioload with the current equipment and maintenace routine? What are you going to feed the new fish, what effect is that food going to have on everything else. If you are one of those people that buy on impulse then leave your debit card at home. If you see a fish you like then go home and do the research. There is more than one fish in the sea and if its a good fit there will always be another one.
I'm sure I could go on and on but you can easily see where I'm going, everything you do to and in your tank effects something and will always take you back to the science and reasoning. So if you skip learning the beginning science you will never understand your reef.
Don
This is a hobby called reefkeeping. Its a combonation of keeping ocean life in a box of water, science and deductive reasoning. Its not like building model airplanes where there is a specific set of instruction.
There is no miracle in a bucket, bottle or box. In order to succeed a person needs to educate themselves, there is no school for reefkeeping. Deductive reasoning seems to have gone by the wayside with the popularity of internet forums. Much like a spell checker we get lazy and really dont need to look at a dictionary. This becomes a serious problem when the guy that made the spell checker cant spell.
Do you need to be a scientist or some high IQ individule, NO. You do have to take the time to understand just what you are doing with the box of water. Right from the begining there are processes that need to be understood prior to even seting up a saltwater aquarium or reef tank. You cant setup a tank properly without understand the biological processes that are going to take place. You cant monitor the tank without test kits why would you even put water in a tank without knowing what your putting in the tank. If you understood the biological processes you most likely wouldnt. Today most are concerned with just getting water and rocks in the tank so that it can cycle, but dont even know what a cycle is or what it is doing. Terms like aerobic and anaerobic seem to foreign to most new reefkeepers when they should have a full understanding of them prior to ever putting water in the tank. Understanding these processes will mostly eliminate most of the simple problems that we see on a daily basis.
If its in your tank its there because YOU put it there wether it a single ppm of N or an aptasia. Being proactive when it comes to pest and nutrients is something that has also gone by the wayside with the need for speed and the almighty dollar. Were all adults and know about safe sex. What about safe reefkeeping? Live rock is one way we bring in pest. Do you actually need LR? Simply put the answer is NO, dead sterile rock is fine. Of course you will have to sacrafice time. There is plenty of room for a middle ground. You dont have to have a tank devoid of lower life forms to practice safe reefkeeping but again you will need patients.
The equipment can be a big concern for alot of people. Its expensive and this is an expensive hobby. If you dont have the resources then its not a hobby for you. There is absolutly no need to become an equipment junkie. If you took the time to learn about the biological processes taking place then you know that there is alot that is just plain NOT a necessity and purely luxury. Skimmers for example have come way down in price over the years, Deltec's hayday has past. Are big buck skimmers needed for the average reefer? NO, they are a luxury that affords you time between real hands on maintenance. If you find that you need more time but are lacking the big bucks for a better skimmer then go back and look at the biological processes and with a little deductive reasoning you will find an answer. You may not like the answer but at least it will be one that works for your tank. 9 out of 10 time its just a matter of getting rid of one or two fish that shouldnt be there in the first place.
Your live stock is another issue. Folks blindly purchasing LS because that nice guy at LFS says its ok. Most of the time he's the one that wrote the spellchecker and cant spell. Do the research before ever going to the store. Go back and think about the biological processes. Can your tank handle any more bioload with the current equipment and maintenace routine? What are you going to feed the new fish, what effect is that food going to have on everything else. If you are one of those people that buy on impulse then leave your debit card at home. If you see a fish you like then go home and do the research. There is more than one fish in the sea and if its a good fit there will always be another one.
I'm sure I could go on and on but you can easily see where I'm going, everything you do to and in your tank effects something and will always take you back to the science and reasoning. So if you skip learning the beginning science you will never understand your reef.
Don
