Introduction and request for advice

[Sanjay Thomas]

Hi, my name is Sanjay, and I'm trying to learn something about reef
aquariums so I can get started in this wonderful hobby.

Until this point I have had only freshwater experience, and even then it's
been limited to African Cichlids and their limited range of tankmates. I've
had run-ins with plants also, but that's about it. I've got a friend who
works at a LFS and has got me sold on going reef, but I wanted to learn from
more than one source until I know more and can afford to start.

I've currently got a 75 gallon tank geared for cichlids and a 29 gallon tank
taking up space in the garage. I am curious about the possibility of using
that 29 for a reef if anything just to get experience before I invest in a
larger set up.

Any thoughts, ideas, suggestions, possibilities? Consider me a sponge
waiting to soak up all your expertise. Throw it all at me and let's see
what I come away with. All help is appreciated.

Sanjay

[Dracunculus]

Welcome ot the wonderful world of reef addiction. First, you are going
about it the right way. Successfully keeping sal****er tanks, especially to
be able to keep invertebrates, requires a lot of foreknowledge, since there
are many differences from keeping freshwater fish. I would suggest reading
all you can about setup and maintenance of tanks. Either buy some books, or
do some reading on newsgroups like these or websites like reefcentral.com.
There are lots of good online articles about reefkeeping, many geared
towards beginners.

One word of advice...larger tanks are easier to take care of than smaller
tanks. A 29-gallon would be a bit of a challenge for a beginner. If you
are serious about this hobby, then you might want to look into starting with
something bigger, 75 gallons or more, before trying a smaller tank.

Good luck!


"Sanjay Thomas" > wrote in message
...
> Hi, my name is Sanjay, and I'm trying to learn something about reef
> aquariums so I can get started in this wonderful hobby.
>
> Until this point I have had only freshwater experience, and even then it's
> been limited to African Cichlids and their limited range of tankmates.
I've
> had run-ins with plants also, but that's about it. I've got a friend who
> works at a LFS and has got me sold on going reef, but I wanted to learn
from
> more than one source until I know more and can afford to start.
>
> I've currently got a 75 gallon tank geared for cichlids and a 29 gallon
tank
> taking up space in the garage. I am curious about the possibility of
using
> that 29 for a reef if anything just to get experience before I invest in a
> larger set up.
>
> Any thoughts, ideas, suggestions, possibilities? Consider me a sponge
> waiting to soak up all your expertise. Throw it all at me and let's see
> what I come away with. All help is appreciated.
>
> Sanjay
>
>

[....]

29 gal tank is a good start, I started with a 10 gal. I actually still have
it set up almost 2 years later. Between moves, upgrading to a 75, now going
overseas i had to scale back and set up the 10 again, for my wife to take
care of what i really didnt want to give up for just a year. Read Read Read,
I dove right in blindly and paid for it, between high death rates, a mad
chemist phase and just about every mistake in between. Just make sure you
take your time and be deliberate in what you do, best advice i can give.


"Sanjay Thomas" > wrote in message
...
> Hi, my name is Sanjay, and I'm trying to learn something about reef
> aquariums so I can get started in this wonderful hobby.
>
> Until this point I have had only freshwater experience, and even then it's
> been limited to African Cichlids and their limited range of tankmates.
I've
> had run-ins with plants also, but that's about it. I've got a friend who
> works at a LFS and has got me sold on going reef, but I wanted to learn
from
> more than one source until I know more and can afford to start.
>
> I've currently got a 75 gallon tank geared for cichlids and a 29 gallon
tank
> taking up space in the garage. I am curious about the possibility of
using
> that 29 for a reef if anything just to get experience before I invest in a
> larger set up.
>
> Any thoughts, ideas, suggestions, possibilities? Consider me a sponge
> waiting to soak up all your expertise. Throw it all at me and let's see
> what I come away with. All help is appreciated.
>
> Sanjay
>
>

[Marc Levenson]

Hi Sanjay,

Take a look at my site, as I've had a 29g reef for some time now. And here's an
article tailored just for a person like you, trying to find out what's what:

http://www.melevsreef.com/overview.htm

My site is http://www.melevsreef.com

Marc


Sanjay Thomas wrote:

> Hi, my name is Sanjay, and I'm trying to learn something about reef
> aquariums so I can get started in this wonderful hobby.
>
> Until this point I have had only freshwater experience, and even then it's
> been limited to African Cichlids and their limited range of tankmates. I've
> had run-ins with plants also, but that's about it. I've got a friend who
> works at a LFS and has got me sold on going reef, but I wanted to learn from
> more than one source until I know more and can afford to start.
>
> I've currently got a 75 gallon tank geared for cichlids and a 29 gallon tank
> taking up space in the garage. I am curious about the possibility of using
> that 29 for a reef if anything just to get experience before I invest in a
> larger set up.
>
> Any thoughts, ideas, suggestions, possibilities? Consider me a sponge
> waiting to soak up all your expertise. Throw it all at me and let's see
> what I come away with. All help is appreciated.
>
> Sanjay

--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com