jthread wrote:

Sorry, I misinterpreted your post. I see what you mean by my LFS. The guy I
talk to is a very nice guy from Okinawa. Well meaning and I think my
nubeeness is compounding the issues.

Well being a newbie myself (only having started around 14 months ago)
I'm still very much treading the same path as you.....most of the LFS
guys I have spoken to are very nice and some quite knowledgable but it
really helps to go in armed with a few facts and having researched
stuff....the book I suggested gives you a very good basis on the theory
on how to achieve what you are trying to do....variations from this are
obviously taken and I don't think I've followed to the letter but at
least I've been able to go in and have an educated discussion....


It's interesting separating the wheat from the chaff. The good news is the
result has been less water changes and healthier water. I'm confident enough
now to slowly start buying inexpensive corals again.

What corals are you looking at buying? Softies are easier for a beginner
and help build up confidence - zoos, mushrooms, xenia, star polyps are
very rewarding.....


It seems this field is full of different ideas. Some probably born from
unusual isolated incidents that may or may not apply to my situation.

But this is part of the fun :-)


My wife sits and reads books until the cows come home and she lost us a
small fortune in coral. Seems I can get right to the root of the problem
here. :-)


Well, that is good (I mean that you can get to the root of the problem
rather than your wife's loosing corals). I hit it really lucky in the
past few weeks and have found a hobbyist who has set up a small internet
business selling his stuff and he is very local. I spent a morning with
him last week and learnt far more in those few hours than any book or
LFS could have taught me, or indeed forum or newsgroup - it was like a
brain download of everything he knows and even then I reckon I only got
a fraction of it. I am now far more optimistic about getting to the
bottom of my algae problem on my new reef tank and very confident in the
advice he gave me....part of the reason being it confirms what I have
already read in the Tulloch book....

Newbie mistakes happen all the time.....I'm still making them because
I'm still a newbie to reef.....the key is to learn from them and move on...


Gill