Also, some not so great minds disagree. During the seven weeks since I
set up my nano tank, I have read or scanned every book written in the
past five - sometimes more - years on the subject of mini reefs that I
could find in the public and university libraries here, as well a few in
the local bookstores. I've also read most of the posts here and the How
To articles over at ReefCentral and elsewhere.

What I have found out:
#1. A clear, concise, informative, manual has not yet been written. (Go
ahead, Marc: Do it.)
#2. There is no *one way* guaranteed to work or even one way you can
depend upon to fail. All successes appear to depend upon on an approach
described by Marc L. as *interactive*.
#3. As in all subjects, the more the author knows, the more the author
recognizes what he/she does not know. It takes limited knowledge to be
convinced one has dibbies (like that, Teeb?) on THE ONLY WAY.
#4. The methods recognized as works of the devil on this newsgroup are
accepted methods by at least one author who is recognized here as a
higher authority: Tullock.

So who is one to believe? Tullock, who seems so respected here, in his
latest book advocates the use of Skilters, at least at entry level. The
use of additional filtering, which I understand from the newsgroup is
just a ticket to hair algae, is considered by him to be a necessity.
Nitrate, a four letter word to many, is not the stuff of nightmares to
him. By the way, his book disappointed me; it seems unnecessarily
padded, something of a pot-boiler and not a good choice for the
beginner. I prefer a 12 year old book by Levine. Also the one for
Dummies is quite helpful. Goldstein is almost useless to me and Mills
worse.

Aside from books, the information I get from local experts differs
markedly from what I've read here, especially about lighting. Four 400
halide lamps is all it takes to maintain a 500+ gallon lush reef garden
that I visit regularly. Some of you are putting far far faaaaarrrr more
than that on far fewer gallons. Whom am I to believe? So far, I'm in
agreement with Marc L that *interactive* is the way to go, that in the
final analysis I must pay more attention to my tank than anyone's words,
but it would mike it all easier to know where to look for dependable
suggestions.

P.s. I saw my first wormy thingy in the sand yesterday morning. You'd
think I saw an orchid from my ooohs and ahhhs.

Ruth Kazez