a lot to know

[Johnsteph10]

LOL. This thread just cannot die. 8O

Brandon--
The concept of sand is fairly straightforward: mainly you just have to decide on the texture, size, depth (I'm not even going to get into the debate of bare bottom (BB vs. 2-3 inches vs. deep sand bed (DSB), etc. of the sand you want. Do not use crushed coral -- you will regret it later. The main decision concerns whether you buy the "live" sand @ $15 a bag in the LFS or buy Southdown from $8 for 50lbs. When you add LR, it will "seed" the sand with bacteria and all the good critters you need. Another thing you can do (as many of us do) is to get some sand (a cup or so) from another reefer...it will contain all kinds of goodies.

There are many kinds of LR. Do a search here on it or go to google and find stores that the sell the various types (they'll have pictures, also).

Hope this help!

John

 

[JustReefIt14]

yeah thanks :wink:

 

[JustReefIt14]

i guess ill be buying my lights online, so i need some advice on where to get them. i want to house sps,lps,and softies. and the ever so popular carpet(lol). the tank d's are 72x24x25. so as implied how much and all of the things of that nature. i want the tank to be blue but to have a bit of sparkle to it if you get my drift. lol. thanks in advance and hope this isnt too over the top, as ive read i can pretty much be. :wink: 8)

 

[krullulon]

just in case nobody mentioned it before -- the faq's at wetwebmedia.com and the newbie guides here answer a ton of these quesitons... 8)

 

[JustReefIt14]

yeah, i know but i really dont like wetwebmedia, just a little too ummm well i cant really explain why, but the site does give alot of info on things. sometimes when i ask a question(s) im really looking for experienced advice. this is because the ppl with the experiened advice know what im asking because they have and now they know but how. i mean, i know alot of light is needed but should i have 800 watts or 1000 watts in all. what k's to mix to get that perfect color and stuff. lol . well a storm is coming so i have to go, oh congrats to my class of 04', oh yeah 8)

 

[krullulon]

i think a good rule of thumb here is "read first, ask questions later". 8)

for example -- instead of just asking random questions about lighting, i'd suggest deciding on an aquarium size and stocking list (i've seen you say you're getting about 30 different aquarium sizes on this thread :wink: ) and then researching lighting requirements and color temperatures. formulate your own opinions about what you think you'd like, and then post something like:

"i'm thinking about getting a 120g 36x24x24 acrylic with 2x250W MH 10K ushio bulbs -- i've heard that these give a balanced, white light and look very nice when coupled with actinics. what are your experiences?"

this way it appears as if you're not trying to shirk your responsibility to research on your own first.

you might have seen some frustration expressed by some of the more experienced folks on this list -- i think that's because they see you asking basic questions that you should be able to answer 75% on your own by reading and researching.

it appears to me that you're not really ready to jump in yet and perhaps dreaming out loud about future tanks... which is fantastic, and the more you learn now the better prepared you'll be for the day when you can enter the hobby. but don't take advantage of folks' willingness to help out on the forum -- make sure you're putting most of your energy into your own research... if you don't like wetwebmedia, there are plenty of books and articles on this site.

don't get the reputation as "boy who cried wolf" -- you want people to be invested in helping you, but if you burn them out they'll start ignoring your posts and won't be available when you really do need them.

 

[fishfanatic2]

Hellolights.com is a great place for lights, Ive had areally good experience with them.

 

[Rainman]

I can't believe I just read most of this thread. You guys are way too generous Good luck Brandon, FWIW.

 

[JustReefIt14]

omg, when i read some of the stuff you ppl say im like do i really make it seem that bad. ive read sooooooo much and its like ive seen this stuff and i kind of know it but how do i use it to do other research for stuff, like lighting.lol. it sounds so crazy when i think about it. ummm as someone said yes i have mentioned a number of tank sizes. this is because i read some of the posts and they say if you want this it needs to be big and so ill go and look and ill say oh yeah i like this and then ill say let me go and ask the lovely ppl at reefs.org what i can do with it. (silent pause..................................) :wink: as ive read, alot of people say plan before you start a tank. so i said hey cycle with lr and ls, next introduce a pair of clowns, now thats a begining. i dont know how much lightto use for a pair of clowns low,med,high. i know ill have a high source of lighing because im going to go big as i can for that carpet and the sps corals i will later desire. this time i am going to take the ever so popular advice and research as much as possible, then ill come back with a post as never before(welllllll at least i hope)lol 8)

 

[Len]

This thread is waaaaaaaay to jumbled. I'm closing it. If you wanna discuss any one of the 99 topics that were part of this thread, feel free to start another (with some focus this time, please )