Finally decided we could do a saltwater tank. Bad news is the house we decided to buy needs more rehab than we had allotted, so we'll have to buy our equipment over about the next several months before we can start making water.
So, tell me how bad my plan is.
Ultimately we want an aquarium either built into a wall or in cabinets that look like furniture. Hopefully we'll never move again. Without several grand in foundation work I doubt the house could handle more than 300-500, which is in my mind, a gawdawfully big tank. But that's like 6 years down the road.
For now, we want to take some time at the beginning to learn how to keep stuff alive, and what works, doesn't work, etc.
We're not really big on SPS. Some of the plating types and a couple pieces called 'cat's paw' look fairly cool, though. This may change, since some have nice colors and we may learn to appreciate pokey shapes.
LPS is a different matter. Bubbles, frogspawn, hammer, etc are all great. And of course I've got a real thing for [wait for it] flowerpot types. Maybe someone will figure that out in the next few years.
Soft corals are cool, too. Pretty much everything but mushrooms and those polyps that look like fancy colored aiptasia are on the menu.
As for other inverts, clams, featherdusters/fanworms, and anemones would be nice.
Fish wise, generally speakingwe're interested in dudes with unusual behavior. A large angelfish would be sweet, but I'm thinking a bad idea overall? Anyway, the anemone-clown thing, goby-shrimp, hermit crab in a frag, anglerfish, and seahorse dances are things that attract us.
Equipment wise what I have now is stuff that I've gotten nearly for free and am not attached to if I need to chuck it. A 36x20x18 tank (~60g), and a 20T, 2x96watt 34" PCs, some NO lamps, and miscellaneous crap.
I'm in the process of seeing if the library can order the books on the beginners reading list. If not I'll be getting those in a month or so.
Wrt livestock, can you give me a good place to start to get a balanced perspective? And then, of course, besides skimmer, lights, and RO, what 'practice' hardware will I need to acquire to keep them?
So, tell me how bad my plan is.
Ultimately we want an aquarium either built into a wall or in cabinets that look like furniture. Hopefully we'll never move again. Without several grand in foundation work I doubt the house could handle more than 300-500, which is in my mind, a gawdawfully big tank. But that's like 6 years down the road.
For now, we want to take some time at the beginning to learn how to keep stuff alive, and what works, doesn't work, etc.
We're not really big on SPS. Some of the plating types and a couple pieces called 'cat's paw' look fairly cool, though. This may change, since some have nice colors and we may learn to appreciate pokey shapes.
LPS is a different matter. Bubbles, frogspawn, hammer, etc are all great. And of course I've got a real thing for [wait for it] flowerpot types. Maybe someone will figure that out in the next few years.
Soft corals are cool, too. Pretty much everything but mushrooms and those polyps that look like fancy colored aiptasia are on the menu.
As for other inverts, clams, featherdusters/fanworms, and anemones would be nice.
Fish wise, generally speakingwe're interested in dudes with unusual behavior. A large angelfish would be sweet, but I'm thinking a bad idea overall? Anyway, the anemone-clown thing, goby-shrimp, hermit crab in a frag, anglerfish, and seahorse dances are things that attract us.
Equipment wise what I have now is stuff that I've gotten nearly for free and am not attached to if I need to chuck it. A 36x20x18 tank (~60g), and a 20T, 2x96watt 34" PCs, some NO lamps, and miscellaneous crap.
I'm in the process of seeing if the library can order the books on the beginners reading list. If not I'll be getting those in a month or so.
Wrt livestock, can you give me a good place to start to get a balanced perspective? And then, of course, besides skimmer, lights, and RO, what 'practice' hardware will I need to acquire to keep them?
I would say go through the beginners FAQ since you already have an idea what equipment you need. One of the problems I see though is having a sea horse on the list, they are very diffucult to keep and should have a tank by themselves, preferably established since they will eat pods. But since you are wanting to upgrade eventually having a 60 gallon established tank would work out.
