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Mark Peterson 
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Location: Murray
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 Topic: a new hobbyist's biggest problems
Posted: December 29 2010 at 10:09am |
The idea for this thread sprang from a discussion about water changes where Ben said,
 Luckedout wrote:
I do water changes whenever.....
Honestly I
didn't notice much change in my tank the last couple of times I did
water changes. When I've noticed the most change was when I
increased/improved my flow and changed my lighting.
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My first reef aquarium was set up Fall 1993. I did water changes because that's all I knew
to do to make my tank look better. Yet that didn't work for long as you see here in this link. http://www.garf.org/ugly.html It was so frustrating
because I started to have problems that I didn't know how to solve. I didn't know it was going to be so difficult. 
I was ready to give it all up.  Then came the club in the Spring of 1995. The first meeting was at Tim & Tina Weidauer's home. There were just 6 of us. Tim had left flyers at the LFS to see if anyone was interested. For the second meeting we all jumped into my minivan and headed to Joe & Cindy Jones' home in Ogden. Getting together with hobbyists via the WMAS, my knowledge and experience jumped in leaps and bounds. I found out how to give my reef the kind of care that led to ultimate enjoyment of the hobby, going on now for close to 20 years!   Water changes and what else Ben started the
list. In alphabetical order, here is what I came up with:
algae control - inputs, outputs, grazers... bio-filtration - algae, bacteria, bugs, worms... feeding - herbivores vs. carnivores (also relating to algae control)
lighting - color and intensity, useful vs. good looking
pest control - aiptasia, majano, flatworms, red bugs, rock crabs...
reefscaping - open structure, adequate hiding places...
tankmates - territorial aggression...
water flow - overflow, inside, gas exchange...
water parameters - water changes, testing, additives like Alk, Ca, Mg, etc...
What did I forget?
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Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks:www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member 
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Jeffs_little_ocean
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Posted: December 29 2010 at 10:28am |
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Maintenence. Keeping the glass, pumps, powerheads, and skimmer clean is definatly a chore.
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Life is good....right?
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Luckedout
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Posted: December 29 2010 at 10:35am |
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Equipment. That was the most confusing thing when I initially started. What it is, what it does, cons vs. pros etc.
I'm really not sure how you came up with this thread from my comment....
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-Ben
90g Mixed reef
www.body-balancechiropractic.com
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Corey Price
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Posted: December 29 2010 at 1:04pm |
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How about staying interested in the hobby for more than the average 2-year commitment.
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CapnMorgan
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Posted: December 29 2010 at 8:47pm |
Corey Price wrote:
How about staying interested in the hobby for more than the average 2-year commitment. |
I agree with this completely. I think if most hobbyists would stick it out the experience they gained would make them more successful.
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Steve My Old 180G Mixed ReefCurrently: 120G Wavefront Mixed 29G Seahorse & Softies Running ReefAngel Plus x2 435-8
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BobC63
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Posted: December 29 2010 at 8:57pm |
Under "biofiltration" I would also list Live Rock; more specifically, "Do I have enough quality live rock to support the bioload of my tank?"
I have noticed that one of the common traits amongst many newbies who post here with problems like "fish sick / dead", "corals keep dying", "nitrates too high", etc. is that, once they post a picture of their tank, many of them have skimped on the live rock compared to their tank size...
Probably because A) commercial live rock is expensive (e.g. $7 - $8 a lb) and if you have, for example, a 55g setup you should have around 50 - 75 lbs of rock... which would cost around $ 400 - $500 retail  so the newbie reasons he can "buy 20 lbs now, and the rest later..." and later never comes; and B) they don't know about lower cost alternatives like Utah Rock or simply buying "used" live rock off of forums like this one.
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- My Current Tank: 65g Starfire (sitting empty for 2+ years) -
* Marine & Reef tanks since 1977 *
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Lewy
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Posted: December 30 2010 at 9:34am |
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Patience. how many of us had a tank we didn't cycle correctly? or before the tank was established got 'tired' of the size of tank so we got a new one? or got 'tired' of the lighting and bleached everything out? or stressed the whole tank trying to catch one fish? or created a huge bioload by adding too many fish at once?
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40 gal w/ 20 sump
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vadryn
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Posted: December 30 2010 at 10:40am |
Lighting - understanding the different types of lighting (MH, LED, PC, VHO, T5) and wading through the militant camps that support their favorite flavor (Mainly T5 and MH sl*gging each other and everyone else)
Hardcore Opinions - There are those who insist that what they are doing is "right" and by inference, if not by statement, what anyone else is doing differently is wrong.
Resale - maybe not difficult to understand, but as good as the used market is to pick up equipment, it's that bad when trying to sell unneeded stuff. I think that it would be useful for new hobbiest to understand that purchases of new equipment should be wise and thoughtful - because changing your mind will be expensive.
Acronyms - AC, MH, T5, LR, LS, VHO, LFS, LW, LED, RO, FW, FWE, Ca, Alk, Ph, PC, DI, DSB, RDP, SW, HOB...
Testing/Dosing - This probably scares more people away from the hobby than anyone would care to guess.
Minimum required equipment - What is necessary and what is luxury? If you looked at BobC63's hardware as "necessary" only a fraction of us could afford to do this hobby. I suppose you could put the priority or relative importance of things compared to each other along with this. (No offense Bob - you know we are all jealous)  |
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BobC63
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Posted: December 30 2010 at 2:15pm |
Actually, Travis, for as much "hardware" as I have, I didn't pay all that much...
Everything - everything - from the tank / stand / canopy on down I bought either:
used (lighting, koralia pumps, return pump, UV, carbon reactor, calcium reactor, controller, current sump, and of course the tank / stand / canopy) - and most right off the Buy /Sell Forum here at WMAS
or got for basically free (Utah rock and sand) - again, courtesy of some knowledgable folks here on the Board
or DIYed (plumbing, old sump, Ca / Alk / Mg chemicals) for "pennies on the dollar" compared to buying retail
or got at a deep discount (ozone for $30 off ebay, heaters buy 1 get 2nd 50% off, fish food $10 / case)
The only things that I have paid full retail for were the skimmer, salt, test kits, and a couple of my fish and corals.
I'd bet that the "typical" reefer with say, a 90 - 120 setup, and who bought most of their supplies from retail stores... has probably spent more $$$ than I have.
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- My Current Tank: 65g Starfire (sitting empty for 2+ years) -
* Marine & Reef tanks since 1977 *
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