Welcome Bill!

This is a great hobby, and or passion to have and be in - When everything goes right. A-lot of that depends on how much energy (and $) one is willing to invest. The more reading you can do before setting up a tank, and the better basic concepts & understanding, and the more planning you can do before, the more successful you will be.

Good water quality IMHO is 80% of your issue while trying to replicate mother nature on the pico scale - A GOOD skimmer, and other method of nutrient export, and good source water (RO-DI unit) will greatly help you with this ... the other 20% i believe will be in deciding your route for lighting.

Don't get discouraged by reading 100 different reviews & opinions of a certain product or method of building & maintaining your system. There are many different ways to skin a cat - you just have to find out which way works the best for you.

Finding your way into the hobby & getting your first tank up can be somewhat overwhelming, especially with all of the (different) information out there.

My Recommendation - find someone that you can use as a mentor - a friend, a buddy, or someone in the club - I personally had been interested, and awed at tanks for the past ... 8-10 years ... but was never able to get my feet into it.
About 3-4 years ago, scott (keinreis) gave me an intro, it took another year or so of looking at his tank... it was all downhill from there.
Scott & I have been helping each other, going through issues & learning from each others mistakes & experiences ever since.

Again - Welcome & post up if you have any questions - we have plenty of great folks here, at all different levels of experience, and with all different sizes of tank.

Take care,

marco

Thank you for your kind and quick reply Marco. A mentor sounds like a fantastic idea. I'll keep my ears open for anyone who may be interested in such an activity.

Thanks for the pointer on where to concentrate my efforts. I've been doing quite a bit of water chemistry and lighting research. I think I have a rough picture of the basics, but have long way to go before I can qualify myself as "informed". So until then I'm going to keep reading!

Talk to you later,

Bill

Welcome to the Hobby Bill,
I am new to this hobby as well (I have less than 1 year in) and have learned alot from my fellow SWFMAS members, and they've always been very helpful when I've made horrible mistakes, or to help me understand what is happening to my tank when I get unexplained algae blooms...

I'm glad your doing your research as this is not as easy a hobby as freshwater. My opion on what to focus your attention on spending the most money on is lighting and filtration. I bought a All in one system, and have already replaced the light and am now looking into replacing the skimmer if I don't upgrade the tank all together...Its better to spend the extra money and get the nice things depending on what your looking to have in your tank, than to cut corners and have to buy again a few months down the road.

Take Care,
Cristina

Thanks for the input Cristina. I'll certainly take that into consideration. I can sense that having a plan is crucial to long term success in this hobby. Hopefully as I learn some more I'll gain a better understanding of what I exactly want out of my tank. I look forward to speaking with you again!

Bill

Hey Bill,
I agree one hundred percent with everything that Marco has said. It takes a ton of patience, energy, time and of course money it is not the cheapest hobby to be in. However, it does in my opinion have some of the greatest return in it. It really won't make you money unless you get into serious aquaculturing but i know at the end of the day when i sit down and look into my tanks and see everything swimming around and doing good i get a sense of satisfaction no matter how much money i have spent. It always the greatest when you look at a coral that you got two months ago and you see that its not only surviving but thriving and growing its just awesome.

The idea of a mentor is a great idea, I as well live in Naples. I work at a local aquarium store and between work and school i dont have much time. If by any chance you do want to stop by the shop i can show and explain somethings to you. And don't worry i wont try and sell you anything...thats not my main goal there. The store is fish central and i work wednesday and sat. I can try and mentor you myself from there along with some other people who im sure would be greatful for to help and express there opinion.

One thing you i think you would need to do is develop your own opinion and choose what to believe and not to believe...everyone has there own on what to buy and what they like whether it is salt, lighting, protein skimming, if one person likes something there is almost a gurantee that someone likes something else better. I can't tell you the number of people i see that have made detrimental and costly mistakes because they have listened to people who probably don't have the right to be giving out advice....We once had a whole bunch of students come in from a marine biology class to have their water tested because all of their fish kept dying and they didnt know why...keep in mind this isn't one tank but like 10...I tested there water and it had everything sky high (ammonia, nitrate, nitrate) i asked them everything they did and they said their TEACHER had told them to spray and wipe the tanks down with windex. Of course they did it and killed everything. SO to make a long story short without preaching to much take into consideration everything you hear and make good choices on who to believe and what to buy and you will succeed.

But it won't come fast i've been doing it for five years and have had probably ten different tanks and am still killing things and having issues and learning everyday.

Take care and hopefully the hobby bares well for you,
Derek

Hi Derek,
Thanks a million for your kind offer. I'd love to swing by the shop and bounce some ideas by you. As I'm sure you understand, I have plenty of questions. I've spent the last couple of weeks, pouring myself over all kinds of material, but it's all theoretical to this point. Seeing things in action would be an immense help.

I work from 10-4 this Sat, so if you're available either before or after that, I'd love to swing by. Otherwise, I'll have the following Saturday completely off, so I could come by then. Let me know what works best for you.

Thanks again Derek. I look forward to talking with you again.

-Bill

The shop is only open from 10-4 on sat. we could do it the next sat. or if you want we can meet at another shop i try to make it to most of them at least once a week and go to Artisk Aquariums quite a bit...Jeovanni is the owner great guy great store he would probably also talk with you as well. All the stores are in the store directory just tke a browse most around here are pretty good with information

Hey Derek,
That sounds great. If you can let me know when and where you'll be, I'll meet up with you. Thanks again for you help and keep me posted with your schedule this weekend. Until then take care.

-Bill

Hey Bill,
I work from 10-4 this sat. just like you but afterwards I will be heading down to Artisk Aquariums to pick up a part he is open till 6 on saturdays. If you would like i could meet you there, in all reality i wont be there till 5 but that way we could at least get in an hour if you want. I don't know where in Naples you are but you can look him up in the LFS directory. If those don't work the next best time would probably be the following saturday when your off and you can just come into fish central if you would like.
Well just let me know,
Derek

Awesome. Sounds great Derek. I'll meet you up at Artisk Aquariums at 5 this Sat. I really look forward to meeting you and to get some clarification and opinions on some things. Thanks again!

-Bill

Welcome to the forum bill. My name is sue and I'm fairly new to this as well. <1 yr's experience. My boyfriend pat has been an aquarist now for 3 yrs and LOVES it. He is very knowledgeable and can probably agree with me that he's also had his share of ups and downs. So, don't get discouraged! but, take it slooooooow. Sounds like your on the right track by seeking out some advice and direction.
= ) Good luck!

Hi Sue!

Pleased to meet you. Thanks for the words of encouragement, I'm sure I'm going to need them! Until then, happy reefing!

-Bill