Last night we had a radio show on the Under The Sea Radio Show about the upcoming Marine Aquarium Conference of Illinois (MACI) that will be happening this weekend in Chicago.
Learn all about the speakers, and vendors and workshops and even raffle items to be won. If you’ve never been to an aquarium conference, they are a lot of fun and is a great way to get access to manufacturers, experts, authors and other enthusiasts.
You go into a local fish store and the kind well-intended staff give you advice on what to do with your salt water aquarium.
Then – you go to an online forum and get three different answers to the same question you posted
Then – you pick up a magazine and find an article that gives yet more differing advice.
The result: you don’t know who to believe. You wonder ‘Which one is right?’ and you are now stuck, frustrated and confused, and you do nothing. And while it may be that one of these sources has it wrong, it may also be true that many of them are all right at the same time – even though their advice differs.
But don’t blame the local fish store, and don’t blame the forum, or even the author of the article in the magazine, or even yourself. The solution to this dilemma lies in the problem itself.
DILEMMA: While it is widely recommended to educate yourself and read as much as you can about all aspects of salt water aquarium keeping, it can be confusing when you come up against differing or conflicting advice, methods and approaches. And since you are trying to learn, you may not know which one is correct or if some or all are correct, which leave you confused, stuck and frustrated.
SOLUTION: My friend Morgan Lidster of Inland Aquatics says it well in hisQuick Steps to Guaranteed Success As A New Reef (or other) Aquarist:
1) Find a hobbyist, dealer or guru that demonstrates consistent, long term success. Choose carefully. This person, and the rapport you establish with him/her, will greatly affect the likelihood of your becoming a successful aquarium hobbyist.
2) Listen to this mentor, ignoring the conflicting opinions of others, until you can confidently diagnose typical aquarium situations and the appropriate course of action, as your mentor would. Do not proceed to #3 until you also clearly understand exactly WHY s/he does what s/he does. (I’m not suggesting that you don’t read everything you can get your hands on….. However, you should try to focus on animal biology/husbandry and not aquarium philosophy.)
3) Once you have completed step #2, but never before, begin to pay close attention to other SUCCESSFUL paradigms practiced in the hobby. You will now have at your command the basic understanding of reef keeping required to successfully experiment. Before long, you will develop your OWN successful approach to reef keeping.
Another Important Note:
Books and magazine articles are great resources. Unfortunately, there’s as much bad/outdated information as there is good. New hobbyists should look to their mentor to help sort through it all!!!
To sum it up, when you are getting started, choose one (1) person whose advice and methods you will follow and copy.
Today, at 4:00pm (EDT) on the Under The Sea Radio Show, we are diving into the topic of how to make sure your tap water is safe for your salt water aquarium.
Please call in with you questions at 949-534-0637.
In the spirit of finding ways to be more helpful to you, I have created
a survey that I would like you to take. Don’t worry – it’s very short (1 minute to complete it).
Remember that video a while back showing the custom filtration room for that 1,100 gallon moray eel reef tank?
And remember how the filtration room wasn’t finished yet?
Well, it’s completed and I’ve got video footage to share with you. I’ve got some editing still to do before it’s done, so stay tuned.
Here’s a grainy picture of the tank during feeding time. And it doesn’t do the tank justice. Just wait until you see the video. You’re gonna love it.
Stay tuned for the video of this tank in upcoming blog post
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