Welcome to Chris' Reef
Keeping a reef aquariumI began my reef tank in late 2010 and I feel the reef is continually evolving and maturing without any drastic changes. I have continued to add LPS corals into the reef to add to the variety and interest and have settled upon small wrasses as my favourite fish. I think the two biggest lessons I have learned to date are to research and plan and then do things slowly. I don't feel I have made any dramatic changes, until recently,but the reef has changed markedly from when I first started out. When I decided to look into marines the first thing I did before buying anything was to read as much as I could and visit all of my local aquarium stockists. I spent a lot of time talking to people and developing my ideas. I soon realised how different this was going to be to keeping my fresh water tropicals. Anybody starting out in marines with no previous experience shouldn't have a problem so long as they research first. I spent quite a few months learning as much as I could and thinking about what I wanted and decided to go for a reef setup rather than purely fish. I liked the idea of having corals and inverts and trying to create something akin to a real ecosystem. I have just reread an article about successful reef keeping and feel I am doing what I want to do reasonably well. Reckon everyone ought to read it before setting out. Another good article by Michael Paletta, Tips and Tricks (No Secrets) is also worth a read. You can look at the decisions I made before setting up and follow my tank build from the beginning. Over the past few years I have learned a great deal but the more I learn the more I feel there is to know! I continue to read and I am adding books, web links and articles that I am finding useful. One issue I am finding with research on the internet is that much of the information is well over a decade old and seems to be rehashed on different sites and forums perhaps not taking into account the massive advances being made in the hobby all of the time. There is also a great deal of contradictory and inaccurate information which needs to be corroborated before taking on board. I feel this is becoming more difficult as time passes. I am writing about my mistakes or errors as well as the things that seem to go well. I have pretty much stuck with my decision to keep wrasse but would perhaps have not introduced some of the larger soft corals as these can be rather difficult to get rid of. The biggest change I have had to make was as the result of palythoas beginning to overgrow areas of my little reef. This entailed removing a few of the rocks and rescaping my tank. I needed to carefully clean other rocks as best as I could. One aim when setting up was to have a lovely interesting reef which was as low maintenance as possible. I know this is relative but I seem to be achieving my aim at present. I currently only spend about 1 hour per week on maintenance mainly a 10% water change, pump and skimmer clean apart from the daily feeding and occasional water top ups so am really pleased. Unfortunately about two years ago I suffered a bout of hair algae and Bryopsis as a result of what some people call Old Tank Syndrome. I had problems dealing with this in a satisfactory way so looked into some new ideas. After lots of research I decided to treat with Fluconazole to rid myself of the Bryopsis. This worked very well. (see blog entries) I have learned to use a social acclimatisation box when introducing new fish into my little reef. Absolutely brilliant, I wish I had come across this years ago (Acclimatisation box and my blog entry) |
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I have made a list of 'Newbie questions and answers' that I hope will also be of help. I initially joined a couple of online forums and found them very helpful and useful initially. Rather than continue to document the life of my little reef tank on the forums I have decided to add a blog page to the site to make it easier to relate my experiences as I go along. Please feel free to add your thoughts and comments.
The LFS I have used to date have been very obliging and helpful, Maidenhead Aquatics and KKC in Hessle. Carl at the CSC Aquatics down Chanterlands Avenue in Hull and Louis Gregory at Octopus8 Aquatics in Brough have also been extremely helpful and knowledgeable. As I have been developing a section on keeping wrasse in my aquarium I have been made to think about some basic advice for anyone keeping fish.
1. Build a good relationship with your LFS. Let them know about your tank setup and hopefully learn to trust them.
2. Spend time in your LFS even when not buying. Make sure their systems are good and stock is always healthy.
3. Never buy anything on the spur of the moment. Do your research and make sure you can meet the animals needs. Then go back.
4. Always inspect the fish carefully and see that they are feeding properly.
5. Be very wary about buying online as you have no idea about the specific fish or the conditions it has been kept in.
6. Try to find out where the fish came from and how it was caught and transported.
7. When researching on the internet look at the date of the information you are reading.
I have added some thoughts on the way I go about buying and adding new fish to me reef. My guide for buying fish
Best advice to date has been to research, research, research, then take things slowly and do some more research!!
The mantra I have adopted for myself over the last few years... "Keep it simple!"
Updated 18.2.20
The LFS I have used to date have been very obliging and helpful, Maidenhead Aquatics and KKC in Hessle. Carl at the CSC Aquatics down Chanterlands Avenue in Hull and Louis Gregory at Octopus8 Aquatics in Brough have also been extremely helpful and knowledgeable. As I have been developing a section on keeping wrasse in my aquarium I have been made to think about some basic advice for anyone keeping fish.
1. Build a good relationship with your LFS. Let them know about your tank setup and hopefully learn to trust them.
2. Spend time in your LFS even when not buying. Make sure their systems are good and stock is always healthy.
3. Never buy anything on the spur of the moment. Do your research and make sure you can meet the animals needs. Then go back.
4. Always inspect the fish carefully and see that they are feeding properly.
5. Be very wary about buying online as you have no idea about the specific fish or the conditions it has been kept in.
6. Try to find out where the fish came from and how it was caught and transported.
7. When researching on the internet look at the date of the information you are reading.
I have added some thoughts on the way I go about buying and adding new fish to me reef. My guide for buying fish
Best advice to date has been to research, research, research, then take things slowly and do some more research!!
The mantra I have adopted for myself over the last few years... "Keep it simple!"
Updated 18.2.20