husbandry ethics to reefkeeping

[rulost2001]

.there is a question about animals in copper water which i guess would be husbandry....another about "should we be removing critters from the ocean....which would be ecology, " how about lfs willing to sell a jellyfish kinda knowing that it will probably get stuck in a filter? i mean there has to be ethics..right?

maybe this thread should read," husbandry ethics of reef keeping"

the reason for this posting is being a newbie at reefkeeping it is very very easy to get in over your head....and fail the husbandry test. this stuff is so glamourous and can quickly become an obsession,,,,and with nobody physically checking out your ecology and relying on cr or google via pc its a wonder these reefs make it past cycling. dont get me wrong cr is GREAT ! it will help me out loads and the few friends i have talked to at my lfs have steered me well.

this is a serious topic for we all have an obligation to ensure the safety and well being of the critters we possess

just looking for advice.

[EMUreef]

i kinda felt lost the whole time reading your post... lol

From what i gather from reading it, it does seem like were flirting with life/death when it comes to our reefs. Many people jump into it without knowing certain things that in the end kill off living creatures.

There are always basic husbandry things that should always be followed. Water changes are at the top not only do you export nutrients but your also adding necessary nutrients back into the water. There are occasions people go without water changes for many many months and still are successful, but to the newb/beginner is a practice that should be followed until you understand what goes into a reef and feel like you can handle the burden.

You also have to understand there will always be unforeseeable things that can happen. For instance i have a RO/DI unit that supplies my water, well without a TDS meter it was hard to tell when the filters were close to getting bad, and in the end i let them get really bad which caused things to go crazy in my tank. Lost a few coral and growth.

I only touched on a few examples but i can give you this:

-Water changes, 10-15% total water volume i'd say max every 3 weeks, which is pushin it. wanna shoot for around 2, bigger bioload means more frequent water changes.
-Other than water changes how do you plan to export nutrients? Skimmer? Fuge? Is your skimmer big enough for your tank?
-When buying a fish, do you know what it takes to keep it thriving? are you buying a fish that will most likely die? is your tank big enough?

if this isn't anything what your looking for, than i have no idea what your asking lol

[steve&mari]

I agree we all need to do our homework before we give in to impulse buying. Doing research on maintaining our reefs n the life in them. Read read n read more lol you never stop learning. Watching how our fish n corals act their colors all tell us something. Keeping up on water changes ect.may not always be fun but think of how you'd feel having to bathe in the same water over n over let alone live in that water and the water changes are minor. Always dip and if possible use hospital tank for new additions or treating our sick ones.
Never put water from another set up into ours. There's so much its way easier to stay on top of things n test test n test again then it is to regain control of things. This has a lot of potential in the thread. Hope it gets a good life.
Big Steve

[larryandlaura]

Research first and take your time. Oh yeah and test and test again.