Looking for good Beginner's Guides.

[Iconz]

Alright, time to drop the pride and stop searching for reading material myself. I hope this is the best place to post this. If not please direct me to that location :P
After several days of reading, I still don't know where to begin. So for that, I'll turn to you all... Where do I begin? Is there an ideal way to learn this hobby? I'm definitly not getting impatient, I just want to make sure I'm not tearing down the wrong road. So, is there any good books for beginners? Any advised as to where to start?

Thanks in advance.

-Iconz

[Fatman]

reefkeeping.com has awsome articles and allows you to go back to old issues and best of all its FREE!

[Iconz]

Thanks fatman, I'll get on that!

[lReef lKeeper]

before i recommend a book ... what kind of tank are you thinking of starting REEF or FOWLR ?? there is a pretty big differance in the two.

[Iconz]

That's just it. I honestly don't know the difference. I know I wanna go SW and both plants/REEF and fish. What is the difference?

[lReef lKeeper]

cetain things are just a bit different in the 2. for example ... reef : temp 78 - 82, SG : 1.024 - 1.025. FOWLR : temp 76 - 80, SG : 1.019 - 1.025. not really huge differances but they can make a differance. the books and web pages listed above look like good choices.

[Iconz]

Gotya. Okay, I'll check the site out in detail. Thanks again! But, is there a book as well? I don't see one listed above.

[lReef lKeeper]

as provides by Whoya (shad) in another post !!

http://www.amazon.com/Conscientious-...e=UTF8&s=books

http://www.amazon.com/Natural-Reef-A...e=UTF8&s=books

http://www.amazon.com/Aquarium-Coral...e=UTF8&s=books
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[Fatman]

Yea what type of corals if you go reef are you looking to get into. You want to get into clams too? See, my example was I wanted nothing to hold me back farther along when I wanted to get anything so I went with Metal Halides. But if your going to mainly keep fish and some softies T5s or VHOs are good enough. So basically you need to figure out what you want then ask around and work your way from there.

[Iconz]

That's just it, I don't know what the different types are, I really havent gotten there yet. I know I want some attractive fish, as well as coral, but I'm honestly not sure how much of each I can have in 1 tank. I've heard the rule of 1" of fish per gallon of water. Is that a good ratio? You all are gonna really hafta break it down to simple terms for me, but I'll get there! Thanks!