Tips from the Pros: Do Your Homework

Mistakes! In the aquarium hobby, they are embarrassing, costly, and sometimes lethal to your livestock. Usually they are avoidable and unnecessary, though they often teach us invaluable lessons.

I would like to tell you a short story about a mistake I once madeone I will never make again. This is something that happened to me a long time ago; it is an anecdote which provided me a valuable lesson that I have never forgotten:

Years ago, when I was first getting into this trade as a novice hobbyist, I was running a reef tank and I was starting to feel pretty good about my abilities. My tank was small, but looking lovely. However, I started to notice a minor issue with hair algae. As we all know, hair algae can be a pesky problem to resolve once it takes hold. I tried manual removal, repeated water changes, and a good cleaner crew, but nothing seemed to be quite good enough. So I headed to my local marine fish store to see if they could offer me a solution. I liked these guys because they had nice looking livestock, and they only carried marine fish and corals. I figured they were experts and I could not go wrong with their advice. I talked to the owner of the store, and shortly thereafter, I walked out with a large Tiger Cowry to tackle my algae problem. Excited about my purchase, I acclimated the snail to my tank and went to bed with high hopes.

The next morning I awoke with excitement, anticipating the moment when my aquarium lights would turn on. When it happened, I was shocked to find a huge swath of empty rock cutting straight through a patch of prized zoanthids! The zoas were some of my favorite animals, as they were the first corals I had ever purchased when I was starting out in the hobby. I began to notice my new cowry hanging out a little too close to the polyps. The next day, another large patch was gone! At that point, I was convinced the cowry was the culprit, and took it back to the store. The owner was not there, but one of his employees was exasperated when I told him my story. He looked at me and said, I cant believe he sold you that. He knows that better than that. Needless to say, I was angry and embarrassed. Fortunately, I was able to exchange the cowry for store credit. In the end, my money was not entirely lost and my zoanthid colony grew back. Yet, I was stuck with a sour taste in my mouth since I had been suckered by someone who knew more than I did. I vowed to never again let that happen.

I learned an important lesson that day: the people at the fish store need to sell you livestock and products to stay afloat. That is simple economics, and I do not hold the fact against them. Hobbyists need these retailers as much as they need us. Though online purchases are increasingly commonplace, there is no substitute for seeing the animal with your own eyes. The best retailers will do their utmost to put you on the right track, but very few will stop you from buying the wrong item if it means you will leave the store empty handed.

I still go to that same fish store from time to time. They always have good looking livestock, which they sell at reasonable prices. There is a difference now, though. I am well-informed, having built my own expertise over years of trial-and-error, along with excruciatingly focused research. I never go in blind and I do not make purchases without knowing exactly what I want, and why. That brings me to my prime point: BRING A GOOD BOOK WITH YOU WHEN YOU GO TO THE STORE. That is some of the simplest and best advice I can give to aquarists of any level. The sales person will be impressed with your diligence, and more importantly, less likely to try and sell you something you do not want or need. You will also be able to make unanticipated purchases (e.g. impulse buys) with more confidence if you can read about the animal right then and there.

There are many online sources that provide good knowledge as well, though you may find much conflicting information from the internet. It is usually necessary to wade through many web pages to distill all the claims down to a basic set of commonly acknowledged facts. Not to mention that it is more than a little unlikely that you will be able to bring your laptop down to the fish store and surf the web. Most fish stores will not provide a free wireless network for your benefit.

One advantage of a good book is that it is portable. Also, the distillation has already been done for you. You can trust the information that has been published as it has usually been vigorously vetted. The authors of the best books are acknowledged experts in the aquarium field, and often possess exemplary academic pedigrees. Good publications include The Nano-Reef Handbook and Marine Chemistry by C.R. Brightwell, Natural Reef Aquariums by John Tullock, and the quintessential marine aquarium tome, The Reef Aquarium (most recently volume 3) by J. Charles Delbeek and Julian Sprung, to name just a few. These books are chock full of incredible knowledge and will set you on the path for success time and again. But do not stop there. Find sources you trust, and use them to full effect. Supplement the books with online research at home, before you head to the store. There are several excellent websites which provide forums for marine aquarists to communicate ideas, ask questions, and show off the results of the things they have tried. I enjoy talking to as many aquarists as possible and plumbing for new and novel techniques. I always triple check the facts I receivethough some turn out to be fictitious, many are well-founded. They often lead to a new discovery or an advancement in my understanding of the aquarium sciences. With the wealth of husbandry information available, there really is no excuse for not doing your homework.