totally confused reef tank

Question
Hi, I recently purchased a saltwater/reef aquarium. I have read several pages, spoke to a few people and keep getting mixed info. I mainly want a reef tank  with a few marine fish. but am after coral and anemones mostly. I am unsure what the salinity should be for a flourishing reef but also want fish to have at that salinity. I have sunk alot of money in this. I only purchased a 15 gallon which now am finding out was not the right choice I think. I have alot of micro organisms growing not sure if good or bad. This was an impulse buy. I have wanted one for years but, have been fighting cancer and finally had some extra money. But i think the store I have been going to is raping me. Started at another and they are telling me the other place is all wrong. Is there a book that you recommend for me to read that can straighten this mess out. Keep losing fish. But anemones, and other life are great. I tested my water and nitrates were little high. I did partial water change. which i do every two weeks. my salinity is at 1.023 now. lots of questions???

Answer
Hello Jeanette.

You have only read several pages??? You have a lot more to read. hehehehe

But, yea, this is a confusing hobby.  But the good news is, that after about 6-12 months, you will think, or if you dont, others will think you are a chemist/biologist...

so, no worries, be patient.  Things will get better.

First off.  If you get 10 reefers in a room and ask them a question you will get 11 answers...This is common as there is no one way to do things, and there arent two tanks/systems that are the same...

There are many books to read, and I will create a list for you and post that at the end.  But for now, lets address a couple basics..

When you say you want corals, do you know what type of corals you want?   soft corals?, hard corals, fleshy/puffy corals  (more commonly identified as soft corals or leather corals, hard corals or SPS, (small polyp stoney corals), or fleshy/puffy corals, or LPS, (large polyp stoney corals)

it is possible to have a little bit of everything, but that is a bit more difficult and expensive..

the reason it maybe more expensive is that you need to try to find the average conditions for all the different coarals...

some corals dont need as much light and some need more... you will need to have enough light for everything, if you want to try to keep a little bit of everything...

As for water salinity... the average salinity of the worlds reefs is 1.026

As for addressing any other answers at this time I would want more information from you.

Can you tell me more about your system?  What type of filtration do you have?  what type of substrate, (base material)?  What type of lighting do you have?  What other equipment do you have?

You say you have already spent a god deal of money, but i am not sure you know how much can be spent???

I do know you probably over paid if you got most of your stuff from a LFS.  You may hvave bought stuff you dont need also, as many lfs do that to newbiew, especially women newbies... Sorry.


I would start off by suggesting an online resource.   www.reefkeeping.com  this is a a great resource...

Another great book is The REef  Aquarium by Delbeek and Sprung  This book ais a little pricey so hopfully you can find a used version of it... and they are up to volume three I believe...


or you can just hang out at my new forum, and talk with and meet other reefers who are glad to help you and other newbies in setting up their dream tanks...


you can join us at www.thelittleocean.com

we have a live chat room and a forum / blog where you can post your questions or your picturs and get feedback from others...


I look forward to seeing you there.


Bill