I’m new to the hobby. 3 years ago, my son wanted fish. Long after he moved on to his next interest, I was still hooked. Before I knew what hit me, I had a tank room, a pond, and an above ground pond/water feature. As of yet, all my tanks have been freshwater. Now I’m ready to plan a reef tank or five. I’m reading books but getting personalized advice from pros can’t be substituted with study. I’m getting all my ducks in a row right now to prevent surprises & after making a list of what I need and what I have, I’m better prepared then I thought I was. By hoarding free items from craigslist for the last few years, im almost set! I have a few questions I’ve been wondering about for a while now if anyone wants to advise:
1) does a reliable ph pen exist? I wouldn’t count on the $10 ones but wonder about the $40-$60.
2) I love the hanna checkers. Which ones would I use and which ones could I skip because a test kit would suffice (if the perameter doesn’t need checking that often)
3) should I connect two 50gallon tanks in series to give me a bigger buffer? I was also thinking about a 55 olive barrel (clean) in addition to the sump for this.
4) I have mussels near me on the coast. I pry them off the rocks & eat them often which got me thinking… aren’t muscles great at filtration? Is it possible to quarantine them and integrate them somehow? I searched & searched but can’t find anything on this.
I better save my other questions for individual posts. In addition to getting help here, I plan on contributing as much as I can too. I appreciate the welcome.
1) does a reliable ph pen exist? I wouldn’t count on the $10 ones but wonder about the $40-$60.
2) I love the hanna checkers. Which ones would I use and which ones could I skip because a test kit would suffice (if the perameter doesn’t need checking that often)
3) should I connect two 50gallon tanks in series to give me a bigger buffer? I was also thinking about a 55 olive barrel (clean) in addition to the sump for this.
4) I have mussels near me on the coast. I pry them off the rocks & eat them often which got me thinking… aren’t muscles great at filtration? Is it possible to quarantine them and integrate them somehow? I searched & searched but can’t find anything on this.
I better save my other questions for individual posts. In addition to getting help here, I plan on contributing as much as I can too. I appreciate the welcome.