The hobby of tropical fish keeping has come a long way over the past decade thanks in part to advances in aquarium equipment and the plethora of readily available information. There are many great fish and aquarium books available as well as an abundant amount of information on the Internet, forums and discussion groups. Running your own reef tanks is way easier than it was just a decade ago.
In the past, folks would go to the pet store and buy their reef tanks, equipment and fish all at once not knowing they were setting themselves up for failure. They would then get the whole aquarium set up and running, put some fish in and everything would be fine for a couple of days but then the fish would start to die.
But now we know better, now we know about the crucial nitrogen cycle that must take place in all new reef tanks. We know how to properly acclimate tropical fish to our tank water and how to periodically use our aquarium test kits to test the water in the reef tanks to make sure that nothing is out of whack. We now have better information on fish behavior and can determine which fishes shouldn't be kept together in the same reef tanks. The information is out there, at our fingertips, at libraries, book stores and on the Internet.
The ultimate tank setup in this hobby has to be reef tanks. It's like having a small piece of the coral reef in your own living room. The emphasis with reef tanks is on the corals and invertebrates with a limited amount of fish. These reef tanks are however, more expensive to setup and maintain.
This type of aquarium can be very demanding when you first set it up because you'll need to monitor the water parameters periodically and take corrective action when necessary. Even though this is the most expensive type of setup, it can also be the most breathtaking and rewarding as well. You should to do your research well and figure out exactly what you want to accomplish before buying your first piece of reef equipment.
