Where did you learn how to keep a reef aquarium?

I voted for the Internet and Books.

When I first started out, there was a guy named Brad at my LFS. I thought he was their employee but he wasn't....they just allowed him to hang around because he would answer questions and tell you what you needed to buy. He had his own aquarium maintenance company and he was always pushing to sign up a maintenance contract. I relied on him for everything and it turned out, he was purposely screwing up my tank so I would have to pay him to fix it. However, I didn't realize this until I did my own research with books and the Internet.

 

Some basic stuff from my brother who had a SW tank.
Read quite a bit on the internet, and.....
Right here @ 3reef is where I learned allot and am still learning!

Nice !

 

Mostly, I have learned the ins and outs of keeping a saltwater tank by reading and researching on the internet as well as lately since finding 3reef! Talking to people at pet shops sometimes helps as well, though eventually after you have gained the knowledge and experience, sometimes you find out what they are telling you isn't exactly true or a scam just to get you to buy something.

 

good and bad advice from a couple of lfs , lots of books ....but since i found 3reef my reef world has gotten bigger and better . im a chef i have just 1 month ago decided to restudy and do marine studies at college( which starts in march) because i find reef keeping so interesting

 

What little I know I got from a friend here at work and then I was introduced to 3reef and have learned a ton. Especially from the links that people post and from the unlimited database that Matt has here.

 

While I've learned something from all those catagories I think the internet is a smourgasboard of info!

 

Started out with freshies many moons ago then I found an LFS that did a lot of marine/reef. SOLD! Now I'm broke

 

I learned lots right here at 3reef.com. This was the first web forum I ever used. It was JohnO, Craig, Birdlady and Matt that helped me a lot. Mostly just from reading their posts but I also asked questions. Thanks guys....if I did not mention someone here then thanks.

Jay

 

Well, that makes me glad that I found the world renown 3Reef site 3 years ago or else all my stuff would probably be in the garage now. ;D

Jim

 

I would say Books for the first 6 months. Then 3reef and a good lfs. It took me about 3 lfs to find one where the pople knew more than what I had read.
But now that i'm more experienced 90% of my knowledge is from here