Beginning Marine Fish Keepers, a moment of your time...

[Anonymous]

I'm putting together a syllabus for a Marine Fish class that I'll be teaching online soon. I have a rough outline for what I'll be covering, and in what order, but it occurred to me I should also use you as a resource here.

So, if you were to take a class, what information would you like to see covered? Your topic can be broad or specific, technical or otherwise, advanced or basic.

Thanks for your time.

Regards

Jim

 

[S!mon]

chemistry

 

[Lizzy & Me]

Jim,

Great idea. I feel it would be invaluable to have a topic dealing with the purchase of a used system. Basically what you need to know to avoid a disaster, prior tank medication, aptasia, water tests etc. I think it would be great to be armed with this knowledge before getting into the hobby. The hobbyist could then make an informed decision to go new or used.

A course entitled "What you must know BEFORE you start or buy anything" would be great!

Jack

 

[mr_X]

what corals to put in your tank, where to put them, and why.
aggressive versus non-aggressive corals. light and current requirements as well.
another helpful tip would be- fast or slow growers. alot of people including myself purchase xenia and gsp, just to witness it overcoming your LR, and purchase ricordia , and stare at it waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting... :lol:

 

[turnburn]

Plumbing...This is definitely a subject I could use some help with.

 

[Anonymous]

I would suggest a lecture with an emphasis on the values of planning your tank by the needs of your "must have" inhabitants. How many times have we answered posters with the "hey I saw this and it was cool so I bought it now what is it and how come it died?" questions.

Planning and research saves time, oodles of money and livestock. maybe a lecture on the use of Google as a reefkeeping research tool.

 

[mr_X]

marine fish you said......hmm....are you including corals/inverts?
if not, then i'd say to include something more descriptive than the compatability graph rdo supplies here. like...what size tank you need for a spotted grouper, and what it does and doesn't eat. and any other requirements. maybe you could classify fish in difficulty/size/aggression categories, instead of species.
after all..we don't go to the lfs looking for our first fish saying "i really want some sort of tang" we go there and say "oooh...look at that pretty fish, and what sharp teeth...he would look good in my tank! :lol:

 

[shavo]

depending on what is being accomplished in this class "reef keeping" lighting would need to be discussed. but it says your doing a marine fish class. is it just the different species or how to keep them?

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the inputs so far peeps, but keep in mind this is a 'Marine Fish' class. The class assumes for the most part you know how to set up a marine aquarium. I'll devote a session to invert compatibility, but subjects like plumbing, chemistry and such will be outside the scope of discussion for the most part.

Think Fish

I have a course outline just about completed, but I want to see if anyone touches on something I didn't think of.

Cheers
Jim

 

[S!mon]

nutrition

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Simon, on the syllabus already.
I've been thinking, and I'm going to dedicate some time to filtration and such.

 

[shavo]

can you supply the outline? what's the point of trying to give you ideas if you already have them already? I could mention anything and you could say it's on there already. I don't know what is there and what isn't. Can you put the rough outline out here and we can go from there.

 

[Anonymous]

:lol:
Good point...OK, here it is in it's rough form.

Responsibilities of the Marine Fish Keeper
Obstacles, both immediate and long term faced by the Marine Fish Keeper
Basic Taxonomy
Basic Physiology
Habitats
Tank Selection
Filtration and Setup
Quarantine Procedure
Diseases
Stocking order
Aggression Management
Nutrition
Family Specific Discussions
Species Specific Discussions
Fishes to avoid
Angels in the reef
Nanos


That would have helped to begin with yes?

 

[shavo]

i think you have alot of things covered. I didn't see water chemestry and parameters in there but I am sure that has to be one of your main topics to focus on, also not sure if this is covered under diseases but there are some signs fish display when they are stressed for certain reasons, acting lethargic, not eating slow sluggish which may not be a disease but an idication of something is wrong with the water quality and or chemestry. not sure if that helps or if you considered and already in there or not.

so where is this class taking place?

 

[Anonymous]

Online MACO/RDO class, there should be a link on the main page soon.
And yes, those items will be covered. :wink: