How do people get random stuff growing in tanks?

[stan450z]

New coral people cant ID, worms, new snails people have never seen..

Do some of these just spontaneously appear?
When you buy good live rock, will it just randomly grow nice looking coral, inverts, anemones, or do people buy buy stuff that they dont know once they buy it?

Also, is it ok to add new live rocks to a tank with fish already in it, new corals, what if its from somebody else's established tank. I feel like its beneficial to get something from somebody's used tank because it has had lots of time to grow, and might be cheaper. My LFS has corals taht are so tiny and go for hundreds of dollars. I knew tropical fish were kind of expensive but the corals are insane.

I have just so many questions and issues since i am a newbie, I wish I could chat on messanger with an experienced tank owner if any of you would like to take the time to share some of your experience and wisdom, please send me a message.

I would rather do stuff right rather than wasting money making mistakes and trial and error.

I'd like to check out some books, but info can be conflicting, and without pictures I get lost. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Stan

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

There's nothing spontaneous about the stuff in our tanks. It either came in on purpose... or not so much. Assuming you get live rock that has been kept wet and still has some of its natural inhabitants, you'll get hitchkers. Some good, some bad. But when I say hitchikers, I mean things like worms, small snails, small clams (not the pretty ones!), copepods, amphipods... basically the building blocks for a good little reef ecosystem.

When it comes to corals... yes, you have to buy them. Occassionally you might get one for "free" with some live rock, but not very often. And if you do, most likely it's something that isn't worth much.

Regarding corals that people have bought that they can't ID... I scratch my head on that one too. For me, I want to know what it is I'm buying, where it should be located in my tank, and whether or not it's going to "play well with others" in my tank. Impulse buys on unknown corals don't normally end well.

My best advice is get books as you suggest and research long and hard before plopping down your money. For aquariums/fish, I like Bob Fenner's book "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist", and for corals I like Eric Borneman's "Aquarium Corals". Both are available at the big online book sellers, some of the bigger online fish stores, and some of your good local fish stores. These two books are the best out there, but I've found they give a good overview in just two books. They're not easy reads, but they are informative.

 

[thincat]

If you can find a reef club in your area, that would be a great way to meet people and also to get corals at a much better price.
Go slow and most of all "have fun".

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

If you can find a reef club in your area, that would be a great way to meet people and also to get corals at a much better price.
Go slow and most of all "have fun".

 

[juice28]

A reef club would be great! I think I might start one here lol even though im still a newbie, (dont feel bad, i was in your exact shoes like 4 months ago and the guys here have been life savers lol) ive had stuff just pop up on my LR that i didnt see mainly sponges or tunicates stuff like that but it was already on there, my LFS doesnt hold on to LR long so most of the stuff that is...drawn upyou dont see because it hasnt been in a stable place long enough to expand. next time your in your lfs, talk to some of the customers in there with you. I had a guy at wal mart tell me how to secure frags and where to get the stuff to do it at to save monet insted of buying the "fish store version" my LFS sell epoxy putty for like 30 bucks but you can get the same stuff and a bigger tube at lowes for much cheaper so building a good network for me, has been the most helpful thing. and if you lfs has good people working in it, they will tell what you need to know not what you want to hear