Ya, I felt like that when I first started this hobby. The folks here really know their stuff. One of the most important things I learned here is to be patient. If your a PHD (poor hungry desperate) student, I would get a wish list for Christmas and Birthday's. You will want to ask for light bulbs, media material, such as phosphate remover and charcoal, salt buckets, and fish that help your situation, for example sand sifting golbies, or crabs and snails. Oh one more thing shop on boxing days and always look on this web-site for good deals. Good luck and happy holidays.
