My five mistakes

[Oscaror]

We were all new to reefing at some point, and we all made a mistake somewhere.
No matter how much you researched and read, you did something that you wish you didn't. But you learn from these mistakes, and it makes you a more experienced reefer, and you'll be able to teach future reefers your wisdom.
So here are the things that I wish I didn't do:

1. Start your tank with a sump + refugium!

My dad and I were at one of our local fish stores, looking for equipment to start up our first reef. We bought a skimmer, the lights, our powerheads, our filter (I'll get to that), and of course our tank. But one piece of equipment flew over our head, and I wish it hadn't.

We put everything together and set up our lights. And our tank was up and running. After about a month our tank was cycled and we started having problems. We couldn't get down our nitrates, our phosphates, and everything looked gross! We tried everything from snails to sea hares, and nothing worked. We took out all the rock and scrub it down, and everything slowly got better. But we still couldn't get our nitrates down. Our tank still has pretty bad water, but we've learnt from this. Our sump is currently under construction and we'll be setting up our refugium this december.

2. Don't use a canister filter!

Let me just say to start off, there is no wrong way to start a reef tank, and if you use a canister filter I don't think you are a bad reefer. But this piece of trash (looks like a trash can too) has caused me so much trouble!

Canister filters are a great tool, for freshwater. They are an amazing and beneficial filtration mechanism, for freshwater. But on a saltwater tank it's a whole different situation. They are just a nitrate farm in a box! This can be prevented by cleaning the filter, constantly, which nobody wants to do. Save yourself some money, don't get one of these.

3. Research your lights as much as your critters!

I'm not bad-mouthing marineland, but I wish I didn't get the lights I got.

I don't remember the name (shows how much I researched them) but they are by marineland, and weren't that strong. And that's not a bad thing, depending on your tank you don't want strong lights. But my dad and I did want strong lights, and we bought the first thing that said 'LED" on it. Get the lights your tank needs! If you want softies all over the place, don't waste your money on radions! But if you want acros everywhere, you may want to consider something along those lines. Now my tank has a maxspect razor, and it's doing great!

4. Don't add corals just because you want corals!

Who knows, maybe you like the look of button polyps, love brown mushrooms, I'm not judging you. But if you don't like them, DON'T GET THEM!

This goes for everything! You don't like calices, don't get them, you don't like button polyps, don't let them take over your entire tank! This has to be one of my biggest rules and regrets. Don't get it just because you want a coral in your tank, get it because you like it. I have a munch of brown zoas and palys hiding in the back of my tank right now, and they belong there. I don't like brown! And if you love brown, and hate red or blue or green, get brown corals. Nobody is telling you what corals you can and can't have, so take your time, get what you WANT, not what you CAN.

5. Get your aquascape right the first time!

This is one very important aspect of starting a reef, because it's very hard to change later on.

You might like how it looks when you just pile your rocks all on top of eachother, but I certainly don't. Sadly, that's what my aquascape is, with a little creativity here and there. Think about your aquascape before you set it up, think hard. Will you want a pile of rocks with dead spots everywhere and shady areas where you can't put anything? Yes? Then do it! No? Then definitely don't! Do what you want, if you don't, it'll be a chore to fix later on.

So those are the five mistake that I made, but if I didn't make them, I wouldn't be here teaching you what I learned. Maybe you disagree with some of the stuff I wrote, and I have no problem with that. And if you do these things YOU ARE NOT A BAD REEFER! I am not judging you, just want to teach future reefers how they can make the hobby easier. Maybe share your mistakes, I'd love to know, you can learn something new from everyone.

 

[tinyreef]

Haha I have made some of these mistakes... For one I hate my rockwork! I only have a 12 gallon so space is precious... I started out with not enough rock then tried to add some more after adding some corals and now it's just not too appealing and I know I could have done better. I do have a lot of dead spots and some rocks can't really be rearranged now because of the corals that are attached to them.

Also it's definitely worth it to wait for the corals you love because we bought a really big and not too expensive frogspawn that ended up not fitting too well in there, and it wasn't too happy either. We got it because it was big and cheap, but we soon traded it for something else. Definitely wait for the corals you love, especially if they are pricey. I think it is worth it to have nicer pieces than a bunch of random frags that are just ok looking.

 

[3Twinklets]

I just tore my tank down and completely reconstructed my rockwork. It certainly is a chore to do.

 

[hart24601]

Good advise. I made all of those mistakes...

 

[Reef Junky150]

Also if I may add, have patients. If you can't afford the corals of your dreams in your local supply store try what I do. If I see a coral of any kind ie one of my local spots had a birds of paradise, I asked how much. It was more than I wanted to spend on a 2" frag so I asked if he would clip me a small branch from it. He gave me a 1/2" and tossed in a bag for $5
I take it home glue it to a piece of rubble and in time it will grow to be a nice piece. I do this all the time. I have the patients to know what it will become and save a bunch in the first place. It never hurts to ask and many places will do this.

Skimping on quality equipment will usually lead you to spending more in the long run or wishing you had not skimped in the first place. I'm not saying go buy brand new top of the line etc but check around the forum. A lot of people tear down an entire system and you can find great deals on quality gently used equipment if you can't afford it new. I'm running used ac3 and tunze streams I couldn't afford new at the time. Have had for 12 years now. Paid less than half of new cost patiently searching for the deals.

So in conclusion patients is a major key to this hobby in many many ways especially if your budget conscience.

 

[Higher Thinking]

Great thread! I would also add that people should just have patience. Read up on things. I spent so much time reading and talking with fellow reefers before I took the salty plunge. I could have done it much easier, but I wanted to secure a strong foundation first.

There will always be learning as we continue reefing, but if too much disaster strikes too soon, it can increase the chances of people quitting. That's why I will always caution people to read and ask a bunch of questions before going in.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

2. Don't use a canister filter!

Let me just say to start off, there is no wrong way to start a reef tank, and if you use a canister filter I don't think you are a bad reefer. But this piece of trash (looks like a trash can too) has caused me so much trouble!

Canister filters are a great tool, for freshwater. They are an amazing and beneficial filtration mechanism, for freshwater. But on a saltwater tank it's a whole different situation. They are just a nitrate farm in a box! This can be prevented by cleaning the filter, constantly, which nobody wants to do. Save yourself some money, don't get one of these.
.

FWIW, I use a canister filter for a mix of GFO and GAC. I don't consider it a mistake.

 

[Reef Junky150]

FWIW, I use a canister filter for a mix of GFO and GAC. I don't consider it a mistake.

And use it in a completely different way than fluval intended hahaha
[emoji12]

 

[tinyreef]

Also if I may add, have patients. If you can't afford the corals of your dreams in your local supply store try what I do. If I see a coral of any kind ie one of my local spots had a birds of paradise, I asked how much. It was more than I wanted to spend on a 2" frag so I asked if he would clip me a small branch from it. He gave me a 1/2" and tossed in a bag for $5
I take it home glue it to a piece of rubble and in time it will grow to be a nice piece. I do this all the time. I have the patients to know what it will become and save a bunch in the first place. It never hurts to ask and many places will do this.

Skimping on quality equipment will usually lead you to spending more in the long run or wishing you had not skimped in the first place. I'm not saying go buy brand new top of the line etc but check around the forum. A lot of people tear down an entire system and you can find great deals on quality gently used equipment if you can't afford it new. I'm running used ac3 and tunze streams I couldn't afford new at the time. Have had for 12 years now. Paid less than half of new cost patiently searching for the deals.

So in conclusion patients is a major key to this hobby in many many ways especially if your budget conscience.

Good advice about equipment. Especially when you see those all-inclusive tanks that come with lights and pumps because they may not be the ones you need/want. It may seem like a good deal, but it may be better to build your own set up rather than have to replace them. When I got my Fluval Edge I didn't realize the light it came with was not suitable for a reef so I had to replace it and also mod the tank in order to make it fit where the other one was.

 

[Oscaror]

FWIW, I use a canister filter for a mix of GFO and GAC. I don't consider it a mistake.

Well I'm very glad it's working out for you ^_^

 

[erk]

I'd like to add that you should never trust your thermometers or temperature sensors to be calibrated correctly. Always check them in ice water.

Also, if programming your own light controller, read and understand the code before using it. I've been blasting my coral at 100% for 4 hrs a day for the last 8 months. So many bleached dead coral. :'(

 

[mcbridepcm]

I started salt tank in the 80's made many mistakes. Canister filter, I thought my local water (tap) would work, not for corals and algea well I don't want to go there. The wet dry was the Holy Grale in those days , never could afford one, kind of a nitrate factory too with what we know now. Fortunately too much rock....because I was never content I was killing frags dropping rocks on them. I once killed a fish cause he hid away in a barnicle branch and I cleaned it in bleach.... I truly truly sorry for all those things I did out of ignorance. It a good thing the hobby has always been pricecy, it probably has kept our captives a little safer. Now 30 years later, and $$$ according to my wife I've got a firm handle on reef keeping techniques, a 15 year old reef tank with thriving fish and coral some of my fish have been with me for over 10 years. I guess history can teach you something if you just listen, and learn from those offul mistakes......

 

[Oscaror]

I started salt tank in the 80's made many mistakes. Canister filter, I thought my local water (tap) would work, not for corals and algea well I don't want to go there. The wet dry was the Holy Grale in those days , never could afford one, kind of a nitrate factory too with what we know now. Fortunately too much rock....because I was never content I was killing frags dropping rocks on them. I once killed a fish cause he hid away in a barnicle branch and I cleaned it in bleach.... I truly truly sorry for all those things I did out of ignorance. It a good thing the hobby has always been pricecy, it probably has kept our captives a little safer. Now 30 years later, and $$$ according to my wife I've got a firm handle on reef keeping techniques, a 15 year old reef tank with thriving fish and coral some of my fish have been with me for over 10 years. I guess history can teach you something if you just listen, and learn from those offul mistakes......

15 year old reef, nice! And wow, I sometimes wonder what reefing was like in the 80's, heard it was just brown and sometimes green. I wasn't even born back then, glad I'm in the golden age of reef equipment.

 

[Oscaror]

I'd like to add that you should never trust your thermometers or temperature sensors to be calibrated correctly. Always check them in ice water.

Also, if programming your own light controller, read and understand the code before using it. I've been blasting my coral at 100% for 4 hrs a day for the last 8 months. So many bleached dead coral. :'(

I used to think monti caps were super high light corals, I'm sorry to all the montis I've burnt.

 

[erk]

I used to think monti caps were super high light corals, I'm sorry to all the montis I've burnt.

Same here. So many dead montis.

 

[SteveO83]

Ive done 3 out of the 5....

 

[Oscaror]

Ive done 3 out of the 5....

which ones?

 

[SteveO83]

which ones?

Had a wet dry that i converted to a sump. Switched from pcs to halides. And constantly was redoing the scape because i wasnt happy with it

 

[Tank.Bro!]

So my main mistake when I first started 3 years ago was overstocking
Let's just say its a Nasty clean up. A lot of scribing and power washers will be in ur future!

Also I have to say before all of this I used to run a tank on just two hob power filters. Just saying this made my tank full of equipment and filter cost was outrageous I'm actually starting my reef out with the before My canister arrives. I just have to say canister filters are great you just have to clean them. Part of this hobby is time. I don't want a whole other tank to deal with that nobody will look at. If you run a canister fine but you do need a skimmer and maybe a water polisher. Sumps are also expensive so keep that in mind. Just a sump premise can cost around 100-250 for a tank my size (29 gallon)

Third mistake lights. When I started out my god I had a marineland fresh water led and a stupid power compact that I used in my closets. Surprisingly it grew softies but anything else no!!!!!! And at the time I was trying to keep Lps and a monti cap

Fourth mistake was rock/decor
Now knowing how dumb I was idiot want to admit this but I used to have fake ornaments in my reef. I had a rock and three fake plants. Now this was when I started now I would kill myself if I did that. Now I will say you can buy some cool prices of fake rock made for reefs but it is a haste to clean.

Mistake five topping off
Omg I remember back when I didn't know much about chemistry of reefs so I would too my tank off with saltwater. In a month everything died due to the outrageous salinity which my scale couldn't measure. I found out when my urchin died and I was devastated.

I hope I helped some of you new reefers

 

[gtbarsi]

I found out the hard way that using a canister filter as a media reactor only really works well if you have your intake after all of your filtration so you do not end up creating a nitrate factory due to detritus building up in the media and the media baskets. Setting it up between the display drain and the sump, insures all water is reacted and insures all food particles get trapped! 0 to nitrate factory in less than a week, even with all of the filter pads removed!

All of my other sins have to do with thinking that I could take a Fluval tank system that really was for fresh water and convert it to a good salt water tank. I let my LFS convince me that I had all of my bases covered. As a result I compromised on sump size and skimmer size and now I am in the process replacing all of my filtration. Going 100% the other direction with the sump and other support equipment on the other side of the wall in rack shelving so I have LOTS of space and 6X the sump / fuge volume, and a place for a dedicated QT system!

One other thing, QT is not optional!