If you could go back and tell your reef newbie self something, what would it be?

[Biokabe]

Couldn't like it more than once, so I had to reply also. All 5 of these things if you're new or not, brilliant.

Every single one of them represents a painful and expensive lesson. Newbie reefers, read that list and follow it... you'll save yourself hundreds or thousands of dollars in dead livestock.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Get a reef tank sooner haha

 

[AlyciaMarie]

Buy nice test kits (Hanna or Salifert) to start off with

Oh yeah, that's so true. My husband and I were running all around town last week trying to find an accurate testing kit to no avail...Lesson learned.

 

[AlyciaMarie]

win the lottery

That's the key phrase there.

 

[AlyciaMarie]

Dip your corals.

Ohhhhhh... share with the class your lesson learned!

 

[AlyciaMarie]

You are NOT a carpenter.

I want to hear about how you acquired this revelation. By the tone of your response, it sounds like it would be interesting.

 

[RedReefer]

Use live rock from the ocean!!!

 

[Biokabe]

You are NOT a carpenter.

As an add-on to this:

You CAN become a carpenter. But - make sure you win the lottery twice, because wood and tools are just as expensive as tanks and corals.

In other words: If you think you're going to save money by making your own stand, you might. If you build 9 more stands to break even first.

 

[KrisReef]

Get rid of this T-8 fixture and get Radions, in about 30 years.

 

[SomeHappyFish]

I haven't been in the hobby long enough to know what my major mistake where but If I had to say, don't stop doing WT if you have been doing them every week. Took me a while to re balance my tank after being lazy for a month.

Don't buy used tank. Only used gear. They all suck and NONE, I repeat NONE compares to a pristine looking tank. You will be looking at it often. DO NOT cheap out.

 

[JustAnotherNanoTank]

Don’t buy so many green corals.

 

[Doctorgori]

save yourself some money and take up gambling

 

[rhitee93]

get the 6 foot tank instead of the 4 footer

 

[extra large lobos]

Test the new salt before putting in in that beautiful reef. More flow.

 

[650Bob08]

"Anything that can go wrong will go wrong."
Build in redundancy to your system and keep critical components on hand as spares. It's worth the peace of mind.

 

[RSNJReef]

Don’t be in such a rush to nuke the tank and start over. You’re already months in. Stay the course and just fight the storm till you beat it.

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Go slow and research anything that goes into your tank BEFORE it's in the tank.

 

[Reef Rhino]

Don't lie to Yourself and Spouse promising that Tank #2, 3, 4, 5 etc., can be built with "all the old extra equipment lying around", or "will be done with cheaper equipment", or "will just use Home Depot or Lowes lights" or "will just be a low tech tank".

 

[SomeHappyFish]

Don't lie to Yourself and Spouse promising that Tank #2, 3, 4, 5 etc., can be built with "all the old extra equipment lying around", or "will be done with cheaper equipment", or "will just use Home Depot or Lowes lights" or "will just be a low tech tank".

 

[jackson6745]

Don't strip your nutrients. Keep a healthy buffer.