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.
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.
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