Rookie Mistake: What were some mistakes you made when you were "new" to the hobby.

[UtahReefer]

Two things... Lack of patience and taking advice from too many people. Started my first reef when I was 16. See a problem, find advice do it. Everything I did was counter to fostering stability. I remember seeing a problem and reacting to it immediately. If it didn't go away try something else a few days later. Many I killed a lot of corals as a kid!

 

[hoffmeyerz]

Listening to a lfs. I lost about 70 percent of my corals because of them.

This by far!!! When I first started I had a 29 gal I was setting up and had no idea what I was doing. Stopped in a lfs who must have seen me coming a mile away.....walked out $500 lighter with 30lbs of dry rock he told me was "coated with special bacteria that activates in water", I don't remember what substrate it was, sold me a bunch of dip strip tests and said that was all I needed for testing, water to fill the tank, and told me to come back the next day for fish.....what a mess that turned out to be
Since finding this community and restarting with a 75 gal things have been much better!!

 

[Waynerock]

Back in 2002 when I started I thought a goodwill old dresser could hold a 55 gallon tank. Spoiler alert it does not!

 

[JayM]

Listening to the reefers that say you need a bunch of fancy high-tech-whiz-bang-gizmos to be successful.
I was successful 30 years ago with none of that stuff and decided I'm going the K.I.S.S. route. Possibly add some convenience related items as I go.