3 biggest mistakes you've made in this hobby

[Fin-up reefing]

1. Fixing something that wasn't broken.

2. FIxing something that wasn't broken.

3. Fixing something that wasn't broken.

I completely feel that haha

 

[Fin-up reefing]

After 30+ years only 3 come to mind, I'd say between 1986 and 1996. Using tap water back then and fighting algae because of it in fowlr tanks and buying a big beautiful Queen trigger that killed all my other fish in a couple days. The other was buying a used acrylic hex tank that split open after a couple weeks of being filled. My current tank going on a little over 3 years is my most successful, yet simple, with no automation, simple old school.

Looks lovely!

 

[Chipp]

1. Starting (it's like a drug)
2. Buying cheap equipment to save money
3. Thinking i know better than more experienced reef keepers

 

[Jared's Little Reef]

1. Buying a cheap light and a cheap protein skimmer
2. Buying a cube/tall style aquarium (pain to clean & pain to aquascape)
3. Telling people how much I spent on my tank

 

[dopey]

1.) Buying too quickly to get a "forest" instead of long term planning.
2.) Putting a frag in my system that I could tell wasn't OK.. (only one like it at lfs, partner likes it, etc etc). Still fighting that mistake.
3.) Not testing PAR

 

[Rilo]

1.) cheaper out on equipment.

2.) ignored the start of pest algae.

3.) never dipped

 

[No nick]

-buying expensive coral from the start and thinking ill make money fraggging them just look at it as a hobby.... dml

 

[Danj]

1) the Seaclone protein skimmer I bought back in 1998. Only took about a week for it to overflow the skimmer cup and leak through the floor. To this day I refuse to buy anything that hangs on the tank and isn't sealed.

2) letting that purple star polyp spread over all my rock circa 2004. Seemed like a great idea at the time, but to this day I still have to scrub it off to find places for new frags. Yes my tank is old [emoji3]

3) building a sump out of sheets of polycarbonate I got for free from work. Turns out that stuff isn't so good for full immersion in water, and a couple years later - pop! Now I only do sumps where at the very least the outside vessel is professionally manufacturered (e.g. start with a small Aquarium and add my own baffles), or just go with a full blown retail sump.

 

[Mastiffsrule]

1) Not waiting and getting the exact tank I wanted the first time

2) Buying cheaper gear/powerheads etc the first time

3) Putting water in my tank

Wait, we were supposed to put water in? ;Happy

 

[Ferrell]

1. Not QT’ing fish
2. Buying a 4 bulb ATI fixture instead of 6 bulb
3. Not going with a 24” deep tank, 18” is ok but like the extra depth

 

[Daniel@R2R]

1. Fixing something that wasn't broken.

2. FIxing something that wasn't broken.

3. Fixing something that wasn't broken.

Hahaha!! Yep!! Gets us every time!!

 

[smiley28]

1. Not testing much after initial cycles
2. Not dosing for the first several years
3. Buying deep tanks