Disclaimer: This may be a terrible, boring topic but it's what's on my mind!
I'll start this off by saying that I love to build things! I love new things and putting together a building plan and creating something new that wasn't there before. But when it comes to saltwater reef aquariums this sometimes isn't the best attribute! You can only have so many tanks and you can only have so many new builds otherwise you're always tearing down your tank and starting over.
Yesterday I was thinking about my tank and tank room build and how fun it was to put together but how I'm not very good at the "maintaining" part of keeping a reef tank. Yes it's true. The same passion I had for building isn't the same when it comes to maintaining this living breathing Eco-system. Don't get me wrong I love my reef and the inhabitants but that doesn't mean I have the same passion for maintaining the chemistry as I did for building the infrastructure. If that makes sense. The good news is that you don't have to be THE BEST at one or the other to be successful. So let's talk about that today!
1. Are you a Builder, a Maintainer, or Both?
2. What advice would you give to someone who's not especially good at maintaining a reef tank?
3. What advice would you give to someone who's not especially good at building a reef tank?
Would love to hear your overall thoughts about my ramblings here!
1. I chose both as at the beginning I was into building and learning what I could. Started with a 55 bow then learned enough to build a 150 into the wall of my family room. Once I determined the corals and fish my building shifted to creative ways to maintain with the least amount of work.
2. If you aren’t good at maintaining, look for Ways to build systems and techniques to lessen the load. Controllers, 2 part or CA reactor, auto top off ( both my top off to the tank and my reserve tank fill automatically), etc. you will get to know your tank and could use your build desire to lessen the maintenance poI TD that bug you. Even fish selection can cut back on some maintenance issues. I used to be involved with angioplasty. We used to say the enemy of good was better. If you worked too much you could worsen the artery. Likewise with our tanks. It comes to a point that fiddling with it too much can be worse and you need to leave it alone. Knowing that point is key.
3. If you aren’t a builder find people in your local community who are. Often they can save you many headaches. I got to the point that my electrical was a mess. Just added stuff as I went a long and never planned it out. My vacation maintenance guy offered to re wire and at the same time re plumb which cut back on extra pumps. He did a heck of a job. It was only half a day, not that costly, and it looked great and was far easier to maintain and less risk of a shock