Are you Star Roll or are you Flunking Out? Grade yourself!

[Catnip885]

I would say a B not had any super major problems besides my nutrients being too low and causing dinos right now but I am fixing it by trying to increase my phosphates. I guess I have to wait longer between water changes

 

[Jeffcb]

B and cross my fingers a lot!

 

[Goaway]

I lost my largest hammer colony of 9 heads. 1 large Aussie torch head. Bird's nest got kicked off its mountain by my urchin and broke into so many pieces, I couldn't save many.

I feel like an f-. Let's see what the rest of the year offers me. ;Dead

 

[Jedi1199]

I would have to honestly answer C or C-

I believe I have done my due diligence in research and setup. My fish are all alive and happy. Most of my corals seem to be doing well as are my nems and other inverts. I have to SERIOUSLY downgrade myself on the basics of tank maintenance. I am beyond just not diligent about it.. I am abominably, almost dangerously, lazy about it. I admit it is my own fault. I work long hours and have a long commute and 3 tanks is actually a lot more work that I perceived it would be when I imagined adding that 3rd tank.

It's a good thing I live alone and have no life of my tanks would be nothing more than a cesspool of dead fish and algae floating around in a half full tank of super salty water.. lol

 

[rhostam]

I answered B. I feel I was well prepared with expectations and how I would deal with situations that were inevitable for new reefers.

I feel like I'd earn an A for prep and setting realistic expectations and, above all, not panicking! LOL

I feel like I'd earn a C for failing to tune my feeding regimen to where it needs to be. The corals are happy and pooping regularly and the fish are fat and well behaved. But I also didn't prioritize the transfer of my automatic water change system which would have provided me more latitude as I tuned feeding.

As a result, I have had to deal with a few teething scenarios *cough* presently that means a nasty bacterial bloom.

 

[Pistondog]

I'm the no child left behind, this forum is dragging/helping me along

 

[Dburr1014]

Testing I don't do often
Lately I don't clean unless I have to.
But, coral are growing like crazy lately. Everything is healthy looking.
I think I average too a "c"
Lol

 

[DJ Lone1]

I would really like to know more about my spectrum and par output. I need to pony up and get a spectrometer.

And how it works

 

[DJ Lone1]

I guess if I had rate myself I'd be a "C". My corals are mostly doing well and growing, and I haven't had any major algea issues in probably close to a year. I'd probably rate my self higher but when someone posts pictures of their beautiful tank and I realize I'm just a "C".

Same here

 

[Susan Edwards]

1. If you were to give yourself an overall reefing hobby grade what would it be?
I am going with a B. Be a B minus or a B overall, and a B+ for being as stubborn as my tanks! And willing to keep on going and not giving up with the tank plumments down into the green darkness of Algae dispair (another word starting iwth an H is better but not sure allowed but very fitting)

2. What is an area you excel in and get an A or A+ in?
I seem to do well with fish and softies. Still have some soft corals from my first tank in 2017

3. What is an area you are not good at and maybe flunking out of?
Getting my nitrates and Po4 in line has been a struggle. I've finally, in the last days of the current tank have managed those numbers reasonably well. Got rid of the toadstool leather and can now grow LPS and SPS. Early days yet but showing success. So in this area I might go with a C. Flunking might be water changes but the new build will be awc. Also, an F in using not so good equipment like powerheads that go out and you have no clue they aren't working....

My hope is that I take what I've learned with current tank and past tank--which was my best and most successful until a crash (super noxious primer paint in one room) and have an outstanding tank. I'm also automating what I can and starting with higher end equipment .

Here are pics showing progress lol's
Sept 2020-a death and life left no tank time. Fish and softies didn't care

Cleans up. A few months later

Most recent. Corals ready to xfer to new tank in a week or 2

 

[ShadowMan]

Had you asked me a week ago, it would have been a C, but after yesterday's Aiptasia episode, I've downgraded myself to a solid D.

I'm great with my maintenance - inspecting, changing socks out every other day, cleaning the glass, water changes and testing and just when I think I'm getting the hang of Reefing, the tank throws me a 'Pop Quiz'

My livestock and corals are doing pretty good, all first fish and invertebrates still going strong, so that means I'm doing quite a bit right

I'm still new to reefing but as mentioned by others, I'm sticking to the basics and progressing slowly from there. Biggest thing I'm guilty of is trying to advance too quickly and let's face it, in this hobby, shortcuts are rarely a good thing. So I just need to reign myself in from time to time.

 

[SC017]

I'm a solid disqualified at the moment, not even an F on this test.
My first saltwater aquarium is yet to have water in it yet!

 

[Sharkie_Conch]

I put a C. We're brand new reefers (almost 6 months in) so obviously still learning and growing. But we put in lots of time, effort, money, and love!

My worst trait is impatience. I'm learning to be patient from the tanks but I definitely rushed things multiple times. My husband's worst trait would be discipline. He procrastinates when we need to do water changes or testing.

We have had a few failures. Lost one brand new fish and a stick got RTN. We changed a few things up (light upgrade to try to save our Monti cap and another monti and started automating in preparation for trips) and our hammer corals got ticked. They are still hanging on but we'll see if they make it.

All our other fish are happy and growing though. Our torches and zoas have had noticeable growth along with our CUC.

Obviously lots of room for improvement but also growing and learning daily!

 

[Gogol_frag]

Ok so none of you are totally flunking out, we call that learning at your own pace! Last night I was cleaning the glass of the tank and I asked myself this question. "If I were to give myself a grade on being a reefing hobbyist what would it be?" I wanted to answer truthfully so gave myself a C+. I mean there are things I get an A+ on but some things an F- so a C+ is about where I would average out. Let's talk about it today.

BE HONEST!

1. If you were to give yourself an overall reefing hobby grade what would it be?

2. What is an area you excel in and get an A or A+ in?

3. What is an area you are not good at and maybe flunking out of?

My tank is middling at its current form, however the progress is generally trending upwards. I am trying a sumpless 170G tank, with dry-rock and live-sand which don't ease matters much either.

Areas that I have failed in are (in-order-of-priority):

1. Bio-diversity: Starting from dry-rock, this is a huge problem. I am still struggling to increase my culture populations (of copepods and amphipods) such that they can help in this regard.
2. Filtration - without a sump- my filtration choices are severely debiliated. I have an over-sized UV sterilizer, an over-sized Bio-pellet reactor, a to-size Skimmer, Turf algae scrubber, chemical media in bags, and an in-tank refugium. ... but there is still slight-presence of nuisance algae, which I am going nuts about. Live-feeding definitely helps to control the excess nutrient problems though.
3. Aesthetics: Without a sump, I don't have the "clean-look" that tanks with sump enjoy. While my tank is not ugly, since it is designed in a peninsula-style with all of the HOB items on the far-wall, its general aethetics is an area of improvement from me.

Areas that I have "met-expectations" in are:

1. Lighting - I have 5 × 6-feet Reefbrite XHOs across my 6 ft tank - which cause minimal shadowing. I also use the Sun. Reefbrites XHOs are very powerful and reliable lights, that can be programmed using Neptune Apex - highly recommended.
2. Chemistry: I have managed to automate my reef such that all of the observable parameters are very stable - and within the desired range
3. Nutrition: I culture and feed 100% live - 3 Phytoplaktons, Brineshrimp, Daphnia Magna and Ulva Lactuca. My other cultures (blackworms, whiteworms, copepods and amphipods) aren't ready for harvesting yet.
4. Flow: I turn my tank-volume around 55-60 times per hour.
5. Minimizing-risk: My tank has no siphons, is fully automated (including live feeding), and remote-monitored-enabled.

Well that's the story of my 5-month old tank.

 

[Treefer32]

I like the idea of breaking this up into sub - parts of grading. Heh. I'm not great with replacing my T5 bulbs. As it stands I have the bulbs I just need to take my fixture down and replace the bulbs. It's a pain and I avoid it each year. Lol.

Lighting: B - Because I don't replace my bulbs soon enough.

Chemistry/parameters: B+ I think I've got them figured out, but I feel I could do better!

Aquarium biology: B I don't understand why some corals grow amazing and others slowly die. I've got an anemone right now that looks like it's dieing, but it had split 3 months ago and it's split is doing great... Same anemone...

Maintenance: B+ I think I'm doing appropriate maintenance... Testing out no water changes, so will see how that goes.

Coral growth: A - The corals that grow are doing amazing!

Tank design/plumbing: C - The plumbing is not pretty and needs to be redone, but the key here is it's functional and doesn't leak.

Cord Management: C - Cords are in terrible places but they're functional and I have ways of making sure they don't get wet. . .

Average combined grade: 80% or B.

I'd give anyone bonus points for things like fish longevity and coral growth and coral longevity. My oldest fish is 8 years and still alive and kicking.

 

[HawkeyeDJ]

I haven't yet seen automation that I comfortably trust. There's way too many Plan-A solutions without failsafe(s) or backups. 99% of today's aquarium automation would never pass the NASA test. Or maybe I just haven't spent enough money yet!!!

As for the original questions... my answers are...

1. My overall grade is B- , with my accomplishments far exceeded by my failures and all buffered with a healthy dose of self-awareness. I know my shortcomings and unfortunately have become quite comfortable with some of them.

2. I excel in the mechanics, electronics, chemistry and oddly enough the observance of fish behavior and their idiosyncrasies.

3. I'm partially colorblind, so attempts to communicate or understand the often subtle changes that occur based on color shifts are especially challenging. My biggest failure is definitely impatience.

Even NASA had their fair share of failures, due primarily to poor decisions, not always technology failures. I think it is the same with the aquarium hobby. The decision to not have fail safes or backups comes to mind. Why? Because we know any given apparatus will eventually fail, yet we act as though it won't.

Of course, if we were NASA we would have at least two Apex systems on every tank for redundancy, and we would be alerted the moment those two systems did not agree.

 

[Gogol_frag]

If you spend enough money there's no doubt you can be a superstar.. With automation that kinda takes the challenge of the hobby away IMO.

Flashsmith, I agree that "smart-and-informed" investments in the hobby help, however I am yet to identify a bullet-proof blueprint for success with a reef. This video (Youtube Link) comes very close, and provides a good structure:

1. Lighting
2. Flow
3. Nutrition
4. Filtration

Many of us have thrown a lot of money at this hobby, in the hope of "buying-stability" ... but that's really easier said than done. This is a difficult hobby and often feels like an sisyphean adventure.

 

[WhiteTailFish]

Well it's been a sobering last few months for me and me wallet in this hobby. I've probably get a D grade if you look at my tank alone now after loosing half my corals to my 6+ month long war with algae. But if you combine that with learned experience and knowledge I'd rate myself as a C. (but an A for effort!) "As they say, its not about the destination, its about the journey"

 

[Gogol_frag]

Well it's been a sobering last few months for me and me wallet in this hobby. I've probably get a D grade if you look at my tank alone now after loosing half my corals to my 6+ month long war with algae. But if you combine that with learned experience and knowledge I'd rate myself as a C. (but an A for effort!) "As they say, its not about the destination, its about the journey"

White Tail Fish (do you ever abbreviate that? ) ... don't quite know your circumstances, but the following have helped me a great deal. I, however, still have some nuisance-algae ... and absolutely abhor my incapability at getting rid of them.

1. Reduce nutrient in-take in the tank: I have switched to 100% home-grown live food (Brine Shrimp, Daphnia, and Ulva Lactuca). So, I feed much more than before, resulting in delightful feeding frenzies and much less uneaten food.
2. Boost my clean-up crew: I employ copepods, amphipods and bacteria (Microbacter 7) as my primary cleanup crew. I have switched to dosing 1ml of MB7 per 5 gallons, everyday.
3. Crack up the filtration flow: The feeder pumps to both my UV and and my Protein Skimmer have been cranked up to max, which has also made some difference.

I am still batting algae like you are, and the above three are just better-quality straws that I have grasped at. Please feel free to share what has worked for you. Good luck White Tail Fish!

 

[WhiteTailFish]

@Gogol_frag thanks for the tips. I'll have to look into growing Daphnia, and Ulva Lactuca. Is that macro algea? But I have lost many battles over the month5s to algae, and I am finally winning the war! I'm starving the B@st4rd$ out of my tank! I'm running a algea scrubber (knitting sheet and grow light in my sump) to use up excess nutrients along with weekly water changes with rock scrubbing and turkey basting. for the past month my reading have been NO3=0 PO4=0 and algea has pretty much all stopped growing and started dying off. Yeah the LPS/SPS (what's left of them) aren't having a good time but the softies don't care. I think after the last bit of algea is scrubbed off the rock and my hammers and sticks start recovering I'm going to stick to buying mostly soft corals. I don't feel like doing this again. Every time im working in my tank removing algea i manage to bump a coral causing it to recead and die faster. I dont want that stress!