As another year comes to an end, What is the One thing you wish you had done differently with your system ?

[vetteguy53081]

2 things would have changed the hobby for me this year.

1) Do consistent water changes. I waited 3 months before doing a water change because the nutrient levels were good. I'll never do that again as there was a heavy metal buildup and all of my acros died. All...of...them.....

2) Bought a new tank without having the funds to purchase all of the equipment/stand. My wife hasn't been teaching as much since enrollment is down, so I have this beautiful 150 gallon custom tank sitting on the floor while we take care of other financial obligations... We live and learn (sometimes only live).

You have equipment needed- Sometimes it pays to get components one by one as tecnology in this indutry is constantly changing. At tax time, there are sales and after christmas, view marketplace as persons have gotten new equipment or upgraded and will sell off old equipment at a great price.

 

[vetteguy53081]

It seems so simple, but I wish I had kept up with routine maintenance. I slacked off quite a bit over the summer, the tank's water conditions suffered and as a result I lost several prized corals. Totally my fault, but luckily I've gotten back into my routine and the tank is doing better than ever.

You hit it !! Maintenance is the one thing that will catch us especially during the summer months

 

[ying yang]

For me would of been me being a little more ummm well not so scared of " proper real live rock " as was just reading pest this,pest that ,use dry rock and not live rock to many times,but on flip side of that,my ugly stage so far at around 9 months hasn't been that ugly ,I say yet as maybe I've got it to come and if my salifert nitrate and po4 tests are correct at 40ppm and 0.1 I thought I'd have more algae issues but hasn't been bad at all but just think I should of had live rock.

And will let you know in next week or so if made mistake not having qt tank for corals as my newly acquired birds nest ( about 5 weeks ago ) has some kind of pod/worms eating the polyps it looks like but doesn't seem to be causing any damage ( will be started thread later and tagging you for your opinion later @vetteguy53081 if dont mind

 

[Oregon Grown Reef]

You have equipment needed- Sometimes it pays to get components one by one as tecnology in this indutry is constantly changing. At tax time, there are sales and after christmas, view marketplace as persons have gotten new equipment or upgraded and will sell off old equipment at a great price.

I've been looking at the marketplace quite a bit. I have most of the equipment to support it, but the stand and sump/refugium was supposed to be custom made. This is my dream tank, so I'm okay with waiting to finish it up now, but I wish I would have waited to start with.

 

[X-37B]

Well I wish when I set up my 120, 2.5 years ago, I would have turned it to be a corner overflow peninsula tank.
I could have had 20+ more corals in my system easily, lol.

 

[Oregon Grown Reef]

For me would of been me being a little more ummm well not so scared of " proper real live rock " as was just reading pest this,pest that ,use dry rock and not live rock to many times,but on flip side of that,my ugly stage so far at around 9 months hasn't been that ugly ,I say yet as maybe I've got it to come and if my salifert nitrate and po4 tests are correct at 40ppm and 0.1 I thought I'd have more algae issues but hasn't been bad at all but just think I should of had live rock.

And will let you know in next week or so if made mistake not having qt tank for corals as my newly acquired birds nest ( about 5 weeks ago ) has some kind of pod/worms eating the polyps it looks like but doesn't seem to be causing any damage ( will be started thread later and tagging you for your opinion later @vetteguy53081 if dont mind

I'll never do a 100% dry rock tank again. I've got a ton of dry rock that's ready to be scaped, but I'm going to buy as much live rock as I can to seed it with.

 

[ying yang]

I'll never do a 100% dry rock tank again. I've got a ton of dry rock that's ready to be scaped, but I'm going to buy as much live rock as I can to seed it with.

What makes you think this ?
Because excess cyano/algae or dinos or all the above or just system parameters out iof whack ?

 

[a.t.t.r]

I wish I never used the algicide called Vibrant (same thing as a pool polyquat). Dino outbreak right after that I am still fighting.

 

[vetteguy53081]

For me would of been me being a little more ummm well not so scared of " proper real live rock " as was just reading pest this,pest that ,use dry rock and not live rock to many times,but on flip side of that,my ugly stage so far at around 9 months hasn't been that ugly ,I say yet as maybe I've got it to come and if my salifert nitrate and po4 tests are correct at 40ppm and 0.1 I thought I'd have more algae issues but hasn't been bad at all but just think I should of had live rock.

And will let you know in next week or so if made mistake not having qt tank for corals as my newly acquired birds nest ( about 5 weeks ago ) has some kind of pod/worms eating the polyps it looks like but doesn't seem to be causing any damage ( will be started thread later and tagging you for your opinion later @vetteguy53081 if dont mind

+Of course you can

 

[vetteguy53081]

I wish I never used the algicide called Vibrant (same thing as a pool polyquat). Dino outbreak right after that I am still fighting.

I like Vibrant but you cant go full dosage- I apply 80% of recommended and cant remember last time I used Vibrant

 

[Karen00]

I wish I hadn’t been too scared to try more (harder) corals. I’m frugal and overly cautious - but I want to take more risks in 2022!

There is nothing wrong with either of these things. Being frugal keeps money in the bank and being cautious means you most likely don't kill inhabitants. I'm sure a lot of folks will look at your statement and wish they followed a similar path. I'm the cautious type when it comes to living things.

 

[vetteguy53081]

What makes you think this ?
Because excess cyano/algae or dinos or all the above or just system parameters out iof whack ?

I'll never do a 100% dry rock tank again. I've got a ton of dry rock that's ready to be scaped, but I'm going to buy as much live rock as I can to seed it with.

you can use dry- jut get it wet in a tub with bacteria supplement and light and agitate for a few days and continue to add culture to the tank once rocks are in. Slower process but it will seed. To help with algae, keep white light intensity low

 

[czoolander]

If I knew what was wrong then I could regret doing it or not doing it however I do not know what is wrong...

I have GSP on a rock that has not grown in over 6 months. is that even possible??

I test peramiters and they are in range

I do water changes

I scrape glass , clean filter socks . siphon deitrutus

Maybe 2022 might be my year? tank is going into year 3

 

[vetteguy53081]

If I knew what was wrong then I could regret doing it or not doing it however I do not know what is wrong...

I have GSP on a rock that has not grown in over 6 months. is that even possible??

I test peramiters and they are in range

I do water changes

I scrape glass , clean filter socks . siphon deitrutus

Maybe 2022 might be my year? tank is going into year 3

Assure GSP is in the path of medium light and mainly water flow and add iron and trace elements to tank periodically

 

[ying yang]

@oregongrownreef
These are my 9 month old rocks which is anything not got enough algae on them,plus also my glass hasn't been cleaned in over 2 weeks and not really that dirty ( at one time had to clean it every few days but not no more) .
Stylo and birds nest growing new nubs and zoas/ palys growing new heads,pink and purple coraline starting to grow here and there,only real problem I've had is a toadstool ripped off the rocks as far to much flow and 3 torches dead in last 5 months pfft and empty clam shells after fed them to fish I throw in and them along with 2 King scallop agells gone little red but sand bed relatively clean.maybe I keep adding right amount of cuc at right time but not overly lots cuc compared to some so idk
Not complaining though as mostly everything going to plan ^_^

 

[Fish Tank Face]

How long did it take many of us to try saltwater. Always a caution in this hobby

True! I was keeping freshwater tanks for 15 years before trying saltwater! (I probably thought about saltwater for 8 years before taking the plunge!)

 

[DeniseAndy]

Never too late. The 210 should allow it with open arms

My 210g did not do well on it. All maximinis bleached. I can only figure it was this as it matched with begining at full dose and they are coloring back up now that it has been off for a month. Crazy. Makes no sense. Gotta research this one a bit.

 

[Joe462]

Managed to keep my Alk stable. lost a lot of acros this year due to swings in alkalinity. Hard to force my self to test when everything is looking good, but that doesn't mean there isn't a problem that will show itself later. That and just checking that my 2 part dosing containers arn't empty and have the correct part in them, lol. its embarrassing but i replaced one of my alkalinity containers with calcium and didn't notice right away. Couldn't figure out why my alk was still dropping.

Oh well, we live and we learn, now i double check.

 

[Karen00]

This is a great year end question. For me:
1. Getting a proper reef light and having a powerhead already in place when I got my first two corals. The fish were fine with the stock setup but the corals were not and I killed them because of improper light and flow. This is totally on me. I knew better from being on this site for a couple years.
2. Getting a better AIO. The biggest problem with the Top Fin AIO I bought is the crappy glass (or maybe it's acrylic). Plus the back chambers can't be customized but at least the main equipment is hidden. Also, had it been reef ready (which this isn't), it would've come with a better light and flow as part of the stock setup.
3. Going bigger. I don't have a lot of room but where this 5g is I could have fit a 7.5g (hey, two more gallons is two more gallons for corals).

Live and learn (from your own mistakes). LOL

 

[Karen00]

For me would of been me being a little more ummm well not so scared of " proper real live rock " as was just reading pest this,pest that ,use dry rock and not live rock to many times,but on flip side of that,my ugly stage so far at around 9 months hasn't been that ugly ,I say yet as maybe I've got it to come and if my salifert nitrate and po4 tests are correct at 40ppm and 0.1 I thought I'd have more algae issues but hasn't been bad at all but just think I should of had live rock.

And will let you know in next week or so if made mistake not having qt tank for corals as my newly acquired birds nest ( about 5 weeks ago ) has some kind of pod/worms eating the polyps it looks like but doesn't seem to be causing any damage ( will be started thread later and tagging you for your opinion later @vetteguy53081 if dont mind

I did 100% dry rock and have 100% no regrets. Ya, it might take longer to get established but it gave me peace of mind, especially as a new reefer. I love reading about the cool things people find in their rocks but I'm fine just reading about them, especially the 3' worms. LOL.