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

[tharbin]

Great question. I have two things I would have done differently.

1. I would have added a little seed rock when I set up the tank. The dry rock is okay but I miss the diversity, the joy of seeing some little thing suddenly growing on your rock. I have a small dino problem right now but that is not the fault of the rock. It's mine. I just think the rock looks too barren.

2. I would have gone bigger. I resisted going back into reefing for a long time because I knew how much it can cost, the issues you can face, the space all of the "stuff" can take and the time it can take. Of course the enjoyment far outweighs all of that but... Anyway, I finally bought a little 15 gallon AIO that fit on a table in our living room pretty well. We really like having it there and the two firefish in it seem to love it. They are always out looking for breakfast before their light goes on and don't go to bed until lights out 13.5 hours later. They never hide and rarely go into the tunnels. The "problem" is I would really like a few more fish but they are so at home (they don't even hide when we are cleaning the rocks or glass) that I don't want to upset their happy home. 15 gallons just isn't big enough to really give room for other fish. That said, 15 gallons was my budget so 15 gallons it is.

 

[davidcalgary29]

I wish that I would have chased after premium water quality...and not premium gear.

I also should've also thrown out all of my pandemic bleach sprays (in favour of the liquid), and stuck to dosing only phyto instead of coral supplements. I only have softies and LPS! Live and learn, I suppose.

 

[fishybizzness]

Definitely 2 things i would have done differently.
1st is i will never set up another tank with dry rock. I have had one issue after another the whole of this year. It has definitely taken alot of the fun out of the hobby for me. I never had this many issues with my last tank set up with live rock. A big part of my enjoyment was seeing new creatures pop up all the time!
2nd is i would never have another tank with an internal tower overflow. It takes up so much room and blocks the flow on the back section of the tank. My eventual upgrade will be from my 120 and 50 cube to just one 220 peninsula with an external coast to coast overflow. Even though it will be bigger than the other 2 combined, I feel that the maintenance will be easier on just one tank.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Hmmmm...

I have screwed up a Lot in the last year. It's been a Huge learning curve. Especially with tank transfers, disease remediation, and new builds.

With THOSE things, I wouldn't change anything. They have all gotten me to where I am now.

As far as money is concerned, I think I would be a little more frugal on buying corals I didn't LOVE. Come to realize, I don't want my reef to be filled with things I Like.

I want it to be filled with pieces that I Love

 

[Oregon Grown Reef]

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

Everything about dry rock is more difficult. I got dinos after a few months, which I bought a uv for. That fixed that problem. The biggest problem is lack of maturity and biodiversity. You see a tank with good parameters and no algae and think it's ready for corals and then everything dies. I can be more patient, but how will I know when things can start supporting life without me losing all of my money in the process?

 

[ZoWhat]

Torched it

 

[Paul B]

I moved my old reef here to my new home almost 4 years ago and if I had time, I wanted to make my entire reef structure on a cement/rock frame hung from concealed cables so I could raise the entire reef structure about 6" off the bottom just so I could see what is going on under there and for a little maintenance.

I almost built it like that but my 6' reef structure is rested on 3 foundations which hardly touches the bottom in 3 places.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Great question. I have two things I would have done differently.

1. I would have added a little seed rock when I set up the tank. The dry rock is okay but I miss the diversity, the joy of seeing some little thing suddenly growing on your rock. I have a small dino problem right now but that is not the fault of the rock. It's mine. I just think the rock looks too barren.

2. I would have gone bigger. I resisted going back into reefing for a long time because I knew how much it can cost, the issues you can face, the space all of the "stuff" can take and the time it can take. Of course the enjoyment far outweighs all of that but... Anyway, I finally bought a little 15 gallon AIO that fit on a table in our living room pretty well. We really like having it there and the two firefish in it seem to love it. They are always out looking for breakfast before their light goes on and don't go to bed until lights out 13.5 hours later. They never hide and rarely go into the tunnels. The "problem" is I would really like a few more fish but they are so at home (they don't even hide when we are cleaning the rocks or glass) that I don't want to upset their happy home. 15 gallons just isn't big enough to really give room for other fish. That said, 15 gallons was my budget so 15 gallons it is.

Sooner or later we upgrade although i'll never understand the concept of one going from a 75g-90g

 

[vetteguy53081]

I moved my old reef here to my new home almost 4 years ago and if I had time, I wanted to make my entire reef structure on a cement/rock frame hung from concealed cables so I could raise the entire reef structure about 6" off the bottom just so I could see what is going on under there and for a little maintenance.

I almost built it like that but my 6' reef structure is rested on 3 foundations which hardly touches the bottom in 3 places.

That would have been sweet

 

[vetteguy53081]

Everything about dry rock is more difficult. I got dinos after a few months, which I bought a uv for. That fixed that problem. The biggest problem is lack of maturity and biodiversity. You see a tank with good parameters and no algae and think it's ready for corals and then everything dies. I can be more patient, but how will I know when things can start supporting life without me losing all of my money in the process?

Dinos happen with live rock also. Its not the rock that is a contributor but rather very low nutrient environment and bright lighting plus other factors

 

[Paul B]

That would have been sweet

I have been thinking of doing that for many years, but it never happened because to much time is needed. If it was a new tank it would have been much easier.

 

[MNFish]

I had a skimmer that did not seem to be working very good, but I kept cleaning it and messing with it for months before I bought a new one. The new one works 100 times better and is easier to clean, I should not have waited so long.
I also made the mistake of buying some cheap equipment to have to replace it in 6 months, which was beneficial in a way as it gave me time to figure out what I really needed but over all was a waste of money.

 

[fishface NJ]

Problem with plumbing is that once we glue parts together, any changes are to late unless you get the saw out lol

Always use as many unions as possible

 

[tharbin]

Sooner or later we upgrade although i'll never understand the concept of one going from a 75g-90g

Been there multiple times... Going to try very hard to resist unless I win a tank someday or find a nutty good deal by accident.

 

[tharbin]

I had a skimmer that did not seem to be working very good, but I kept cleaning it and messing with it for months before I bought a new one. The new one works 100 times better and is easier to clean, I should not have waited so long.
I also made the mistake of buying some cheap equipment to have to replace it in 6 months, which was beneficial in a way as it gave me time to figure out what I really needed but over all was a waste of money.

I think anyone that has been in the hobby for more than a few years have been there. I've given away thousands of dollars "worth" of sub-par gear.

 

[rtparty]

Setting up 250 can be a goal for 2022.
Sometimes we have to call in sick

There is no calling in sick when you own your own business. If the machines aren't running, I'm not making money

 

[RobB'z Reef]

As we go through another year of reefkeeping, making upgrades, adding livestock, it is often overlooked until we realize:

WHAT IS THE ONE THING I WISH I HAD DONE DIFFERENTLY ??

For me, was changing my plumbing configuration on a certain tank and it is somewhat noisy now and adding an ATO to the sump that always fills 3-4" above the optic lens and lowers salinity from 35ppt to 34.3 ppt on average

WHAT IS YOURS ?

Not get caught up in all the marketing hype and buy overpriced reef taxed equipment. Should have done more DIY from the start.

 

[BanjoBandito]

more PATIENCE and more GALLONS.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

I wish I'd been better about water changes. It's often too easy to say I'll do it tomorrow instead of today. Next thing you know the week has become a week and a half or even two weeks and that 10% water change hasn't done a thing. I think things would be much happier in my tank if I just made sure those water changes happened every week! I need to stop putting myself in catchup mode.

 

[Sebastiancrab]

I wish I would have gone ahead, spent the money, and bought a complete Red Sea or other quality system with a cabinet. I bought everything standalone, had a cabinet built, diy sump and plumbing. The time and trouble was not worth going this route. I am very happy with the Seapora tank and cabinet but the plumbing and sump has been a pain.