Biggest Mistake/Regret In The Hobby

Daniel Waters · Sep 3, 2017

Probably not the worst thing, but worth noting for new reefers, not being selective enough on coral purchases. I mean we all want EVERY coral but we only have so much tank space, so I think it's a good idea to really plan out what you really want in terms of corals (and fish) and plan accordingly. But, then again, that's part of the fun of this hobby! I remember being thrilled with just having a clownfish, and then it was wanting an anemone, and then it was getting soft corals, and then it was LPS, and then it was SPS!

Rikki Reef · Sep 3, 2017

My biggest regret was not researching before buying my 1st tank was 30 gal. salt shrimp, goby , six line an a couple other little guys tank was up an running nice, went to lfs and seen one of them really cool looking fish, gotha have, right? well put him in an that night watching tv an the tank wife and enjoying it a lot all is good, come home from work evreyone gone the new guy stuck in corner dead . yupp a lion fish spines on fins stuck in sponge filter for power head and he eat all the creatures b4 he died. who knew? well the books did everyone on the internet did even the lfs guys, so now i ask questions, look it up on line. whatever it takes to be a little bit more informed, rest their lil' souls

Mariners · Sep 3, 2017

Biggest mistake was not having a small qt tank and just throwing everything in--that 1st tank was one disaster after another from ick to aiptasia and ultimately colonial hydroids all over the tank. Now i qt everything from fish to corals (except trochus and hermit crabs). Would u qt cleaner shrimps?

jsh mee · Sep 4, 2017

My most costly mistake was seeing a few white spots form on a zoa colony and diregarding it. By the time I realized what it was I had a huge zoapox outbreak all over my dt. It took half a year of painstaking effort and tons of furan 2 to fully eradicate it.

What I learned: Inspect everything often. Notice every slightest change and nip problems in the bud.

zack801 · Sep 4, 2017

savetheocean said:
I just dont get the apex and controllers, I never saw the point to it. Why cant you just walk up to the tank and push the button or just un plug it? Whats different?

Try it

A Toadstool Leather · Sep 4, 2017

Lack of overall proper research when I was a beginner the hobby. Too many impluse buys even now. I feel like I could have been far more successful early on if I did not rush.

GoPitt88 · Sep 4, 2017

My biggest mistake when first getting into this hobby was not listening to the advice of a friend who had a reef tank for years. He told me that nothing good happens fast in saltwater tanks. I overstocked my 55 gallon tank, and the last fish I added, which was my 12th, was a Kole Tang. He got ich within a few days, and within 2 weeks, all my fish were dead. :(

Tyreef2016 · Sep 4, 2017

one of my bigger mistakes was trusting someones live rock from an existing system for a new setup.

all my mistakes have made me the hobbyist I am today though. sometimes with out trial and error we would never learn anything. on my 4th tank now and things are going much smoother.

andrew james · Sep 4, 2017

I should have gone bigger

savetheocean · Sep 4, 2017

I am 99% sure there is no ich in my tank because I only buy fish from places that treat their fish with copper at the store.

Jennie · Sep 4, 2017

jayala12 said:
Not starting out with a mp10 for flow in my biocube

Wow, if that is your biggest mistake you are very lucky!

Jennie · Sep 4, 2017

My worst mistake (and I'm only seven months new to the hobby) but probably not my last is not quarantining everything. Still have 4 1/2 weeks left of my 76 day fallow period.

Atif · Sep 4, 2017

I put koran angel in my reef they eat my sun and hammer coral..

SashimiTurtle · Sep 4, 2017

No QT to start with... Not getting a big enough tank... Not having EVERYTHING before starting a tank up... All the too impatient to do it right beginner mistakes that I'll not do on my next tank. Experience comes from failure...

becks · Sep 4, 2017

Not starting a QT in the beginning, going fallow felt a long time.

I also regret not getting live rock. But next year I'll be upgrading to a reefer 525xl once my extension is complete and will get live rock.

Orm Embar · Sep 4, 2017

1) Not doing my research; this is overwhelmingly my greatest regret. While it was more difficult in the past before websites and resources like these, not having a basic understanding of reef chemistry and biology definitely led to multiple coral and fish deaths in the past. I remember having a yellow tang (small one) in a 20 gallon high. I didn't understand the importance of alkalinity and magnesium to coral growth even though I was trying to grow corals many years ago. I think that I have a better understanding of nutrient export now, and have set up my current tank in response to that (and it's working quite well! It's funny how well things typically go when you do things correctly). I like to think that I have enough self awareness that this isn't a significant issue most of the time any more.

2) Letting my emotions cloud my better judgement re: corals/fish/etc - it's really easy for me to buy a really nice frag without thinking of "Where will this frag go? In my current setup, is it going to receive appropriate light/water flow/conditions necesary for it to not only survive but thrive?" I currently struggle with this one.

3) Basic, routine maintenance. Partial water changes, while not as necessary as I thought they were in the past, are still important and shouldn't be skipped. Regular monitoring of alkalinity and replacement on a gradual (ideally, continuous) basis. It doesn't need to be a lot of maintenance if it's thought out well (change some activated charcoal every so often, replace the kalkwasser in a container, fill up the ATO, feed the fish, prune the macroalgae, change some water every so often), but it's still important. I also struggle with this one.

If I could start over from the beginning - I'd have read all of Randy's articles (especially the ones on reef water parameters, the role of alkalinity/Mg/Ca, nitrate export, and phosphate export), have started with non-Caulerpa macroalgae as the basis for nutrient export, and tried to size the fish I wanted to tank size better. Impulse coral buying for frags? That would still probably be an issue!

Edit: agree with quarantine tank. A cheap tank with a heater, powerhead, some PVC for places to hide, and a bag of MarinePure ceramic media works fine.

Edit 2: Julian Sprung's quote: "Bad things happen quickly, good things happen slowly."

SashimiTurtle · Sep 4, 2017

becks said:
I also regret not getting live rock. But next year I'll be upgrading to a reefer 525xl once my extension is complete and will get live rock.

I used BRS reef saver rock on my 75g, then used live lock on my nano. I'll never use dry or dead rock ever again. Live rock is so much better and the few hitch hikers you might get can be easily dealt with. My nano has been way more stable and has had 0 algae problems where my 75g seems to be able to grow nothing but algae, despite both being fallow. (see no QT to begin with) Those pretty white rocks stay white for about a week, then they go green and don't go back to being pretty and white. Or even pretty and gray, or brown, or pink... just green.

JamesP · Sep 4, 2017

Robin Haselden said:
I used BRS reef saver rock on my 75g, then used live lock on my nano. I'll never use dry or dead rock ever again. Live rock is so much better and the few hitch hikers you might get can be easily dealt with. My nano has been way more stable and has had 0 algae problems where my 75g seems to be able to grow nothing but algae, despite both being fallow. (see no QT to begin with) Those pretty white rocks stay white for about a week, then they go green and don't go back to being pretty and white. Or even pretty and gray, or brown, or pink... just green.

Im the opposite. My biggest regret was buying live rock instead of dry when I started. I've since started over but used the same rock but nuked it to kill all life and am much happier. No more aiptasia and other hitchhikers that came with my original build. Once you get some pests in your tank, they never go away. They can be controlled to some extent, but are always there. It's like having reef tank herpes.