How did you survive your first year of reefing?

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MarshallB

MarshallB

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While I did make some pretty big mistakes - I originally filled this tank with treated tap water but moved to RO for all top offs then RO/DI shortly after. The fact that I was so eager to mix my first saltwater that I used tap water shows how impatient I was,. After that I got my live rock which sadly doesn't really exist much anymore, it was as simple as wait for that crazy algae to get under control, 6 weeks later get a cleanup crew, wait another month get some corals, then wait a little longer to get fish. Besides the filtration factor I think live rock kept new hobbyists more entertained. I'd watch the tank at night looking for worms, pods, other creatures that I had no idea what they were. Now people see them and kill them.

Of course fish got sick and died, algae grew, corals melted but for the most part I didn't do anything other than water change test and wait (with screw ups mixed in).

I do think it's harder these days with dry rock to get going, and in general people are not as hellbent on waiting. For instance there was a time where probably 4/5 reefers would call you out if you added an anemone to your tank within the first 6 months, and some would say 1 year. Now people (myself included) will add them the first week.

My Nano Reef in 2006 - started late 2005.



Later in 2006 I upgraded my nano to a 112 gallon. I still have some of those red discosoma mushrooms pictured in the tank above, and I still have that 112 gallon tank from 2006.
Live rock seems pretty available however, its just super expensive. It would have to be pretty difficult to convince someone brand new to the hobby that live rock is worth that much more over just dry rock. I know I couldn't be convinced when I started. If I ever started a new tank now I would definitely consider it. That said I'm still not sure if I'm sold on the benefits vs the price.

I still see people on here calling people out for adding anemones. It does make sense though since its pretty easy for things to get out of hand in that first year. It is putting that anemone at a high risk of death. That just comes down to how well the reefer is in tune with their tank. I put one in at the 6 month mark and its doing great, but i'm also monitoring everything like a hawk.
 

andrewkw

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Live rock seems pretty available however, its just super expensive.

There is no indo, no fiji, no haitian, no tonga live rock anymore. Not even Australia which I think is the only place that I listed that still can legally export live rock but it was always considerably more then the other places listed. When I started my first reef in 2005 you could walk into any number of stores and they would have most or all those choices less the Australia. When I started that 15g nano the store had 5000lbs of Haitian lettuce rock to choose from. I was so overwhelmed, my first time in a reef only fish store, but the store owner simply asked how big the tank was, and he measured out a place in the vat that was the size of the tank and helped me pick out the pieces. Whenever I see him these days, which is rare because I've moved I always mention I still got that rock.. When I got the 112 gallon tank I got some huge tonga pieces not branch but flat pieces and they are still the backbone of my reef 14 years later.

Now it's mostly coming from the atlantic, while although similar not exactly the same. Also mostly limited to the US only. I couldn't tell you the last time I saw a vat of actual live rock in a store in Canada...

Those cultured live rocks are way more expensive than dry rock, but I'm not sure why it's hard to convince someone it's worth it. Hard for me to say because I'm not new to the hobby but people these days are okay with spending hundreds on teeny tiny frags.
 

Topekoms

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revhtree

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Dunno .... too long ago.
 

Ef4life

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This was 20+ years ago - My first year I was a kid 10-12 maybe, and my parents traded in my freshwater 10g tank at the lfs for a 40 gallon saltwater setup, real live rock, fish, everything- Just add a few drops of this in and you can have fish the same day. Next day - all the fish are dead. After a year or 2 of that my dad was done spending money on it. I bought a plastic eclipse explorer 2.5 gallon from Walmart With my allowance and kept the surviving 2 clownfish for a few years. One fish eventually passed, and I kept the other for a few more years. He even rode shotgun in my Jeep on when I moved 2x in a year. Finally I was able to afford setting up a real tank I bought a used 24g aquapod aio with 150w mh. Dry rock and the clown lived his last year or so in that tank before he passed. The plan was to set up a nice reef tank but I had to move again. Sold the tank and was tankless for a few years. Now I have 3 reef tanks.
 

Kayliw63

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I started my first saltwater tank at 13 backed with knowledge from "Saltwaterfish For Dummies." Couldn't keep green star polyps and xenia alive, killed plenty of fish that had no business being in my tank in the first place, and heaven forbid I went on a week-long vacation. Went off to college and turned that tank into a freshwater aquarium for my dad.

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Post-college started back up again in 2019 and MAN there's a lot more info available online than there was in 2007. Honestly, biggest difference so far is the ATO. SO worth not obsessing over daily distilled (or back in 2007, tap) topoff dosing. Definitely still learning (afraid to plumb a sump with a non-drilled tank) and definitely excited to maintain this hobby!

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At 1 year, dealing with a big GHA breakout. Trying to treat with water changes, a decent CUC, and moderated Vibrant doses. Lost (literally, lost) a green chromis but other than that, no fish deaths. Had a rainbow monti, feather duster, ricordea mushroom, and an acan frag die, but the rest of the corals I've tried (mostly zoas) are doing alright. Lost some color in the zoas though, so still trying to figure out if that's a lighting error or something else!

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Mark Bradley

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Just finished my year of keeping corals. Had the same fish for 16 months so that’s great. The coral position was going well until I decided to upgrade my lighting and skimmer. The changes seemed to upset the balance and I had some concerning moments but, luckily, came through with little negatives. Now the set up is stable and corals are growing so in a happy place. Just ordered my first scolymia - first time I’ve felt confident to spend what I consider to be a sizeable sum on an individual coral.
 

MohrReefs

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Its going great, I got two difficult-expert only fish and they're fat and happy. I've gotten really lucky though I'm sure.
Most issues I've encountered i found solutions to on here, I don't think I would've made it this far without this forum.

Only casualties I've had are one LTA which couldn't find a happy spot and a lawnmower blenny which my shrimp turned into a hamburger.
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drblakjak55

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90g mixed reef. Five years Ago I bought 50 pounds Fiji, Tonga, Florida ”live” rock. By one month had one hitchhiker, a small Astrelas snail. Nothing else survived a start up cycle. Never went back to live rock and this tank doesn’t have a single parasite. Never seen aptasia. Usual algae and bryopsis breakout around six to nine months gone as the ecosystem develops in the rocks.
question: is it better to introduce “live” rock into established tanks?
 
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MarshallB

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Its going great, I got two difficult-expert only fish and they're fat and happy. I've gotten really lucky though I'm sure.
Most issues I've encountered i found solutions to on here, I don't think I would've made it this far without this forum.

Only casualties I've had are one LTA which couldn't find a happy spot and a lawnmower blenny which my shrimp turned into a hamburger.
Awesome tank. I really like that corner set up. Yeah for whatever reason my lawnmower blenny was a loss as well.

This forum is definitely a life line.
 

HB AL

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Being that it was 35+ years ago smoking alot of the funny stuff probably is what helped me get through that 1st year but I dont remember much from that 1st year. (;
 

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Well, it took a year before I could afford everything for my DT which got delayed due to COVID. Lost my job with two QTs chock full of fish and coral.

The DT is up and running...

I have endured crabs eating coral - no crabs ever again, a carpet anenomie that went like a bowling ball through my tank stinging everything in its path... And then died! A YT that starved itself to death. Ich, and treating it over and over and over until its gone. A battle to the death between two "peaceful" and school friendly Royal Grammas, an unrchin that mowed my zoas like a lawn, lost a $1000 in coral... Thanks to cyano that wouldn't quit.

I got ripped off $370 on two broken Vortec MP10s... That didnt even work on half inch glass. Total loss. The guy at this LFS was totally shady... And lost a good customer.

Now, I do have a pristine DT, with 2 Kessil a360xs, a Reef Octopus 200sss skimmer, a AI Prime fuge light, 2 Dosing pumps, pH meter, Dual carbin and GFO reactors, and a cabinet full of Hannah Checkers -- but it maxed out two credit cards.

So, its been a year... But - I'm still just getting started.

Had a corals come in from WWC today and dipped them... Found an asterina and a black bug in the dip container... The struggle is real.
 

Ashish Patel

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i've had alot of tanks but my last one was my first SPS dominant tank.

Few lessons learned first year:
-Do not blast a new tank with light - not enough nutrients
-Try not to add corals before 3 months, enjoy fish only.
-Figure out best time to waterchanges not when other recommend, In new tanks with dryrock Waterchanges will fuel Dinos so I prefer to do 30% every 2 months. Focus more on making sure your source water is 0 TDS and your not adding anything else. Focus on cleaning your pumps monthly instead.
-Its not about the water chemistry - It is about making your Rock Live.
-Test you Alk every day if not bi-weekly. You can't be successful long term without this and overtime it will tell you everything else that is write or wrong in your reef overtime. Consumption that goes down lets me know to test other things and sure enough I end up finding cause of any problems I have. I've yet to experience an unexpect loss because I test my water often.
- Lastly, Know where to take advice and know how to sort good and bad info. Nothing good happens fast so sometimes you have to wait it out.

Here are some pictures:
Picture 1 - 1 month
Picture 2 - 5 months (bad phase - thinking low nutrients where good, dieing corals) - added 20 LB of established sponge covered LR in sump.
Picture 3 - 10 months (when things where growing)
Picture 4 - Before and After picture.


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ReefingFamily

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My first year was a tough one. It was in the mid 90s and I was serving on active duty in the US Air Force in California at the time. I purchased a 60 gallon acrylic tank with stand and hood and kept it in my very small dorm room. I had no idea what I was really doing and would have constant floods that would go down to the floor below me. I was using VHO lighting with and icecap ballast which ran so hot that I had to keep the windows always open. My sump was bioballs and trickle filter and return pump only. I was able to keep damsels and Caulerpa successfully. HAHA.

After several years, several breaks from the hobby, and a lot of money I am now keeping a 80 gallon rimless mixed reef that has been running since 2015.
 
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