Overthinking is one of my hobbies, so I have been doing the same here. "Well, they told me I need this fish for my reef to be a success. I don't love it and it is $300." was definitely taking the fun out of it.
I have been doing it wrong for over 40 years in this great hobby of ours lol. I hardly ever need to ask about husbandry in fact I tend to answer questions about it. I always say start with a plan in mind tweak it if necessary then choose the tank to accommodate the plan. Seems I do things a little different to most but nothing new about that lol.
Biggest mistake I have made in this hobby has been thinking I HAVE to have something. first 4-5 months my system was setup I was reading 0 nitrates and 0 phosphates but kept running my protein skimmer because i thought i "HAD" to have one to be successful, even though it's there to export nutrients and I had no nutrients. literally watched a GSP melt from 0 nutrients in the tank even though everyone said it's a literal weed and will take over the tank. Turned the skimmer off, let the tank get dirty saw a hug explosion of pinapple sponges, bristleworms, and pods and the tank has been fine ever since. There may come a time where you have a nuisance species pop up and want to handle it through "natural" means, but going slowly and making decisions based on research and common sense will lead to more success than being reactive to problems that don't exist.
The consensus is often right, but when it's wrong, it's wrong. Only we truly know the ins and outs (the very many outs) of our tanks, and I think that a lot of problems arise when people attempt to follow well-meaning advice given on a paucity of facts, and then get frustrated when it doesn't work...when they should just be really looking at their tank and figuring out what's going on. I run protein skimmers on most of my builds, but I have one skimmer that literally produces nothing in the way of skimmate these days. That tank's just fine.
I totally agree, and to be honest I am running the skimmer these days, but i actually have the nutrients to warrant it's use. I believe it can be difficult to trust your own judgment when first starting out.
My other way I pick a fish is through what I currently have. No, I don’t mean ‘fish that will look nice with the others through patterns and colour’ instead I mean fish that are RSWC and fish that are so called ‘100% reef safe’.Don’t pick a fish because it does a job, this is how we get fish we regret and really want to trade in. Instead pick a fish you like, it it does algae eating or something for the community then that’s just a side affect.
No, not all tanks need a tang. And honestly tangs are overrated - I just have a Bristletooth (Ctenochaetus binotatus) and he chills in the tank. I didn’t get him for a job.
I also have many wrasses which I love and again, I chose them all on colours and personality.
None of my fish were bought because I needed a certain job filled, I got them because I love them for their personality, colours ect.
I also have a regal Angel on the table and the reason why is again, I love the colours and need a fish gap filled.
None of the fish in this FTS were brought to complete a job, they’re all chosen on beauty.
So, I made my first purchase from BIOTA today. I have 3 fish arriving on Thursday. And, oddly enough, two of them are Tangs. I decided to go with a Yellow Tang and a Blue Tang.
