If You Could Do ONE Thing differently With Your System...

[Pmj]

Without talking changing components, definitely aquascape. Wish I had drilled and used acrylic rods and spent more time on it . The urchin bulldozes through rocks for fun and laughs at waterweld and superglue, and has killed many acros by them falling in the sand.

 

[mmw64]

Low maintenance build so not so tied down in summer.

 

[Greybeard]

Wish my sump closet was a bit larger. It's great having a sump closet... not having to work on my knees anymore is a lifesaver for an old fat guy like me. The room is 8' x 3'. If it could have been 8' x 5', it would be awesome.

 

[thetedinator]

Wish I would have:

• Gone with a Eurobraced tank instead of straight rimless. Maintenance is a PITA with water constantly splashing over the side.
• Hard plumbed instead of soft
• QT all my fish from the get go, instead of later.

@Bouncingsoul39 you get to pick the ONE thing you would change :). I have had rimless and eurobraced tanks. My current tank has eurobracing and I hate it.

Without talking changing components, definitely aquascape. Wish I had drilled and used acrylic rods and spent more time on it . The urchin bulldozes through rocks for fun and laughs at waterweld and superglue, and has killed many acros by them falling in the sand.

@Pmj my aquascaping is a combination of rock structures built with fiberglass rods and Aquascapefix and rocks held in place by gravity. I have 3 urchins. My urchins don't move any of the rock work but they will knock over frags that have not been glued in well.

 

[Greybeard]

My current tank has eurobracing and I hate it.

My first tank was stainless frame, slate bottom... happily, they don't make 'em like that anymore. For many years, I had 'standard' plastic rimmed tanks. I always attempted to cover the rim with the stand and canopy. Never owned a euro braced tank... just never liked the look. The last tank I had, a 60g rimless cube, was my first rimless. My current has a frame at the bottom, but is rimless at the top. I love it. I'll likely never own another rimmed tank, nor am I likely to build another canopy. I just love the 'open' look.

 

[siggy]

@Greybeard your rimless and T5 has a clean & easy look..relaxing almost..My wish would have been to build all the hardware and tech before adding water.... apex, dosing, control board, top off on ..on...on..on..on

 

[kz4q66]

Get a shorter tank. My arms are too short for 30" height tank

 

[thetedinator]

Get a shorter tank. My arms are too short for 30" height tank

@kz4q66, I hear you. On a previous rimless tank, 26" tall was perfect. My current tank is 26" tall but has eurobracing so now to reach the corner where the bottom meets the sides, I have to almost climb into the tank.

 

[madweazl]

Having had a number of tanks over the years, I was able to address most of my "issues" on the current 75g but one thing I wish I'd done differently was to place a hinge on the false wall in the sump that hides all my wires for the controller. While it does what I intended on, I have to remove three screws to get behind the wall. Not the worst procedure but a hinged door would have made it easier (and the reason I still havent run those three cords behind it...).

Oh, I would have run the hard plumbing closer to the return pump with a shorter length of flexible hose (straight drop vs what I have now).

Edit: thought of one more; I would have put more thought into which corals I placed in what location. For instance, the monti caps would have been at the bottom and off to the sides where they would receive less light and not blocked anything below them. I would have placed stag like structures in the back and tabling down low and in front. Blues would have been placed next to yellows (high impact contrast), etc.

 

[Bigtex817]

I currently have the fluval 13.5 and the one thing I would have changed with that is wouldn’t have bought it, instead I would have gone with the IM 30L.

 

[Greybeard]

@Greybeard your rimless and T5 has a clean & easy look..relaxing almost..My wish would have been to build all the hardware and tech before adding water.... apex, dosing, control board, top off on ..on...on..on..on

Thanks... and yeah, especially with sump under tank builds, adding stuff _after_ the tank is running can be a major PITA. Not so bad with the sump closet I have now, but even there, I really need to add some cord management since switching from the RKL to the Apex, adding high/low level sensors to my ATO reservoir, adding auto refill to my mixing barrel, etc. Wires running everywhere :( It's the price we pay for learning as we go. Hey, it's a hobby, not a project. Things are going to change, might as well get used to the idea ;)

Get a shorter tank. My arms are too short for 30" height tank

I went 18", love the low look, at some point, I may well have a problem with fish size because of that choice. A foot tall scopus tang in an 18" tank, minus gravel depth, minus the inch or so at the top... not much vertical swim room.

not having to worry about wet sleeves when I reach into the tank? Awesome :)

 

[siggy]

I have to almost climb into the tank.

People travel to snorkel.... this go round I bought a 20" and no regrets ..next one probably a red sea or similar

 

[turfster26]

Wish I would have:

• Gone with a Eurobraced tank instead of straight rimless. Maintenance is a PITA with water constantly splashing over the side.
• Hard plumbed instead of soft
• QT all my fish from the get go, instead of later.

I so agree. IMHO rimless was a craze for some time and I never bought in for the same exact reason (maintenance) water spill over. My Miracles tank is Eurobrace and for the last 12-years its serviced me well.

But everyone has their reasons and opinions which is why the world goes around.

NOW for my one wish....I wish when I custom designed my 180-gl Miracles tank I made it 36" deep instead of the current 24". Aquascaping a shallow tank is a total PITA and with an SPS tank you simply can't get the aesthetic depth of view you need.

My next tank will be a 60" x 36" 26". Maybe 6-10 years from now.

 

[Mrod]

Early on never buying that cheap palythoa starter that is still in my tank to this day, lol.

Things have changed over the years but these I can’t easily remove as my anemone is on the sameness rock and not worth messing with it after all these years now.

Great thread by the way, love everyone’s “regrets”.

 

[thetedinator]

Early on never buying that cheap palythoa starter that is still in my tank to this day, lol.

Things have changed over the years but these I can’t easily remove as my anemone is on the sameness rock and not worth messing with it after all these years now.

Great thread by the way, love everyone’s “regrets”.

Thanks for joining in. I wish I had never put Xenia, Clavularia and Cespitularia into my system. They are weeds and on somedays, they suck the enjoyment out of reefing.

 

[rtparty]

Can I go with "my entire system"? Lol

Really my biggest regret is probably the tank dimensions. A 2 foot cube is a royal PITA for everything! No good algae grazing fish do well in a 2 foot tank. Sumps are not designed for 2 foot cubes. Standard tanks can't easily be turned into sumps since you compromise way too much. The 24" side to side makes aqua scaping tougher. You can really only go up and I hate the column look personally.

Then I really don't enjoy the rimless aspect. Same reasons as above. Water spills out no matter how careful you are. Then add in there needs to be a screen top anyway, and I don't mind a framed tank to be honest. Hides the screen and I can place the little cord holders on the plastic trim instead of glass. (Think Vortech pumps)

But....maybe I would have just gone with live rock instead of dry. That could be the ONE thing I would change. Almost a year in and this tank has been more trouble than it's worth. Cryshophytes, cyano, dinos and now GHA. Basically all linked to dry rock.

I'm very much considering a 75 or 120 upgrade. 75g compromises depth at only 18" front to back. 120g brings in the 24" top to bottom I don't care for but brings 24" front to back. How has no major tank builder done a 48*24*18 or 20 as a standard size???