If you could redo something, what would it be?

[Be102]

Let's make a thread that allows others learn from your mistakes. Whether it be adding a fish before another, adding an evil coral or just not designing your plumbing with no ability to upgrade. Anything goes.

 

[Diesel]

Great thread my friend.

 

[94Roarge]

Placing rockwork too close to the glass!

 

[Be102]

Placing rockwork too close to the glass!

Funny you said that. Was just thinking this week when I redo my aquascape if I should put my rocks against the back and just ignore wiping it. Bad experiences with cracks? Or just bad placement?

 

[johntdaballa]

I wish I could of better thought out on my aquascape and bought more rock. Wish I didn't cheap out on my skimmer, rocks.

 

[pdt7361]

I need a bigger stand. My stand is far too short...makes plumbing and maintenance an immense pain.

 

[Be102]

I need a bigger stand. My stand is far too short...makes plumbing and maintenance an immense pain.

Just built my own stand for this reason! Check out my build thread, if I can do it. Anyone can!

 

[pdt7361]

@Be102 I thought about changing it...but I'd have to completely tear down. Not sure I feel like doing that just yet :-)

 

[Be102]

@Be102 I thought about changing it...but I'd have to completely tear down. Not sure I feel like doing that just yet :)

Good luck if you do! I still haven't done the actual switch just yet but hopefully it isn't too bad!

 

[prsnlty]

Would use less rock

 

[morpheas]

I need a bigger stand. My stand is far too short...makes plumbing and maintenance an immense pain.

Same boat as you my friend. I'm so close to tearing apart to fix but I'm not there yet... But what a pain!

 

[johntdaballa]

Speaking of stands I wish I didn't cheap out or used the stand that came with it. Now the glass swing door isn't closing correctly.

 

[pdt7361]

I've got someone local that has the perfect stand for me....just can't decide if I really want to tear down, change stands, and redo my plumbing

 

[Be102]

My thinking for tearing down includes removing rock; scooping fish out, removing water, moving stand with tank on it, putting new stand in same place as old stand, put tank on stand, lay out rocks and use JB water weld to build some sort of aquascape... then attempt to put into the tank and then put water and fish. Sounds way easier than it's going to be .. but this hobby is fun.. right?

 

[pdt7361]

The base rocks of my aquascape are cemented together...so that will be an issue as they'll have to come out in large pieces. And don't forget draining and moving the sump as well :-)

 

[TonapahNorth]

I need a bigger stand. My stand is far too short...makes plumbing and maintenance an immense pain.

Just built my own stand for this reason! Check out my build thread, if I can do it. Anyone can!

How tall would you make your stand? Inside dimension.

 

[pdt7361]

36-38 inches tall would be what I want. And ideally, I'd want the stand to be oversized by 2-3 inches on the front and both sides.

 

[Be102]

How tall would you make your stand? Inside dimension.

Check out my build thread, I went with 36" https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/first-time-for-everything.281899/

 

[TonapahNorth]

I'm building mine to be 40" .... not sure if I'm gonna be happy with that. I think I'm going to tear the entire header out and make the top rim out of steel tube so as to maximize headroom.

To answer the original post. I would ensure that my tank is jumper proof. Early on, I lost a lot of fish without a lid (or a even homemade lid). I would also start dry everything (rock and sand) so as to minimize hitchhikers. I'm doing this precisely on my current build.

I'd also have established a QT system earlier in my reefing career.

 

[94Roarge]

Funny you said that. Was just thinking this week when I redo my aquascape if I should put my rocks against the back and just ignore wiping it. Bad experiences with cracks? Or just bad placement?

The back doesn't bother me as it is blacked out. I hate little patches of algae where my fingers are too fat to get between the glass and rocks at the side of the tank [emoji14]