Obsession: Your reef is better because you quit doing this?

Do you have obsessions that you think could be unhealthy for your tank?

  • YES (tell us in the thread)

    Votes: 110 31.3%
  • NO

    Votes: 162 46.2%
  • Maybe

    Votes: 75 21.4%
  • Other

    Votes: 4 1.1%

  • Total voters
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77eran

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I must stop relocating corals every 5 minutes.
It makes me put my hands in water too many times and doesn’t give my corals any chance to get use to there new location light and flow…
 

nanocoralfarm

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Take everything you hear from other hobbyist with a grain of salt, just because one thing worked for them doesn’t mean it will for you. You should always be curious, and aware of what people tell you, but you should rather find out what works best for yourself. So the best thing I did was stop listening to every answer I get from people, and just keep it in mind.
 

Jonas Bergkvist

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stopped over reacting to issues

Good idea! I’m still new to this so i’m worried all the time for Alk, Mag, Cal, Phos, Nitrate, pH, Sg, and questions like ”why is that Zoa polyp closed, is the water not ok? and the list goes on and on. I’m trying to relax and only enjoy my tank.
 

KK's Reef

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I decided to stop keeping the tank ultra clean. I've let algae grow on the glass and sand. I've fed a lot more. I've stopped changing out the filter pad every few days.

As a result, PO4 has been between .05 and .15 and the corals seem happier.
 

attiland

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1. What is something that you QUIT doing that caused your reef tank to do and be better?

do weekly water changes. I have not seen the benefit of doing them. At the moment the plan is to do quality unless something prompt me to do it…

2. What do you obsess over when it comes to your tank?

I am obsessed with every little peace of life in my tank. Almost know the number of the polyps of each corals. The swimming pattern of my fish and. Where are hiding my crabs
I just like to stare my tank whenever I am near by. This is my favourite do nothing box.

 

Jonas Bergkvist

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Water changes. As a beginner I'd read a lot about how bad nutrients were for a reef tanks, but didn't realise what would happen if you have no nutrients. A serious attack of the gunge put me on the right track, and I now dose AFR and only change enough water to keep nutrients at the right levels.

I have low nutrients, what is AFR?
 

Jonas Bergkvist

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There was never a specific thing I was doing, but I'm just OCD when it comes to tests, tank layout, equipment cleaning.....everything lol. I just learned to let it be and only feed and clean equipment when needed. As long as everyone is fed, and looks happy and the glass is clean everything will be fine. Took almost a year to get here but eventually leave your tank alone and just enjoy watching the animals interact with their environment!


I’m exactly like this. Struggeling to not put my hands in my aquarium. I swear i get my hands wet a minimum five times a day. Measuring every other day. It’s an obsession. Working on leaving things alone.
 

KK's Reef

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I have low nutrients, what is AFR?

AFR = All-For-Reef

I dose this stuff as well to keep my Alk stable between water changes. Alk is one of the most important parameters to keep on top off. Softies and LPS don't mind Alk swings so much. Acros on the other hand... well, they tend to hate it and die.
 

Reefahholic

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I rarely run any Carbon or GFO. I don’t clean my sump that often anymore. I make sure to match my NSW for ALK, Salinity, Temp, and if Cal and Mag or low I’ll supplement it in the NSW. I don’t dose Lanthanum anymore. I don’t constantly tinker inside the tank. If I dose anything I’ll spread it out as much as possible. I don’t run filter socks unless I’m cleaning. I limit putting my hands in the tank. I dose trace elements back to the system via ICP results. I don’t do anything that is not calculated. All these things have made my tank more stable with less issues.

Just remember, simply turkey basting your rocks will make your ALK consumption decline with sensitive corals. Everything you do can literally cause small destabilizing events.

Quick story:

There was a German YouTuber with the most elite reef tank I’ve ever seen. I kept asking him on YouTube what his secret was despite not knowing if he could speak English, because all the chat was in German. The guy FINALLY replied to me one day and it was probably the simplest, but best advice I’ve ever received.

He said…”Never change a running system.”
 

Lyss

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Right now my only obsession is trying to decide what to do with or how to rehome my murderous scarlet-legged hermits. In addition to being cold-blooded killers, they also perch on top of all of my sps corals at night. I need them gone. :(

4FAEDE53-11B4-4BE1-BE79-01BB91426ECB.jpeg
How big are they, and what are they killing? I have two that have been long-term peaceful residents in my tank, and I love watching them bop around. They are, however, getting much bigger — now I’m a little worried.
 

mattdg

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Stopped purchasing new equipment and additives for every issue that popped up and started looking around my house to see what I already had. Saved time since I was already familiar with the equipment and supplements. Made me a more creative problem solver and better Reefer. Forced me to only address one issue at a time. Reef and wallet have been better off since.
 

kittenbritches

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How big are they, and what are they killing? I have two that have been long-term peaceful residents in my tank, and I love watching them bop around. They are, however, getting much bigger — now I’m a little worried.
Three slow fish, three ping pong ball-sized urchins, and they've picked an LPS to death. They're enormous and were plucked from the ocean. I over feed the tank to make sure they've got plenty to eat, but they also keep killing each other as well. At least twice a week I see a new hermit body torn from its shell lying on the substrate.
 

V A R I A N T

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I'm a newbie and am try hard not to as well. So I bought gloves. Still trying :p
Totally agree with this. Keeping your hands out is one thing, keeping your bare skin out is a different level. No unknown oils, chemicals, whatever you might have on your skin.
 

Seascapes

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1. What is something that you QUIT doing that caused your reef tank to do and be better?

do weekly water changes. I have not seen the benefit of doing them. At the moment the plan is to do quality unless something prompt me to do it…

2. What do you obsess over when it comes to your tank?

I am obsessed with every little peace of life in my tank. Almost know the number of the polyps of each corals. The swimming pattern of my fish and. Where are hiding my crabs
I just like to stare my tank whenever I am near by. This is my favourite do nothing box.


Love the video
 

Bars

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I have a VERY annoying habit of trying to make everything in my tank perfect. I.e. a coral that absolutely has to be 1'' to the right or that rock that's just a teeny tiny bit too far to the left. Even worse are those times that I have visitors coming and I'm thinking ''if that rock isn't exactly there they will not like the tank'' or whatever.

So what I do now is I glue everything in place with 2 part putty, making it almost impossible to remove or move anything lol. To be fair it isn't nearly as bad as it used to be fortunately.
 

attiland

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I have a VERY annoying habit of trying to make everything in my tank perfect. I.e. a coral that absolutely has to be 1'' to the right or that rock that's just a teeny tiny bit too far to the left. Even worse are those times that I have visitors coming and I'm thinking ''if that rock isn't exactly there they will not like the tank'' or whatever.

So what I do now is I glue everything in place with 2 part putty, making it almost impossible to remove or move anything lol. To be fair it isn't nearly as bad as it used to be fortunately.
Just keep in mind there is no symmetry in the nature- or did I just stare a new obsession?
sorry ups GIF by EnBW
 

Mastering the art of locking and unlocking water pathways: What type of valves do you have on your aquarium plumbing?

  • Ball valves.

    Votes: 37 54.4%
  • Gate valves.

    Votes: 37 54.4%
  • Check valves.

    Votes: 15 22.1%
  • None.

    Votes: 15 22.1%
  • Other.

    Votes: 6 8.8%
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