Reefing "Non-Negotiables"...

[skey44]

I will never start a tank without Live Rock for the win.

Ooh… I love old school liverock, but with my current build I used old dry live rock from my yard that was brute cured for a few months. It worked great. My theory is the phosphate sync that it provides promotes phosphate stability in new tanks which is one of the most critical aspects in a Reef tank. I just added some dry barren mined base rock to my frag system and it immediately bottomed out my phosphates making my corals very mad. I’m here to agree with you that live rocks is good, But promote my idea that old live rock is really good too if you want to avoid the hitchhikers and still have success. Dry base rock is very hard to start a tank with. You’re going to battle the base rock binding all the phosphate and then once it reaches equilibrium cut back on the algae wafers (what I’m currently adding to my frag tank to try and increase phosphates).

 

[skey44]

In my view, patience and urgency are different things.

Urgency can lead to over-correction, compounding the problem.

Patience is a willingness to accept that corrections, most often, do not lead to overnight fixes.

I understand the differences. I just think urgency is very much necessary in certain situations. Eg. Picking up a frag off of another coral or the sand bed, vs doing a massive water change if your sea cucumber dies. Just waiting around to make a change is definitely overhyped as long as the change is correct. I will often watch my alk drift for days before changing my dosing pump, but will immediately do a 10percent water change if everything is testing ok but not looking quite right to see if theres notable improvement from the water change.

I do agree that knee jerk reactions can lead to bad outcomes. But having the experience and knowledge to act appropriately and quickly is vital too.

Human health wise I would liken this example to knowing when to go to the hospital ER vs following up with a primary care provider. Or changing your diet to help with moderate hypertension and elevated A1c vs starting a medicine immediately because of an irregular heartbeat. One thing you have time to fix… and committed patience to fix it is great, But another thing can lead to grave consequences if not fixed immediately.

Thanks for starting this conversation and helping me shape a new perspective and understanding of my reef code

 

[X-37B]

Ooh… I love old school liverock, but with my current build I used old dry live rock from my yard that was brute cured for a few months. It worked great. My theory is the phosphate sync that it provides promotes phosphate stability in new tanks which is one of the most critical aspects in a Reef tank. I just added some dry barren mined base rock to my frag system and it immediately bottomed out my phosphates making my corals very mad. I’m here to agree with you that live rocks is good, But promote my idea that old live rock is really good too if you want to avoid the hitchhikers and still have success. Dry base rock is very hard to start a tank with. You’re going to battle the base rock binding all the phosphate and then once it reaches equilibrium cut back on the algae wafers (what I’m currently adding to my frag tank to try and increase phosphates).

Well said! I have several pieces of dead live rock I used in my current 50. Can't tell which was dead now.
I also did 50/50 in my old 120.
50/50 is the minimum I will go.
Honestly never did a total dead rock start though.
Just my preference as I know many who have awesome dead rock start systems.

 

[FrugalReeferJon]

I can never start a tank without some form of logging to record everything. Most reefers it seems will go digital using a phone or computer. For me it will always be a simple journal and pen.

 

[skey44]

I can never start a tank without some form of logging to record everything. Most reefers it seems will go digital using a phone or computer. For me it will always be a simple journal and pen.

I do this too. I really need to update though as it’s been a while since I logged my data. Still testing just not tracking well.

 

[fryman]

I'm surprised at the number of people saying ato.

I used to have an ATO on every tank but not anymore. I use a doser with kalkwasser tuned to match the evaporation. I check and adjust salinity, if needed, during water changes. Evaporation does not vary enough week-to-week for it to affect salinity, usually. Salinity is normally spot on, at most it may drift 1ppt over a couple weeks when seasons change but this is easy to anticipate and correct.

IME tanks with ATOs are likely to eventually have a failure and (usually) they fail on resulting in a flood and/or serious salinity drop. So I do not trust them and learned to always check salinity when I do water changes.

 

[kdx7214]

I will never have a tank without more money. That said, I would never have a tank without live rock and a controller of some kind.

Edit: I would always have a bigger tank :)

 

[Grog]

I'll never have a tank without some sort of angelfish. Angels are one of the first things that go on my stock list, every single time.

 

[69cam]

I'm surprised at the number of people saying ato.

I used to have an ATO on every tank but not anymore. I use a doser with kalkwasser tuned to match the evaporation. I check and adjust salinity, if needed, during water changes. Evaporation does not vary enough week-to-week for it to affect salinity, usually. Salinity is normally spot on, at most it may drift 1ppt over a couple weeks when seasons change but this is easy to anticipate and correct.

IME tanks with ATOs are likely to eventually have a failure and (usually) they fail on resulting in a flood and/or serious salinity drop. So I do not trust them and learned to always check salinity when I do water changes.

This is how I do it too.

 

[skey44]

I'll never have a tank without some sort of angelfish. Angels are one of the first things that go on my stock list, every single time.

I’ve always had angels until this tank and it’s the first where all my corals have pretty consistent PE! I do love marine angelfish. I’m tempted to just try one more time everytime I see a nice specimen. Especially flame and regal angels!

 

[Renfield42]

I’d never do anything without doing the homework first.

A great way to avoid self-inflicted problems. There are plenty of other kinds of potential problems as it is.

 

[BryanM]

I was inspired by my own thread from earlier (), and it got me thinking... What are your reefing "non-negotiables"... Those few things that you believe to your core, and you will never compromise on. For example:

• I can't have a tank without _____ equipment
• I will never own a _____ and a ____ a the same time
• No one should ever keep a ____ in this size tank
• I will always test ______ no matter how my reef looks
• You should never _____ unless you have ______ amount of experiance
• Etc.

RODI, Automation, ATO.

 

[schooncw]

“Real”, wet live rock.

 

[malacoda]

I will never start a tank without aquacultured live rock.

 

[mfinn]

When talking about

I was inspired by my own thread from earlier (), and it got me thinking... What are your reefing "non-negotiables"... Those few things that you believe to your core,

How about, you make a deal with another reefer, money is exchanged, shipment is completed, then decide to back out of the deal.
To me you make a deal with someone, you stick with it.
That is my non-negotiable.