The Golden rule of reefkeeping

[Cory]

The first golden rule of reefkeeping is:

"Dont add anything metal to your tank"

This includes

-Hose clamps
-Pvc pipe connectors (salt creep drops into the tank tin)
-Algae magnets
-veggie clips
-Metal housings of lighting too close to the water surface.

Then

Iron oxide (impurities)
Aluminum oxide (releases aluminum)
Titanium (low grades have impurities)

Suspect's:

Rock not calcium carbonate
Black sand (some is metallic)


Anyone breaking the first golden rule?

 

[Brew12]

The first golden rule of reefkeeping is:

"Dont add anything metal to your tank"

This includes

-Hose clamps
-Pvc pipe connectors (salt creep drops into the tank tin)
-Algae magnets
-veggie clips
-Metal housings of lighting too close to the water surface.

Then

Iron oxide (impurities)
Aluminum oxide (releases aluminum)
Titanium (low grades have impurities)

Suspect's:

Rock not calcium carbonate
Black sand (some is metallic)


Anyone breaking the first golden rule?

Yup! All day every day!

If I had a "Golden Rule of Reefkeeping" it would be....

"Don't add anything to your tank that your tank isn't telling you it needs" - And no, a test set saying you have high PO4 isn't your tank telling you that you need GFO.

Followed by...

"If you make a change and have seen no improvement after 2 weeks, wait another 2 weeks. Nothing good happens fast."

 

[andrewkw]

I've had the odd magnet rust over the years. Of course I removed them but they were not detrimental. If a tiny screw fell in and I couldn't get it with a magnet I would just leave it.

I don't really think there is a golden rule. You can say something like go slow but sometimes people set up full blown reefs right away and they get away with it. Either because they are prepared or just lucky. Just like a bad batch of salt or a return pump dying right when you leave can finish you.

 

[shred5]

The first golden rule of reefkeeping is:

"Dont add anything metal to your tank"

This includes

-Hose clamps
-Pvc pipe connectors (salt creep drops into the tank tin)
-Algae magnets
-veggie clips
-Metal housings of lighting too close to the water surface.

Then

Iron oxide (impurities)
Aluminum oxide (releases aluminum)
Titanium (low grades have impurities)

Suspect's:

Rock not calcium carbonate
Black sand (some is metallic)


Anyone breaking the first golden rule?

I have seen some people run a magnet through black sand and pick all kinds up..

I would never use black sand. I believe Gooch had pictures of this a while back.

But I think everyone breaks this rule to some extent with either titanium shafts or screws on pumps or skimmers. But yea I have not thought of that.. Ceramic would be better.

I think some of the plastics on these cheap Chinese equipment is leaching even more bad stuff.

My golden rule is only bad things happen fast and good things happen slowly. Patients.

Second is kiss keep it simple stupid.

Third the solution to pollution is dilution.

 

[kswan]

As a new reefer I have found that my golden rule is to treat everything like a science experiment. Basically, only make one change at a time. Too many variables makes everything more difficult.

 

[ca1ore]

How about GFO ..... oh, and I also dose iron for chaeto growth ....... not to mention the titanium in my chiller ..... maybe not such a 'golden' rule after all

 

[ca1ore]

Nothing good happens fast."

If there is a golden rule, it's this!

 

[Brew12]

I've never figured out why people won't put a magnet in their tank yet they are willing to run pumps in it. I'm not sure how a covered magnet in a algae clip is any different than a covered magnet in a motor rotor.

 

[Jeepguy242]

If there is a golden rule, it's this!

I have to agree but also throw this in

The solution to pollution is dilution

 

[Cory]

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

My golden rule is to keep the credit card handy.

 

[Chuck Lawson]

My golden rule is to keep the credit card handy.

Mine's similar -- all the gold gets spent on the tank.

 

[carbene]

no metals in the tank isnt a golden rule. #1 golden rule is to not dose tank with anything youre not test for.

 

[Cnidoblast]

Know your chemistry is my rule

 

[rkpetersen]

I've got two Flipper algae scrapers that are in my dt 24/7. Exposed plastic and metal surfaces heavily encrusted in coralline algae. I don't know what the metal is, but there's no rust or other corrosion visible at all. No aluminum, tin, chrome, vanadium, or other unwanted metals on ICP testing, most recently 3 weeks ago.

And I have a titanium grounding probe in the sump; no titanium at all in the water on ICP test.

I think it's fine to put metal items in your tank, just continue to monitor their condition as part of routine maintenance. Magnets are especially easy to place and forget.

 

[rkpetersen]

I've been learning to live by this golden rule:

Nothing good happens fast on the reef,
And nothing that happens fast is good.

 

[Greybeard]

I'm with all those that say slow and steady, no matter how you phrase it. Stability is the key.

Nothing good happens fast on the reef,
And nothing that happens fast is good.

No metals? Sodium is a metal... magnesium, calcium, potassium... There are far more metals on the periodic table than any other single group. many of them absolutely necessary for our tanks.

Keep the credit card handy is probably more valuable than no metals

 

[mcarroll]

Ferrous magnet rust shouldn't be a big deal I don't think.

Neodymium magnets on the other hand…nasty.

 

[Gareth elliott]

Ferrous magnet rust shouldn't be a big deal I don't think.

Neodymium magnets on the other hand…nasty.

Agreed a ceramic magnet is already fully oxidized, and exhibits very little reactivity. The rust that appears on these is usually iron that entered the tank in another fashion and was collected by magnetism. And even that iron might have come through natural sources: salt mix, decomposing algae, fish and coral food, etc. Iron readily changes form from fe2 -> fe3 in a reef aquarium, by my understanding anyway (not a chemist lol) and fe3o4 is what shows most often the tell tail dark red color we see as rust though certain fe2o3 will also show as red (the main component of red pigment in paint(orche).

The paint is where my understanding comes from while is college making your own tempera paint for a design project.

Rare earth magnets on the other hand are extremely reactive in water and present in most power head attachment magnets to reduce their size.

 

[Rybren]

My golden rule is pretty simple. Keep the inside of the aquarium wet and at a reasonable salinity. Everything else is pretty much optional.