Wanting to learn from y'all's mistakes!!

[rylan629]

Hey guys new reefer here! I don't have anything set up yet and don't plan on setting up anything till early summer. I am trying to gather as much information as possible and just want to hear from you guys what has been the hardest part/ Or just been a pain to do. Also what are your experiences with reefing is it worth the hardships? Currently a couple weeks into research and have a couple more months to go. excited to start!

 

[BryanM]

Best option to start is live rock and sand.

Best character trait you can have is patience.

There's a ton of good information on this site, and very helpful people.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Start with this guide!

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-supreme-guide-to-setting-up-a-saltwater-reef-aquarium.138750/

 

[Daz_1978]

If I started over today, here's some valuable tips I'd live by while adding all the livestock:
It's 100% about quarantine!

1. Start 2 tanks at the same time! One for the Display Tank (DT) and one for a Quarantine Tank (QT). I would add sand and plastic decorations to the QT, so the fish have somewhere to hide and you have something to look at for a few months other than a blank tank with fish. I wouldn't add rocks, as they do make it a little more difficult to keep the copper level steady for quarantine (I've done it though, and it's not really difficult. It just take more monitoring of the levels).

Pro tip: Add a few extra rocks to the DT tank for later.

After both tanks have cycled (If you actually cycle the QT, you don't have to do all those crazy water changes):
2A. Add whatever hermit crabs, decorative crabs, snails, shrimp that you want to the DT. Leave it this way (without fish) for 3 months.
2B. Roughly half way through the above 3 month period, start quarantine in the QT on your first set of fish (2-3 max), using Copper Power for 30 days then 2 rounds of Prazi Pro. This step may have to be repeated multiple times, until you get all the fish you want in the DT.

3. Move the first set of QT fish to the DT and start a new set of fish in QT if needed.

After you have all the fish you want in the DT.
4A. Tear down the QT tank and throw away any sand/rocks that were in there. You can also store it in a bucket if you ever need it again, but once in copper... you can't use that sand/rock near snails or corals.
4B. Wash the QT tank, heater, plastic decorations, filter, etc with hot water, then bleach, then white vinegar. Then do it again!
5A. Set the QT tank up again. This time add a frag rack that you built out of that cheap light fixture grate from Lowes/Home Depot.
5B. Add that rock from the "Pro Tip" to this QT tank.
5C. Add whatever corals you want to this new QT set-up. You can add shrimp, hermit crabs, snails if you want.
5D. Let the new corals, hermits, shrimp etc live in this tank for 3 months, without adding anything else.
5E. NO FISH in this tank. You want a fishless environment.
6. Move the first set of corals to the DT and start another round of corals in the QT if you want... or just keep it going as a frag tank.

This would give you a REALLY good chance of avoiding disease, pest, or plagues that you don't want in a DT.

My experience:
I had the entire tank almost how I wanted it, with only that last fish that I wanted to add. The pièce de résistance!!!
When I added that fish, it was great for a week... then the spots appeared. One by one every fish died. I've been a believer in a good QT program ever since.

 

[Spare time]

Get a heater controller like an inkbird that can shut off the heater and make sure the probe is placed where the heater is (tank or sump).

Always have a backup pump available and at least two wavemakers in the display (unless the tank is very small and you can only fit one wavemaker).

Have a spare cheap uv sterilizer hanging around (green killing machine is great). You can also run one at night as a backup in case of a bacterial bloom occurring and sucking oxygen out when you are sleeping in a disaster scenario. Usually if things start dying, this can help prevent more things from dying due to the heterotrophic bacteria scavenging and draining oxygen.

QT everything you can or order them pre quarantined.

Get a clean up crew as soon as you spot algae. The key to avoiding an ugly phase is to get things that eat the uglies.

Have a spare heater on hand.

Avoid placing corals in the prime real estate that smother others or grow like weeds (palythoas, encrusting montipora, xenia [of which I'd avoid entirely], green star polyp.


If I were doing things over, I would get rock from bommie reef.

 

[hoffmeyerz]

All the above is good advise. Throwing in my two cents: once you have it running, leave it alone and let it do it's thing. Watch it, track it, make observations....manage it don't try to control it. Knee-jerk or overreacting causes more problems then what you started with!!
Happy reefing :)

 

[claydogg84]

The most important thing to consider is whether or not you can/want to commit financially to this hobby. It's expensive, and the list of things you'll want/need seems to be always growing.

 

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

Best advice I can give is figure out what you want in your tank. This will determine size needed. Now do you have the money, time and ability/patience to do maintenance required? If no, do you have the money to buy equipment that will allow you to upkeep?

You can always save for equipment so wait and buy all at once. If going with coral buy the biggest and best light you can afford and allows for upgrades/downgrades. This will possibly be your biggest and one of the most important purchases. Get exactly what you want and have a clear vision what you want it to look like.

 

[dangles]

Best option to start is live rock and sand.

Best character trait you can have is patience.

The most important thing to consider is whether or not you can/want to commit financially to this hobby. It's expensive, and the list of things you'll want/need seems to be always growing.

These.

Some people are worried about hitchhikers from live rock/sand but talk to almost anybody who’s used it and they’ll tell you they’re never going back to dry rock. I’ve started 2 tanks so I’m relatively new as well but I’ll never go back to dry rock. It is undoubtedly more expensive but it makes the cycling process WAY faster and easier, which is one of the bigger hurdles for new people.

It’s definitely not cheap, but it doesn’t have to be absurdly expensive. Look outside of BRS. They have some good resources and good equipment, but there are definitely other ways to set up and run a tank than what BRS tells you. I’ve learned that one the hard way :)

And yeah, patience. Don’t change anything too fast. Most of the “issues” that you run into in the first year are normal and not things to panic about.

Don’t get too overwhelmed by the sea of opinions online. There are TONS of ways to successfully start and run a tank. Take advice from people who have been around for a while, and stick to one method that is proven rather than doing a “mix and match” method.

Good luck and enjoy the process :)

 

[rylan629]

Thankyou guys for all the responses I'm definitely going to make sure I key in all these factors! I actually have 30+ reptiles so I'm in no rush to start this tank lol... just was wanting to hear great responses like some of y'alls. I'm definitely going to start with some cycled live rock and now with that website y'all gave me will probably just order from there! glad you guys brought up qt as well as i've heard some people mention it but most people seem to sweep it under the rug... i was concerned about this as reptiles if not qt have a very high chance of bringing a new disease or sickness and glad you guys shined some light on that. Also did not plan on going vary big on the setup as I don't have a lot of space, I understand parameters will be harder to control and keep stable but I plan on countering that with bi-weekly water changes. if you guys have any tips or suggestions on how to keep smaller tanks parameters stable or if you guys would like to give me some suggestions on livestock as I have a lot of mixed opinions.

 

[rylan629]

Also I definitely plan on being patient with this tank I understand good comes to those who wait and I don't have a problem looking at it for a couple months being empty! oftentimes I have about 2-3 enclosures being saved/set up for reptiles so it's not gonna be the end of the world to wait. Lastly I was wanting to know what type of testing kits are good have heard a lot of trash about api and Hanna checkers was going to just go old fashion no technology and buy saltfirt test kits but didnt know how well they worked,

 

[rylan629]

If I started over today, here's some valuable tips I'd live by while adding all the livestock:
It's 100% about quarantine!

1. Start 2 tanks at the same time! One for the Display Tank (DT) and one for a Quarantine Tank (QT). I would add sand and plastic decorations to the QT, so the fish have somewhere to hide and you have something to look at for a few months other than a blank tank with fish. I wouldn't add rocks, as they do make it a little more difficult to keep the copper level steady for quarantine (I've done it though, and it's not really difficult. It just take more monitoring of the levels).

Pro tip: Add a few extra rocks to the DT tank for later.

After both tanks have cycled (If you actually cycle the QT, you don't have to do all those crazy water changes):
2A. Add whatever hermit crabs, decorative crabs, snails, shrimp that you want to the DT. Leave it this way (without fish) for 3 months.
2B. Roughly half way through the above 3 month period, start quarantine in the QT on your first set of fish (2-3 max), using Copper Power for 30 days then 2 rounds of Prazi Pro. This step may have to be repeated multiple times, until you get all the fish you want in the DT.

3. Move the first set of QT fish to the DT and start a new set of fish in QT if needed.

After you have all the fish you want in the DT.
4A. Tear down the QT tank and throw away any sand/rocks that were in there. You can also store it in a bucket if you ever need it again, but once in copper... you can't use that sand/rock near snails or corals.
4B. Wash the QT tank, heater, plastic decorations, filter, etc with hot water, then bleach, then white vinegar. Then do it again!
5A. Set the QT tank up again. This time add a frag rack that you built out of that cheap light fixture grate from Lowes/Home Depot.
5B. Add that rock from the "Pro Tip" to this QT tank.
5C. Add whatever corals you want to this new QT set-up. You can add shrimp, hermit crabs, snails if you want.
5D. Let the new corals, hermits, shrimp etc live in this tank for 3 months, without adding anything else.
5E. NO FISH in this tank. You want a fishless environment.
6. Move the first set of corals to the DT and start another round of corals in the QT if you want... or just keep it going as a frag tank.

This would give you a REALLY good chance of avoiding disease, pest, or plagues that you don't want in a DT.

My experience:
I had the entire tank almost how I wanted it, with only that last fish that I wanted to add. The pièce de résistance!!!
When I added that fish, it was great for a week... then the spots appeared. One by one every fish died. I've been a believer in a good QT program ever since.

thanks for taking the time to wrote this appreciate it!