What’s the best piece of advice you can give to any reefer?

G Santana

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It's obvious to those who know, but as many have said, Nothing Good Happens Fast!!!

RODI
Decent lights
Test, test and test regularly, with a good test kit
Do some water changes
Tanks, all tanks have to mature, mine took a year and that's why you can't rush buying corals.
When your numbers stabilize buy a few inexpensive corals and give them months to see how they do before you invest in what you really want.
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Daniel@R2R

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Great thread idea! Let's get some more advice tips in here!
 

Buckster

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Always buy the largest tank that you can afford! My 180 has the best consistency as the 2 other tanks are smaller. It also holds more of the great stuff that is available in this hobby.
 

LPS Bum

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2 tips.

Lots of water changes. And never tell your spouse how much you really paid for that new fish or coral.
 

GK3

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I just want to formulate a good “code” to run by as I progress through this hobby. One of the greatest tips I got from a gentleman at my LFS was to “not turn my tank inside-out if one coral isn’t happy”
Save your money and pick another hobby.
 

billyocean

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Research. Plain and simple. Weigh the pros and cons of your research from multiple experiences on the subject.

There's no set formula for everyone's tanks..I don't know why..even the smallest factor can make a difference. Maybe it doesn't like the way a tree blows in the wind outside your house..lol. What I mean is, we could have all the same EVERYTHING and do everything the exact same..yet our tanks would require different things.

Pick your main parameters and try to keep them at that point STABLE. Corals will adapt to whatever you stabalize your tank within a pretty wide range. Test frequently at first so you are familiar with fluctuations of your tank. Coral additions can change this too i.e. some eat more calcium or alk or are happier with higher magnesium.

With enough experience your corals will tell you when something is right or wrong.
 

GK3

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I just want to formulate a good “code” to run by as I progress through this hobby. One of the greatest tips I got from a gentleman at my LFS was to “not turn my tank inside-out if one coral isn’t happy”
Live sales are only great deals if you grab good $1/$5/free fags. the rest usually aren’t that great. Don’t get caught up in the competitive “who gets it first” and end up with a lot of coral you aren’t sure on or wasn’t part of your plan.
 

billyocean

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Live sales are only great deals if you grab good $1/$5/free fags. the rest usually aren’t that great. Don’t get caught up in the competitive “who gets it first” and end up with a lot of coral you aren’t sure on or wasn’t part of your plan.
There's about 4 sponsors that have live sales worth the time. The others so called "discounts" are still more than my LFS..lol. Let's not even talk about the same ones doing those $5 corals that are marked down from $20 that nobody wanted anyways
 

Biokabe

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Live sales are only great deals if you grab good $1/$5/free fags. the rest usually aren’t that great. Don’t get caught up in the competitive “who gets it first” and end up with a lot of coral you aren’t sure on or wasn’t part of your plan.

I'm not sure that I'd say that. What I would say is, you need to have a decent understanding of the coral market to make the live sales worth it. There are some definite deals to be had in almost every live sale, but without that foundation you can have exactly the situation you're talking about. You don't have time to research every coral, so if you don't already know about what a coral would cost you normally, you can easily overspend on cheap corals and miss out on actual deals on more expensive ones.
 

jvegazo

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If you’re new and just learning In the beginning this hobby will most likely give you back less than what you put in. You have to love it and push through in order to succeed. You will have losses but you must learn through all the mistakes in order to correct them. For me, personally I think patience is probably the most important trait for this hobby. Eventually falls into place and it will all pay back. You will love and appreciate all the work you put in. (Water change is king) but it’s not the only way lots of methods and ways to be successful in this hobby.
 
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