What is a common mistake you see people make in a hobby that isn't talked about enough?
- Thread starter Gumbies R Us
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Buying only green coral
Putting their fingers too close to Clownfish. 
DanyL
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Not realizing that Apex, Hydros and other automation systems over-complicate the system and create more failure points than running without them.
Monitoring - Great!
Controlling - Bad!
Keeping things simple tremendously reduce the possibility of something going wrong, and it is far easier to debug and resolve problems when they arise, but most importantly - it is distributed and isolated, and not centralized, preventing the whole system from going down if there was an update failure for your automation platform for example.
Monitoring - Great!
Controlling - Bad!
Keeping things simple tremendously reduce the possibility of something going wrong, and it is far easier to debug and resolve problems when they arise, but most importantly - it is distributed and isolated, and not centralized, preventing the whole system from going down if there was an update failure for your automation platform for example.
Related to this - not knowing the difference between a FLOAT SWITCH (an electrical device) and a FLOAT VALVE (a mechanical device).
The biggest mistake in the hobby IMO is bashing other reefers because of differing methodologies. Protein skimmer vs algae scrubber, GFO/Carbon vs No GFO/Carbon, water changes vs no water changes, expensive lights vs budget lights, carbon dosing, refugiums, etc, but the big one nowadays seems to be the calcium reactor/kalkwasser folks vs the BOLUS folks. After watching videos and reading about these two ways to run a reef tank I’ve come to the conclusion that each method has its advantages and disadvantages and what matters most is the end product and how the tank looks. I’ve heard it said numerous times and nothing can be truer, there’s more than one way to run a successful reef tank.
Not quarantining fish before adding them to your display. Even just observing for a couple weeks to make sure they are healthy and eating well should be done at a minimum IMO.
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”
CHSUB
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trying to fix a seemingly new problem, when the problem was created months ago in planning or execution. Example: fixing a crack in a wall with stucco, when the crack was created by a poor foundation…
redfishbluefish
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It's already been said a couple of times, but I'm going to reinforce it.....Patience!
The faster you go, the bigger the crash.
I don't know if it's a societal thing these days, but to an old guy, it appears folks just want instantaneous everything. "I want it NOW!"
Procrastination is not a four letter word, especially with this hobby. I've become an expert on the subject and have been meaning to write an article....maybe tomorrow.
The faster you go, the bigger the crash.
I don't know if it's a societal thing these days, but to an old guy, it appears folks just want instantaneous everything. "I want it NOW!"
Procrastination is not a four letter word, especially with this hobby. I've become an expert on the subject and have been meaning to write an article....maybe tomorrow.
Not allocating unlimited funds! j/k
For me, we’ve all made mistakes in this hobby and irl. However, it’s how you recover and learn from your mistakes. I’ve made a bunch of those mistakes already highlighted: lack of patience, no QT, lack of research, dosing, shortcuts, etc
In the end, it’s a hobby — you have to enjoy it! I like to experiment and DIY. The reefing gear, tech automation, and chemical dosing are sometimes more rewarding than fish & corals!
For me, we’ve all made mistakes in this hobby and irl. However, it’s how you recover and learn from your mistakes. I’ve made a bunch of those mistakes already highlighted: lack of patience, no QT, lack of research, dosing, shortcuts, etc
In the end, it’s a hobby — you have to enjoy it! I like to experiment and DIY. The reefing gear, tech automation, and chemical dosing are sometimes more rewarding than fish & corals!
Thinking that spending more = better product
Randy Holmes-Farley
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My Tank Thread
I know it’s against this exact post, but I think there’s an intentional misrepresentation being pushed by some that lead folks to your conclusion, and I feel compelled to say something.
I agree with your ultimate comment that it is how the tank thrives that matter.
Tanks using bolus can thrive perfectly well. Almost no one disputes that, and it’s thriving or not has not been any significant part of the debate here at reef2reef. It’s proponents want you to think that, however, so that they can show a great tank as proof they are right.
The real debate and misinformation being pushed relates to claims unrelated to how the tank looks. They relate to analytical measurements (such as pH) and to claims about how those effects arise as well as the implications of those mechanisms.
I certainly agree that there are many successful ways to run a reef tank, which include bolus dosing and kalkwasser and dozens of others. But using one of these does not give anyone the right to spread false information in an effort to get others to use it.
BubblesandSqueak
2500 Club Member
buying the cute fish they see in the store and not knowing their tank is not big enough later. Like when the blue hippo gets ich and they ask for help, then they post its in a 13 fluval.
DanyL
Valuable Member
I wanted to comment something along the same lines too, but decided not to given the rules.
I’m glad you went ahead and said it.
And to translate this to yet another “common mistake” people make - believing companies when they misrepresent their own products as superior to others, when in practice there isn’t much difference if at all both in the elements being used, as well as the end result of using them.
OP
OP
Gumbies R Us
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I am very careful about this! I make sure water gets no where near outlets and I make sure my cables all are setup with a drip loop that way water won’t drip into the outlet
I still don't, but it fills right up next to the sump lol. So its going straight in the drain anyway
Buying a clownfish and the wrong type of anemone then posting why doesn’t my clown host my anemone
DanyL
Valuable Member
People mistakenly thinking clownfish are hosting Anemones, when in practice its the Anemones which are hosting the clownfish
OP
OP
Gumbies R Us
God, Bouldering, and Reefing
I've almost flooded my bathroom twice now because I forgot to turn off my RODI unit, haha.
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