What is a common mistake you see people make in a hobby that isn't talked about enough?

[Gumbies R Us]

chasing numbers, thinking you know best, whats good for someone else tank my not be good for yours

Everyone's tank is different, that is for sure!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Rushing

Try to duplicate one's successful tank

Adding unnecessary chemicals

 

[Nor'easter Reefer]

Believing and buying what an lfs says will solve their problem.

The amount of times I tell my dad "no, that fish is going to get way to big for you tank, the LFS guy is just trying to make a sale" and he says "the guy at the pet store said my tanks big enough and it'll be fine!" Now he's trying to figure out if he has to get rid of the fish he bought but since grew attached too

 

[Nor'easter Reefer]

Rushing

Try to duplicate one's successful tank

Adding unnecessary chemicals

So i should stop adding every medication I have to my tank? I figured it's better to be proactive so I just put a double dose of everything in my fish tank medicine cabinet into my display tank!

Public service announcement:
THIS IS A JOKE! PLEASE, NOBODY DO THIS!

 

[DanyL]

So i should stop adding every medication I have to my tank? I figured it's better to be proactive so I just put a double dose of everything in my fish tank medicine cabinet into my display tank!

Public service announcement:
THIS IS A JOKE! PLEASE, NOBODY DO THIS!

I followed your directions and now my fish is looking like this. What should I do now?

 

[TacticalBacon]

Believing and buying what an lfs says will solve their problem.

Amen. My LFS can’t read a refractor to save their life.

I thought I was doing it wrong with my Hannah and the fill up salinity checker.

Bought a refractor and it was what I thought.

I was afraid I was too new to not believe the experts.
LFS are not always experts.

Also the genius who built my plumbing used a ball valve in lieu of a gate valve and then tried to explain to me it was just as easy to adjust.

 

[ieatbugman]

listening to petco.

 

[Janet Belanger]

I echo a lot of the guidance here...

Keep it simple and stable
Patience is crucial
The issue you're trying to solve with chemicals is often an imbalance. These fixes may solve your issue, but imbalance something else, causing cascade effects.

 

[wattsg30]

Dosing anything without testing first.

 

[vlangel]

I think that it's important to build redundancy into the tank with providing oxygen. I have my powerheads and my return pump on 2 different circuits in case one trips. I also have a cheap auto battery backup pump on the tank.

 

[jnhernandez1]

Zero phosphates and Zero Nitrates. I almost killed all my corals think I finally achieved the goal of super low nutrients…. They like nutrients

 

[feelingfishy]

Zero phosphates and Zero Nitrates. I almost killed all my corals think I finally achieved the goal of super low nutrients…. They like nutrients

I’ve had to learn this the hard way as well. Dinos, weak corals, poor coloration, poor growth rate. I was conflicted by the data from the beginning of the hobby. Where then it was the goal to eliminate nutrient detection.

 

[rtparty]

MoRe PaR, mOrE bEtTeR

You can really tell who didn’t live through the PAR wars from 12-15 years ago as corals were just obliterated with narrow optics and laser beams of lights.

I get it though. It’s about the only thing companies that put no R&D into their lights can try to hang their hats on. They’re just trying to hit a price point and PAR is easy to test and get these days.

 

[naterealbig]

Not treating a new, cycling tank exactly as you would the future reef it will be.

 

[magallonbuckinbulls]

Using cheap unsafe stand/cabinet to hold their expensive system. You need a strong foundation

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Using cheap unsafe stand/cabinet to hold their expensive system. You need a strong foundation

I agree with this one! Never cheap out on a stand for your tank!

 

[PensnCrows]

Using chemicals to correct problems that are best left to natural fixes