Whats the most Critical Important thing you may have overlooked on your reef and how would you suggest fixing that to new reefers?

JustJoan

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Just getting to get my rock today to start. Every site says to glue or epoxy the rocks together in my case 90 pounds.
So I am reading expect to have to remove rock down the road. No offense but if I follow the guideline given by using glue or epoxy how the heck would I ever do that. Am I missing something? Please advise because it is happening Today.
Thanks Wally
Don't worry Freenow, epoxy and glue is also temporary.....
 

Pkunk35

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Just getting to get my rock today to start. Every site says to glue or epoxy the rocks together in my case 90 pounds.
So I am reading expect to have to remove rock down the road. No offense but if I follow the guideline given by using glue or epoxy how the heck would I ever do that. Am I missing something? Please advise because it is happening Today.
Thanks Wally

make the structure so that it can be taken out in pieces from the tank if necessary

I would say one of my most critically overlooked aspects was making a plan for additional equipment down the road BEFORE the tank is running. Adding apex gear behind or under an existing tank totally sucks.
 

D4jack

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Just getting to get my rock today to start. Every site says to glue or epoxy the rocks together in my case 90 pounds.
So I am reading expect to have to remove rock down the road. No offense but if I follow the guideline given by using glue or epoxy how the heck would I ever do that. Am I missing something? Please advise because it is happening Today.
Thanks Wally
I drilled my rock and used driveway marker poles. Use a mask and gloves cutting them. They're made of fiberglass. It was pretty easy, and it comes apart in a snap.
 

zukihara

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Hi Mate, why was this, I tend to wait until fairly clogged until changing out ?
I believe BRSTV studies have indicated that 3-4 days is the most you can get out of a sock before it starts working against you. They talked a good bit about removing them all together in favor a filter floss type approach as practiced by WWC.
 

Smiler1875

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I believe BRSTV studies have indicated that 3-4 days is the most you can get out of a sock before it starts working against you. They talked a good bit about removing them all together in favor a filter floss type approach as practiced by WWC.
Thanks, yeah I saw that, but haven;t had any issues changing every month. mind you I have a bank of 3, so any overflow goes into next one and so on
 

moreef

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I would say try to build as much redundancy into system as possible. A faulty ato can not only nuke a tank but destroy floors, walls, relationships etc.

And take it slooooooow. This is very hard to do when you see other beautiful tanks and want yours to mature and look the same. I struggle with this but am trying to take my time, along with keeping hands out of water as much as possible and let tank settle.
 

LegendaryCG

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I would say this:

100% of people plan for/expect to not have to take their reef apart.

but about 70% have to, unexpectedly for various reasons.

and then folks get stuck on procedure, things can die.


build your tank expecting to be part of the majority of disassemblers, even though it doesn't seem that way now.

for example

knowing I'd have to disassemble soon, for one or more reasons, I'd stack corals onto rock bommies that could be lifted out with the growth in tact, I wouldn't make a three hundred pound Saxby reef wall.

folks who start reefs with bare white rocks often have to disassemble to get out of an invasion.


oh they don't want to

but they will :)
eventually. they will make their way to our threads eventually
Yea there’s no disassembling mine... ton of glue and mortar was used to make that one solid piece

06B118D4-7257-46CE-BACD-3D123DA70D8A.jpeg
 

Dw79

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Having a Auto Top Off unit of some kind. I went a good 3 years of manually adding adding water went it started getting low and will never do it again. Something simple that goes a long way to keeping stable salinity and a happy reef.
 

Cory

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Never blindly trust your alkalinity test kit.

1.135 grams of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) in 1 gallon of ro/di or distilled water is exactly 10dkh with your test kit.

Yes i had an alk kit that was actually reading 5dkh when i was shooting for 7dkh and it read 7dkh. And its not a cheap kit either! Pretty common!
 

monkeyCmonkeyDo

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Do a sump system right off the back.

Make the plumbing. Sump. Removable with unions installed in the plumbing.

Dont skimp on the equipment, the display, or the stand furniture.
These items are the heart and soul of your aquarium!

$1500 in livestock in a $100 tank still looks like its in a $100 tank.

Upsize your skimmer. Get the bigger model filter and flow pump. Specially if they are dc or controllable and you can dial them down.

Refractometer or glass float hydrometer over a dial float hydrometer.

Think thats it. Lol
D
 

MasonK24

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Patience.

It’s so exciting starting a new/first tank but for the love of god..

take.it.slow.

I can think of a thousand things I would've done different, but now it’s tough because my tank is established. You will thank yourself, trust me. Ask any single person on here, they’ll tell you the same thing.
 

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