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

[jarviz]

And oh!

Never buy a coral SMALLER than the head of a frag plug

1 - the frag is probably too delicate to make the acclimation (even if it appears healed over)

2 - the seller is probably gouging the price by fragging up a colony into massive profit frags

I've lost thousands of dollars to buying small frags

Just walk away from the sale

.

wait what... should i be staying away from all those $40 to $50 euphyllias; and one headed acans?

 

[jarviz]

I did a tank upgrade , everything went smoothly , no losses. I started growing coralline again and my sps were doing well for the first couple of months. Then i decided to add more live rock to fill the extra space after the upgrade, I chose to go with dead rock which i have always avoided in the past as i like the biodiversity in wet rock.

Man what a mistake that was , soon after my alk started rising, the corals stopped their normal uptake, the tank went through an ugly stage with diatoms even though the existing rocks etc were 2 years old established. I'm sure that dry rock must leach silicates , phosphate and other contaminants.
This was a total tank crash , all sps and most lps receded and died over a month or so. Hair algae was next as it grew on all the dead tissue. I'm still struggling months later to get things back in balance.

I would advise any reefer to be very wary of adding too much dry rock all at once to an established tank , i would cure it for a few months in a tub of heated saltwater or use established wet live rock from a tank shutdown or ocean live rock.

how much dry rock did you relative to your live rock?

 

[Freenow54]

When I first started I did find a good source of water and it may not seem important to some but having a good clean RODI water in a pinch can save you a lot of troubles and headache in my opinion.

I have a no waste ro system by Watts, and am waiting for my DI filter to arrive. I intend to keep at least 30 gallons ready always. I can do 60 wee will see

 

[Grey Guy]

Mine was most defientely Source Water!
Id suggest to any new reefer setting up a tank do not skimp or cut corners on greatest water quality possible! Your going to get what you put in and it all really does start right here.
Get a good RODI. Check your city water. Do your research in how and what may be best pre filters to use for your particular water.
There are plenty of vendors out there like @Buckeye Hydro that would be more than happy to look at your water source data and tell you what the best pre filters would be for your particular water.
All water is not created equal some cities treat with Chlorine. Some with Chloramine etc. They have filters for that.
Also get the 3 stage DI kit up front..
Save money on replacement resin in the long run and configure it like the pros tell you. Cation>Anion> Mix bed.

When I found out my water had “acceptable “ levels of benzine, mercury and arsenic. I order an ro/di unit right away for my tank and quit drinking tap water.

 

[Freenow54]

Look closely at the sump design. Make sure it suits your needs as in what media you want to use, and equipment you want in it.