Worst advise seen/been given

Joedubyk

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Maybe my brain doesn't work anymore, but I think 0 nitrate/0 phosphate *was* the correct advice at one point based on what was known at the time. Of course, learning is constant and advice should change over the years.

People who refuse to adapt to new information however...

Yes there were studies that did point that this was the best way to do it. Though, it did not consider, despite *IF* the ocean had low nitrates, corals are still constantly getting fed. Morever, just saw the paramters of indonesia. AVERAGE nitrate was 48!!!!
 

TronChief

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“No need to buy all those more expensive test kits. API will work just fine. You really don’t even need to test your water just do your monthly water change”

needless to say I didn’t listen and instead listened to people like BRS, MrSaltWaterTankTv and Meleves Reef when I first started.
 

Rolrod39

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The one thing I can say is when I was first starting and wanted to know if a specific fish was compatible with what I had it was always " Yes you should be fine". Most of the time it was just mumbo jumbo.
 

brandon429

why did you put a reef in that
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I might add the worst advice ever given to reefers was to buy any ammonia test kit. the only good ones cost $300, and are measuring something we can predict one thousand percent accurately by knowing simple details about the aquarium



buy and use the cheap test kits, set your microbiology back ten years in progress.

that doesnt mean there arent outliers who wield cheap test kits well, there are.

to see how many arent using them correctly, search "api .25 ammonia" in google
all of them are wrong.
Post one single seneye log that shows .25, can‘t.

(learning how to call ammonia before, during, after any phase in reefing without a test kit is better, its never unpredicable)


yes am aware: this post nominated for worst advice ever. you dont buck the sales machine without pressure, understood :)

knowing what nh3 does in all settings makes you one heck a free reefer thats for sure, no test required, learn what it does. i have a thousand friends that know what it does, they all keep pico reefs and dont own ammonia test kits.
 
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oceans garden aquaculture

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My vote for #1 worst advice because its so common:

"You should start with all dry rock to avoid hitchikers, it becomes live rock soon enough anyway"
I'm doing a hyper clean build right now. I can say for a fact there is no replacing actual live rock. My cycle is taking forever... Adding ammonia, waiting, twiddling thumbs, adding ammonia, nitrite, nitrite, nitrite....twiddling thumbs. If I had some dank figi in this thing it would be awesome a month ago. Really hoping I achieve my goal sometime before the sun goes supernova...
 

friendlyguy

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My LFS told me i need a ton (2 KG) of rowaphos to eliminate the phosphate peak i am going to get with a new tank started without any live rocks. Guess what ;)
Its 7 Months later and i am still adding Phosphate every 2nd day: 0,00 Po4
 

laverda

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My vote for #1 worst advice because its so common:

"You should start with all dry rock to avoid hitchikers, it becomes live rock soon enough anyway"
I recently was given some rock from a 2 year old tank that was taken down. The tank was started with dry rock. When I got the rock it was all covered with bubble algae and GHA. I have never seen bubble algae so thick before. There was one mushroom on the 5 pieces. I normally would not think twice about putting a rock in my tank as my tanks would have it cleaned up very quickly, but these rocks had way too much algae. So I decided to bleach them. There was not a single critter on them. Not a brittle star, bristle worm, copepod, snap or ampepod on the rocks. Although it had algae it was still dead rock in my opinion! If i put a small rock from my tank in bleach water I would get all sorts of the above critters.
 

brandon429

why did you put a reef in that
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@oceans garden aquaculture

Had to chime in: no cycle sticks or gets stuck, I bet yours isn't, wanna dissect it and make it comply yesterday? (Dissect reasons it seems stuck)

Segue into worst advice:

"Your cycle must be stalled. Add some ____"


Let the official reef record reflect, no cycle stalls and we routinely unstick any cycle and collect that for thread examples. If someone tells us a cycle stalled, link me for fun

But if you're on second day total wait, we might just need a few more :)

Some people post what you posted on day 16, they're done. No boosted cycle takes sixteen days this is 2020.
 
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jmsilhy

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I recently was given some rock from a 2 year old tank that was taken down. The tank was started with dry rock. When I got the rock it was all covered with bubble algae and GHA. I have never seen bubble algae so thick before. There was one mushroom on the 5 pieces. I normally would not think twice about putting a rock in my tank as my tanks would have it cleaned up very quickly, but these rocks had way too much algae. So I decided to bleach them. There was not a single critter on them. Not a brittle star, bristle worm, copepod, snap or ampepod on the rocks. Although it had algae it was still dead rock in my opinion! If i put a small rock from my tank in bleach water I would get all sorts of the above critters.

I started my 85g mostly with bleached old rock (60 lb), so no critters. The 20-ish pounds of live rock were very clean, from a guy that cures it in brute cans so they have bacteria but no critters or pests. So my tank doesn't have any of the good guys yet, where do you recommend that I get that kind of stuff (stars, worms, amps, etc.)?
 

laverda

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I started my 85g mostly with bleached old rock (60 lb), so no critters. The 20-ish pounds of live rock were very clean, from a guy that cures it in brute cans so they have bacteria but no critters or pests. So my tank doesn't have any of the good guys yet, where do you recommend that I get that kind of stuff (stars, worms, amps, etc.)?
From true live rock. There are places that sell them or from other hobbyist. I love all the life that comes on live rock. It is a true shame it is not readily available at reasonable prices any more. I have plenty of live rock in my tank, sump and a holding tank. I have been considering buying some new from the sources that cycle it in the ocean for a couple years just for the added biodiversity.
 

Rrwilson1223

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Hmm, let’s see. When I first started, was told that I could mix saltwater in the tank. Told me to throw the freshwater in, then salt. I said, my tank is established with fish and he said it didn’t matter... Glad I was at least smart enough not to attempt something that stupid. That was from a Petco employee btw.

Also was told that a blue tang would be fine in a 30 gallon. That was bad whether you are a member of the Tang police or not.
 

Barnabie Mejia

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Hmm, let’s see. When I first started, was told that I could mix saltwater in the tank. Told me to throw the freshwater in, then salt. I said, my tank is established with fish and he said it didn’t matter... Glad I was at least smart enough not to attempt something that stupid. That was from a Petco employee btw.

Also was told that a blue tang would be fine in a 30 gallon. That was bad whether you are a member of the Tang police or not.

Petco told me that I could have the powder blue on sale in the 20 long that I got for the dollar a gallon sale.... hes still living in there since the tang will only grow to the size of the tank environment. i'm surprised the HOB filter is doing a good job of filtration, good thing I took the advice of the customer that recommended that for the 20 gallon set up!
 

ZoWhat

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Worst advice ever?

Local reefer told me about ReefCentral.com about 7yrs ago.

A lot of young punks there who have 9mos experience but have it all figured out and come off like they have 40yrs experience

;Drool ;Drool ;Drool
 
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