Photo_John
New member
50 things I have learned:
1. Do more research. Have a final goal in sight and research that idea till you cant find anything new.
2. If it sounds overly complex it probably is, look for a different item/system and see if you can find something simpler. KISS=keep it simple stupid
3. Your LFS is a source of information but not necessarily a good source, check the advice they give against those on RC.
4. Check all the board (stand/canopy construction) you buy for straightness.
5. Build your stand sturdy but dont waste money. Look at the commercial stands for your tank size and consider the design elements in your stand
6. Design a fuge into your system.
7. If you are putting a sump/fuge in your stand leave plenty of room to work above the fuge tank. However much room you think you need double it...or just make sure you can remove items like your skimmer without tearing your tank down. Trust me, a tall DT is better than a hard to access sump.
8. If you have room make your fuge into a second DT. The interactions between the tiny creatures in a fuge are interesting to watch. Having it displayed also makes it much easier to access for maintenance. However if you do this you may need a sump tank to hide skimmers and other items.
9. Make your hood light. Build in hand grips if possible. If you dont want to have to pull your hood off every few days make your hood open very wide and have your lights swing out of the way.
10. Cut all your own wood or trust it to someone competent when possible. Do not trust the guy at your home improvement store to get everything perfect. Measure twice, cut once.
11 Recirculation skimmers are great, buy a good one.
12. Drilling non tempered glass is very easy. Watch some utube movies and get grinding. If you can drill holes for every pipe its much cleaner then having pvc come over the top of the tank for returns.
13. Its bet to work with large amounts of silicone outside. After cured it is very strong, your overflow wont fall off.
14. Light kits are easy to install. If you can read a measuring tape, look at a wiring diagram, and match red/black wires to the picture you will do fine.
15. Make sure every light has a clean dedicated reflector.
16. If you need additional fans make your own from computer fans and a small power converter. Its simple.
17. PVC stands under your rock in the dt will prevent rock slides and if long enough to keep the rock off the sand will increase your DSBs effectiveness.
18. Teeth on an overflow will save you hours of hassle fighing out escaped fish from an overflow. If you dont have teeth dont put reef rubble in the overflow, having an unobstructed area will make the escapee easier to catch.
19. A 400w MH is overkill on shallow tanks unless you plan on hanging it up really high.
20. If using just t5s add some LEDs to get the shimmer effect.
21. Dont mix clown species.
22. Research the fish you want. Design your system to fit the animals you want.
23. Use a quarantine tank if at all possible.
24.Tangs can survive in a tank less than 6' but they like bigger tanks better. Happy fish are healthy fish.
25. Make sure to use RODI water for everything involving your tank
26. Use a "reef salt"
27. Dont cycle your tank with fish. Use a few uncooked shrimp from the store dropped in the tank for a few days.
28. Dont overstock your tank
29. Be patient buying fish and corals. Make sure they will get along and wont exclude you from something you really want down the road.
30. Getting corals from your local reef club is much cheaper than a LFS and the frags are usually better quality.
31. Buy aquacultured animals if possible...save the reef!
32. Fragging is easy, share the love.
33. Hair algae is not a normal part of a reef tank. It can be fixed. The HA is a sign that you are doing something wrong or something isnt working properly.
34. Put a strong light over your fuge to get fast benificial algae growth. A small cheap strip florescent light from a hardware store didnt cut it in my experience and cost me hundreds in lost animals because of an insufficent nutrient export system due to a cheap light. You dont need t5s or MHs but make sure it looks bright, if it looks dim add another light. Clamp lights with reflectors work well.
35. LR is good, get 1.5-2 lbs per gallon of total water volume not just the DT. If you dont want a lot of rock in the DT put it in the fuge/sump. Curing your own LR is easy, if you have the time and patience. Check craigslist, ebay, and the news paper for rock before you buy for a LFS. If someone is selling an entire system it may be cheaper to buy it than just rock at a LFS. Then you also have another tank to setup or sell.
36. A good 2 part additive is helpful at maintaining your water chemistry. It will also allow you to go longer between h20 changes assuming you are not battling nutrient issues.
37. When the tank isnt looking good dont buy more things to put in it. If you have bad HA, cyano, or high nutrients fix your issues before introducing coral or fish to bad conditions.
38. Algae eating fish are great but if you have anything more than minimal algae dont think they will clear up the tank. Find the issue and fix it instead.
39. Anemones can be difficult to keep, research plenty before you bring one home.
40. nanos are great but much more difficult than a large aquarium. The bigger the better when starting out in the hobby.
41. Buy your own test kits, and use them.
42. Starfire glass is amazing, buy starfire if you can.
43. Current is your best friend. Dont expect your main pump to do the most water moving. Get powerheads! I like hydor and vortec. Use a controller for random flow if you can afford one.
44. If you have room look into surge tanks
45. Every salt brand and bucket can mix up differently. Let it mix for 24hrs and check to make sure it is what you want. I learned this the hard expensive way.
46. Brine shrimp is not an acceptable main food source. You can make your own food, use a mixture of commercial frozen foods, or pellet food....or a mixture of everything. Variety is key in keeping healthy fish.
47. Use food suppliments. Garlic guard, selcon, or other addatives.
48. Feed your algae eating fish algae! Tangs devour algae, give it to them as much as possible.
49. Have a power outage plan. Frozen or ice filled 2liter bottles work well in place of a chiller.
50. Never stop researching, observing, dreaming, and planning the next big thing.
1. Do more research. Have a final goal in sight and research that idea till you cant find anything new.
2. If it sounds overly complex it probably is, look for a different item/system and see if you can find something simpler. KISS=keep it simple stupid
3. Your LFS is a source of information but not necessarily a good source, check the advice they give against those on RC.
4. Check all the board (stand/canopy construction) you buy for straightness.
5. Build your stand sturdy but dont waste money. Look at the commercial stands for your tank size and consider the design elements in your stand
6. Design a fuge into your system.
7. If you are putting a sump/fuge in your stand leave plenty of room to work above the fuge tank. However much room you think you need double it...or just make sure you can remove items like your skimmer without tearing your tank down. Trust me, a tall DT is better than a hard to access sump.
8. If you have room make your fuge into a second DT. The interactions between the tiny creatures in a fuge are interesting to watch. Having it displayed also makes it much easier to access for maintenance. However if you do this you may need a sump tank to hide skimmers and other items.
9. Make your hood light. Build in hand grips if possible. If you dont want to have to pull your hood off every few days make your hood open very wide and have your lights swing out of the way.
10. Cut all your own wood or trust it to someone competent when possible. Do not trust the guy at your home improvement store to get everything perfect. Measure twice, cut once.
11 Recirculation skimmers are great, buy a good one.
12. Drilling non tempered glass is very easy. Watch some utube movies and get grinding. If you can drill holes for every pipe its much cleaner then having pvc come over the top of the tank for returns.
13. Its bet to work with large amounts of silicone outside. After cured it is very strong, your overflow wont fall off.
14. Light kits are easy to install. If you can read a measuring tape, look at a wiring diagram, and match red/black wires to the picture you will do fine.
15. Make sure every light has a clean dedicated reflector.
16. If you need additional fans make your own from computer fans and a small power converter. Its simple.
17. PVC stands under your rock in the dt will prevent rock slides and if long enough to keep the rock off the sand will increase your DSBs effectiveness.
18. Teeth on an overflow will save you hours of hassle fighing out escaped fish from an overflow. If you dont have teeth dont put reef rubble in the overflow, having an unobstructed area will make the escapee easier to catch.
19. A 400w MH is overkill on shallow tanks unless you plan on hanging it up really high.
20. If using just t5s add some LEDs to get the shimmer effect.
21. Dont mix clown species.
22. Research the fish you want. Design your system to fit the animals you want.
23. Use a quarantine tank if at all possible.
24.Tangs can survive in a tank less than 6' but they like bigger tanks better. Happy fish are healthy fish.
25. Make sure to use RODI water for everything involving your tank
26. Use a "reef salt"
27. Dont cycle your tank with fish. Use a few uncooked shrimp from the store dropped in the tank for a few days.
28. Dont overstock your tank
29. Be patient buying fish and corals. Make sure they will get along and wont exclude you from something you really want down the road.
30. Getting corals from your local reef club is much cheaper than a LFS and the frags are usually better quality.
31. Buy aquacultured animals if possible...save the reef!
32. Fragging is easy, share the love.
33. Hair algae is not a normal part of a reef tank. It can be fixed. The HA is a sign that you are doing something wrong or something isnt working properly.
34. Put a strong light over your fuge to get fast benificial algae growth. A small cheap strip florescent light from a hardware store didnt cut it in my experience and cost me hundreds in lost animals because of an insufficent nutrient export system due to a cheap light. You dont need t5s or MHs but make sure it looks bright, if it looks dim add another light. Clamp lights with reflectors work well.
35. LR is good, get 1.5-2 lbs per gallon of total water volume not just the DT. If you dont want a lot of rock in the DT put it in the fuge/sump. Curing your own LR is easy, if you have the time and patience. Check craigslist, ebay, and the news paper for rock before you buy for a LFS. If someone is selling an entire system it may be cheaper to buy it than just rock at a LFS. Then you also have another tank to setup or sell.
36. A good 2 part additive is helpful at maintaining your water chemistry. It will also allow you to go longer between h20 changes assuming you are not battling nutrient issues.
37. When the tank isnt looking good dont buy more things to put in it. If you have bad HA, cyano, or high nutrients fix your issues before introducing coral or fish to bad conditions.
38. Algae eating fish are great but if you have anything more than minimal algae dont think they will clear up the tank. Find the issue and fix it instead.
39. Anemones can be difficult to keep, research plenty before you bring one home.
40. nanos are great but much more difficult than a large aquarium. The bigger the better when starting out in the hobby.
41. Buy your own test kits, and use them.
42. Starfire glass is amazing, buy starfire if you can.
43. Current is your best friend. Dont expect your main pump to do the most water moving. Get powerheads! I like hydor and vortec. Use a controller for random flow if you can afford one.
44. If you have room look into surge tanks
45. Every salt brand and bucket can mix up differently. Let it mix for 24hrs and check to make sure it is what you want. I learned this the hard expensive way.
46. Brine shrimp is not an acceptable main food source. You can make your own food, use a mixture of commercial frozen foods, or pellet food....or a mixture of everything. Variety is key in keeping healthy fish.
47. Use food suppliments. Garlic guard, selcon, or other addatives.
48. Feed your algae eating fish algae! Tangs devour algae, give it to them as much as possible.
49. Have a power outage plan. Frozen or ice filled 2liter bottles work well in place of a chiller.
50. Never stop researching, observing, dreaming, and planning the next big thing.
