Your doing nothing wrong neccesarily. If your following at least the general guidelines for the average reef hobbyist. The show is not supposed to project what it's like for most hobbyists.
The show tanked is purely for everyones entertainment. Like most "reality" shows and I say that loosely.. There are a lot of things that are made up (situations on the show) on purpose for the drama/comedic value in entertainment purposes. There also are a lot of things not told on the show on purpose.
Like the fact where they show the guys flying to LA to get wholesale fish and all of a sudden later they are putting them in the tank made for the customer...just as one example. What really happened afterward is the fish sat for 4-6 weeks at the atm site in Quarantine while the customers tank was being finished. Also (not all) but many of these tanks took some months to finish based on the custom builds, parts orders, and leadtime in the manufacturing process. Multiple orders(tanks) for different customers are done at the same time for weeks to months. It's like any other manufacturing company in that respect.
The company is also a lot larger than the show leads on to. They have been in business for many many years. It's definitely not a fly by night organization. Though the show likes to emphacise the family friendly roots and feel to it, which is still true.. They are quite a corporate conglomerate of high end fish tanks worldwide. They actually have hundreds of atm employees and sub contractors they use for various work. Las Vegas is their USA headquarters. But they have a European division and a Chinese Division located right in China. Both headed by vice presidents who work for the company along with all of their divisional employees.
They also have on site and have done true Reef Aquariums and Freshwater Aquariums as well. The shows focus is not on those simply for one main reason. Most of their customers are either Commercial organizations, public aquariums, and Wealthy private home owners who want a beautiful High End Fish tank. But most are NOT Hobbyists and don't want to partake in maintenance involved in such things. Short of just feedings.. They want to enjoy the tank. That's why it's simple as far as the fake coral. Most are meant for the beauty of the fish because those are the kind of customers they have.
Personally, the company and owners have some Hobbyist Reef tanks themselves. They have also had a few customers with such. Live Corals can also be purchased from them. In stock or by special order. But again, most of their clients are not in the realm of hobbyist aquarium keeping.
Long story short, the show is entertaining and meant for fun to it's viewers.
Whether your a Hobbyist, basic Fish aquarium lover, or Novice. It's meant to simple entertaining television. Not Hobbyist laden facts and strict terminology. Unfortunately, we understand all that.. But it wouldn't sell to the public, ratings wise if it was just for the serious Hobbyists. Drama and Fun sell on TV. Facts are often left out.
