your 5 biggest mistakes

[tomkal]

I'm 1+ month into a new 46G reef tank. I've got 8 turbo snails and 2 Tomato Clowns doing quite well. Would like to add some corals next.

Water tests are all good.

I've got an RO/DI filtration system in place for my own water.

Question for you veterans: What were the 5 biggest mistakes you've made with a reef tank?

I realize it might be a bit embarrasing to admit to mistakes, but it will help all of us. Thanks.

 

[Sk8r]

Number one encompasses all the others: I got sick and a little dim-brained, I went on adding routine additives WITHOUT testing and logging the results, and just trusting it would be doing what it has done all the other 11 months of its existence. I also suspect I [having a high fever] did a job twice, doubling the dose. And didn't log it. Or test. Result? Very bad, very, very bad.

Suggestion #1. Test every time you add anything to your tank. Test every test you own and *write down the results in a permanent log book.* If I'd done that even while sick and off my head, I'd know now what I'd done, and problems that are now complex and messy and have cost me some specimens would be much, much simpler to fix.

 

[kurtg]

Mixing a Maroon and percula clowns. There was murder in the tank with the Maroon coming out on top.

 

[Joshua1023]

If I had it to do over again, I would have gotten a stand w/ at least five more inches of clearance inside.

I would have spent the extra cash on 250 watt mh instead of the 150's I've got.

I would have joined RC before I got my tank.

I think I would have gone w/ a shallow sand bed instead of the dsb I have. (just for looks if nothing else)

I would have built my own sump from the beginning w/ a nice fuge and plenty of room for an in-sump skimmer.

I guess thats five. I could go on and on and on and on.

 

[zma21]

Adding shrimp pellets along with my uncured rock to jumpstart the cycle. - That was a lonely eight weeks.

Doing water changes during the cycle.....it appears in my experience that it prolongs the cycle.

Putting an anemone in your tank without covering the intake of your powerhead.

Buying hermit crabs to go along with snails....I don't care who you are, it's just not worth the risk.

Buying a royal gramma. Such a drama queen and a pansy at that. Normally only comes out during feeding time.

 

[tk1360]

- taking the LFS' advice as gospel truth
- impulse buying a sandsifter goby that lost the fight to my brittlestar... a byproduct of improper research.
- letting that water change slip by a coupla days just that once and spent the next week combatting algal outbreaks.
- letting my hermits massacre my turbos (should have realized they'd be a bit hungry or wanting bigger homes)
- not finding RC in the beginning/ paying full price for corals versus patronizing a local club member.

 

[jer77]

Buying too small of a tank, when I could have gotten a big one.

Listening to my LFS when it comes to a lot of things including skimmers.

Putting a yellow tang in my tank and buying other fish that will get too big for the tank. I also put an anemone (heteractis crispa) in a 20g tank.

Charging way too much stuff on my credit card!!

Not knowing the special needs of the animals I keep and performing improper husbantry.

These are just some of the mistakes I am guilty of committing. Although this site has helped me to greatly reduce the some of my problems. The more you read and ask questions the more you'll know.

 

[gbtrain]

Not buying a 200g plus tank to start with and since I only have 75g I'm still making that mistake. :bum:

 

[gistsc]

Great thread, keep them coming. I would rather learn from the mistakes of others than make them myself.

 

[scrmbld33]

i woke up to a 90g in my living room for christmas, so i was kinda rushed into the hobby, thank god for rc, if i had my choice to plan

i would have went with a lot larger tank, which im planning now
larger sump/fuge,
not getting all my live rock at once,

 

[AZDesertRat]

#1 Not getting a tank with a 24" front to back depth instead of 18"
#2 Adding a Sand Sifting Star to my perfectly fine DSB. Actually this should be #1 but it happened at a later date.
#3 Hasn't happened yet (as I knock on wood and cross my fingers!)

Actually I have been very happy with my choices except for the above. Its been over 3 years now and things get better every day. I took 5 months to assemble all the pieces and components for my system and it paid off. I actually worked a second full time job that whole time with the sole purpose of financing the system so I didn't have to go into debt. It was worth it!

 

[Shagsbeard]

#1 Not QTing my fish.
#2 Buying a canister filter.
#3 Buying "good enough" lights, and having to buy better ones later.
#4 Not measuring accurately how much room I had for a skimmer... got one an inch too tall.
#5 Dunno... guess I'm lucky.

 

[ThomasinKind]

I had a very nice 8 month old reef about 8 years ago. Everything was fine until I was involved in an accident and ended up in the hospital for 9 days. At the time, I lived at home and thought that my parents had paid enough attention to what I was doing (feeding, water changes, etc.). WRONG. I'll spare the details... but the tank had tipped beyond the point of saving.

Buy a notebook and create a checklist of what needs to be done daily, weekly, monthly. Be VERY detailed. This can also be used for when you go on vacation. That or make sure you end up with a roommate(s)/spouse(s)/friend(s)/whatever that is (are) also reefers.

Other lessons: Research EVERYTHING. Know that corals can be evil, tentacle sweeping, killing machines when the lights go out. Know that macroalgae can and does go "sexual" within 9 days.

And finally: buy the best skimmer you can afford (or spend 3x's as much updating to the model that you should have started with).

 

[Zestay]

building a 7 foot long stand and putting a 3 foot long tank on it so one day i can " upgrade" .............
thus meaning buying lights twice
pumps twice..
... tanks twice...
***... go crazy the first time!@

 

[acrouse]

#1-#5 all wrapped up in a nutshell
Save your money up now and buy better lighting, skimmers, larger tank, sump, etc. and you will be money ahead!!!! I wish someone would have told me to think about 1,2,3 years down the line and think about what I wanted in a "complete tank". In the beginning I was just so excited to have water, live rock, and fish that I never planned on getting into corals a year later(if ever at all as it seemed so overwhelming at first). If I had put the money I already spent on equipment "which I thought was great then" towards better equipment, I would have been HUNDREDS ahead already.

for example: When I thought about going with T'5's in my initial setup, many people said that it was overkill for my aquarium (fish only with live rock), so I bought the expensive 6ft PC light fixture. Months later the more comfortable I became with saltwater, I decided I wanted to try corals. Now guess what-that expensive pc light fixture will only do a small amount of corals. Now I need to spend Hundreds more just on lighting!!

So think about the tank inhabitants you would like a couple years down the road-not just the ones you want to start with-it will save you big $$$$$$.

Good luck
jolene

 

[old salty]

1. Adding sand to my tank (a real PITA to remove all of it).

2. Purchasing Seio powerheads.

3. Adding Anthelia coral to my tank.

Other than that, it's been a positive experience. I've taken a "less is more" approach that is working quite nicely.

 

[sjj80]

Not buying the best equipment upfront.( I've spent enough $ on equipment to buy a used car with!!!!!)

Taking advice from LFS.

Not QT'ing fish.( It's hard to wait to see your new fish in your tank.) I've learned my lesson.

Not registering with RC early on.

Not being prepared for the unexpected.

HTH.

 

[jeffb3t]

My biggest mistakes were:
#1 Building a stand and hood that made maintaining the tank/equipment difficult. (note: If it's easy to clean, chances are you will do it more often)
#2 Not researching equipment enough and settling for the "cheaper" version. Cheaper is not always better)
#3 Not keeping the maintenance schedule. (see #1 for the reason why)
#4 Buying livestock on a whim because it was cheap or on sale.
(check to make sure everything is compatable or at least know about it's requirements to survive)
And #5 Ensure your chiller you buy for your tank is suitable for the job. (go big... just buy big. The chiller I have should be enough for the 55 I currently have but when you don't run A/C and the air temp is close to 100, calculate the temp, the lights, pump and everything else you have running into the equation and buy something that is oversized. I lost way to many coral and messed my tank up last summer thanks to the tank temp sitting at 87-90 all summer)

Needless to say these are a few of the mistakes I have made but the new 75 I am building now will address each of them so hopefully there will be no repeat problems like I had before.

 

[clevername]

#1: I cant stress this enought!! Buying equipment thought to be good now, only to turn out later would not be sufficient. Aka, buying lights, powerhaeds, pumps, skimmer....two times. Just buy overkill NOW, and thank yourself LATER. If i could do it over i would have planed and saved THOUSANDS!

#2: listening to LFS (one person) instead of reading thousands of opinions (here)

#3: Not keeping the maintenance schedule. Its soooo easy to not test just for one week because your water has been perfect for the past 6 months.

#4: Rushing things. Iv had so many things die becuase i skipped steps. IE. Aclamation, mixing salt correctly, trying to adjust teperature quickly, moving live rock and stirringup nitrates.....

#5: Not buying a bigger tank. Although i dont have a house a 55g is so small for aquascaping. Like "AZDesertRat" said ""Not getting a tank with a 24" front to back depth instead of 18"""


Looking back, GOD i have spent so much money and what do i have to show for it.......still some rock, sand , and couple of fish.

 

[Fermat]

I'm not a vet, but I can already tell you my #1:

#1 Not joining RC until several months after starting my tank.