3 biggest mistakes you've made in this hobby

[Fin-up reefing]

I'm just curious on what the 3 biggest mistakes you've made in this hobby would be. My 3 would most likely be:
1- Not doing enough research
2- Not buying proper lighting first
3- Not quarantining my fish

These 3 things have put a pain in my wallet haha, I've only been in this hobby for 5-6 years. Post a picture of your tank currently and tell me what you think of your tank considering where it's at now!

Here's a picture of mine and I have to say I'm very pleased with it!

 

[Hitman]

1: buying things with the thought oh I’ll just upgrade later not realizing that I’ve just spent twice the money needed vs just waiting a week or so to get what I needed.
2: It took me 10 of my 25 years in this hobby to slow down. Nothing good in this hobby happens fast. Hence the above picture is my 240 and 600 build that has been in the works for 7 months.
3: listen and hear what people are telling you, but still research on your own. There’s thousands of ways to cook the perfect steak but no one does it the same, so why not with your tank.

 

[Jon Fishman]

1) Not waiting and getting the exact tank I wanted the first time

2) Buying cheaper gear/powerheads etc the first time

3) Putting water in my tank

 

[Jon Fishman]

1: buying things with the thought oh I’ll just upgrade later not realizing that I’ve just spent twice the money needed vs just waiting a week or so to get what I needed.
2: It took me 10 of my 25 years in this hobby to slow down. Nothing good in this hobby happens fast. Hence the above picture is my 240 and 600 build that has been in the works for 7 months.
3: listen and hear what people are telling you, but still research on your own. There’s thousands of ways to cook the perfect steak but no one does it the same, so why not with your tank.

You didn’t want one super-long custom tank?!?!

 

[JC_reefermtl]

1. Not calibrating my refractometer
2. Failling to properly treat disease
3. Spending money too quickly

 

[Mariette]

1. Not quarantining
2. Not independently researching information I was given
3. Not stocking up on meds BEFORE an issue struck

 

[Jimmyfish1]

1 starting my tank with tap water
2 not stocking up on meds b4 getting specimens
3 as far as my wallet and wife... getting into this hobby.

 

[Adventures In Reefing]

1. moving faster than I should. (still have this problem)
2. not dipping my corals
3. not buying from reputable sources because they were cheap.(cheap is relative of course when you lose unhealthy animals)

 

[Greg Witherell]

1 not quarantining
2 Buying new equipment before there is a lot of info out
3 DAMSELS
Love my tank and setup all basically running where I want.

 

[ZoWhat]

1) asking a LFS person about SW Reefing....$20,000 later, taaahdaaah.

2) telling my spouse I started reefing and quit freshwater

3) telling my spouse I spent $100 on my first single piece of LR




.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Not enough water changes
Not dipping corals like I should
Not doing water tests or rarely

BUT. . . . . . . . . Not bad for 5 weeks:

 

[sarcophytonIndy]

lack of patience
lack of independent research
not quarantining

 

[Dempsey941]

1. Not QTing
2. Adding that turd of a bangaii cardinal who will not eat pellet, but will eat $100 in cleaner/peppermint shrimp.
3. Not investing in an RODI unit from the beginning.

 

[EmptyWallet]

* FOMO (fear of missing out) - buying something that was on sale or at the time perceived as a once in a life time opportunity - coral/frag/fish. Then the same or better appears next week.

* Same as above - bought a large Acrylic Tank (rare in Aus) shipped from other side of the country at $500+ only to find it was 'stained' yellow and couldn't be buffed out.

* Letting GHA grab hold and grow which required a complete tank rebuild to solve after months of fighting

 

[Dragonreef202]

1) not getting all the proper equipment before starting my tank, 2) not keeping up with my maintenance on my tank, 3)not getting a big enough tank to start out with

 

[Water Dog]

Going overboard with GFO leading to RTN. I know better now.

 

[ZoWhat]

lack of patience
lack of independent research
not quarantining

@sarcophytonIndy

Great shimmer? What lights are you using? Plz tell.


.

 

[candelloro]

Being super, super, SUPER impatient cost me lots. I’m still a beginner and I don’t know what possessed me into thinking my 2.5 G reef was ready to be stocked in a week. It’s doing great now though

 

[Bj’s Reef]

My first mistake was in going cheap on the lights. It’s still costing me. I will not make that mistake on the next build.

Second mistake buying my 150 gallon tank 72x18x30 18 inches is not near enough width. Even my wife wants a new tank, and has started window shopping lfs with me for the right tank.

Last buying a file fish to get rid of the Aiptasia, he got rid of it. Now he’s wiping out all my lps and zoas. Anyone have a mini harpon I can borrow.

 

[sarcophytonIndy]

@sarcophytonIndy

Great shimmer? What lights are you using? Plz tell.


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Thanks! They're Kessil 360s