if you were to start over........

[klavmaister]

if you were to start over again, wanted a beautiful reef with a lot of color with the least possible maintenance, what would the contents of the aquarium be like, fish and corals. I have started a Red sea 250g2. what would you choose so that you could enjoy and own the aquarium, instead of the aquarium owning you.

 

[blaxsun]

I'd either get a Cade or a Red Sea 850 G2+ with the aluminum stand plus some different gear right from the outset. In addition, I'd plan out a manifold/cable management a lot better.

 

[bakbay]

If I were to start all over again, I might just get one of these below: least possible maintenance, billions of colors, high contrast ratio, long lasting -- 20,000+ hours of enjoyment, extremely versatile (can have all types of corals & fish), cost effective, spouse-approved, much, much more!

Top 10 Best Laser Projectors

The best laser projectors of 2026 that have laser light sources instead of lamps

www.projectorcentral.com

 

[klavmaister]

my brother actually said, can't you just buy a dang expensive flat screen and build it into the wall

 

[srobertb]

if you were to start over again, wanted a beautiful reef with a lot of color with the least possible maintenance, what would the contents of the aquarium be like, fish and corals. I have started a Red sea 250g2. what would you choose so that you could enjoy and own the aquarium, instead of the aquarium owning you.

Soft corals. They get a bad rap and the really pretty versions are rare but worth it.

high-end soft and bubble tips.

 

[Rick's Reviews]

4 years running smoothly thanks to reef2reef, I will just use all help and knowledge for my next aquriam

 

[bakbay]

my brother actually said, can't you just buy a dang expensive flat screen and build it into the wall

Smart brother! lol Well, laser projectors can go pretty big -- 150"+ and guaranteed to be cheaper than your tank! I'm actually shopping for one (not to replace my tank) but for the home theater setup.

Serious note: if I were to start over, I would go with building the tank inside the wall and have a dedicated fish room! There's something to be said about hiding all the stand & equipment from view and it's super easy to do maintenance. My 2c

 

[Spare time]

Soft corals. They get a bad rap and the really pretty versions are rare but worth it.

high-end soft and bubble tips.

+1 on soft corals. Soft coral tanks seem to be rare.

 

[SchrutesReefs]

I started with dry rock because I did not trust any local sources for their live rock. The lack of pests in my aquarium has been made up for by the amount of struggle to get stability. I would put forth better effort to get some bio diversity with trusted rock and also contemplate a bare bottom tank.

 

[reefinatl]

Having been in the hobby previously and getting back in after a long break I kind of did get to start all over. I had my same stand equipment and lights. Aside from. Going with more flow the biggest thing I did on my reset was have a very defined livestock list of fish and coral.

Using that list and choosing to go all CB where at all possible and then QTing the two fish not available as CB made stocking very smooth. No disease outbreaks no aggression.

I kept my Coral choices to colors and species not specific names and stocked up on local grown frags from hobbiests to ensure everything was fairly hardy.

All in all I've had better success now then I ever did before. 2 years since fish in and 18 months since the first coral as of this month.

 

[srobertb]

+1 on soft corals. Soft coral tanks seem to be rare.

I would be pedantic and say *good* soft coral tanks are rare. When they’re well taken care of people choose the higher end toadstools, Nepthea, etc they look like something out of Avatar (in the best way).

 

[Nemo&Friends]

I would chose easy disease resistant fish instead of "expert" and rare ones, as they can be just as beautiful as the finicky ones. For color I would chose a variety of macro algae instead of difficult, demanding and expensive corals.

 

[Spare time]

I would be pedantic and say *good* soft coral tanks are rare. When they’re well taken care of people choose the higher end toadstools, Nepthea, etc they look like something out of Avatar (in the best way).

The point I was looking to make was that, among hobbyists, compared to sps tanks, it seems rare to find people wanting to make soft coral show tanks. I really really want my next tank to be all soft coral with tons of nepthea, toadstools, mushrooms, etc