Is it typical to feel overwhelmed?

[WannaBSpaghetti]

Hi Reeftank -
I'm relatively new to the forum and to reeftanks in general with only one 10g pico about 5 years ago under my belt and I'm wondering : Is it normal to feel completely overwhelmed/intimidated by the prospect of setting up a new tank?

I mean, I've had half a dozen freshwater tanks before and they never bothered me at all - I would just plop whatever size tank I wanted down, fill it with water, chuck in some conditioner, rev up the HOB filter and like 3 days later chuck a few fish in and viola! New fish tank! Fun!

If you've seen my build thread you might know what I'm talking about when I say that this time the approach I'm taking is far more detailed - but its riddling me with anxiety! I'm hooking up a RODI system to the water pipe that feeds my boiler - what if it limits the amount of water my boiler gets and causes massive problems? What if the float valve in the containers fail and flood my basement or upstairs with water? What if the floor is too uneven and the tank cracks? What if my cat jumps in the tank? I'm having a dedicated outlet installed for safety - but is there extra precautions I could take? Does all dry-rock need to be cured? QT tanks are neccessary but I dont have the space or setup for one right now - will this set me up for failure? The basement has a large dehumidifier in it - would this adversely impact the QT tank if I set it up down there?

There are just so many questions with Reef Tanks that I never had to ask with any of my freshwater. I'm not asking for answers to these questions tho - what I'm asking is this: Is this a normal amount of anxiety to feel in the late planning stages, how did you handle it, and what ended up being far less of a problem than you expected?

Thanks,
Maybe One Day Spaghetti

 

[Retro Reefer]

You should look at it as reassurance.. if you are mentally thinking about every possible failure and compensate for them your long term success will be much more likely.. spend as much time needed to address each of your concerns reefing is a long term hobby and nothing good comes rushing.

 

[Aaron-A2]

I've felt overwhelmed before, but only AFTER the tank was setup. On the initial build, I took my time and never felt rushed (which to me, gives you that sense of being overwhelmed).

It's only after getting bryopsis, bubble algae, cyano, dino, and ich did I feel overwhelmed. The great part though about the SW hobby, is everything has a solution (even if you don't like it) and as long as you research and lean on the community for support, you should feel confident!

 

[Zeal]

At first I was overwhelmed, especially my first couple water changes. Now I create next to no mess during water changes and I have a system for adding coral and fish.

 

[Radman73]

Many of your questions are difficult for people without first hand knowledge to answer. The best advice I can give is risk assess everything to the best of your ability and, if you truly aren't sure, reach out to friends and/or acquaintances first that might know and then seek professional opinions. I think in most cases though you'll be able to come to a reasonable judgement on your own as to whether something is safe or not. At least your considering these questions up front, and that's probably 90% of the battle.

My opinion regarding your RODI unit(notice opinion, don't treat anything people say on here as fact ), unless it's massive or you have water pressure issues, the amount flowing through it and its affects on your water system is negligible.

 

[WVNed]

Of everything you posted I have had all of them happen except for the cracked tank from an uneven floor and I don't have a boiler.
I did have a 55 lose the bottom front seam catastrophically.
Get the mop.

Making RODI in the kitchen and the tube fell out of the trashcan while I was out mowing grass.
Get the mop.

Did you know cats can levitate if motivated enough? They can. A cat in a 55 gallon makes a very interesting sound. SplooshRRROUHOWWWWSPLat.
Get the mop.

You clean it up and go on. Time heals all wounds.
Get a mop. They are handy.

 

[Zeal]

Of everything you posted I have had all of them happen except for the cracked tank from an uneven floor and I don't have a boiler.
I did have a 55 lose the bottom front seam catastrophically.
Get the mop.

Making RODI in the kitchen and the tube fell out of the trashcan while I was out mowing grass.
Get the mop.

Did you know cats can levitate if motivated enough? They can. A cat in a 55 gallon makes a very interesting sound. SplooshRRROUHOWWWWSPLat.
Get the mop.

You clean it up and go on. Time heals all wounds.
Get a mop. They are handy.

My cat only seems interested in the the tank when the lights first turn on.
Only had to get the mop once

 

[WannaBSpaghetti]

Updated Build Thread: Phase 1 - Get a mop.

 

[Greybeard]

Is it typical? I'm not sure anything is 'typical'... but it's certainly not uncommon. That initial questioning and planning scares off a bunch of would be marine hobbiests. Unfortunate, really... it's not as difficult as some folks make it out to be.

It all depends on what you're wanting to end up with. As a brand new marine aquarium hobbiest... are you wanting to do a reasonably sized fish only or softy tank? Aside from trying to use a bit better water than what you might use in a freshwater tank, it's not all that much different. Most successful freshwater aquarists could expect to be fairly successful in such an endeavor. Successful planted aquaria keepers will likely find fish only and soft coral tanks are fairly easy in comparison.

On the other hand, if you're wanting to do something more challenging... say a full blown SPS heavy reef, one of the more challenging species specific systems, seahorses, cephalopods, or perhaps something that is a challenge due to size... a really small, or really big, marine aquarium, will both present the aquariast with challenges they may not expect, or know how to resolve.

A brand new golfer doesn't expect to go to the Masters in his first year. A brand new target shooter doesn't expect to win at Camp Perry first time out. Reefing is a challenging, long term hobby. The learning curve is sharp, and broad... I've been at it since the early 80's... and I'm still learning.

If you avoid trying to be an expert first time out, and start with something on the low end of the curve, your chances of success are much higher. Everybody is all about sticks these days... nothing wrong with soft corals, and they're MUCH more forgiving.

 

[lapin]

Ya , You dont run the marathon your first ever race. Ya just go with the flow. Stuff will happen. Its not the end of the world when it does.

 

[cracker]

absolutely !

 

[OriginalUserName]

Perfectly normal. Just like any complicated hobby you start off drinking from the fire hose. In time the things that once seemed barely manageable will seem automatic.

 

[jgann]

I totally get where you're coming from, there are so many ways it CAN go wrong but in reality, it typically doesn't go wrong that often. Most of my leaks/breaks/problems have been operator error not gear related - little things will happen but as has been pointed out so well - get a mop!

 

[DarkSky]

Hell yes it is.

I recently set up a 220g in my basement with a dedicated fish room, and a 75g sump attached to that.

I came from a 45g.

At several points in the build I sat back and asked myself, "what the heck am I doing!?"

But hey, I just transferred the last of my fish over to their new home last night. Feeling pretty good now.

 

[DarkSky]

Dupe.

 

[jgann]

DarkSky is right on it, when it finally comes together it's worth it. Take a deep breath, go look at some tank builds for inspiration and dive in!

 

[tripdad]

There's no reason to feel stressed at all. Your only trying to duplicate one of the most diverse , complex ecosystems on the planet.....in your living room! Water doesn't mix well with most anything else in the room, go figure. Yes, it's normal and healthy to feel apprehension. That means you get it, stuff could go wrong! Bingo! Your already ahead of 50% of new reefers right there. It's obvious you've got your thinking cap on, you'll do well!

 

[Redleg]

I feel your pain. I've found myself slowing things to glacial speed. I've got caught up in researching every piece of equipment made for a reef tank. I even wasted a couple weeks looking at controllers even though they aren't in my budget. My rocks have been soaking for 2 months now, and I'm still 4 weeks away from getting this thing setup. There is just so much information there it's easy to get overwhelmed.

 

[ThunderGoose]

Oh, yeah. Constantly feel overwhelmed. Especially since every person seems to have a different idea of how to fix problems and they're often contradictory.

I found the @BRS videos to be very helpful.

 

[Greybeard]

I even wasted a couple weeks looking at controllers even though they aren't in my budget.

I resisted the temptation to purchase a controller for many years. Never needed one before... I'm an automation developer, I don't want my hobby to start feeling like work, they're expensive... Picked up a reefkeeper lite, with the justification that it was probably less money than a heater controller, a couple decent light timers, and a good power strip. That unit failed on me, and with DA's total lack of customer support, I consider it a seriously bad purchase. However... it did have one major effect in my opinions. I will never own another aquarium without a controller. When the RKL failed, I bought an Apex Classic. At this point, the Apex is performing all kinds of monitor and control operations for me, allowing me much more time to ENJOY my hobby, rather than constantly having to WORK on my system.

I know, controllers are expensive... but honestly, $239 for an Apex Jr, $550 for the classic... I can think of MANY reefing items I've spent that much on that have done far less for me than my controller.

 

[WannaBSpaghetti]

I resisted the temptation to purchase a controller for many years. Never needed one before... I'm an automation developer, I don't want my hobby to start feeling like work, they're expensive... Picked up a reefkeeper lite, with the justification that it was probably less money than a heater controller, a couple decent light timers, and a good power strip. That unit failed on me, and with DA's total lack of customer support, I consider it a seriously bad purchase. However... it did have one major effect in my opinions. I will never own another aquarium without a controller. When the RKL failed, I bought an Apex Classic. At this point, the Apex is performing all kinds of monitor and control operations for me, allowing me much more time to ENJOY my hobby, rather than constantly having to WORK on my system.

I know, controllers are expensive... but honestly, $239 for an Apex Jr, $550 for the classic... I can think of MANY reefing items I've spent that much on that have done far less for me than my controller.

Would you recommend the step up apex over the classic? Or do you think for a standard hobbiest the classic is fine?