yort265
Community Member
Hey guys, I'm Troy.
I've been lurking around R2R for years now. I've made a few posts and asked a few questions, but now I wanted to offer my perspective and lessons learned since I'm fairly new to this hobby (again) in an attempt to help those just starting out. If you are new and wanting to get into this hobby, you've come to the right place. There are several of these threads to help you. A lot of these points and suggestions can be found elsewhere on R2R. In no way is this list comprehensive or complete. It is simply a list of the things that I got wrong last time that I have gotten right this time. Let me explain.
I had a reef tank about 5 years ago and it lasted almost a year before I gave up. I was impatient. I wanted beautiful fish and coral and I wanted everything thriving and colorful and fully grown-in... so I went all out. It was a custom built tank, stand, & sump paired with all top of the line equipment at the time. BUT I didn't really know anything nor did I have any experience. Let's just say that first tank wasn't a success. It had problems from the start and by the time that first year was up, I didn't want to try to fix it anymore. It was aggravating to say the least because the whole setup cost me a small fortune. I moved, sold the tank, and figured that was it for reef keeping for me.
Fast forward to last year. I couldn't get the idea of another tank out of my head... so I started researching. I researched everything. Many nights I read until I couldn't read anymore - or until the laptop died. The process was a lot of fun and very interesting (especially RHF's Reef Chemistry forum). I had read a lot of the same things years back, but my approach this time was different. In a lot of ways I still don't know much, but I have learned so much this past year using R2R, BRS & YouTube that I wanted to share the main things that I believe have contributed to my current tank's success.
So here goes:
1) Take your time. This time I was patient enough to do it right. I cured the Pukani I used for 2 months before I did anything. Once the tank was setup, I cycled it for 2 months before introducing any livestock. Those 4 months seemed like forever, but I kept telling my self not to get into a hurry. I cycled using Dr. Tim's fishless cycle process. This was complete over a month ago and I still only have a small pair of fancy clowns that are doing very well. I'll probably add another small fish next month.
2) Keep it simple. One of the causes of my previous failures is that I wanted to use the latest and greatest on the tank and I wanted it all automated. I never really had an equipment failure, I just had the wrong setup. There are so many gadgets and gizmos and processes in this hobby that it's hard to figure out what will make you successful. Don't feel like you need them all. I didn't have the patience for testing what would or would not work. I just set it all up and away it went. Everything was up and running online full blast from day one. This time is different in that I'm using a minimal amount of equipment. That leads me to...
3) Implement what is known to work. There is a place for all those gadgets and gizmos and processes in this hobby, but I can tell you they're not needed starting out - especially if you go slow. A lot of reefers have been very successful using little more than a decent skimmer and a refugium with some macro algae. In my current setup I'm using a little bit of filter floss, a small ball of Chaeto, a small passive bag of carbon and a skimmer. I'd be willing to bet I could get away without one of those and I'd still be ok.. I've seen impressive tanks without a skimmer. I choose to run one almost as much for oxygen exchange than for nutrient removal. No reactors, no biopellets, no fancy medias. Just the basics that have been proven.
4) Use quality gear. This is not necessarily something I got wrong last time.. remember it was all top of the line equipment. BUT it was still wrong. From wrong sized reactors to lighting that was way too powerful to a dosing system I never really got a handle on. This time, the amount of research I did had a huge impact on what I ultimately purchased. I didn't buy it because it was the latest, greatest, or most powerful. I bought it because it was quality and it was known to work (see 3 above).
5) Don't be afraid to ask the pros (or use the search feature) on R2R. Many times I would have a question pop into my head while I was researching different topics so I'd go searching for the answer. R2R is a like an encyclopedia when it comes to reef keeping. If you do search for a topic or specific answer, be prepared to read a lot because many times what you're looking for is in a thread that is found several pages down in the search results. There's no other community online larger or nicer than this place.
6) Plan, plan, plan. Perhaps this should be #1? This can kind of coincide with Take your time (#1) in that planning takes time, especially when you're still learning and researching a build from scratch. So be patient. This time I got a handle on what I wanted and I researched the crap out of it for months until I decided on what I'd ultimately end up buying. This can also be cost-saving because you won't be buying equipment to replace something you should have never purchased in the first place.
7) Feed quality food. On my last tank, I went on down to Petco and got some saltwater fish pellet food. Sounds good, right? I believe over-feeding solely this type of food was one of the big contributing factors to my previous tank's algae problems. Last year I spent hours over the course of several nights researching foods to feed my planned livestock. Paul B has a great thread on live foods and their benefit and his "immune" tank. I won't go into that here, but the idea behind his methodology made total sense to me and I planned for feeding live foods and other quality frozen foods. I currently feed live blackworms, LRS fish frenzy, and PE Mysis shrimp. I have other things that I haven't tried yet, but will eventually try them to mix it up a bit.
8) Understand Alkalinity & Calcium uptake and supplementation. One of the most helpful portions of this forum is the Reef Chemistry section. Randy Holmes-Farley is THE guy when it comes to reef chemistry. That section of R2R took many many hours of my life over the past year. There are many ways to control alkalinity & calcium in a reef tank. Research them. Find the one you'd like to implement and read everything you can about it. The pros. The cons. The quirks. Understand what you're doing before you do it. I failed at this last time. This time, I decided to keep it simple (#2) and to use something that was known to work well (#3). So now I'm dosing a saturated kalkwasser solution on a timer throughout the day. I never saw this kind of stability on my last tank. Is it perfect right now? Not quite. But it's pretty stable and the only adjustment I make is the on/off times of each dose.
As I stated before, this list is not complete or comprehensive. I do, however, hope this reaches and helps somebody starting out in the hobby. I purposefully didn't get into much detail about previous problems or even my current setup. If anyone wants any additional information on a previous failure of mine, or what I did this time, feel free to ask. I'll elaborate on it if it'll help.
-Troy
I've been lurking around R2R for years now. I've made a few posts and asked a few questions, but now I wanted to offer my perspective and lessons learned since I'm fairly new to this hobby (again) in an attempt to help those just starting out. If you are new and wanting to get into this hobby, you've come to the right place. There are several of these threads to help you. A lot of these points and suggestions can be found elsewhere on R2R. In no way is this list comprehensive or complete. It is simply a list of the things that I got wrong last time that I have gotten right this time. Let me explain.
I had a reef tank about 5 years ago and it lasted almost a year before I gave up. I was impatient. I wanted beautiful fish and coral and I wanted everything thriving and colorful and fully grown-in... so I went all out. It was a custom built tank, stand, & sump paired with all top of the line equipment at the time. BUT I didn't really know anything nor did I have any experience. Let's just say that first tank wasn't a success. It had problems from the start and by the time that first year was up, I didn't want to try to fix it anymore. It was aggravating to say the least because the whole setup cost me a small fortune. I moved, sold the tank, and figured that was it for reef keeping for me.
Fast forward to last year. I couldn't get the idea of another tank out of my head... so I started researching. I researched everything. Many nights I read until I couldn't read anymore - or until the laptop died. The process was a lot of fun and very interesting (especially RHF's Reef Chemistry forum). I had read a lot of the same things years back, but my approach this time was different. In a lot of ways I still don't know much, but I have learned so much this past year using R2R, BRS & YouTube that I wanted to share the main things that I believe have contributed to my current tank's success.
So here goes:
1) Take your time. This time I was patient enough to do it right. I cured the Pukani I used for 2 months before I did anything. Once the tank was setup, I cycled it for 2 months before introducing any livestock. Those 4 months seemed like forever, but I kept telling my self not to get into a hurry. I cycled using Dr. Tim's fishless cycle process. This was complete over a month ago and I still only have a small pair of fancy clowns that are doing very well. I'll probably add another small fish next month.
2) Keep it simple. One of the causes of my previous failures is that I wanted to use the latest and greatest on the tank and I wanted it all automated. I never really had an equipment failure, I just had the wrong setup. There are so many gadgets and gizmos and processes in this hobby that it's hard to figure out what will make you successful. Don't feel like you need them all. I didn't have the patience for testing what would or would not work. I just set it all up and away it went. Everything was up and running online full blast from day one. This time is different in that I'm using a minimal amount of equipment. That leads me to...
3) Implement what is known to work. There is a place for all those gadgets and gizmos and processes in this hobby, but I can tell you they're not needed starting out - especially if you go slow. A lot of reefers have been very successful using little more than a decent skimmer and a refugium with some macro algae. In my current setup I'm using a little bit of filter floss, a small ball of Chaeto, a small passive bag of carbon and a skimmer. I'd be willing to bet I could get away without one of those and I'd still be ok.. I've seen impressive tanks without a skimmer. I choose to run one almost as much for oxygen exchange than for nutrient removal. No reactors, no biopellets, no fancy medias. Just the basics that have been proven.
4) Use quality gear. This is not necessarily something I got wrong last time.. remember it was all top of the line equipment. BUT it was still wrong. From wrong sized reactors to lighting that was way too powerful to a dosing system I never really got a handle on. This time, the amount of research I did had a huge impact on what I ultimately purchased. I didn't buy it because it was the latest, greatest, or most powerful. I bought it because it was quality and it was known to work (see 3 above).
5) Don't be afraid to ask the pros (or use the search feature) on R2R. Many times I would have a question pop into my head while I was researching different topics so I'd go searching for the answer. R2R is a like an encyclopedia when it comes to reef keeping. If you do search for a topic or specific answer, be prepared to read a lot because many times what you're looking for is in a thread that is found several pages down in the search results. There's no other community online larger or nicer than this place.
6) Plan, plan, plan. Perhaps this should be #1? This can kind of coincide with Take your time (#1) in that planning takes time, especially when you're still learning and researching a build from scratch. So be patient. This time I got a handle on what I wanted and I researched the crap out of it for months until I decided on what I'd ultimately end up buying. This can also be cost-saving because you won't be buying equipment to replace something you should have never purchased in the first place.
7) Feed quality food. On my last tank, I went on down to Petco and got some saltwater fish pellet food. Sounds good, right? I believe over-feeding solely this type of food was one of the big contributing factors to my previous tank's algae problems. Last year I spent hours over the course of several nights researching foods to feed my planned livestock. Paul B has a great thread on live foods and their benefit and his "immune" tank. I won't go into that here, but the idea behind his methodology made total sense to me and I planned for feeding live foods and other quality frozen foods. I currently feed live blackworms, LRS fish frenzy, and PE Mysis shrimp. I have other things that I haven't tried yet, but will eventually try them to mix it up a bit.
8) Understand Alkalinity & Calcium uptake and supplementation. One of the most helpful portions of this forum is the Reef Chemistry section. Randy Holmes-Farley is THE guy when it comes to reef chemistry. That section of R2R took many many hours of my life over the past year. There are many ways to control alkalinity & calcium in a reef tank. Research them. Find the one you'd like to implement and read everything you can about it. The pros. The cons. The quirks. Understand what you're doing before you do it. I failed at this last time. This time, I decided to keep it simple (#2) and to use something that was known to work well (#3). So now I'm dosing a saturated kalkwasser solution on a timer throughout the day. I never saw this kind of stability on my last tank. Is it perfect right now? Not quite. But it's pretty stable and the only adjustment I make is the on/off times of each dose.
As I stated before, this list is not complete or comprehensive. I do, however, hope this reaches and helps somebody starting out in the hobby. I purposefully didn't get into much detail about previous problems or even my current setup. If anyone wants any additional information on a previous failure of mine, or what I did this time, feel free to ask. I'll elaborate on it if it'll help.
-Troy
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