Lessons learned

[-XENOMORPH-]

#1. Water changes solve 80% of problems.
#2. ...1 wife. 3 dogs, 2 tanks, and 2 kids is too much. ... the wife and .kids gotta go!

 

[afuel]

Wouldn’t have added zooanthids I can’t control them they are everywhere now. They are beautiful but spread like weeds

 

[Bad Company]

1. Set up auto-top off
2. RO water for top off - better if it auto-fills with emergency overflow
3. Plan for power failure
4. Choose one: a good lid, or high freeboard glass, or non-jumping fish
5. Rinse your sand prior to filling tank, otherwise can take DAYS to clear, and re-clouds every time you re-scape
6. Make sure your algae scrubber is big enough
7. Make maintenance as easy as possible (access, intervals, etc.)
8. Choose animals and corals that match your ability to care for them (feeding) water quality etc.
9. GFCI everything
10. Analyze failure modes and severity of equipment / power
11. Vertical waterfall algae scrubbers are a game changer wrt needing so few water changes to manage NO4
12. Shimmer is WAY better than disco-ball
13. Ensure that tankmates are compatible, hiding places really help!
14. Follow good practice, and advice of experience, a lot of companies selling expensive, unnecessary equipment
15. SPS and heavy stony corals add a huge level of complexity
16. Bigger is WAAAY Better
17. Unions in plumbing are key for adjustments/dissassembly
18. Run fuge/ATS light counter schedule to display
19. Some fish are fine with once a day feeding, many are not!
20. Many fish require some algae in the tank for optimum health
21. Let nature find the balance in your tank. Stressing bubble algae? Get emerald crabs for example.
22. Fish stores are not all created equal, For example, in my area one is 50% higher priced on livestock. The difference? They quarantine all SW fish for 28 days.
23. Make sure you can reach everywhere in your tank.
24. Plan for hot summer days, and AC outages.

 

[MamaP]

Wouldn’t have added zooanthids I can’t control them they are everywhere now. They are beautiful but spread like weeds

I don't have that problem, because my lights aren't good enough to grow them, but I'm having an issue with feather dusters! Not the big, beautiful ones, but tiny annoying ones that are trying to taking over all the rocks in 1 corner. I didn't purposely add them, tho. They must have come in on a snail.

 

[MamaP]

1. Set up auto-top off
2. RO water for top off - better if it auto-fills with emergency overflow
3. Plan for power failure
4. Choose one: a good lid, or high freeboard glass, or non-jumping fish
5. Rinse your sand prior to filling tank, otherwise can take DAYS to clear, and re-clouds every time you re-scape
6. Make sure your algae scrubber is big enough
7. Make maintenance as easy as possible (access, intervals, etc.)
8. Choose animals and corals that match your ability to care for them (feeding) water quality etc.
9. GFCI everything
10. Analyze failure modes and severity of equipment / power
11. Vertical waterfall algae scrubbers are a game changer wrt needing so few water changes to manage NO4
12. Shimmer is WAY better than disco-ball
13. Ensure that tankmates are compatible, hiding places really help!
14. Follow good practice, and advice of experience, a lot of companies selling expensive, unnecessary equipment
15. SPS and heavy stony corals add a huge level of complexity
16. Bigger is WAAAY Better
17. Unions in plumbing are key for adjustments/dissassembly
18. Run fuge/ATS light counter schedule to display
19. Some fish are fine with once a day feeding, many are not!
20. Many fish require some algae in the tank for optimum health
21. Let nature find the balance in your tank. Stressing bubble algae? Get emerald crabs for example.
22. Fish stores are not all created equal, For example, in my area one is 50% higher priced on livestock. The difference? They quarantine all SW fish for 28 days.
23. Make sure you can reach everywhere in your tank.
24. Plan for hot summer days, and AC outages.

Fantastic advice!!

 

[Theo_0]

My biggest regret is building a sump underneath the tank. I will never do this on the next tank. The next tank is planned to be at least 2000gallon with a sump room. Tank husbandry is most neglected part in this hobby and, at least for me, it’s because I don’t like getting stuck underneath the tank just to get something small. I love tank husbandry but once it starts getting frustrating you tend to lose interest in doing it. My second thing I would change is getting top notch equipment from get go. I’ve spend so much money on a lot of cheaper equipment that it cost more than going best from the start.

 

[wom001]

Consistently enjoy and look at your tank daily. It becomes a living thing and will tell you what it needs better than someone online can.

 

[MamaP]

My biggest regret is building a sump underneath the tank. I will never do this on the next tank. The next tank is planned to be at least 2000gallon with a sump room. Tank husbandry is most neglected part in this hobby and, at least for me, it’s because I don’t like getting stuck underneath the tank just to get something small. I love tank husbandry but once it starts getting frustrating you tend to lose interest in doing it. My second thing I would change is getting top notch equipment from get go. I’ve spend so much money on a lot of cheaper equipment that it cost more than going best from the start.

That's great advice. I was planning on a sump underneath for my next tank (I went cheap to start and got one not drilled or plumbed with no sump), but you've given me something to think about. I'll have to consider a fish room instead.

 

[ClownWrangler]

Not being religious about quarantine from day one with inverts. I found out the hard way that "New tank syndrome" being the biggest killer of fish is a lie. Sure, it a factor, but parasitic diseases are the biggest killer. Even a feather duster can carry them in its tube and sand particles attached to it. Lost $300 in fish from a stupid feather duster carrying velvet. Now I quarantine everything.

 

[Dlaw]

I learned a hard lesson today. Don't skimp on your vessels!!!

I've been using 5 gallon pals from Lowes for 3 months (I'm new) to hold my salt water. Last night, I heard a bunch of noise coming from the bucket that I was mixing for today's water change. I started mixing that bucket on Thursday. I ran over to the bucket to find it mostly empty, and the pump splashing water everywhere. I unplugged, and then immediately started cleaning up the water I could find. Unfortunately, I couldn't find much, which means it soaked into the floor and wall. So, that's going to be a project.

The cause was a small crack in the center of the bottom of the bucket. My heater ran dry and exploded, and I was at the tank, where the bucket was sitting next to, about 15 minutes prior. No noise. So, I wonder if it happened suddenly, or over time. The bucket did still seem to be able to hold what little bit of water was in it, so maybe it happened over the course of the night and day? I don't know, and honestly at this point I don't care. Lowes replaced the bucket for me, and the lady I talked to said that they had a lot of issues like that over the summer.

I bought a Brute trash can. And I'm pretty bummed out.