One year lessons learned

[Bensonthefish]

One year ago I started the hobby. I was so impressed when I look at other successful reef tanks. My problem was that I could not control myself when I see some beautiful fish. I just kept buying and stocking my tank. No quarantine and of course velvet took most of it. But I still buy more like an addict. Adding corals as well which would make my tank nice for a week and eventually die. After racking up a lot of debt, I forced myself to stop and set up a fish only tank and just kept small fish (from looking at other thriving tanks) in the main reef tank. My phosphates and nitrates finally started coming down, corals are starting to open up and I think I am now on my way to have success like most of you here. It took a while to control the addiction. Time to pay off reef debt

 

[mdb_talon]

Glad to hear you got things under control. Can definitely be tough early and wanting a tank that looks like the amazing pictures of some tanks out there. Like many things in life though I think there is an inverse relationship between getting it quick and getting it done well.

I think I am now on my way to have success like most of you here

Also just to clarify I would say I think if people are being honest most of us have had our share of failures as well. We just usually highlight the successes

 

[Karen00]

One year ago I started the hobby. I was so impressed when I look at other successful reef tanks. My problem was that I could not control myself when I see some beautiful fish. I just kept buying and stocking my tank. No quarantine and of course velvet took most of it. But I still buy more like an addict. Adding corals as well which would make my tank nice for a week and eventually die. After racking up a lot of debt, I forced myself to stop and set up a fish only tank and just kept small fish (from looking at other thriving tanks) in the main reef tank. My phosphates and nitrates finally started coming down, corals are starting to open up and I think I am now on my way to have success like most of you here. It took a while to control the addiction. Time to pay off reef debt

Good for you. I think for most people getting into the hobby (myself included) we want to have a fully stocked instant reef overnight so our tanks look like the tanks we see on here. I'm sure if we asked the members with the stunning tanks we would find out it took years to get their tanks looking like that. Even the ocean's reefs don't do things overnight. I'm going slow with my tank (4 months wet) but it's hard to contain the urge to buy. Right now I'm fish only and I've been adding them one by one. I'm almost done stocking my fish wish list. Next is corals but that is still a couple months away. I tell you... It's hard not to grab some frags each time I'm in the store getting other supplies.

 

[reefer938]

One year ago I started the hobby. I was so impressed when I look at other successful reef tanks. My problem was that I could not control myself when I see some beautiful fish. I just kept buying and stocking my tank. No quarantine and of course velvet took most of it. But I still buy more like an addict. Adding corals as well which would make my tank nice for a week and eventually die. After racking up a lot of debt, I forced myself to stop and set up a fish only tank and just kept small fish (from looking at other thriving tanks) in the main reef tank. My phosphates and nitrates finally started coming down, corals are starting to open up and I think I am now on my way to have success like most of you here. It took a while to control the addiction. Time to pay off reef debt

Glad to hear your starting to manage to addiction now mate. With most reefs it takes at least 2 years for work to show in this hobby. Just go slow and steady all the best.

 

[jgirardnrg]

Everyone has ups and downs. If it were an instant reef and I had nothing left to do I'd probably get bored. While I do enjoy sitting and watching the tanks, what I really enjoy is constant tinkering and building everything up. Sounds like you've gotten to the point of accepting that things take time... enjoy the process. There's a little bit of luck and magic involved in building our little ecosystems.

 

[muzikalmatt]

Glad you stuck with it! The good news is that now that your tank is over a year old it should be turning the corner towards maturity and long-term stability. That should make things easier moving forward.

 

[G Santana]

We all know the pull of the perfect reef tank and she pulls hard.
I had a reef a long time ago and I am in my 1st year of my return, but I swore that I would go slow and I have because I know what losses are and how those are costly in more ways than one.
I just started stocking my tank, after my tank truly matured at the 8 month mark, that's when I started purchasing corals, now in the 10th month, fortunately nothing has died.
Good luck with your tank and looks like your lessons were hard fought!!!

 

[Rick's Reviews]

One year ago I started the hobby. I was so impressed when I look at other successful reef tanks. My problem was that I could not control myself when I see some beautiful fish. I just kept buying and stocking my tank. No quarantine and of course velvet took most of it. But I still buy more like an addict. Adding corals as well which would make my tank nice for a week and eventually die. After racking up a lot of debt, I forced myself to stop and set up a fish only tank and just kept small fish (from looking at other thriving tanks) in the main reef tank. My phosphates and nitrates finally started coming down, corals are starting to open up and I think I am now on my way to have success like most of you here. It took a while to control the addiction. Time to pay off reef debt

We can all bang on to you tube our videos but honestly is this why you started your aquarium? i love watching my aquriam grow daily and for me, love watching others aquarium however... My aquriam is for me