Saltwater Wishes and Regrets

[Alex23]

Soon I will be starting my first saltwater aquarium.

For all of you who have been in this hobby for a long time, what are some of the things you wished you knew when you first started out? Anything you wish you had purchased earlier(Equipment wise, etc.)? Or not purchased at all? Do you regret doing something that cost you?

If there's anythint you could tell someone coming into the hobby, what would it be?
(Most of you are probably thinking "Be prepared to spend, and spend, and spend $$)

Cheers.

 

[DracoKat]

I wish I researched more on the tank shape. Cubes are nice, but I felt I was very limited in aquascaping and corals. I felt longer the better. eventually I did upgrade to a larger tank that I know I'd be happy with.

I had a nano cube. I bought a HOB skimmer, I regret buying it. it was a good skimmer, but felt it was unnecessary at the time. Don't rush to buy the most expensive thing because someone told you "Do it". take your time and research what you want!

 

[reeferfoxx]

In the beginning I regret buying a cheap skimmer. Good quality skimmers go a long way. I also regret trying to keep up with water evaporation on a standard aquarium(no sump or overflow). I also regret keeping the frag plugs that come with frag purchases. Dips don't kill everything. Ditch the frag plug.

 

[dakoop]

I regret any part I tried to buy "economy"
Pay the extra and get the good stuff

The first tank you are looking at.....is too small

 

[CarrieB]

Regrets - my first tank wasn't drilled. Didn't know about skimmers. My second tank had a stand that was too short. Didn't understand how tall skimmers are now.

 

[Kungpaoshizi]

I wish I would have started the red sea program system from the start. (biggest wish/regret)
My current setup has done leaps and bounds better than the other 10-20 combinations of setups.

An acrylic tank (because silicone has a ~10 year lifespan, only downside is scraping the glass- get a credit card), 2 powerheads (vortech's going away for jebao gyre powerheads with scheduling; had the maxspect gyre's before, they win against the vortechs), a basic reef angel with 2 power outlets, 2 heaters(1 will sustain but not overheat the tank, 1 is battery backed), 1 small skimmer in planktonic mode(tunze 9001), xr30w pro's, 2 eheim feeders, 7 drew's dosers, a hydor smart ato, a masterflex pump to handle water changes, and then everything battery backed via the UL 1500w aims inverter with a 125AH AGM.

That's only a fraction of the cost I've spent going from system to system trying to chase the best "all around setup" from various opinions. No mechanical filtration was the biggest 'win' other than nopox and drew's dosers.
I would highly suggest no matter the setup, get dosers (including one for nopox), and setup everything to just dose a single drop from the start. Somewhere in there too is you'll have a much easier time if you don't add big fish, keep stocking to 1-2" fish and sexy shrimp help a ton in the ways of "grooming" corals and their areas.

You're welcome. And good luck!

 

[Mike_J]

Don't be suckered into buying those cheap plastic hydrometers to test salinity, as they are grossly inaccurate! Get yourself a quality seawater refractometer. Red Sea offers a great one!

 

[FMF0331]

regrets - buying cheap equipment ( lights, skimmer etc .. you'll always end up spending more money )

 

[smokin'reefer]

I wish I had spent $100 on a qt setup. I thought first fish I could use dt as a qt since nothing else to contaminate.

 

[Daniel Morales]

I wish I went with an even smaller tank they. 20 Gallon or less seem to be my favorite but others said that was to difficult to start my brothers 3 gallon proved me otherwise it's way cooler in my opinion.I personally hate almost every big tank but thats probably because I matinence 400 tanks all day .I have a 29 biocube with LED swap but its not sleek enough in my opinion.Nano and pico tanks are my obsession.

 

[Daniel Morales]

I wish I went with an even smaller tank they. 20 Gallon or less seem to be my favorite but others said that was to difficult to start my brothers 3 gallon proved me otherwise it's way cooler in my opinion.I personally hate almost every big tank; but thats probably because I matinence 400 gallon tanks all day .I have a 29 biocube with LED swap but its not sleek enough in my opinion.Nano and pico tanks are my obsession.

regrets - buying cheap equipment ( lights, skimmer etc .. you'll always end up spending more money )

 

[hybridazn]

Should have started running 250w 20k radiums from the beginning....

 

[Humblefish]

I wish I had spent $100 on a qt setup.

^^ This. Most fish diseases are waterborne transmissible, and wiping out an entire DT fish collection is what drives many newbies out of the hobby.

 

[Waterjockey]

Wish I had spent the extra bucks on a good skimmer in the beginning instead of later. Same with lighting.

Can't believe I ran the newer system without an auto top off for nearly a year. Never again.

 

[Alex23]

Wish I had spent the extra bucks on a good skimmer in the beginning instead of later. Same with lighting.

Can't believe I ran the newer system without an auto top off for nearly a year. Never again.

What size tank do you have? What ATO are you using?

 

[Untamedrose]

Tank depth vs stand...I am Not a short woman..5"7 but need a step stool to reach the bottom of my tank it's a PITA

Starting rock...stay the hell away from any base rock. It's....well not worthless but still not worth the 1.00 more a pound for better stuff.

 

[Alex23]

Tank depth vs stand...I am Not a short woman..5"7 but need a step stool to reach the bottom of my tank it's a PITA

Starting rock...stay the hell away from any base rock. It's....well not worthless but still not worth the 1.00 more a pound for better stuff.

What do you mean by base rock?

 

[Waterjockey]

What size tank do you have? What ATO are you using?

I've had everything from a nano to 180 gallons. Currently running a 30 gallon mixed reef (downsizing before move).
I have an apex running my ato, but any ato, *any* ato beats topping up manually

 

[Alex23]

I've had everything from a nano to 180 gallons. Currently running a 30 gallon mixed reef (downsizing before move).
I have an apex running my ato, but any ato, *any* ato beats topping up manually

True lol.

What about RO/DI system? What are you using?

 

[Alex23]

^^ This. Most fish diseases are waterborne transmissible, and wiping out an entire DT fish collection is what drives many newbies out of the hobby.

Can you explain a bit to me about qt setups? What is it and its importance?