- Nothing good happens fast in a reef tank
- Triple-check before you believe or make any changes to your tank
- Only make one change at a time in your reef tank
- Only dose what you can test for
- Don't chase #s, stability is what's critical
- Anytime you add anything to your tank (even quarantined livestock), your whole tank is at risk
- Know and be able to meet your livestock requirements
- Most problems can be mitigated with larger water changes and GAC
- Have a plan, a backup plan, and a backup backup plan for reefing risks
- Stick to one reefing methodology. Don't be a Frankenstein unless you're willing to fail while blazing your own path to success
- Do not believe manufacturer claims
Those are the things that are repeated over and over again on the forum. It's probably a good starting point for new reefers. But after been in this for a while, you will realize many of those are just "rules of thumb" rather than hard rules.
The one that I probably never agree with is #10. Reefing methodologies are really just a vehicle to teach techniques and reasoning in a more comprehensive setting. Each component have a purpose behind it. It's a bad idea to mix different methods without really understand the goal and how they work. But once you understood them, there is no reason why you can't combine things that works for you. Eventually, reefing is to find a way that works for you. Everyone's circumstance is different, every tank is different, then why are we expect the method of reefing to be same?
The other parts are #1 and #3. Those are true when applied to the already stabled system. But for a system in trouble, things probably need to change fast before it's too late. For example, there was a time I lighted the tank too low at the beginning, and the acros are dying. Do I slowly ramp up the light from 50 PAR to 200 PAR over the next two months? If I did that, the acros will be long gone. Instead I just bump it to 200 right away. The acro literally stopped STN overnight. Basically, if the change is to improve on what's OK currently, it should going slowly. But if the change is to fix something that's actively going south, it probably need to be fast. Of course assuming you're sure about the cause.
I do like #6 a lot. This hobby is really all about risk management. Few things here are absolute.
I'm not saying those points are wrong. They're just not absolute. But these points are mean for reefers with some level of experience, not for new reefers.
, biiig time. No wonder I can just figure why nothing grows.
