Tips for a successful reef Tank - What is yours?

[Paul B]

You are so awesome, LOL! I love it

I tell my wife that every day. She just laughs.

 

[AlyciaMarie Verified Admin]

For me, where I am in my journey it's patience.

 

[Hal3134]

I saw a notable improvement in my corals after I started testing and adjusting my alk weekly. Perhaps that’s a “duh” for most of you.

 

[bakbay]

My number one advice: Keep It Simple, Stupid (KISS).

My whole tank is automated that I can walk away for a month+ and everything will be fine. Even with all the gear, they are purely used for observability purposes. I just care about the following, if everything else failed:
1) Water changes: none, I don't touch it, ever
2) Calcium Reactor: provide stable alk & ca, only touch it once / year
3) Skimmer: runs 24/7, clean the neck every week
4) Wavemakers: provide plenty of flow but only need 1 with battery backup
5) Lights: set it & forget it -- don't play with duration, color spectrum, etc
6) Heater: just in case of "winter" months in SoCal
7) Nutrients: I don't even test for N&P unless I'm making a big change

The system is "controlled" (more like observed) using an Apex. It can die (and it did before) and the tank will still be ok.

Number 1.5 advice: ENJOY your tank. Take it easy, relax -- don't stress over things. That's what this hobby is all about!

 

[AlexandraDreadlocksPanda]

I thought the ol timers called that a "plenum filter" in salt water

Or was that something else?

A plenum was a void underneath the sand bed - initially an uplift was used with a power head to keep water running through, then you remove that and let the water under the bed become anoxic, so you get Nitrate reducing bacteria… That’s the theory, at least. Tried one once, never again.