As a 20+ year veteran of reefkeeping, I’ve seen it all. Even when live rock was the only rock available, most played by the rule of “wait close to a year before the tank settles in and you start seeing coralline on the glass before adding coral.” Now that we’re left with dry rock, it’s at least a year before I feel a tank can safely handle corals that are much more expensive today (comparatively) than then. That being said, the desire for “insta-reef” is strong these days…no doubt a parallel with Instagram.
Rush it…pay the price.
As for the whole nutrient debate, I’m torn. I feel there’s much more to it than “you can’t have zero nitrates and phosphates”. I feel some people need to be told that because they simply don’t feed enough. They’re afraid of algae and what many not familiar would call a dirty tank. Pristine and clean doesn’t exist on wild reefs. But yes…you can be reading zero and have a gorgeous reef tank. It’s more about being able to process those nutrients and export them than having a holy grail number to strive for. Some people feed heavily, have zero detectable nutrients and their corals are thriving…but I’ve found those reefers tend to have an impeccable maintenance routine, feed much more than many may think and resist the need to tinker. Others keep nutrients detectable and achieve the same results.
One thing I’ve found is that the hobby is most enjoyable for me when I treat a system like a fish tank the first year as it goes through it’s inevitable hiccups of dinoflagellates, diatoms, Cyanobacteria, green algae phases and ultimately just settles in and does its thing.
Things I’ve learned over 20+ years:
1. More fish and feedings will always trump trying to balance nutrients with bottled potions.
2. As your tank and corals mature, you’ll need to feed more.
3. A green dusting on the glass every few days is not a dirty tank, but a sign that your tank is healthy.
4. Don’t chase numbers. Instead, have an acceptable range for each parameter. Pay attention to trends upwards and downwards for each parameter. If the tank looks better with a number outside your acceptable range, then maybe you’re wrong and the tank will do better there.
5. Treat your reef like a large ocean tanker. Never overcorrect the ship swiftly. Slowly nudge it back with small adjustments.
6. It’s always better to underlight than overlight a coral.
7. Long acclimation of corals sitting at the bottom of the tank ( a month or more) will always produce better results than “stick and pray.”
8. You’ll always be chasing your next pest. Embrace it. There’s no such thing as “one day I’ll get to cruise control.” Even on wild reefs (with a stability we’ll never achieve in captivity), algae phases come and go, and some corals sometimes die. And yes…most times it’s unfortunately that expensive one that goes first. Don’t start correcting everything when 99% of the tank looks great.
9. Knowing your tank and its unique nuances with daily observation is much more valuable than anything you’ll learn from an ICP test. ICP tests are like a home inspection. Not everything needs to be “fixed” or needs immediate attention. A sense of urgency in a product and relying on that product is a great marketing plan for customer retention.
10. Water changes work and can fix a lot of problems, but most importantly, a sound water change routine will help stave off many issues. The “no water change club” isn’t a badge of honor. In all my years, I’ve seen a lot of tanks. No water change aficionados are mostly veterans, and admittedly, their tanks would look better with more water changes.
11. Be a STICKLER for your source water. Provide the cleanest RODI you can. Change sediment and carbon filters before they look disgusting…not after you’re reading 001 TDS and already allowed a lot of pollutants into your system. Your DI will last much longer if your sediment and carbon are changed more frequently. People will spend thousands on corals and neglect the source of the most abundant element in their tank…water.
12. Resist the need to fill your tank with gadgets. Having a gizmo for every possible thing and relying on equipment to do things that take less than 5 minutes a day for you to do yourself is playing with Murphy’s Law. If you have the time to do something yourself, always choose that route over automation. It will physically put you in tune with the daily heartbeat of your tank. This hobby is much more enjoyable when you can come home from work and observe your livestock instead of checking to see if all the gadgets are humming along.
Welcome to reefkeeping.
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