What separates aquarists with thriving tanks vs those that are falling apart?

[Porpoise Hork]

Stability is key. The most successful reefers maintain very stable parameters, lighting, flow. Instability causes stress, stress weakens livestock immune systems, weak immune systems lead to sickness, death, and eventual failure.

Do research on every aspect of reef aquarium keeping that pertains to your setup. Always know the impact of everything you do and/or add to your tanks. Is that new coral suitable for your level of involvement with your tank? How is the demeanor of that new fish/invert? Will it terrorize the other inhabitants or nuke the tank if it dies?

Attention to detail, being observant, and learn your tank'. More often than not, just the simple act of taking 10 or so minutes everyday and just watch your tank. Look at every coral, every fish, the sound of your equipment etc. Learn their behaviors, if there's an issue in most cases you will spot it very early and the chances of success in resolving it are much higher than if you do not know what everything is supposed to be doing.

Maintenance, always do that. Just because that pump has been running perfectly for 4-5 months doesn't mean that it will continue to do so for another 5 months. You would be amazed at the bio-film build up that takes place in a return, skimmer, or wave pump motor in a very short period of time. Take a couple hours every 3-4 months and pull out each piece of equipment and give it a good cleaning and inspection. Not only will it help ensure the pump will continue to run properly, but will give you the opportunity to spot worn parts early on and get replacement parts before they fail at 2:30 AM on a Saturday morning.

Above all else, patience. If you are one for instant gratification, or are wanting immediate results, this is not the hobby for you.

 

[NefTunzReef]

Knowledge, experience, equipment, husbandry, livestock selection/quarantine, patience and learning from past mistakes to name a few. Rare is the reefer who nails it perfectly right from the onset!

 

[HB AL]

Dedication, decades of knowledge and past experiences

 

[tnyr5]

Some of these will sound kind of ethereal and new-ageish, but they've worked for me over the last 16 years. Plus, reefing is at least equal parts art and science.
- Learning not to chase perfection, because there will ALWAYS be some tiny detail that's off just enough to bother you and nobody else (maybe a coral color or a parameter or a spot of algae that never gets bigger but never goes away) and trying to have your way will only make it worse.
- Understanding that sometimes less is more. See if this sounds familiar: "I'm running every imaginable bell & whistle & dosing bacteria and carbon and running 1000w of leds and gfo and gac and I have an algae turf scrubber to boot and my corals are all bleached and sad looking and I have cyano everywhere!!!!!" Well no kidding, it's BECAUSE you're doing all that that it looks like crap.
- Being honest with oneself about one's own laziness. I don't know about you, but my dish-buying rule is "Hand-wash means it's not getting washed." That means the Dendrophyllia that needs to be hand-fed every day probably isn't for me.
- Having enough base knowledge to know what balance looks like, and enough skill to keep it there.
Maintaining balance is where the skill and science side of the hobby come in, but getting it in the first place? That's at least equal parts skill, luck, and trial & error, which brings us tooooo....
- Letting your tank tell you where it is happy, instead of the other way around, and learning to "read" it.
I often say when I'm setting up a new tank that: "We are still getting to know each other." I mean this more literally than it sounds. I see a lot of people who let their tank get to know them, but not the reciprocal. This may sound corny, but it does sometimes help to think of your tank as a single organism with feelings and moods all its own.
As for reading it, I know, through observation, trial, error, and dumb luck, that my tank is happy with alk 9-9.5, Ca 420-430, Mg 1300, NO3 15ish ppm, PO4 between .08 and .12, with 1mL of vodka dosed 3-5x a week, 7 fish that are fed 2x daily on a mostly pellet and flake diet with treat frozen foods a few times a week, and thrice-monthly water changes. I've trained myself to notice certain cues that things are just starting to tick out of whack. For example: Whenever I get an uptick in growth and my alk starts to drop, the first thing that goes is the purple on the rim of my Leng Sy cap. Another is that if the nutrients start to drop, I'll get tiny patches of cyano. No big deal, I just blow them off daily for a few days in a row and slack off the vodka dosing. You get the idea.

 

[TheHarold]

Only a portion of hobbyists understand the basics of what corals need. Bright lighting, clean water, food, stability.

It is virtually ALWAYS the reefer's fault if there is a problem or if they have long-term-ugly-tank.

 

[TheHarold]

Honestly the most successful tanks that i compare in my mind that have been running a long time have one thing in common. They use ozone or uv or both. Maybe its that chemistry or maybe its due to paying attention closely to things like water color.

I do not see any relation between UV/Ozone and the successful tanks on this site.

 

[Cory]

I do not see any relation between UV/Ozone and the successful tanks on this site.

Its not all of them but the ones i can remeber are glenn f, and paul b use ozone. Both tanks are old. Its possible its because of organic load and that others who dont use it simply perform water changes to compensate for organic removal.

 

[Beefyreefy]

I think it comes down to one thing... Perseverance! If you don't have the drive to fight through the bad times, you'll always have an ugly tank or be crashing.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

I have numerous tanks and the one thing I have learned is to leave stuff alone it will adjust (to an extent). This is of course within reason. A very small change in a test is not a need for me to react. I start seeing a decline in something, I watch it for a while and maybe do something. Granted I do not have that much SPS, but I am very LPS heavy. I can watch my acans and hammers and tell where the tank is at. Granted, all learned from killing quite a few in the beginning, but patience is one thing I learned was key. Most things with the proper husbandry and regular maintenance will correct themselves. Outside of the crazies that happen sometimes lol. For example, my PH and ALK went nuts after I had to move everything from a cracked tanked. A week later to let it all stabilize and just doing what I normally did for the tank previously and all is well now. Yes it bothered me that my huge hammer was fully retracted, but gave it time, let things work out, let everything adjust, and all is now well.

Granted I know the above is not going to be true for everyone, but it works for me. I was the noob that dosed something when something was the slightest bit off. I learned a lot from that. Doing one thing, creates another thing, and so on. For every action, there is a reaction. Only when I said heck with it, it will do what it does, I am tried of buying this and that to add to the tank, did it stabilize and everything flourished.

 

[happyhourhero]

He who overtinkers and he who does not.

 

[leptang]

There is about a thousand things that can go wrong, from having a air tight home with lots of CO2 to funk with the bacteria population and or calcification. To contaminates in the air, or hands, food, chemicals. Time spent on the tank. Problem solving skills. How one first starts up a tank. There are a lot of variables to contend with, its a bit of luck and knowledge and time spent and money to make or break a tank.

 

[cracker]

Just knowing which way to go is important. often I just don't know . Now I can keep lps & having slow success with the plating monti's . Any other sps will jut melt on me.

 

[Flippers4pups]

Understanding what equipment are needed to keep a reef tank and have purchased before tank is wet.

Understanding basic water chemistry and how to manipulate it safely.

Having clean 0 TDS water.

Having all the proper test kits needed.

Understanding marine biology and how to manipulate it safely.

Understanding what fish are compatible for size of tank your keeping and what it takes to keep them healthy.

How to properly QT fish.

How to properly treat fish for parasites and or diseases.

Understanding of corals and their needs.

Understanding how to properly treat corals for pests and diseases.

Understanding of basic husbandry and maintenance.

Understanding what patience means when undertaking this hobby.

Common theme? This hobby is hard on those that learn on the go.

Frustration, disappointment and L.A.R.S. Sends many a hobbyist tank and equipment to the buy, sell and trade lists because of misunderstanding.

 

[ca1ore]

Wow, not a single picture in this thread ….. maybe everyone's in the crashing category LOL

 

[Flippers4pups]

Wow, not a single picture in this thread ….. maybe everyone's in the crashing category LOL

Ca1ore, I'll post one, you post one. Lol

 

[JBKReef]

Patience, Stability, Water Changes. I'll add a photo as well. Most recent FTS 10-18

 

[JBKReef]

Ca1ore, I'll post one, you post one. Lol

Wow, gorgeous Montipora growth. Any issues with the zoa's shaded below?

 

[BZOFIQ]

I think the tanks with the most tinkering, testing and tweeking do the worst and have the most problems and many Noobs fall into this category.

Couldn't agree more. Keep your hands out of the tank for god's sake.

 

[maroun.c]

Well, might simply be good luck.
Patience, time, dedication, budget, a sense of observation, a good problem solving mind set, Will to read and learn, will to experiment with new methodologies (or also sticking to the team proven methods), a community to consult with, supporting other half or any member of the family when one is away or busy, access to quality/ disease free fish and corals... And many other factors could be what makes the difference.
Any tank will have its up and down periods as well.

 

[ca1ore]

Ca1ore, I'll post one, you post one. Lol

Excellent, 'challenge' accepted ….

I'm not sure I even know anymore what separates success from failure. My main display, pictured above, is spectacular; the nano in my son's room is a disaster. What has broadly allowed me to be successful has been experience (30 years), knowledge (books, fellow hobbyists and a nose for BS), patience (always a challenge for me) and the application of technology (good pumps, CaRx, ATS and lots of flow).