What's something you wish you knew sooner?

[Michigan Reefer]

I should have paid closer attention to introducing AIPTASIA . I'm struggling to keep it from overtaking my system and really considering taking it down to start over. Even then not sure how to rid it completely.

DON'T LET IT HAPPEN TO YOU

 

[Ross Petersen]

You can’t calibrate a refractometer with RODI water

when testing you read and measure from the plunger line not the water line

You have to mix your salt before adding to water

you don’t need to heat water to mix salt. Heating water to much cause the salt to precipitate.

Rocks soak up a bunch of stuff and then leech it back out, so your parameters will Yo-Yo when you try to change them.

epoxy can cause O2 drops so agitate the water surface when using and afterwards.

Crap. These are good facts. A few questions:
-When testing what?
-When calibrating a refractometer, what do you need, other than a standard solution of known salinity?

 

[Ross Petersen]

Quarantine quarantine quarantine! Keep aiptasia, vermetid snails, bubble algae out of your tank at all costs. The time/effort/money you spend trying to fix the issue will significantly outweigh the effort you put into quarantining. AND you may never get rid of it completely once introduced!

I want to do this! But a QT tank for fish, another for corals, and possibly another for CUC is exhausting/relationship killing. If you could only do one QT tank, would fish be the best bet, and then dip-dip-dip, inspect, and wisely source corals and CUC? Thanks!

 

[van7271]

Don’t have to go broke to have a nice reef. Patience and consistency go a long way. Start small a let it grow. With a little patience a 20 dollar frag can become the centerpiece of your tank. That tang that you thought would not make it becomes your prize pet. Been in this hobby long enough to know you will win some and lose some but stick with it. Nothing much better than when your system is at it’s peak.