What's Your Best Advice for Beginners?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jul 25, 2023

Don't believe manufacturer claims without double checking with folks who understand the product you are interested in.

Some of the most inaccurate claims are from the biggest names in reef supplements.

7of9 · Jul 25, 2023

Try not to stress yourself out over your tank. You're more likely to become reactive and make too drastic of changes. Accept that you will lose some critters...it's just part of the process. Keep track of your water parameters, but try to relax and let nature do what it does.

Develop good habits around top offs and water changes and cleaning.

Seansea · Jul 25, 2023

Start an algae scrubber ot refugium from day one. Get algae growing somewhere else beside your tank. More people quit this hobby because of nuisance algae than anything else.

FrugalReefer · Jul 25, 2023

Patience, patience and more patience. Also, if you must make a change, do it gradually over time. And always know that corals are highly adaptable and can live in any type environment as long as parameters are within range and everything is stable. One more thing, don’t chase numbers.

PensacolaReefKeeper · Jul 25, 2023

Reefer Matt said:
Thought I'd start a thread for your best advice for those getting started or thinking about a reef tank. My advice is patience. Reefing is a marathon, not a sprint. Visualize your goal, and enjoy the journey getting there!

What are those beautiful yellow corals in the middle?? Wow!

Reefer Matt · Jul 25, 2023

PensacolaReefKeeper said:
What are those beautiful yellow corals in the middle?? Wow!

That's "24k" Leptoseris. One of my favorite encrusters.

Tazman · Jul 25, 2023

Being a newbie myself with 12 months under my belt and $20K lighter. I agree with everything posted above and added a few more that worked for me.

1. Keep ORP above 300. (I use ozone and do weekly water changes for this)
2. Run UV at least 180,000uw/cm2
3. Invest in a good RODI system
4. Aim for SPS water quality
5. Feed quality / nutritious frozen food with probiotics. (Look up Paul B's thread on frozen food)
6. Add lots of copepods (monthly) and feed them with live phytoplanktons (daily)
7. If new fish comes down with ich, ride it out as long as it's eating and 1-6 are achieved.
8. Stay away from chemical treatments.

X-37B · Jul 25, 2023

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Don't believe manufacturer claims without double checking with folks who understand the product you are interested in.

Some of the most inaccurate claims are from the biggest names in reef supplements.

Yea this is really sad and you wonder why so many people get confused and make things way more complicated than need be, imo.

Gumbies R Us · Jul 25, 2023

90's reefer said:
Yea this is really sad and you wonder why so many people get confused and make things way more complicated than need be, imo.

I agree, It's really confusing at times buying certain things cause there can be a lot of options but only a few that work well

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jul 25, 2023

Tazman said:
Being a newbie myself with 12 months under my belt and $20K lighter. I agree with everything posted above and added a few more that worked for me.

1. Keep ORP above 300. (I use ozone and do weekly water changes for this)

Tazman said:
8. Stay away from chemical treatments.

Why do you think ORP above 300 mV is useful?

What sort of "chemical treatments" are you referring to? Ozone is a chemical treatment, after all.

GatorGreg · Jul 25, 2023

Tazman said:
Being a newbie myself with 12 months under my belt and $20K lighter. I agree with everything posted above and added a few more that worked for me.

1. Keep ORP above 300. (I use ozone and do weekly water changes for this)
2. Run UV at least 180,000uw/cm2
3. Invest in a good RODI system
4. Aim for SPS water quality
5. Feed quality / nutritious frozen food with probiotics. (Look up Paul B's thread on frozen food)
6. Add lots of copepods (monthly) and feed them with live phytoplanktons (daily)
7. If new fish comes down with ich, ride it out as long as it's eating and 1-6 are achieved.
8. Stay away from chemical treatments.

You spent 20k on your first tank?

codenfx · Jul 25, 2023

Reading the forums of reef2reef, I've learned so much here.

littlefoxx · Jul 25, 2023

QT all fish that are not pre quarantined, save you a lot of heartache when you lose one sick fish vs youre whole tank because you put a fish with not visible velvet in the tank! Thats heart breaking as a beginner watching all my first fish in this hobby die within hours of each other. And dont give up if you run into issues, the reward of having a beautiful tank despite all the heartbreak is well worth it

MoshJosh · Jul 25, 2023

Go slow.

Nano_Man · Jul 25, 2023

Keep things simple and keep money in your pocket not in the fish shop .

ScubaFish802 · Jul 25, 2023

Don't skip on your regular maintenance (water changes, etc)

exnisstech · Jul 25, 2023

Tazman said:
Keep ORP above 300

Probably not something a beginner needs to track.
My tanks are doing pretty well and I don't even know what ORP is much less how to track it

EDIT : I also did OK with no UV and still do on some tanks.
Not being a jerk but this stuff is not something a beginner need to worry about. I think it just makes the hobby seem over complicated when it doesn't have to be. JMO

Jim Gomoll · Jul 25, 2023

w8lifts said:
Expensive doesn’t equal quality

On the flip side cheaper isn't always better. There are many knockoff components available on Amazon which are cheaper/beginner options vs high-end brand names, BUT do your homework checking posts, reviews and YouTube for pros/cons for lights, heaters, pumps, etc.

You will kill some fish and corals along the way. Learn, be patient, and have fun.

AydenLincoln · Jul 25, 2023

My advice is to avoid asking Facebook groups advice and to stick to forums! And to know that there’s more than one right way to do things in this hobby.

Tazman · Jul 25, 2023

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Why do you think ORP above 300 mV is useful?

What sort of "chemical treatments" are you referring to? Ozone is a chemical treatment, aft

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Why do you think ORP above 300 mV is useful?

What sort of "chemical treatments" are you referring to? Ozone is a chemical treatment, after all.

It's just something I adopted from the days I kept a Koi pond. Levels between 300-350 is the sweet spot for keeping parasites down and not affecting the biome. You can tell there's a huge different in water quality between 300 and let's say 150. Neptune system has ORP probe standard on their pro series for this reason.

Chemical treatments that I refer to are those that stay in the water column and adversely affect the biome. It's true that ozone is a form of chemical but it does not stay in the water column when using it correctly with gac