Looking back - share your lessons learned!

Here is my 37g reef! Its been up and running for about a year and 3 months. Let me know what you think

August 2010


September 2010


November 2010


January 2011


September 2011


Lessons Learned:

• Bigger snails are NOT better
• Don't cheap out on the skimmer, you WILL get electrocuted!
• NO glass thermometers near frag rack, or anything magnetic. Some thermometers are magnetic, are attracted to those strong magnets and will shatter in the tank!
• Do not put tank flush against back wall, if you plan to get an overflow.
• Do not try to build a DIY overflow box using dollar store containers
• Do not buy a jawfish AND a pistol shrimp
• Don't buy jawfish without lid
• Damsels are VERY hard to catch with a net. Don't buy fish you don't want.
• Don't buy two more jawfish after first one jumps while still having pistol shrimp and/or escape routes
• Don't slack off about cleaning coralline off front glass for an entire summer! What a nightmare.
• Do not glue frags you really like to base rocks - Cannot dip
• Don't put 30 lb pieces of base rock too close to front glass - cannot scrape algae

Just some funny things I've learned so far, am I the only one?

 

every job has a tool, use the right tool

 

If a fish jumps tank once-it'll do it again and second time is not the charm

Never add straight up salt to your fuge to raise salinity in your DT-

I second the glass thermometers+magnets=busted!

To heck with ego. Listen to what the more experienced have to say!

They never look as good in your tank under your lights as they do in the sellers picture

 

I disagree with that one.


Doing this cheaply is not the same as inexpensively.

For the most part, you gat what you pay for.

LE corals are not always prettier than the cheaper unknown corals.

Have multiple fail safes.

 

+1 hahah

 

hahaha I just cut a piece of PVC with a rusty pair of scissors.. hahah.. took me like 10 minutes to cut one piece

 

Anyone else get a frag rack or powerhead. take it out of the box. and immediately pull the magnets apart.. not realizing how strong they are.. then...SNAP...pain in the @ss

 

Quarantine,Quarantine,Quarantine!!!!

I lost almost all my freshwater fish a couple months ago due to not quarantining a fish i got.It cost me lots of extra money,time and stress.

 

What was wrong with the fish?

 

When you add an overflow to a tank, reduce photoperiod and/or add shade for your corals to allow them to acclimate to higher light levels. The overflow will increase water clarity at the surface. Most of my corals bleached and I lost one bubble coral!

I second xmetalfan99's "have multiple fail safes"

It is possible to have too much light.

Don't ignore flow.

Think before you buy. Be patient! This will save a lot of money and stress.