Topic of the Week: One piece of advice...ok maybe two...

[jm23]

(A little early on the topic, but 200 Kleenex into my night off work I have had some time to think)

If you could hop in that DeLorean with Doc Brown and go back to when you were first setting up your first saltwater tank what would you tell yourself to do differently?

I would have told myself that buying used, inadequate equipment really wasn't going to save me money and secondly always quarantine everything.

How about you all? Hopefully some of these answers will help those just starting out from going down the wrong path.

 

[Smitty]

I wouldn't have used Chicagoland tap water to fill my tank. And probably wouldn't have placed 6 fish(including a lion fish and a anemone) in a 29 gal tank, after only 3 weeks of running it.

 

[skjohn98]

Qt, qt, qt , and qt

 

[TangPolice]

Dip everything to kill & avoid bristleworms sneeking in your tank , and buying Used can save a reefer thousands and I feel as long as you buy a complete set-up that was/is up and running (Divorce/moving sale ) good to go . Seems putting a system 2gether piece by piece and looking for cheap equiptment or trading for frags spells sleepless nights


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[EricTheRed]

Start with the biggest possible sump/fuge to increase water volume and don't overstock.

 

[trackfast]

I should have gone with a bigger tank. I still think that now after each tank I get . lol

 

[TangPolice]

I should have gone with a bigger tank. I still think that now after each tank I get . lol

+ 1


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[Sawdonkey]

I told myself that I could just go back and change things that aren't necessarily how I like them. True for the most part, but some things would have been so much easier to do right in the first place.

My main example is my sump. I knew it wasn't ideal when I put my setup together, but figured I'd deal with it later. Fast forward a year and i still hate my sump but don't have the ambition to change it on a up and running tank.

 

[crazyfishlady]

Qt, qt, qt , and qt

1. QT - Probably the most important lesson learned and also the hardest. I was in the saltwater end of the hobby close to 10 years before I had any problems. Lost most of the fish in my 240g in a matter of 3 days. Now everything I buy gets qt'd.

2. Research everything before you buy (livestock and drygoods) and go sloooooow with any changes you make (adding livestock, water quality, lighting, ect.)

3.Spend a little more and go as big as you can to begin with. More water volume=more stability. Also saves $ in the end since you won't be buying new eq for the upgrade (and trust me you will want to upgrade). I upgraded 3 X's in my first year and a half, buying some new eq each time.

 

[Irsug1]

Don't get a pistol shrimp if you plan on having corals in the sand.

 

[Green0j0s]

I wouldn't have gone crazy buying a huge cleanup crew thinking it can only be a good thing to have more than I need. Couple of nice sized snails dying will start a bad chain reaction. Go slow add them at a slow pace.

I also agree with sawdonkey, plan everything and do it right the first time. Changing things after the tank is running is doable but it's a huge headache. I wish I had gone with a bigger sump.


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