Things we did (WRONG) starting out in saltwater

[fiji4118]

There is a reason this club (and all others) is so useful. It helps people that are trying to get into saltwater be successful. This is a very easy hobby to fail early in and the costs of that can be considerably higher than other interests. One of the biggest issues in my opinion is start up costs. I started out wanting to set up a 72G for my daughter. I know that I spent hundreds of dollars more than I should have because I was ignorant and frankly taken advantage of by a retailer. Not to say that they are all bad (most are REALLY trying to help) but without the club and a lot of individuals that care about the hobby I think that a lot more people could be taken advantage of. To that end the whole point of this post. I was looking through my saltwater stuff and I found something that made me laugh. A LaMotte PH test kit! $55.00 to test PH in a tank! And I have not used it in years as the inexpensive API test kit works just fine. To all those that want to get into this hobby, ask questions and gather knowledge from people that are already doing in. You will save yourself time, money and aggravation.


Adam

 

[kmcmurtry]

My mistakes:

Buying new when i could have saved with used.
Buying used when it just failed in a week and should have bought new (powerheads, heater).
Moving a giant anemone by cradling its body with my bar arms (itchy painful benadryl nightmare).
Tap water. Nuff said.
Attempting to pair a 3" maroon clown with a similarly sized maroon clown (unless they are both babies, bad idea).
Selling my tank when i should have kept it but needed the dough lol.
Topping off a bunch, leaving for work and forgetting to check the skimmer. Wet cleanup, aisle 4.
Attempting to reposition a powerhead without first turning it off. Geyser of doom. See above.
Walking into my lfs for something small only, like fish food. Never leaving with just fish food. Lol

 

[jda123]

Most of mine involved not having enough patience and trusting newer tech that never played out, or needed more iterations.

 

[SynDen]

Ya tap water, was my biggest mistake but lots of little equipment mistakes that added up to lots of extra money in the end

 

[rlklassy]

My mistakes:

Buying new when i could have saved with used.
Buying used when it just failed in a week and should have bought new (powerheads, heater).
Moving a giant anemone by cradling its body with my bar arms (itchy painful benadryl nightmare).
Tap water. Nuff said.
Attempting to pair a 3" maroon clown with a similarly sized maroon clown (unless they are both babies, bad idea).
Selling my tank when i should have kept it but needed the dough lol.
Topping off a bunch, leaving for work and forgetting to check the skimmer. Wet cleanup, aisle 4.
Attempting to reposition a powerhead without first turning it off. Geyser of doom. See above.
Walking into my lfs for something small only, like fish food. Never leaving with just fish food. Lol

I loved this whole thing lmao

 

[rlklassy]

1. started using tap water
2. wanting to move "just one rock" in my aquascape

 

[kmcmurtry]

+1 on your last #1. Best thing I ever did in saltwater was joining here. Great info from oldtimers and noobs alike.

 

[SynDen]

+1 to that. I have only been here a short time and already learned quite a bit from everyone, should have joined a lot sooner

 

[jahmic]

"1 more fish"

Nothing like planning out your entire stock list, slowly adding residents...then deciding to add that one fish that's been tempting you. Without fail, it will either upset the pecking order in your tank by taking another fish's territory, eat your coral because it was "reef safe with caution", or introduce a disease if you didn't QT.

 

[kmcmurtry]

So dang true. Right now i seem to be maintaining the big tank well. But i have my eye on this lemon peel. That or a flame Angel but i just know all heck will break loose if i add it. My foxface will chase it to its death, my coral beauty will immediately write out a hit list or the fish itself will get sucked into my intake by some strange miracle and cause the skimmer to overflow and my house will be filled with the smell of rotting death. Or maybe I'm just paranoid. Lol

 

[Dapozer]

This is my list:
1. not being patient
2. not spending enough thought, expenses or time devoted to water changing/maintenance and equipment. This is often over looked and can turn many off the hobby, I think you could spend equal parts on quality maintenance as you do on your tank. I do weekly water changes on my Nuvo 16 and it starts Thursday making RO, adding salt and using a powerhead to mix. Sunday is water change day, Tuesday is program/lighting change if needed and Wednesday is testing day.
3. Not buying or having quality test kits and understanding how to use them.
4. Not dipping or QT everything that touches my tank, oh the craziness
5.This one I still do and I cannot help it, I am constantly messing with my tank, I don't think 1 day goes by that I just look at it. Enjoy your experience it is a blast.

 

[FinsUp]

It's not paranoia when you know it's gonna happen. LOL

The one thing I did right was decide that the fish room was gonna be located in the 1 room in the house that has a tile floor. And locate the tanks on hardwood or laminate, never on carpet.
Other than that, if it could be screwed up, I have screwed it up. Bought stuff new that I coulda saved money on by buying used, bought used stuff that you should only ever buy new, started out as a total newb with a mixed reef tank, added fish that eat corals, didn't add fish that control pests, didn't dip anything... and then there was the whole coral banded shrimp situation!

Then I joined the club, and boy did that change things!

 

[Bajamike]

Things I did wrong......Started this hobby....I love it but boy sometimes the cost, time and headaches are not worth it.

 

[kmcmurtry]

Blood in, blood out lol.

 

[Mav]

Things I did wrong......Started this hobby....I love it but boy sometimes the cost, time and headaches are not worth it.

Ha me too, and banshees.




Forgot my RO was topping off sump didn't test frequent enough

Rushed things along.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[MartinsReef]

What I did wrong......well everything!

 

[Andrew_bram]

Not buy good equipment the first or second or third time.

 

[kmcmurtry]

There are some things you can skimp on but really you will pay in the end with failures and heartache, so amen to that Andrew.

 

[Matt_Arian]

I've been lucky enough to get caught up in this hobby when my buddy started his tank about 18 months ago, so I've managed to learn from his mistakes first hand, but also lend some good advice to him at the same time. Patience pays.

 

[Tony44]

When I started in salt water in 1971 the store I did business with convinced me that I needed a tall tank since salt water fish occurred at deeper depths than freshwater.

Check valves in the return line don't work at least not for long a simple hole drilled in the line is the way. Pump failed sump below the tank overflowed when a siphon was created salt got into the elec box caught fire went out by itself fortunately I came home to a house full of smoke, breakers tripped for freezer and refrid, tank half full and a room with about 1/2" of water on the floor. I won't located a tank again directly in front of an elec box.