If you haven't made a mistake somewhere, you are 1:1,000,000. We've all made a mistake or two or three... And one you make I'm sure someone here has as well & can help you avoid the follow-up mistake. So to list off the top of my head...
-I Assumed my heaters were powerful enough if the house temp drops below 50 degrees. (hard to test for most people, but I run 1 105-150g heater & 2 75-100g heaters in the 3 chambers in my sump. I blew one of the 75-100s, the 2nd couldn't keep up and the 150 was overpowered running 2000gph through 1 chamber of a 55g).
-Used tap water at first and before my RO unit a couple of times used tap vs a trip to the store.. ("this will be the last time..."...but it wasn't)
-definitely tried fish that I wanted for a while knowing "it's like a 5% chance it won't get picked on or won't pick on the corals..." Basic fact. Research is free & trying it on a whim probably isn't free. When adding fish that could be problematic, have a plan B or escape route planned after you research things such as size, compatibility (liveaquaria is half decent at the size & gallons & compability...), gallons needed & territorial needs. (for tangs I acclimated with a colender (because I had 6) & If I see aggression with my tangs I leave it in the colender until they calm down otherwise I get rid. I avoid aggressive risks in system... Very messy @ times & never fun cleaning up a body or coral colony if it can be avoided.
-last but not least, I didnt use my resources when I started. I failed to ask around or ask local vendors or LFS about the forums. Had I known about the forums I could have avoided a lot of hard ache. Please please please use the resources here, whether it's PMs to individuals who have successful systems, vendors or retail shops, there is no stupid question n this hobby. It is nature were talking about, an ecosystem in all of our houses that are 0% the exact same.
- side note to the above. Post pictures of what questions you ask if possible, post pictures and updates frequently to keep the community up to date with progress and levels in case of a crash or problem to help diagnose.
