If you can redo......

[ThRoewer]

I would stay away from fish stores to not get dragged into this hobby again...

[snorklr]

buying a current orbit led....should have just flushed 200 bucks down the toilet

[ajoe]

Ignoring my parents request 15 years in a row to please either remove your old empty aquarium from our basement or give it away. My time and my money are now escaping me as I am hooked bad on reefing. Great to be reacquainted.

[mountainraised]

Religiously do water changes from the start and get all the test kits before I need them.

[Pmj]

Originally Posted by worldbook

Oh my, where to start
5. Don't, Don't, Don't start a second or third aquarium until you have success with the first. Nothing is worse than having to deal with more than one sick tank at a time. I've made the mistake of falling in love with the process of building a system and want to keep doing it rather than perfect the initial build - hope this one is clear.

6. BRS Reef saver rock - Never again.

Agreed with two tanks. Once I upgraded, I lost all interest in maintaining the other, too much work. Easy disaster.

Not sure what your issue is with BRS reef saver, it's amazing, looks amazing, and has zero nutrients. Fits together easily as well. I bought some pukani as well and soakng it in rodi water for literally a few days and the water reaked like the ocean. I would never want to start a tank with real dead rock without soaking out all the phosphates first.

My redo option would be... Start with a bigger tank, something with a sump for sure. Buy used on Craigslist. Having a sump allows growing macro algae or making an ATS easily, using carbon dosing, etc. would not be possible with a small tank. Even now my nitrates are high but I have zero a
algae in the DT due to keeping it in the sump. Always go bigger, although don't believe anyone, bigger water changes are harder for sure. Worth it though.

[tc2007]

I regret the cube. It's hard to aquascape, put your hands in and get the flow right.
Also the stand is too small. I would definitely go for a min 3ftx2ft stand regardless of the tank size with a proper partitioned sump taking advantage of the space.

[worldbook]

Originally Posted by Pmj

Agreed with two tanks. Once I upgraded, I lost all interest in maintaining the other, too much work. Easy disaster.

Not sure what your issue is with BRS reef saver, it's amazing, looks amazing, and has zero nutrients. Fits together easily as well. I bought some pukani as well and soakng it in rodi water for literally a few days and the water reaked like the ocean. I would never want to start a tank with real dead rock without soaking out all the phosphates first.

One issue was that it is very dense. I could not believe how much it weighed. I started a tank in 2001 with Fiji and remember how much lighter and porous it was. I'm a fan of now starting with dry rock. I just wouldn't use the Reef saver again. It was also very difficult for me to get coralline algae to grow on it. It was growing on everything else, just not the reefsaver. I finally saw one spot and was so excited. Over the next year it covered the rest of the rock. Also, the rock they sent me looked nothing like the one used in the video that described how to aquascape with it. Just my experience- hopefully others have had better luck.

[BFG]

A longer shallow tank instead of a 4 x 2 x 2( in planning stage ) . No more internal overflow box ( either a ghost overflow box or H2Overflow , depending on price ) . No more live rock ( using sera siporax and marinepure block as main bacteria house , getting fake rocks ) . No more high flow return pump ( my red dragon didn't last long , 2 years max , eheim 1262 draw too much wattage in my opinion ) . No more customised sump ( am getting a braceless 3x1.5x1.5ft sump and create modular compartment as and when I need it ) . No more filter sock ( not environment friendly , in my opinion , as you need more water to clean it , water conservation in mind ) . RO/DI for my tank As Well as for my family ( suspicious of my source of water as my dad as well as some neighbour have been coughing for a while ) . No need for entire tank illumination ( only center of new tank will be illuminated using Maxspect Razor ) . Lower electricity consumption ( lower electrical bill , happy owner ) .


KISS analogy will be strictly enforced ! I am suffering from slip disc , diabetic , fasciitis on my left foot , went through perianal fistula 2 month ago and now my right arm has limited range of movement . But my reefing passion still hold strong .

[ratherbeflyen]

I guess the one thing I would do different is dip and quarantine everything.

[brett559]

Originally Posted by worldbook

6. BRS Reef saver rock - Never again.

What was the problem with the BRS Reef Saver rock?

[deleau]

Originally Posted by SnoopyDaPimp

Crushed coral for a substrate.

This

[worldbook]

Originally Posted by brett559

What was the problem with the BRS Reef Saver rock?

It was very, very dense and did not show up like the videos they had online. Also, it was not very stackable.

[xCry0x]

1) Oolite sand - I thought super fine sand would look better. It is just a giant pain. Have reefflakes now, it looks better AND doesn't blow around which allows for more flow and cleaner/whiter sand.

2) Pests -- You need to understand what you are actually doing when you dip. I bought a thing of coral rx and thought that was "dipping". Then I got a huge zoa eating nudibranch infestation that continually ****ed off my zoas AND a monti eating nudibranch infestation that killed 100% of my montipora.

Now I a) Know what to look for b) Dip in bayer (and have lugols as well).


Those are really the big ones.

[Andrew D]

oh so many to choose from. In addition to those already listed, buying dry rock (nice and cheap but watch out for nuisance algae later) and putting too much rock in your tank (very hard to remove once it's encrusted with coral).

[jewlz]

Originally Posted by stephen13666

I'd make sure i had ato from the start. it gets old topping of water daily when you can automate it.

You automate it when it gets old...

[jewlz]

I would have drilled my tank for an overflow and built a sump right off the bat. When i finally made a sump/fuge i had to go with a HOB overflow because I didn't want to drain the tank, now i'm always worried about it losing siphon.

[joecc]

"3. I wouldn't buy the biggest skimmer I could find that fit in my skimmer compartment of the sump (often advice given to beginners). I purchased a Reef Octopus space saver 150 because it fit. I should have purchased a 110 as the thing barely pulls anything because I don't have a high enough bio load. Nitrates and phosphates are really low, so I am lucky."


I'm looking at buying my first skimmer soon. Everything I read basically seems to suggest to buy skimmer that is rated for about twice as much as your total water volume, because "ALL skimmer ratings are BS".

I would sure like to know if this is BS before I drop $400 on a skimmer?

[KMS.Kyle]

Originally Posted by devastator007

Don't take this the wrong way, but going back in time, maybe I shouldn't have gotten into the reef addiction. I love my tank, but now that I have a nice reef, I can't see myself ever not having one, and they are expensive to set up and run. Plus I always want to upgrade, and every time I go to the LFS I just have to look at the frags, and I always see that perfect little frag for $10 and of course I can't just leave it there. When I bought my house the fist thing I was thinking of is where I could put my current tank and where can I ultimately put my "Final" tank and how big can I make it. It's a slippery slope getting into reefing. You either fight your way to a good looking reef, or you crash your tank, get discouraged and quit. Etiher way, you're out a lot of money.

Also buy a used tank to start, much much cheaper.

AMEN! A-effingmen!

[KMS.Kyle]

Jeesh.. Everyone is saying they wish they quarantined and dipped everything and I'm over here and only a year into the hobby (thankfully no crashes!!!) and I feeling the heat.. . I haven't quarantined anything.. Or dipped anything - but with that said I completely trust my LFS and know them really well... But still. .. With so many people saying they wish they did it - It's making me think I should really setup my little 10g tank and do it..

I really don't have the space in my apartment to setup a little 10g tank.. Does anyone have any tips?! -_-

[worldbook]

Originally Posted by joecc

"3. I wouldn't buy the biggest skimmer I could find that fit in my skimmer compartment of the sump (often advice given to beginners). I purchased a Reef Octopus space saver 150 because it fit. I should have purchased a 110 as the thing barely pulls anything because I don't have a high enough bio load. Nitrates and phosphates are really low, so I am lucky."


I'm looking at buying my first skimmer soon. Everything I read basically seems to suggest to buy skimmer that is rated for about twice as much as your total water volume, because "ALL skimmer ratings are BS".

I would sure like to know if this is BS before I drop $400 on a skimmer?

I would just consider the product reviews of the skimmer you are considering. Find out what size tanks others are using it on and what their approximate bio-load is. Twice the water volume might not be bad if you are going for mainly SPS.

[FirstContact]

Mount my Tunze Osmolator box away from my sump. I have lost two Osmolators in eight years because the box fell in my sump. On my 120g, I wish I had drilled the drain holes a few inches lower. It works, but I wish I had more flow to play with.