Novice Don't-dos---

[Sk8r]

1. use a live fish to cycle a tank
2. put crushed coral in as a substrate (use aragonite: if you DID use CC, don't freak, but down the line, you may want to change.)
3. skip quarantine with a fish: first fish need qt because it's your tank you're protecting from infestation with a parasite. Your 10th fish---qt because of all the fish you can kill if you don't. Not to mention infesting your tank.
4. raise salinity suddenly. (use a saltwater topoff to raise salinity)
5. skip tests. Testing is how you learn what the chemistry is doing; once you're expert your eye will tell you more than it does now, but for right now be fanatic about testing: never mind ph: test alkalinity above all, once you get past worrying about nitrates, which for a reef is not too long after it's cycled.
6. believe that you're immune to nitrate problems: push a young reef too fast and yes, you can have a problem. Just because you've cycled doesn't mean you can install a big fish...there's an intermediate invertebrate step, to get your sandbed up to snuff.
7. proceed on a change without asking questions on RC: I hate to say we know more (collectively) than your local fish store, but as long as local fish stores keep selling damsels to cycle tanks---I'm afraid we do.
8. buy a fish you haven't researched, including who it eats and how big it gets.
9. depend on a future tank size change for some fish you want: it's a LOT better to buy a tank you think you COULD need rather than starting too small, because it forces you to re-buy almost ALL the support equipment. Get a tank as big as you possibly can. Trial runs with tiny tanks are harder than getting the right tank in the first place, and you can waste a lot of money when none of your equipment turns out to work on a larger tank.
10. try to transfer your freshwater knowedge to saltwater: it's got fish and water, but the ocean is just different: marine fish get huge; the chemistry is WAY different; the importance of invertebrates is greater in a marine tank; plants are confined to a refugium setup, and you NEED an autotopoff, because evaporation changes the salinity, and that can kill. Marine isn't harder: just different. Corals aren't harder---but they do have light requirements that define what you can keep. What you can transfer is a love of the watery hobby and some skill at observing fish for disease and keeping the plumbing working.

HTH. Been on a trip. I'm back.

[avelino78]

Man you are the best.

[alienz]

Another Sticky please for the man. I would add to the list to pay attention to Temperature. Don't assume that because you set your heater to 80 it stays there throughout the day.

[poakley723]

Great information. I am no expert by any means. Very to the point and gives lots of food for thought.

[sponger0]

Ive done that whole list...just this week lol

[Ron Reefman]

Sk8r, you do great lists my man. I just wish more people getting started would read them and pay attention to them! Good job!

[jasin401]

i just wish i found these forums before i started

great threads!

[Mussin]

Why do you say we NEED an auto top off system? I see it as just something else to go wrong. I top off my tanks daily, makes me aware of whats going on in there. I think if I had an ATO I might get lax and forget about the tank for a few days, then all heck could break loose. This way it forces me to attend to my tanks daily.

My 2 cents...

Jeremy

[SushiGirl]

Originally Posted by alienz

Another Sticky please for the WOMAN.

Originally Posted by Ron Reefman

Sk8r, you do great lists my WOMAN.

Fixed those for y'all!

[chad316]

Yay! Sk8r is back!!

[Sk8r]

My tank (a 55 with 30 sump) evaps over a gallon a day. My ATO (autotopoff) is a very simple float switch that powers a pump (sort of like your toilet ball, in principle) and has never failed, since 2004. Of all things I've had that foul up, that one is innocent.
Granted the ocean has currents and rainstorms that change salinity in a minor way, but our tanks are so tiny the flux can get extreme, and if you have a family or job emergency that means you really DIDn't think about your tank for a week, you can come back to a real problem. You really should have an ato on your main tank/sump---and another one on your quarantine tank. Either quarantine or treatment is really where they are life and death---and treatment meds concentrate with evaporation and can turn lethal without a steady water level. Just something to think about.

[sponger0]

I agree with Sk8r on having an ATO. My first tank was a Biocube....and I can not tell you how much of a PITA having to worry if I lost too much water due to evaporation. It will cause all your levels to be higher when the water evaporates.

With having an ATO its one less thing to have to worry about. I would much rather have a system that is self maintaining then have to constantly mess with it. I like to look at it, enjoy it, and just let it grow. Also with my ATO, I put baking soda in there and keeps my alkalinity at a much more stable number.

And also...emergencies do come up as Sk8r said. You may not be able to come ohme right away. You may not have anyone to top it off for you. Now what do you do? You have these thoughts racing if everything is ok in your tank now. Did your pump dry out and burn up...blah blah blah blah blah

[a.browning]

+1 to the ATO. I don't think you'll find anyone who isn't happy having one.

Another thing to add: Buy the equipment you really want from the start. I bought what would get me by at the start to save me some money, well in the end it has cost me over double because I have since upgraded almost everything. You get what you pay for.

[mlott132]

Great advice here. Have to say this site has helped me so much on my setup. If I had followed the advice of my lfs and friend, I would be in a world of hurt right now. Keep up the great posts Sk8r!

[Heliman]

Originally Posted by Sk8r

2. put crushed coral in as a substrate (use aragonite: if you DID use CC, don't freak, but down the line, you may want to change.)

Can you clarify what you mean by this "dont".....

Do you refer to the caution about crushed coral because of:

* Particle size
* Chemistry
* Particle type (sharp)...

or some other issue


I planned to use 0.5 mm - 2 mm crushed coral as a substrate, as opposed to 0.5 mm - 2 mm aragonite, mainly because I seek the pure white colour in my substrate.

As I see it, crushed coral of the correct (?) particle size should be just as good as aragonite ??...I figured that the only difference would be the particle type...aragonite (natural) will have rounder grain format than crushed coral, but I dont think there is any other chemical difference ?

What do you think

Thanks

[Sk8r]

CC tends to hold a lot of crud and then starts gluing to itself in clumps, which means area of the sandbed that have turned to brick and aren't working well: won't happen soon, but ultimately. Back in the 1980's we all used CC, and had Vortec diatom filters to clean the sandbed and prevent the compaction, but cleaning sandbeds is messy, really disturbs a reef, and it strip mines your water of the little microlife that you really want to keep to keep the algae down. SO for various reasons, the hobby left CC behind and went to aragonite, which doesn't compact, and which slowly dissolves as a kind of calcium additive, which doesn't hurt at all. I will say I tried very fine grade aragonite because everyone said it looked so great: it killed a hundred dollars worth of coral blowing about, annoyed my jawfish and ultimately the poor fish didn't thrive, and I pulled the stuff as the world's worst pita I have been slowly building back a deep medium grade aragonite bed, which stays where I put it and lets jawfish build without cave-ins.

[mbd521]

I don't understand why alkalinity is more important than pH or the other tests... could you elaborate?
I have to second the "keep your eye on the temp" comment because shortly after setting up my tank I realized the temp was input 88 degrees... there wasn't anything in it, so I avoided a big mess, but I realized that I have to then my AC on during the summer!


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[BigBarnacles]

Double post.

[BigBarnacles]

Sk8r,
My tank is almost done cycling. When it's done I plan on doing a water change, testing my ca, alk, and mag then dose appropriately (as you suggest). I plan on adding corals little by little and continuing a testing and dosing regime. My reefer friend says to just use kalk in the ATO from the start and dose later on as needed. I thought I should dose first and do the kalk ATO later on (for example when dosing start increasing due to increased demand from the corals. What do you suggest I do?

[Sk8r]

You should start out ok with the levels: you'll see them plummet when the coral starts to eat. YOu dose to 'set' the level. Kalk alone cannot do much to raise a level, but it can maintain one.

RE WHY ALK? Ph is important in a freshwater tank. In a marine tank ph is a moving target, different at different times of day, and unreliable: alk is one of the Stable Three, of alk, cal, mg, and accurately tells you a) whether your water is comfortable for fish, and b) whether it is comfortable for corals and c) whether your water is stable in its situation or due to crash. Go up to the top stickies and read the bit on "dirt-simple chemistry." That will explain it better.

[Steve175]

Sk8r: Your passion and dedication to the hobby is incredible. I read every one of your posts a decade into this journey. RC is lucky to have you/Thanks!!!

[Doc_Polit]

Originally Posted by Steve175

Sk8r: Your passion and dedication to the hobby is incredible. I read every one of your posts a decade into this journey. RC is lucky to have you/Thanks!!!

+1

Well said, Steve.