One year advice

CafeReef · 03/09/2016, 01:36 PM

Today is my first reef tanks 1st birthday. I debated on getting a smash cake for it, but figured my son would probably feel left out....

I wanted to post my best advice in a couple of items that I have learned in this first year of reefing.

1. Read the stickies and ask on the stocking list sticky about your intended

friend before throwing your prized hippo tang in your biocube

(Yes I went there)

2. Be patient (can't emphasize this more), even a nano like what I have can be extremely successful and very little maintenance with patience.

3. Get yourself an RODI maker and a reliable ATO. IMO next to the tank itself, these are two of the single most important items for a successful reef.

4. Have a spare heater on hand. They do break, and you don't want to have to waste $$ on a walmart or petco/petsmart cheap heater to get by until Amazon ships you the more reliable one. A decent heater will run you $40, it's worth the piece of mind to have a spare.

5. QT

6. Be patient

Sadly my first tank will be torn down in the next month. Larger tank upgrade time

Day 1 March 9, 2015:

Day 365 March 9, 2016

scooter31707 · 03/09/2016, 01:57 PM

Nice!!!

CafeReef · 03/09/2016, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scooter31707

Nice!!!

Thanks. Everything started as frags. Even my nem was the size of a quarter with only 4 or 5 tips, it has since split once (sold the split). zoa frag only was 1 head when I got it, it is now around 30+ heads, Frogspawn has gone from one had to 7, bridsnest went from a single branch to expanding. GSP was a very small frag when I got it, but that's the tale everyone knows all to well.

My two SPS in the background are newer, the purple one (cant remember the name of it) I almost lost a couple months ago, it turned bone white due to my tank overflowing causing a salinity drop and dipping due to red bugs. But it's back

kmbyrnes · 03/10/2016, 05:02 AM

Congrats! You made it past all the hard stuff. Your tank looks great and I am sure the upgrade will be a fun project.
You nailed the big points everyone should remember when starting out.

03/09/2016, 01:36 PM	#1
CafeReef Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Elkhorn, NE Posts: 1,405	One year advice Today is my first reef tanks 1st birthday. I debated on getting a smash cake for it, but figured my son would probably feel left out.... I wanted to post my best advice in a couple of items that I have learned in this first year of reefing. 1. Read the stickies and ask on the stocking list sticky about your intended friend before throwing your prized hippo tang in your biocube (Yes I went there) 2. Be patient (can't emphasize this more), even a nano like what I have can be extremely successful and very little maintenance with patience. 3. Get yourself an RODI maker and a reliable ATO. IMO next to the tank itself, these are two of the single most important items for a successful reef. 4. Have a spare heater on hand. They do break, and you don't want to have to waste $$ on a walmart or petco/petsmart cheap heater to get by until Amazon ships you the more reliable one. A decent heater will run you $40, it's worth the piece of mind to have a spare. 5. QT 6. Be patient Sadly my first tank will be torn down in the next month. Larger tank upgrade time Day 1 March 9, 2015: Day 365 March 9, 2016 __________________ 50 Gallon cube

03/10/2016, 05:02 AM	#4
kmbyrnes Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2013 Location: Mesa AZ Posts: 2,055	Congrats! You made it past all the hard stuff. Your tank looks great and I am sure the upgrade will be a fun project. You nailed the big points everyone should remember when starting out. __________________ 125g Mixed Reef 5/26/2015; 350 Butterfly Dominated FOWLR 11/26/2015 - 11/17/20217 & 07/31/18 to ??? ; 100g Mixed Reef 11/16/2013 to 06/16/2017 Current Tank Info: Too small

03/09/2016, 01:57 PM	#2
scooter31707 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: Virginia Posts: 4,971	Nice!!!