It's not poison bro. Haha. Just natural progression in the hobby isn't it?
When we start, we buy everything, then some survive, most die.
We learn abit more, go for exotics, then expensive LPS and some easy monti. Then we slowly climb up the pinnacle of reefing (keeping SPS).
The kick (at least for me) is not just the colours or rarity if the SPS. But it is its' fast growth compared to other hard corals.
With the growth you can tell you are doing something right. Maintaining an eco-system equilibrium in a confined and controlled environment.
The trick, as simple as it sound, is to ensure water quality is optimal, not just for one day or one week. But consistently over the entire period. Without equipment to help, there's absolute no chance the SPS can survive for long. Especially when most of us have day jobs (that stretches into the night)...
I've personally benefited from using:
- chiller
- auto timers
- oversize skimmer
- filter socks (one to trap detritus and anothe bag to store carbon/rowasphos)
- 3-stage DI unit with good reef salt (uses to be tropic marin pro-reef) now D&D.
- and my "difference maker", the dosing pump!