Mistakes I made as a newbie

[tofubox]

Hi Guys, just thought i share my experience with those starting this hobby, since i have an hour to spare. I've been in this hobby for about 5 yrs now, and still I'm making heaps of mistakes, but always learning along the way. I used to own a 3ftx2ftx2ft tank, I went from soft corals, to lps, to sps, to Fish only (went overseas to study, my dad had to take care of the tank for over a yr, no idea what he was doing except to change water). I now own a 2.5ft tank with built in overflow and sump, currently mix reef with mainly sps corals. Here are couple of mistakes I've learnt over the few years.

1. Water requirements

This is the biggest pitfall for any new reefer. Hence its my biggest mistake. Before you even decide on a tank, decide on what u wanna keep. Fish only / corals/ sps corals? Once u understand the type of fish/ corals u intend to keep, study up on water parameters. The biggest failure in this hobby is water parameters, something out of place, and your tank will most likely be overtaken by algae or even worst corals/fishes dying.

Heres my recommendation: Get a good salt mix. A good salt mix will basically determine your success right off the start. I started using cheap-po salt at the start, and corals died time n again, wasted more money buying corals. Get a reputable salt brand base on what you intend to keep. Don't just trust the salesperson when he tells you this salt mix is good and buy (my mistake again). Buying good salt mix alone isnt gonna cut it. You still need good Water to mix it with!!! Tap water is fine if u are able to export the nutrients found in tap water (which is really high, commercial liquid products for treating water is never sufficient). For small tanks, i found it most economical to just buy bottled water from NTUC and mix in your salt. For large tanks, RODI unit is definately the only way to go. You canalso buy Natural sea water, but personally i found the parameters not to my desire. Last option is you can purchase premixed saltwater from a trusted retailer.

2. Choosing your tank size. Firstly, its important to know exactly how u want your tank to appear.

Big Tank: Pros, Plenty of room for fishes and corals, Better stability of your water parameters, more room for error when your new. Cons: Prepare to get wet, and put aside time for maintainence. I.e Scrubbing algae of the tank walls, arranging your corals and rockscape, preparing water for the scheduled water change etc etc

[ASHWIN]

Good Info Bro..Thx for Sharing!

[tofubox]

Small Tank: Pros, Easy to maintain, drop your hand in, scrub around and algae gone. Don't necessary require you to get "wet". Cons: Water parameters bloody unstable. Takes tank a while for it to mature and stabilize, couple of months will be the best.

3. Understanding all about lighting. ( A very big pitfall for me) I went from Metal Halides, to 8 tube t5s to leds. Nothing much to explain.

Recommendation: Know which light suits your budget best. And by that, i mean maximising your budget as much as you can!!! Of cause i know many people who have used cheaper lightings and got away with it. But most of these people i know, have very good water parameters which make up for it, and these tanks are very stable. I went and bought a china made lighting at the start, saved couple of hundred dollars. Before i knew it, the light was crap all. Next, you need to know your coral placement!!!!! Very important point here. Make sure you know how strong your light is before u place the coral. I, myself have had bad experience here. I put it where i wanted, just cause i thought it looked best there, eventually the coral will start losing its colour, or may even die.

4. Knowing your equipment and additives.

I have spent lots of money in this hobby, and at the end of the day, i realise that half of what i bought was not even necessary. This is especially true to additives and cleaning equipment. Alot of additives are hit or miss. You can buy a particular brand, and end of the day, no results whatsoever, end up buying other addictives. Research a little on what you want to get, and get addicitives base on people who have expirence with them. This will save you tons of money! As it goes for equipment, get reliable equipment from day one! This will save you plenty of trouble and time eventually. Yes, it may be pricey, but well worth the money spent. Also plenty of stuff are not necessary, find out exactly what you need, plan your sump according to your equipments and not hope that they will "just fit".

5. Back to water parameters : Mainly Nitrates and phospates

Reason why? Simple: This is the main cause of any ugly tank you see. And the biggest mistake too of every new reefer. These 2 components are basically the main fuel of algae growth!!! My experience: Tank had a very bad algae problem due to my insufficient knowledge of lighting once again and also my water parameters. Got disheartened and almost quit the hobby.

My Recommendation: Know these 2 components in your water extremely well. First sight of algae, start testing these parameters. How to keep these 2 parameters low? Simple: Using additives or media, i.e Rowaphos, biopellets, carbon dosing. Once u have implemented any of them, test again and again till u get your desired reading. Some things work some things dont. Some need regular replacement to maintain. Again, this is a huge pitfall for any new reefer. Take the time to understand phosphates and nitrates and you will have a beautiful tank!

I will continue to update this thread when i have the time. These are just some of my experience, I hope anyone new to this hobby can benefit from this!. Thanks!

[markymarcus]

Thanks for sharing! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Clement Chen]

Very informative read up! Thanks for sharing!

[erikokelf]

Maybe let me add on a bit more i gathered from my experience.

6. Plan your mode of filter carefully. If you are using a sump tank, design it to the best as much as possible. Previously i have a sump that design very badly and it cause me to have very big issue battling with micro bubble on my display tank. During your planning stage for your sump, also take into consideration what equipment do you intend to place inside like for example how many FR, how big is your return pump, how big is your skimmer, do you intend to have refugium or add in live rock and so on.

[braincoral]

Based on my experience. .. Changes of water regularly is gd.. Everything is back to basics. .

[tofubox]

Feel free guys to add all your newbie mistakes, everyone share your inputs will be a good thread for learning.

[Ken_ng]

This is an awesome thread. Thanks for sharing bro tofubox.

[orsony]

.

Probably can share with us the salt and additives you are using for our consideration.

Thanks.

[tippy]

very informative. good advises to new reefer like me. thanks for the information and tips!

[Clement Chen]

I have learnt that sometimes we want to save money and get some inferior or cheaper products only to end up paying more in the end, to fix or to replace it. And even might cause loss of livestock.

[tofubox]

7.PEST PEST PEST!!! Anyone that has been in this hobby can list u a dozen over pest problems and types of pest out there. Common pest u looking at are Aiptasia (glass/white looking anemone, takes over your tank easily), Majano anemones, Critters like worms (certain species) , crabs (certain species), starfish (certain species), common parasites like itch (a parasite that leach on to the bodies of fishes), Flatworms, Redbugs. etc etc.

My experience: I have gone through every single one mentioned.

My recommendation: If you can afford it, run a quarantine tank (qt tank). Obviously, anyone new to the hobby isn't gonna be interested in setting up 2 tanks at the start. DUH =.=" Myself? Never actually quarantine my fishes or corals through the years hence u can see i have experience every single pest problem mentioned. Anyone one that has been extremely successfully with their main tank, probably has had the experience identifying and dealing with the pest, or have a qt tank.

So, this is the other alternatively, when u buy the fish or coral, don't just look at it for its beauty. Spend some time at the fish shop staring at the details of the livestock. STARE hard. Most of these are also invisible to the naked eye and after it develops and grow, then we see it. But nonetheless, try finding any live critters on the livestock. I.e for corals, look for any sort of bugs or nudibranch, flatworms, live critters. If u spot any, try to identify what it is firstly, than, decide if u have the capabilities to remove it. Usually, for bugs, if theres one, theres probably a ton more. My advise is to stay away from this coral. Secondly, if you dont run a qt tank, u need to do a coral dip. This means treating it in some form of medication i.e two little fishes revive, coral dip rx etc etc. This is just a precautionary step and will definitely not be a "confirm will work kind of thing". But you are doing what you can as best you can.

With regards to fishes, its really really much more difficult, because u can hardly spot a parasite unless it has reached it maturity age. But heres what u can do, observe the fish for a while, don't be rush just cause the shop owner is hasseling you. Watch the behaviour of the fish, it should be calm and breathing normally, watch how it swims, does it look normal to you? Plan on how u gonna feed it, is it able to accept pellet food? Are you gonna try and train it to eat pellets eventually? Fish that dont eat well will succum to sickness 10times faster. Fishes like Blue powder tangs are nortorius for having parasite problems, read up on the particular fish u intend on buying. I made this mistake before, i saw this beautiful powder tang, it eventually developed the itch and it spread to all my fishes. Prevention is better than cure. With regards to cure, there are some methods, but mostly its trail and error. some work amazing some just don't.

With regards to pest anemones like apitasia and majono. This is a difficult area, because most of the live rocks u buy, will probably be cured at a half **** standard. Anyone new to the hobby will not be patient to cure the rocks, which takes weeks or even months. Read on how to rid these pest. I.e Commercial products (Joe's juice, apitasia x), Home made products (lemon juice, Boiling hot water), natural predators (Wrasse, peppermint shrimps, copperband buttefly fish, etc etc). Its already in your tank, nothing much you can do, except try any of the above mention.

[m_wtan79@yahoo.com.sg]

I am still a newbie. Just got into this hobby for 3-4mth. I feel that from the start get a tank made is very very important. The mistake i made. Never read up and got some IDs to do up my renovation and the tank. Now 3-4 mth down the road. I hit with lots of limitations. Now i need to redo my tank which cost lesser than the ID quoted. This really mean buying experience with money. (Waste alot of time & money).

Get someone who is experience in tank making and read up more before jumping in will save alot of money and headache.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk