your best advice for young saltwater aquarist.

[ichthyoid]

+1 on using a quarantine process, or just going ahead & prophylactically medicating fish and/or corals (ie- assuming they are already infected & treating them in a separate system, before transfer into a main display).

In a hospital tank you can manage risk better than in a display tank. Some run two separate treatment and QT systems. One for fish & another (separate) tank for corals. Others have even set up invert QT systems as well.

Another approach is to use an appropriately sized UV filter (but run it after cycling the tank). While it works for ectoparasites which have free swimming stages, it may not help on fish already infected with bacteria, viruses flukes or fungi.

Fwiw,
this business of disease mitigation is such a big deal that some businesses have specialized in providing pretreated specimens. The ARC Board has also had discussions on how & whether we should try to do something as well?

 

[ActiveAngel]

Lots of good advice here. Ill add:

The best advice is "Listen to advice."

Dont think that your situation is special/different/unique from the experience of thousands of others, and therefore all of their collective advice doesnt apply to you. Every beginner that failed, from my experience, heard a bunch of great advice, but chose not to listen. If you listen and apply their advice, you will do well.

 

[project1004]

-Definitely take your time doing research and more research.

-Make a log of things you’ve done so you can look back

-try not to make too much changes at once, give your tank time to adjust

-keep your hands out of the tank as much as you can (everyone will be happier)

-don’t follow the trend. Well. Most of the time anyways.

- Don’t give up. We all come back to it sooner or later. Ha. <><


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[Mackey]

So what I’m getting out of this is to follow my heart, go with gut instinct, learn as I go and plop fish in my dt straight from lfs.(jk, jk) lots of great advice here, thx to all who responded!

 

[tngarner]

So this is my second go in this hobby. Things I am doing different that I learned from the first 15 years.

Go slow. There is no prize to go fast and it is not a race. I am taking two months to stabilize before I put anything other than sand and rock in the tank.

Don’t chase your parameters and don’t use chemicals. Other than calcium for some corals that consume at high volumes. There is a reason for everything and until you find the cause you will not fix it with any amount of dosing.

Water changes are your best bet. If you can’t dedicate the time there are two options. 1) automation and yes this comes at a cost 2) be realistic with yourself if you will not have time to do water changes often then reconsider as they are a requirement.

Maintenance is the thing that will get you in trouble. This is why I had to make the hard choice to leave the hobby for a few years. You are caring for live animals that cannot care for themselves in the environment they are in. Never loose sight of that.

The one thing I read or was said to me back when I started that sticks with me to this day and I run a reality check on before I make any decision “Nothing good ever happens fast in a reef tank.”

Good luck to you and wish you many years of success in this great hobby.


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[Mackey]

So this is my second go in this hobby. Things I am doing different that I learned from the first 15 years.

Go slow. There is no prize to go fast and it is not a race. I am taking two months to stabilize before I put anything other than sand and rock in the tank.

Don’t chase your parameters and don’t use chemicals. Other than calcium for some corals that consume at high volumes. There is a reason for everything and until you find the cause you will not fix it with any amount of dosing.

Water changes are your best bet. If you can’t dedicate the time there are two options. 1) automation and yes this comes at a cost 2) be realistic with yourself if you will not have time to do water changes often then reconsider as they are a requirement.

Maintenance is the thing that will get you in trouble. This is why I had to make the hard choice to leave the hobby for a few years. You are caring for live animals that cannot care for themselves in the environment they are in. Never loose sight of that.

The one thing I read or was said to me back when I started that sticks with me to this day and I run a reality check on before I make any decision “Nothing good ever happens fast in a reef tank.”

Good luck to you and wish you many years of success in this great hobby.


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thank you so much for your reply, I think we really lose sight of the fact that we do not just have a hobby but an obligation to the fish we keep to make their enviroment as stress free as possible, and yes water changes rule. I think almost 3/4 of the problems we face as aquarists have to do with infrequent water changes.

 

[kgmoreno123]

I am young and highly impressionable and in need of your wisdom.
what are some things that you wish you knew when you started this hobby. thx for any help!

Great post Mackey, I've read thru all these replies as well being new and they've been a treasure.

 

[picoreefguy]

Lots of good advice above

There are 3 basic ways to approach this hobby & they all work… for a while -
-high tech
-low tech
-no tech

They are listed in order of cost, highest first. Many won’t tell you about how much work is involved in cleaning glass, feeding, dosing & doing water changes. I don’t know of a way to get around cleaning glass, but I know you can automate a lot of the rest. What automation buys you is consistency & longevity. Many of us come into the hobby with a tremendous amount of enthusiasm & passion. That may get you through the first months ok, but sooner or later, life gets in the way. You miss a dose, then a water change, then things don’t look so good…etc. That automation I mentioned will make things easier for you, and your reef inhabitants. It will give better results due to the consistency that can be achieved when used correctly. I would recommend starting smaller & spending more on good equipment, which can still be used if/when you decide to go bigger. You will thank yourself later, when you realize how much more time you have to put your feet up & actually enjoy your aquarium! The most important ingredient is patience, as nothing good happens fast in a reef tank!

Happy reefing!

Bill hit the nail on the head here. life will get in the way every now and then and you may even face burnout after a long time in the hobby, I’d guess most of us that have been in the hobby for 10+ years have felt burned out at least once, I know I have. And automation can help with that. At the very least I’d get an auto top off system and a good heater controller. Both of those can be had for reasonable prices. the ATO (auto top off) will save you a few minutes every day or so and will keep your salinity more stable that you ever could on your own. And the heater controller is just an extra layer of protectio from heater malfunction. It doesn’t happen often but when it does it can fry your tank. as others have said, patience is your friend in this hobby. and lastly brstv is a fantastic resource. They do experiments and show their reasoning and results while others tend to just parrot what they’ve heard or share anecdotes. they recently released a long lecture with a ton of good info, I’ll see if I can find a link.

 

[picoreefguy]

 

[snowmansnow]

Don't get the big head
If you have early success and have a thriving tank slammed with corals.. stay humble and keep learning.

 

[Olong317700]

Read read read. Research everything. Don't take the guy at the fish stores word on everything. I spent 10 years working in aquatic stores and some employees literally weren't fit to feed the fish. Go slow, resist the urge to overstock. Don't overfeeding either. The fish will usually eat like they're starving but that doesn't mean they are. Don't freak out when you notice a tiny little bristle worm. Quarantine your additions before putting them in your tank. There are things that can be disastrous if they sneak into your tanks. You can save a lot of money by shopping on here vs retail stores. I could go on and on. I feel like I read about fish and coral for years before I became decent and I had to learn some things the hard way. I originally started in freshwater and problems would come up and I'd try to fix them. It would've been better to educate myself on common problems and prevented them rather than fixing them after they happened. Oh and you can get RO/DI water from machines around grocery stores and mix your own saltwater for much cheaper than buying it at the lfs and the r/o membranes are probably changed more often as well. It's an amazing hobby. At one point I couldn't have anymore tanks bc I was literally concerned about the structural integrity of my apartment, lol.

 

[Mackey]

some employees literally weren't fit to feed the fish.

No truer statement has ever been said.