An Year went by, what did you learn?

[Sunny]

Happy New Year fellow reefers.

As we look ahead to 2013 I was sitting and looking at my tank and wondering what did we learn in the year that just became, the past.

I remember when I was setting up my tank in 2011 there were many questions in my head. There were so many different opinions on how to set up plumbing, which lights to buy, which skimmer to get, blah blah blah.

In the end, it was a gamble. What I learned is that this hobby is never same for two people. Ever tank is different. Something that I do, works for me and it might not work for someone else. The light I use may not work for me well but it might do wonders for others. So how do we decide what we really achieved in the year where we spend so much time, effort, money and sleepless nights?

A friend of mine here once told me (at least I was a fried from my part ) that a certain fish will not last a week in my care. He was very clear to state that truth might hurt at times. I never had that fish at the time. Now I have had it for over 8 months in my kind of care and yes truth might hurt so - Ouch!

Well here is what I think I learned. This hobby can be a real pain at times. We have seen beautiful tanks that have crashed over night right here on our forums. It could be due to human error or equipment failure or mother nature or simply bad luck. However what is the constant among all the tanks we have here? The effort and time that each and everyone of us puts into this hobby!

Sometimes it is just pure bad luck. I honestly believe we all give in our best to get the tank up and running and see it grow. We all care for it like our kids and at times more that that.

To quote another friend of mine here -- His wife once asked him why he was never so worried about his kids when they got sick and he would lose sleep over his fishes and corals? His reply was simple. If kids are sick I can take them to a doctor!

So true! Is it not?

So why do we have to be arrogant? Why is it necessary to make fun of those who are having a bad phase in the hobby? Why proclaim that the fish would attain immunity once it touched the holy water in your tank and if anyone else tried it would be a disaster?

I think we should all keep our feet on the ground and a level head on our shoulders. Do what you can do best, read as much as you can and seek advice when in doubt.

You never know when this hobby will test your patience and your hard work.

Happy Reefing to all of you.

Sunny

 

[Zippy69]

Cheers!!!

 

[iTzJu]

+1.. well said!

 

[TanksNStuff]

Great post Sunny! What I have learned over the last year (in fact over the several years I've been in the hobby) is pretty much exactly what you said. Every tank is different and most advice should really be a "suggestion" moreso than a definitive answer. There are a few things that will overwhelmingly be helpful to 90%+ of our tanks (the basics, like recommended water parameters, etc) ... but even some of those tips are not "THE ONLY WAY", nor are those tips a "GUARANTEE" that if followed will equal a successful tank.

Each tank has it's own specific formula to success and the key is to find the best formula for yourself. This formula is complex and may vary greatly based on many, many variables that are included in that formula. What variables can be so different from one tank to the next? I'll list a few: Size (volume and dimensions) of your tank, Lighting (type, quantity, colors, spectrums, etc.), Filtration Equipment (skimmers, reactors, ro/di systems, UV steralizers, etc.), Sandbed depth (or barebottom instead?), Water Parameters (pH, ALK, CAL, Mg, Temp, Sg, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate... basics), Salt Mixes (plenty of different brands with different ratios of elements... or some even using natural saltwater direct from the ocean!), Additives (whether they be replenishments, medicines, home remedy cures for algae, etc.), Tank inhabitants (size/number of fish and corals - some consume elements faster than others), Water Flow (both thru a sump and powerheads in the tank will differ greatly from tank to tank)...

I could go on and on but you get the picture. There are just so many little nuances involved in maintaining a tank and if you just change one of them slightly from what the next guy is doing then you can have an entirely different situation. This is because most of these have a chain reaction affect by altering another situation, which alters another, etc. Take for instance a cleanup crew. If you don't have one at all, or have in inadequate one, chances are you will start to have an algae outbreak. This will lead to looking for other solutions like additives, lighting periods, adding macro algaes or GFO or bio pellets or UV's... or a combination of those! Perhaps the simplest solution would have been to just have a couple dozen more crabs and snails to consume it as it grows... and then you don't need the other fixes. Of course that's not a simple solution because excessive nitrates and phosphates can make it out of hand for any cleanup crew too.

On the other hand, if you have too large of a cleanup crew they may starve due to lack of food. This will either cause deaths of them (leading to waste and detritis and possible chemical toxins in some cases) or, it may cause some of the crabs to hunt other living things to survive. There's a fine balance that you need to find even with a cleanup crew.

My point is that you can't say to someone "just get xx hermits and xx turbos and you should be good". That may work for one size tank with a certain amount of live rock and sandbed. But the same size tank with double the rockwork might need double the cleanup crew. There is no ONE ANSWER.

Hope that wasn't too boring for anyone and that it actually supports Sunny's thread in some way.

 

[Zippy69]

What I have found is the message boards are great! Maintain a course and stick with it. Do not look at your tank every 5 minutes....it will change and drive you to do things that are not nessasarily good or you will regret down the road. Like ripples in the water make a change and let the balance establish. Equilibrium is key and every tank has a different key!

Cheers,
Pete

 

[Sunny]

Very nice post, George. Now we talking!

Thanks Pete.

Idea is to share the years experience and if that helps others even better.

Sunny

 

[spotter]

Great post Sunny!!!! This has been a very trying year for me and my upgrade to the bigger tank. I have looked to many of the member on here....you included for help and everyone has always provided their suggestions with conviction and compassion. One of the things that I like about this club is that I have never seen anyone get flamed by another member or members for something they did with their system. We all make mistakes and in this hobby it is really really easy to make them. From refractometers not being calibrated properly to forgetting to turn pumps off or back on and so on.

I am hopeful that 2013 will be a better year for my system and know that with the help with members such as yourself it will be.

P.S....I like the quote about the doctor.

 

[Brando457]

That I can keep a single tank for over 6 months.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

 

[dirtycontour]

This is the third year in my reefing "career" and I've learned more than I did in the previous two. I just wish I would of taken a couple chemistry/biology classes...

 

[joeb558]

Its been exactly one year for me and I learned that with proper husbandry hair algae CAN be beat. The quick fixes don't really work. Time, care and patients is key. . +1 on the Chemistry classes.

 

[mnat]

We learned that refractometers should be calibrated with solution and often. Bigger really is better in the reefing world.

 

[Empire]

I learned that I need to buy a generator.

 

[blange3]

I've learned that after 41 years of saltwater and 13 years of reefing that I want play with tetras again!

 

[govertical19]

Great Topic Sunny! This has been a very trying year! I have had a lot of changes in my tank this year and definitely not all for the good.. As Sunny knows I have lost just about all of my SPS because of equipment failure, trying new things, and just some bad luck.. This year I hope for a better year all around! There is definitely one thing I seem to learn every year TAKE IT SLOW... Even thou I think we all know that sometimes it can be so hard to watch your tank with algae, or cyno, or whatever and go slow. But almost all the time it is the right thing to do! Also keep track of what you are doing, it is so important. When we do to much at once we do not know what is working or making things worse..

Well I wish everyone a Great 2013 Happy Fragging!

 

[ThatGuy]

What I've learned is corals will not grow over night no matter how much I stare . LOL. But I'll still sit there and stare. I've also learned that a little bit of prevention can save you from a headache in the future.