Post-breakup
So what do you wish you had done differently setting up your current tank?
This question sounds similar to the question asking if you could go back and live your life over again, what would you do differently. Sorry, I'm still in a post-breakup mood today. We had the good-bye talk just this afternoon..
Anyhow, without dragging the thread down way under the water, I must say I have no regrets about my tank, even though it bears little or no resemblance to the system that was started almost 18 months ago.
Sure, I wish I had not spent money on things such as power compact lighting or a wet-dry filter for a sump, but in the long run, these expenses were really small. I still have the PC lights if anyone is interested (2 x 65W).
I started this hobby unusually, in that I did not set out to build a reef. In fact, I did not have any faith in my ability to keep a reef alive. I never kept many fish before, so fishkeeping, for me, had the stigma of things uncontrolably dying. Although I have always been fascinated by saltwater fish, I thought keeping a reef alive was voodoo, and so I settled for what I felt was a compromise: fish only with live rock (hence the PCs and W/D filter). After all, it is the fish, not the corals, that lured me into reefkeeping in the first place.
So would I have not done anything differently? Well, I was never sure that this would work out, whether I could keep fish alive, so I guess I'm not regretful that I bought less expensive lighting, the wrong filtration, etc. the first time around, only to be unable to resell it and have to buy more expensive versions of the same things the second time around (metla halides, a protein skimmer versus a wet/dry filter, etc.). I am regretful that I didn't listen tot he advice of others and buy at least a 75gal tank. I was warned that even with fish only, 55gal was way too small and way to difficult to aquascape.
In sum, here are my learned-the-hard-way points of wisdom after doing this for a mere two and a half years:
- Unless you are wholly capable of accepting a small system, for 4ft tanks, buy at least a 75gal tank, and preferably a 90gal or a 120gal. a 55gal tank, regrettably, is not easy to aquascape.
- If you have any intention of ever wanting to keep corals, go for it. You can do it!
- Again, if corals are even the slightest bit interesting to you, invest in Metal Halide lighting now. I hope I don't offend anyone, but I feel every form of fluorescent lighting, while more affordable, is a distant second in aesthetics and coral growth.
- Eschew powerheads in favor of a closed loop. It is something that can be built into a tank before you even get it set up. Powerheads (which I now have many unused sitting in a drawer) generate heat and are a deadly trap to many lifeofrms.
- Buy a stand that is made entirely of wood (no particle board!), and has doors on both sides. The AGA modern stands, while sightly, are not suited for reef tanks. Mine is literally falling apart with the tank on it as the particle board breaks down from one too many saltwater baths.
- Even if you are fish only, buy a reef ready tank. I am so grateful I did the first time around.
- Make sure you have a decent skimmer. Mine is too small, but it is the only one that would fit underneath a 55gal.
- If you find yourself aquiring more corals, and have a fairly large tank, pass dosing kalkwasser on by and go for the calcium reactor; it is much less effort and much more effective. I thought calcium reactors were for the crazy people, but now that I keep SPS, there is no comparison.
- Make sure you own a digital pH meter. Also, make sure you own a refractometer. I learned the hard way that the pH test kits and swing arm refractometers are not acceptable for the demands of reef keeping.
- Don't be color blind like me -- test kits are impossible to read
- At least the old versions of Mag Drive pumps are not guaranteed to be waterproof, so they should be used submerged. I also don't recommend the QuietOne external pump, and have heard that the Velocity pumps are the quietest.
- X10 technology is very time saving.
- And finally, read read read and read some more and always check the BRS forum!
Just 2.5 years worth. I wonder what the next 2.5 years will teach me?
Matt