Mistakes I made as a Newbie

Determined to

OH the mistakes I have made in last 3 months!!

• Took my 75 and decided, time for a salt water tank.

• Bought saltwater for Dummies book. Read cover to cover. To me lots of research.

• Week before thanksgiving I decided it was time dun dun dun.....
• Bought the needed supplies and 3 pieces of dry rock.
• Brought it all home spent HOURS putting it all together. Let the tank cycle for 6 weeks.

• Went to LFS. Bought 2 cute little clowns, some weird hybrid variety (stupid, stupid, stupid) One wouldn't eat. Died week later. Other clown started turning black! (***!?!?!) Went back to LFS and asked why. They had no idea :-/
• Bought another clown (stupid, stupid). He was looking good then week later, belly up.
• Now I have invested a lot of money, 3 months of my life to own a salty bathtub with bubbles....

Welcome to today..
Lessons learned ( I think)

• Time to buy LR
• Install R/O system

I am so hoping this will help. I am not giving up!
Oh Oh Oh! I also learned that I need to consult with 3reef from now on.
So what do you think will LR help me?!?!

 

Unfortunately those kind of looses are common in newly set up tanks.

Yes I would get more LR, cured to prevent a big cycle.

And yes you are best off bouncing your questions off members here at 3reef. We do this day in and day out.

 

Thanks! looking forward to a rewarding experience in Saltwater. Thanks for the quick reply!

 

well, atleast its not so emmbarrasing to say this, just some mistakes,

• started with 8 gal Nano
• i spent 200 on 9lbs of liverock cuz i didnt know anything about base rock
• topped off with saltwater (got past 1.04), and lost some snails
• accidently had my saltwater supply filled with RODI (super hypo salinity)
• using bio balls (still am)
• went cheap on testing kits

 

Im just starting a tank or planning on it, any tips with do's and don'ts. thanks

 

Hi Ryan


welcome to 3 reef

research is your best friend at this stage - read until your head aches, rest and the read some more
this site is full of very useful information and the thread below is just one example of
the things that will help you most as you venture into salt water aquarium keeping



http://www.3reef.com/forums/new-hobby/ultimate-newbie-guide-86462.html

Steve

 

those people at petco huh? thatd be me, i was a manager/aquatics specialist, lol.......and yea, ive made many of the same mistakes, also i didnt rinse the sand and got the "dusting" on all my rock, not bad just annoying......

 

1.Bought used tank off craigslist....leaks and scratches.....replaced.
2.Didnt jump on the first piece of bubble algae I saw in my tank.Now I pick a zone each week to remove it from....
3.Started buying SPS corals immediately after cycle,can you say RTN??

 

Every time I replace a cheap piece of equipment with a newer, better, more expensive one I'm reminded of my biggest newbie mistake. Don't buy cheap. Wait, be patient, save up, and get the thing that works. It doesn't have to be expensive, but do your research and make sure its quality and satisfies your needs.