Lessons learned

[tylernt]

* A swing in specific gravity from 1.025 to 1.027 due to evaporation over the weekend seems to kill astrea snails.

 

* If you prevent your light cooling fan from blowing on the water, you go from more than cup of evaporation per day to just a splash.

 

* Don't panic if your hermit crab goes missing or you see his shell empty. He will reappear in a few hours under a new home. Then he'll do it again tomorrow in an attempt to alarm you again.

 

* Don't seal your hood so tight you get no fresh air interaction. Your pH will go down to 8.0 at night.

 

* If you use cheap lamp timers with the little plastic tabs, tape the zarking things down. The "OFF" tab will fall out and your lights will stay on all night without the cooling fan, raising water temperatures to 86.

 

So, after sealing the lights off so the fan doesn't cause insane evaporation, and cutting a hole in the rear of the splash shield for air interaction, and taping down the OFF timer tabs, I think I'm almost ready for my first coral frag.

 

Any other wisdom I need first?? I sure hate learning the hard way like this.

[tinyreef]

Any other wisdom I need first??

you are always the 1 out of a 100 chance.

 

"is this suchandsuch reef-safe?" everyone else, yes. for you, no.

 

good luck!

[WorldNation]

Originally posted by tinyreef

you are always the 1 out of a 100 chance.

 

"is this suchandsuch reef-safe?"  everyone else, yes.  for you, no.  

 

good luck!

 

oh how hard that was to learn, but sooo true