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Do it right. Stop wasting money!!


I'm Batman

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I started my nano reef as a way to reef on a budget and just wanted to share that I might as well have just gone all out. I’ve spent thousands and in the end a couple extra bucks goes a long way. 
 

I’ve read hundreds of posts from long time reefers helping new reefers: “make sure you have everything you need and plan, plan, plan. Be patient, keep your hands out of the tank.” Please stick to the basics. 

 

My personal tips for all those getting started or anyone struggling - 

 

Buy an RO/DI System - a regular 4 stage, not a budget to buddy. Get a real RO/DI. The other benefit to this: you know the source water if you control it. BRS sells a sink adapter if you need it

 

Buy an auto top off - you can get away with topping off every morning but you want to avoid fluctuating salinity. My opinion, salinity ups and downs causes other parameters to go up and down too = Sad corals.

 

Buy an AI Prime or better - budget lights will always have you searching for the next “Better” budget light. Just spend the money. You get what you pay for. 


Stop buying additives - unless you really need them. 


Be patient/ hands out of the tank - I have the aquarium right next to my couch. I love sitting there and making stupid adjustments and pissing all my corals off. If you have to make an adjustment, do it, then wait a few weeks. The tank will tell you what is working. On the same token, if you keep messing with stuff it will never settle in.


Buy the tank you want- I’ve spent countless hours and dollars trying to make this or that “fit” in a small tank. It barely works. Ultimately the more volume the better and if you want a bigger tank some day, just wait it out. If I could do it all over again I would have gone with 20+ gallons and a sump. Would have saved so much frustration. Also bigger tank means better fish to control pests.

Quarantine - how much money did I waste dipping corals and tossing them in my tank only to have a full on pest outbreak destroy everything? Too much. Quarantine and monitor, add to your display tank when safe. I ended up using my smaller tank as a quarantine once I upgraded.

 

Don’t seek anyone but the pros for advice - I depended too much on my local fish stores which were usually employed by 1 halfway knowledgeable person and that’s even rare.
 

Everybody thinks they know what works but remember - every ecosystem we create is a little different in its own way. 

 

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1 hour ago, I'm Batman said:

Be patient/ hands out of the tank - I have the aquarium right next to my couch. I love sitting there and making stupid adjustments and pissing all my corals off. If you have to make an adjustment, do it, then wait a few weeks. The tank will tell you what is working. On the same token, if you keep messing with stuff it will never settle in.

 Absolutely this - many things take more than weeks to settle in and new tanks will take more than a year to settle in. And if you must make changes, make them slowly and do one thing at a time! Reefing is a marathon, not a sprint. IMO, this is the most important thing a new reefer needs to understand above all else.

 

1 hour ago, I'm Batman said:

Buy an auto top off - you can get away with topping off every morning but you want to avoid fluctuating salinity. My opinion, salinity ups and downs causes other parameters to go up and down too = Sad corals.

An ATO absolutely makes things easier, unties you from your tank, and opens up a bunch of doors for dosing, but changes in salinity due to evaporation aren't really as bad as you might think. Swinging 1ppt in salinity is only a ~2.8% change and I've yet to see any ill effects from swings like that, and even significantly more. I think most people's issues with "salinity" aren't actually due to the change in salinity itself, but just the general bad husbandry that goes along with not paying attention.

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 This "guide" is pretty good. I have seen here lately my lfs told me to cycle with a fish ect ect.. that is just stupid. Get with the 2020's people. 

 

 I seriously feel like more people need to do research and I mean GOOD research before they waste money on the hobby.  

 

 Like you said,stop buying these garbage ass amazon lights,and knock-off equipment. It costs you so much money within just weeks alone. Especially on lights. Jebao is as "budget" as I would go and some of their products I wouldn't use. 

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I totally get it. I’m no expert - you can put me with the group that started saltwater with a 10g and a penguin HOB filter. I was “so cool” when I figured out how to mix salt and use a hydrometer. I have the coralife bubble protein skimmer, all the lower end products but guess what. It’s all sitting in buckets and totes. I use the big boy stuff now and I should have done that all along. 

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Down to the algae problems I was having when I used my fish store RO/DI. They swear it’s zero TDS. End up testing and off the charts in phosphates. My home RO/DI saved my life. In reality it saved the life of my livestock. Never had a problem changing resin or carbon, don’t know why the fish stores do...

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There are definitely "budget" items you can use to save money on builds like Jebao DC pump,Coral Box skimmers,sumps and stuff like that. 

 

 Now ATO's,lighting and heaters I would spend the money and get named brand sruff and save yourself a TON of money. 

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I mostly agree with all of it, but if your vigilant in topping off and limiting yourself to corals that you know  will grow under your light, you can achieve a beautiful tank.  I think the newbies, myself included, as we start are dazzled by the eye candy and throw a lot of money away on bad purchases.  A  400 dollar radion light  will grow xenia, gsp, mushrooms, , but so will a  50 dollar cheap blue and white led strip.  It comes down to education and what you want to achieve.  I had a 65 gallon, ro/di and I had a succesful tank, using ebay black boxes with simple timers.  I sold it all a couple years ago.  I just started a fluval evo 5 gallon,  I added a power head for stronger flow and I am using the stock light for a cyphastrea/ chalice coral set up.  I am testing the growth of a piece of cyphastea and it looks good so far, one month.   I am buying 4 litre distilled water jugs while I do my weekly grocery shopping.  I sold my 4 stage ro/di as well.  I have 2 x 4 litres distilled available all the time.   I do a weekly 4 litre water change. and   this tank will support easy coral, no doubt, all the softies, without modification.  To be honest, as a newbie years ago, I was put off by people saying you need all the fancy stuff or you will never be successful.  I tore down a couple tanks, and gave up because I could not afford what people said I had to buy.  The key is research,,  know  your limitations, how much time you need to invest, if you are not there to top off manually each day, by all means get a top off.  I had one on my 65 gallon, as I was too busy to be there everyday.  I'm just giving another p.o.v. based on my experiences.

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