Friendly Reminder Thread

[TheKleinReef]

Hey. Here's a thread to give a friendly reminder or tip to the community. It can be as random as you want.

 

I'll start us off:

 

Friendly reminder to calibrate your refractometer, mine was 0.05 off.... oops

[Jaren45]

Cross check your parameters with other kits before freaking out about weird results! Half the time the issue is just the test kit..

[Sharbuckle]

Friendly reminder to have a back up return pump! Not only can they help mix salt a little quicker, having one in a pinch can be make or break. 
 

This applies to all essential life support gear. 

[TheKleinReef]

12 hours ago, Sharbuckle said:

Friendly reminder to have a back up return pump! Not only can they help mix salt a little quicker, having one in a pinch can be make or break. 
 

This applies to all essential life support gear. 

 

i put a back up in my shopping cart every time i order something, then i look at the total price and remove it every time.

 

i need to get a back up..... -____o

[A.m.P]

Some corals just wont succeed in your system and trying to change everything around to suit them will likely hurt other animals more than it helps.

[ml86743]

All advice is not good advice...Do your own experiments, pay attention to your tank, and form your own educated opinions.  The reefing community is a wealth of knowledge and information but in the end, its your tank:)

[TheKleinReef]

7 minutes ago, ml86743 said:

in the end, its your tank:)

preach

[MrP]

Care for your microbes and they will take care of your tank. 

[Firefish15]

Do your research prior to heading to the LFS. Don’t just buy random critters/corals.

[MLS_Reef]

Right before work and half out the door is not the time to F@#& with the tank and make adjustments. Wait or commit, one day i adjusted my heater flying out the door and i set it too high, at 84-86 instead of 78-80 . 

[MLS_Reef]

7 hours ago, ml86743 said:

All advice is not good advice...Do your own experiments, pay attention to your tank, and form your own educated opinions.  The reefing community is a wealth of knowledge and information but in the end, its your tank:)

i have so much to say about this... like i have nothing to say about this .  i have a very specific event that happened using red sea coral pro salt that has made me swear never to use high alk salt again. I am traumatized because 10 years ago people would just shame you for fukkin up even though you had no idea.

 

i like thinking everyone is Rainman in a forum, like you have to protect yourself from the forum more than the forum will protect you.

 

[TheKleinReef]

8 minutes ago, MLS_Reef said:

i have so much to say about this... like i have nothing to say about this .  i have a very specific event that happened using red sea coral pro salt that has made me swear never to use high alk salt again. I am traumatized because 10 years ago people would just shame you for fukkin up even though you had no idea.

 

i like thinking everyone is Rainman in a forum, like you have to protect yourself from the forum more than the forum will protect you.

 

100% 

 

[TheKleinReef]

59 minutes ago, Firefish15 said:

Do your research prior to heading to the LFS. Don’t just buy random critters/corals.

I always feel like I know more about coral and fish than  LFS employees. 
 

my old lfs would often ask me what certain species are…. I was like why are you even buying this stuff then?!!

[Rhetoric]

Fight algae with Coral!  

[TheKleinReef]

1 hour ago, Rhetoric said:

Fight algae with Coral!  

Reminds me of FW.

 

Got algae? Get plants haha 

[Firefish15]

On 6/20/2023 at 4:35 PM, TheKleinReef said:

I always feel like I know more about coral and fish than  LFS employees. 
 

my old lfs would often ask me what certain species are…. I was like why are you even buying this stuff then?!!

Unfortunately, not many LFS I know of are able to pay particularly well. Seems to be a pretty high turnover because people move on to more lucrative opportunities. That leaves you with a less knowledgeable workforce.

[natalia_la_loca]

I’ve thought about applying to work at my LFS like one day a week, just for fun. Then I remember I’d have to deal with customers.

[Woodini]

Wipe front to back 

[TheKleinReef]

10 hours ago, Woodini said:

Wipe front to back 

Taking that as random as you want v seriously i see. 

[Lebowski_]

On 6/20/2023 at 6:51 PM, MLS_Reef said:

Right before work and half out the door is not the time to F@#& with the tank and make adjustments. Wait or commit, one day i adjusted my heater flying out the door and i set it too high, at 84-86 instead of 78-80 . 

I have a similar rule for vacations; I never touch my tank within 2 days of leaving for a vacation. If it's running smooth, just let it be. Worst thing you can do is tinker then leave the tank!

[Lebowski_]

On 6/22/2023 at 11:27 PM, natalia_la_loca said:

I’ve thought about applying to work at my LFS like one day a week, just for fun. Then I remember I’d have to deal with customers.

I lived that life from age 14 to age 26, it's a wild ride.

 

You also realize this hobby causes a lot more death than you realize as a customer. It's one of the reasons I try to go with aqua-cultured stuff when I can, and reduce shipping unless I absolutely can't get something locally.

[natalia_la_loca]

8 hours ago, Lebowski_ said:

I lived that life from age 14 to age 26, it's a wild ride.

 

You also realize this hobby causes a lot more death than you realize as a customer. It's one of the reasons I try to go with aqua-cultured stuff when I can, and reduce shipping unless I absolutely can't get something locally.

 

i think about that a lot…the path that animals take from the ocean to the LFS to our tanks, and the mortality that happens at every step. i try to stick to aquacultured for that reason too. i know some people don’t like the trend of giving fancy names to corals, but i feel like it incentivizes aquaculture. 

 

i guess i’ve helped veer this thread off topic, so uhh friendly reminder: buy aquacultured! it’s the future of the hobby etc etc :)))

[Jaren45]

8 hours ago, Lebowski_ said:

I lived that life from age 14 to age 26, it's a wild ride.

 

You also realize this hobby causes a lot more death than you realize as a customer. It's one of the reasons I try to go with aqua-cultured stuff when I can, and reduce shipping unless I absolutely can't get something locally.

Agreed, after almost 4y at my lfs now I've definitely become a lot more desensitized to fish and coral death. It's just part of a normal day, unfortunately. Love every other part of it though, and I recommend it to anyone who doesn't mind dealing with some really stupid customers every so often..

[Lebowski_]

12 hours ago, Jaren45 said:

Agreed, after almost 4y at my lfs now I've definitely become a lot more desensitized to fish and coral death. It's just part of a normal day, unfortunately. Love every other part of it though, and I recommend it to anyone who doesn't mind dealing with some really stupid customers every so often..

The one that hurt me the most was we had an arrogant lawyer type customer who only liked to talk to the manager. He had the manager order him an octopus. Now I knew this guy's tank was not appropriate, nor his level of commitment. But it wasn't my call. Manager brought in two wild caught octos. One died in our shitty stock tanks. The other apparently last a week in this guys tank.

 

I remember spending a good hour after shift one day just watching them. You could tell there was more going on inside their minds than the average tank inhabitant. I actually teared up when I found out they both died. A month later I had a shouting match on the phone with this guy, and it almost got me fired. I look back and see how he tried to bully me, a low wage teenager at the time and it pisses me off. I'd love to meet him again today, now that the power imbalance is gone.

[TheKleinReef]

Friendly reminder to clean your pumps. Vortechs were pushing through all sorts of gunk built up behind the propeller.  
 

🙂