What would you do differently?

[Maxx]

I know hindsight is 20/20....but I'm curious here. What would you do differently in your tank if you could, or if you were starting a new tank?
My last tank was The-Reef-That-Should-Not-Be.....
I had alot of problems with it simply because of the way I cobbled it together. My flow was poor, and water quality was bad. I added a refugium and made a siphon from cannibalized filter parts, and used a powerhead as a return. Well the powerhead could move more water than the siphon...so it was a major PITA to get the two sync'd by way of ball valves.
Water changes became a nightmare involving alot of four letter words and a couple of spills, followed by 3 days of fiddling with ball valves to get things back to "normal". I never really felt comfortable with leaving the tank unattended for more than 2 days.
I finally broke down and bought an Aqua- C Remora skimmer and things began to turn around.
But water flow rates and phosphate levels were a constant problem. I eventually broke the tank down. But I learned several lessons, and made several decisions on how I wanted my next set up to be.........easy!
So thats what I've done with my upcoming 58 gallon. I've planned my tank around two major principles:
Ease of maintenance.....If its hard to do, It usually stops being done....
And excellent water quality and flow.

What are things you'd do, (or have done) differently for the next go around?
Nick

 

[bonerfortuna]

If I could turn back time I would install an overflow with Durso's in my 50 breeder instead of simply having strainers running directly out of the bulkheads. Most of the other things Ive done on this tank so far I have used the wonderful insight gained from this place!

 

[johnlewis]

I would have put in more out puts for a closed loop in my over flows. I have only 2 drains and 2 outputs I would have increased it to 4 of each. I would have also never used a glass heater even though I've never had a problem with a VisiTherm in the past this one exploded and wiped out the first group of corals and inverts.

 

[jimeluiz]

I would change something very simple: Move the whole tank out from the wall just another inch or so. As the stand sits now I cannot remove the sump from the bottom, making periodic cleaning a real bear. But now that the tank is full it aint going anywhere!

 

[Witfull]

i would befriend crabs and praise their attributes.



NOT!!

 

[Maxx]

ROFL Wit...

BFT...anyway to make a stockman mod to your overflows?

John Lewis...I have two of my CL returns running through my overflow box. I'm kinda wishing I hadnt now. I worry about calcium/corraline buildup inside them and I have no way to remove them for cleaning in a weak vineager solution. Eventually this will be a problem.

jimeluiz....I know exactly what you mean. I'm planning very carefully for all of that.

I'm sure other people have some woulda-coulda-shoulda thoughts here....lets see em!

Nick

 

[Brucey]

I went for the biggest Sump possible in my cabinate . . . to increase water volume . . . . big mistake. As I've grown my equipment list, I've run out of room in the cabinate and now have bits standing on the floor . . . . . and I still need to buy a calcium reactor. Wish I'd forgone 10 gallons for the sake of extra room
Brucey

 

[Gina]

First off, I would have probably gone for an in wall set up. Thus, giving me more room in my living room. Which is only about 12x20. My living room is so crowded now I'm not even sure where the tree will go.

Next, I would have not gone with a bow front. We have a 46g bow front which does not leave alot of room for aquascaping. I want more depth. Probably would have chosen a 120g.

I also would not have gone crazy buying everything in the world. We knew nothing really about keeping a reef and a few weeks after we set it up bought several corals and a anenome. Which of course after about a month died. The tank crashed and we lost everything except our dottyback and clown fish.

Geez.....what wouldn't we do differently! LOL

P.S. Would have also found a reef site first and learned more about what we needed to do before jumping in blind!

 

[mps9506]

I'm kinda going with Brucey on this one, not the sump size, I'm not giving up any more of my already small system volume
I do wish I had a larger stand with more storage, and possibly a small table built along side it next to the tank to store all my reef stuff.

That and I wish I had gottenaddicted to keeping guppies or minnows instead of sps corals

Mike

 

[VINA DEL MAR]

5 years ago I had the chance of getting a 180 gls tank instead of the 90 I have now,but because of an old sofa that I threw out a few months later anyway now I'm running out of room in my tank.I should now just get it!Also I spend money in a 175 watts halides set up that a year later I end up upgrading for a 400 watts.And believe me the list can go on and on.LOL

VINA

 

[Woodstock]

I am happy with the size of my tank, but I wish it was drilled on the opposite corner and I wish it was further away from the wall. I would have went BB from the beginning, installed a ro/di immediately, and bought a larger sump.... not too many regrets i guess!

 

[Cougra]

Although I made a lot of mistakes when I first set up my tank, I don't think I would have done much differently. I value the lessons I learned doing things the hard way and have a better understanding of the system overall as a result. I guess I'm not all that good at learning from other peoples mistakes unless I can see first hand what the costs are of those mistakes.

However, moneywise, I really wish I had known that not all Skimmers are built equally and did a bit more research into that one, talked to the person who sold it to me more and asked them to demonstrate how to set up the model they foisted on me! That one was definately my most costly mistake.

 

[jimeluiz]

Along the lines of Gina's "going crazy buying everything..." I bought a lot of unnecessary Salifert testing kits from Marine Depot buy selecting their "professional" package. I use 7 of them regularly, but the other 7 (!!) are just waiting for their expiration date to arrive... (although I guess I did test or O2 once and Iodine 3 or 4 times over the past 15 months)

 

[Craig Manoukian]

I would have taken the money and bought a new house! :columbo:

 

[HORNFISH]

I would do 1 thing different, and I pass this down to friends entering the hobby, -BUY IT ONCE- . Don't buy something just to get it going, and have to buy it again when you go bigger and better.-BUY IT ONCE-

 

[Hooked]

I agree Hornfish--Don't skimp on the skimmer, the lights, or the size of tank. Get what you want the first time--it's cheaper in the long run!

 

[angnak]

I agree with Gina and Hornfish. I bought all the fish I liked and within a couple of months. I had a PB tang, Mimic Tang, Spotted blue tang, 3 triggers, and 2 clowns in an 80g and then in a 92g and of course overcrowded stressed them out and I lost them all to Ich. But Now I have a 210g tank with all the RIGHT equipment in the house and 2 tanks, lights, skimmers, sump, and other stuff not needed in the garage. Should have started out with the 210 and not overstocked it. Lesson learned and money lost!!!

 

[Craig Manoukian]

You guys are too practical! Just kidding.

I actually wouldn't do anything differently as the lessons learned have been invaluable. I will set my tank up differently next time just because it will be bigger and dedicated to SPS corals. My current tank is a clam/softy lagoon setup.

 

[sincityreefer]

RO, RO, RO, RO.... SHould have started with a good quailty RODI system. Makes all the difference in the world and would have prevented many headaches over alges and such... Other than that, i agree with everyone. Buy it ONCE... i hate having a graveyard of junk equipment in my storage shed.... Do your research and buy whats going to work best in your system. I also like to "oversize" my skimmer at least one size. (ex. EV-180 for my 120gal tank)... my two smaller skimmers have now become execlent spider-web collectors... lol... HTH.