what's the 1st thing you wish you had known

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oreo12

Guest
That i would have ignored all advice from those that think garlic can cure or prevent Ich. And that I would have known about kick ich sooner
 

bozfamily

Member
wish i would have known about GOOD water circulation and then i could have spent more time enjoying my tank instead of scrubing the algea thinking to my self #%$!
***)
 

merredeth

Active Member
Originally Posted by ReeferFish
I learned the hard way that you should invest your time and money on the live rock and sand first, because it's very difficult to add once you've began stocking the tank with animals. I have about 130lbs of seasoned live rock in my 90gallon, but I'm wanting to add another 80+ lbs. It's taken over a year finally have a stable tank. I would like to order it from saltwaterfish.com, but I'm worried about it crashing my tank. The last time i ordered 50lbs, it came overnight, but it was dried out and there were nats in the box. I dont want to take any chances with that kind of $. Any suggestions?
Cure the live rock in a separate rubbermaid tub for several days before you even think of adding it to your display tank. Make sure you do water changes, aerate and put a heater in the rubbermaid container.
Of course, if the rock is dried out and there are gnats or anything like that, email saltwaterfish.com immediately. They usually respond within 24 hours.
Another alternative is find a small, independnet LFS and see if he will give you a price break on large quantity purchases and offer to pre-pay so he can use your sale to help get a bigger discount so both of you can share the price break. My LFS has offered to do that for me when I wanted to do some major purchases.
Denise M.
 

cain420

Active Member
after u cure the lr, would it help to soak for a few weeks in a tub of tank water, doing changes in it every other day b4 placing it in or would that still likely cause a cycle??
 

robharold

New Member
Originally Posted by Jerth6932
mine is justified by the countless hours sitting in front of a 24G starting at it..... And seeing the new little thing I found inside of it!!! My Fieance doesnt understand my obsession, but I tell her I'm not the only one who just sits infront of my tank for hours at a time!!!!! AND YOU JUST HELPED!!!!


I thought I was the only one who did that!! My wife thinks I am nuts
I don't know why. I think she's jealous cause I stare at the tank more than her.
 

mikeyjer

Active Member
First thing would be Powerheads for me!!! That's how I lost my first fish due to insufficient oxygenation. Next would be Live Rocks and Protein Skimmers!! :happyfish
 

harndog

Member
I wish I had just started with one 300 gal + tank. I know no lion, puffers or eels in a reef but it would be so much easier to just have 1 tank. 3 tanks consume about 15 gal of ro/di water every week just in top offs. water changes is another 35 to 50 gal a week ( when I stick to my schedule). I have about 15,000 tied up in my reef and my up an comming 175 fowlr. Also plan for room for a QT tank I know everyone preaches this but I am finding with trying to set up this FOWLR it is almost a neccesity. Good luck
 

merredeth

Active Member
Originally Posted by robharold
I thought I was the only one who did that!! My wife thinks I am nuts
I don't know why. I think she's jealous cause I stare at the tank more than her.
Move a chair over by the tank and make her sit in front of it. Then she'll feel like you are oogling her and only you will know that you are oogling the tank.
I have several tanks, and all are within easy eyesight. However, one tank was specifically intended for my large bedroom and was put on my husband's side of the bed. When I did it, I didn't think we would have as much fun in the middle of the night as we do now.

Solve your problem and rearrange the bedroom and add another tank. She's bound to think those fish get you in an erotic mood and will be begging for a 300 gallon in no time.

Denise M.
 

dexter

Member
1. don't take the advise of a LFS that also sells birds,lizards, spiders, ferrets, etc when setting up your 1st tank... :mad:
2. that tap water is actually as bad as it tastes. can you smell the phosphates??

3. that this website existed! thank you swf.com peeps!

dxtr -
 

mhenning

New Member
I wish I had known how much easier a drilled tank would have made my life. Not to mention how much nicer my tank would have looked. Also, I wish I had known how handy a cheap turkey baster can be.
 

sfe

Member
Originally Posted by maeistero
salifert test kits only to ensure consistent accurate results and a refractometer rather than wasting money on hydrometers.

why din't you like those?
 

sfe

Member
Originally Posted by vinooch
We should've gotten a turbo skimmer rather than a protein skimmer! It made our water yellow!

A turbo skimmer is a type of protein skimmer.
3 types of skimmers:
1. Turbo
2. Venturi
3. air driven
It was just probably the maker of your protein skimmer
 

dailey76

Member
wish i would have done more research at places like here and learned about using live sand verse any other substrate the time to change that mistake was great. Also wish I would never bout the (el cheapo) lights to get me started. Im finding out now that lighting can costs as much as the tanck and most things with it. The last thing I would say is that you should visit some stores read some books and decide what you want to keep (livestock plan) in your tank. That will help you save money if you stick to it.
 

robharold

New Member
Originally Posted by Merredeth
Move a chair over by the tank and make her sit in front of it. Then she'll feel like you are oogling her and only you will know that you are oogling the tank.
I have several tanks, and all are within easy eyesight. However, one tank was specifically intended for my large bedroom and was put on my husband's side of the bed. When I did it, I didn't think we would have as much fun in the middle of the night as we do now.

Solve your problem and rearrange the bedroom and add another tank. She's bound to think those fish get you in an erotic mood and will be begging for a 300 gallon in no time.

Denise M.

Merredeth that is a very interesting point. I think I will have to try it. More fish and more.......I think I could handle that.
 
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