| Mistakes I've Made: Non-live rock: My first saltwater aquarium was a 38 gallon that I set up with only 10 lbs. of live rock. This did not provide a stable system. Every coral or fish I added produced an ammonia peak. The Skilter: Another mistake of my 38 gallon. Came highly recommended by the owner of my LFS. It was bulky and extremely loud. Reef-safe Meds: To this day I still believe there is no such thing. I used Greenex, Stop Parasite, and No-Ich at different times in the 38 g. All three were ineffective against ich, and killed or damaged my inverts. Tap water: Yup, believe it or not, I thought I could get away with using tap water in the same tank I mentioned above. Two words for you--HAIR ALGAE. Tap Water Purifier: After my battle with algae, I used this to deionize the tap water I used in my next tank, a 15 gallon nano-reef. This product didn't live up to it's claim of deionizing up to 50 gallons per cartridge--I was lucky to get 10! So I was paying $17 (LFS's price of cartridge) for 10 gallons of water--much more expensive than the bottled water I use now. I still had some hair algae problems while using the Tap Water Purifier too. Mandarin: I was stupid enough to think I could keep one of these in my 15 g nano-reef since the tank was swarming with copepods. Big mistake--the copepods were gone in two weeks. Lucky for me (I thought) the fish was eating frozen brine shrimp. He was fine for three months until one day I came home to find him stuck in the intake of a power head. He died that night. In my experience, healthy fish do not get stuck in (very low suction) power heads. I think he must have been sick or malnourished or who knows? I know other people have had similar experiences with their mandarins and I believe we do not know enough about these fishes captive needs. So please, unless you are really confident with your ability to keep one, learn from my mistake. All Glass Aquarium Overflow Plumbing Kit: This is so LOUD! It sounds like a gurgling water fall, not to mention it's overpriced. Couldn't hear my TV. Instead I followed the modified standpipe designed by Richard Durso. |