Are you a ONE HIT WONDER?

[Brew12]

I am a woodworker as well. Patience was learned from that. Love reefing

The two hobbies do complement each other very well. And beautiful work!

 

[action21]

Learn from the mistakes

 

[najer]

Also easier to learn incorrect stuff, so one needs to be able to discern the good from the bad.

Yes, slow reactions are generally better ime.

 

[Suohhen]

I have been running my system for 18 years and I can honestly say that there are two reasons why I am still around. Shortly after getting into the hobby while I was in college I got a job working for a company that built high end custom tanks.
The two things I took away from that experience were the knowledge and practice handed down to me by the owner and his first aquarium, a custom 100g peninsula with a solid cherry stand. While I cannot hand my tank down to you I can say that having a beautiful piece of furniture is definitely a big factor in keeping the other stakeholders in your abode happy.

To the point of good practices he taught me to keep things simple and redundant. To put your RO in a 5 gallon top off reservoir so when the sensors inevitably fail there won't be enough water available to harm the inhabitants or overflow the sump. A flooded living room is a quick way to lose the approval of your loved ones. The list of advice goes on and on but the idea is all the same, keep it simple and redundant and if possible failsafe.

 

[AlexKintner]

I'm in danger of being a 1-Hit Wonder.

My only hit was in the 90's. If this next tank doesn't happen soon, I could be the next Dexys Midnight Runners... or Ram Jam.

 

[BeltedCoyote]

Remember that what you have in your care is an ecosystem. Everything is interdependent. Thus focusing on a single aspect of event and pouring everything g you can at fixing it will have a ripple effect as the rest of the ecosystem is impacted

 

[\m/reefsnmetal\m/]

Are you a one hit wonder and don't even know it?



I was thinking about members who have joined all "gung ho" about saltwater aquariums who set up a beautiful system and when trouble hits they crumble and the tank comes down. That's a reefer one hit wonder. Some of you reading today are on your first reef tank and are super excited about it but how do you keep from being a statistic? How do you keep from becoming a one hit wonder?

Experienced reefers please share some tips for not becoming a reefing one hit wonder! What are some ways new hobbyists can prepare for and mitigate tank troubles that might make them end up quitting the hobby?

Here are some tips:

1. Prepare for the worst. Get ready for algae and fish disease by learning before you get it. Prepare by stocking up on items that will help you beat it once you do get it because you will get it. Prepare by learning how to mitigate algae and fish disease breakouts NOW before it comes. - @revhtree

2. Have a friend in the hobby that you can really lean on. Someone who you can call. Someone who would be ready to come over and help you or mail you necessities in a pinch. @Billldg

3. The only advise I can give a newbie is to collect as much as knowledge as possible and start with easy stuff. @Lasse

4. Those who are in this hobby for a long time and have long running systems tend to have relatively simple set ups and can then spend more time enjoying and appreciating their aquarium's inhabitants. Even a nice aquarium can become a drudgery if it is too complicated to maintain. @Nano sapiens

5. Think out your stock list in advance. @ReeferBlaine

6. I believe in keeping it simple and letting the tanks more or less run themselves. By that I mean feeding the tank often, and with a mixture of quality foods, not obsessing over numbers, and keeping my hands off as much as possible. @Rybren

7. Gotta roll with the punches in this hobby. One week it's tragedy, the next everything is fantastic. As you progress, and learn to identify/deal with more situations, the fantastic weeks begin to outnumber the tragedy. @living_tribunal

8. I have a long term goal and I have broken it down to smaller steps, and each step is broken down into easy attainable goals. My forever tanks will not be in existence for several more years, my first tank is still ugly, but I am happy in the way it is going. @Ippyroy

9. Patience. Experience. Willingness to learn. Ability to take advice. Ability to overcome failure. @Thespammailaccount

10. If you can't see the tank, be wary of the advice. Find someone who has a documented track record of success and try to emulate their approach. @Kjames

11. Another point I'd like to make is don't keep looking for the solution without finding the cause. A solution without knowing the cause is a band aid at best and snake oil at the worst. It's always best to fix the cause than change stuff for a solution in a bottle. @Ippyroy

12. Observe and learn the rhythm of your system and develop a maintenance schedule that you are able to stick to. Don't assume that copying exactly how someone else runs their tank, is how you will find success. @mattdg

13. Don't go crazy buying every gadget when you start the hobby. I have been keeping fish about 65 years and still only have lights, Diy skimmer DIY algae scrubber, some power heads and that's about it. This hobby is not expensive, we make it expensive. @PaulB

14. If you are asking for help, provide as much details as possible, engage in the conversation. Quality of feedback is proportional to quality of information that goes into the question. @Reefer1978

15. Be very wary of anecdotal information and advice...."this worked for me" or "I know someone that....". Having been a hobbyist all of my life and many years in the industry, this will kill you. @schooncw

16. Good husbandry and stability will get you everywhere. Successful tanks 30 years ago have a lot in common with successful tanks today. @kenchilada

17. Reef within your budget- If that purple tang is going to take saving up for 6 months to afford, how will you handle it if the animal dies? If your $600 lights go out, can you afford to replace them? I've seen a lot of posts where people explode when they can't handle things like this. Don't buy what you can't replace. @Indytraveler83

18. The best advice I could give is not to only ask someone what they do, but ask them the reasons they do it. Make sure you understand what impacts it may have. Once you understand the why it can go a long way to helping understand if it has a chance of working for you. @Brew12

19. The biggest key to success for me has been getting the whole family involved. Initially my wife didn’t understand why we would even want a fish tank, now she‘s addicted to blastos and gonis and helps with the tank maintenance. @BlennyTime

Are you a one hit wonder and don't even know it?



I was thinking about members who have joined all "gung ho" about saltwater aquariums who set up a beautiful system and when trouble hits they crumble and the tank comes down. That's a reefer one hit wonder. Some of you reading today are on your first reef tank and are super excited about it but how do you keep from being a statistic? How do you keep from becoming a one hit wonder?

Experienced reefers please share some tips for not becoming a reefing one hit wonder! What are some ways new hobbyists can prepare for and mitigate tank troubles that might make them end up quitting the hobby?

Here are some tips:

1. Prepare for the worst. Get ready for algae and fish disease by learning before you get it. Prepare by stocking up on items that will help you beat it once you do get it because you will get it. Prepare by learning how to mitigate algae and fish disease breakouts NOW before it comes. - @revhtree

2. Have a friend in the hobby that you can really lean on. Someone who you can call. Someone who would be ready to come over and help you or mail you necessities in a pinch. @Billldg

3. The only advise I can give a newbie is to collect as much as knowledge as possible and start with easy stuff. @Lasse

4. Those who are in this hobby for a long time and have long running systems tend to have relatively simple set ups and can then spend more time enjoying and appreciating their aquarium's inhabitants. Even a nice aquarium can become a drudgery if it is too complicated to maintain. @Nano sapiens

5. Think out your stock list in advance. @ReeferBlaine

6. I believe in keeping it simple and letting the tanks more or less run themselves. By that I mean feeding the tank often, and with a mixture of quality foods, not obsessing over numbers, and keeping my hands off as much as possible. @Rybren

7. Gotta roll with the punches in this hobby. One week it's tragedy, the next everything is fantastic. As you progress, and learn to identify/deal with more situations, the fantastic weeks begin to outnumber the tragedy. @living_tribunal

8. I have a long term goal and I have broken it down to smaller steps, and each step is broken down into easy attainable goals. My forever tanks will not be in existence for several more years, my first tank is still ugly, but I am happy in the way it is going. @Ippyroy

9. Patience. Experience. Willingness to learn. Ability to take advice. Ability to overcome failure. @Thespammailaccount

10. If you can't see the tank, be wary of the advice. Find someone who has a documented track record of success and try to emulate their approach. @Kjames

11. Another point I'd like to make is don't keep looking for the solution without finding the cause. A solution without knowing the cause is a band aid at best and snake oil at the worst. It's always best to fix the cause than change stuff for a solution in a bottle. @Ippyroy

12. Observe and learn the rhythm of your system and develop a maintenance schedule that you are able to stick to. Don't assume that copying exactly how someone else runs their tank, is how you will find success. @mattdg

13. Don't go crazy buying every gadget when you start the hobby. I have been keeping fish about 65 years and still only have lights, Diy skimmer DIY algae scrubber, some power heads and that's about it. This hobby is not expensive, we make it expensive. @PaulB

14. If you are asking for help, provide as much details as possible, engage in the conversation. Quality of feedback is proportional to quality of information that goes into the question. @Reefer1978

15. Be very wary of anecdotal information and advice...."this worked for me" or "I know someone that....". Having been a hobbyist all of my life and many years in the industry, this will kill you. @schooncw

16. Good husbandry and stability will get you everywhere. Successful tanks 30 years ago have a lot in common with successful tanks today. @kenchilada

17. Reef within your budget- If that purple tang is going to take saving up for 6 months to afford, how will you handle it if the animal dies? If your $600 lights go out, can you afford to replace them? I've seen a lot of posts where people explode when they can't handle things like this. Don't buy what you can't replace. @Indytraveler83

18. The best advice I could give is not to only ask someone what they do, but ask them the reasons they do it. Make sure you understand what impacts it may have. Once you understand the why it can go a long way to helping understand if it has a chance of working for you. @Brew12

19. The biggest key to success for me has been getting the whole family involved. Initially my wife didn’t understand why we would even want a fish tank, now she‘s addicted to blastos and gonis and helps with the tank maintenance. @BlennyTime

Research what livestock you want and build your system to suite their appropriate needs. For example, don’t buy a nano and plan to keep tangs. Resist the impulse buy at your LFS if that “cool coral” is something you’re not ready to care for. That excitement turns into equal disappointment and sadness when you’re removing dead livestock. Hard lessons for me to learn. Not the nano part though lol.

 

[Ippyroy]

I am a woodworker as well. Patience was learned from that. Love reefing

That's gorgeous. If someone has the patience to build fine furniture, reefing is easy.

 

[SinCityRee4r]

Research first is the key to success and longevity in this hobby. I men books and real articles not jus google. Most are one and done because of cost, no idea how to solve a problem or just jump into it and have no idea what they are doing. Fist tank I agree should be the (KISS) Keep it simple stupid tank where you learn the basics of the hobby such as manual testing and keeping stable parameters. It is surprising how many noobs I have met who take there water to be tested at the LFS every week

 

[Steve Elb]

That's gorgeous. If someone has the patience to build fine furniture, reefing is easy.

I find reefing more difficult at times. Wood doesn’t die. Learning curves were about the same

 

[Steve Elb]

The two hobbies do complement each other very well. And beautiful work!

Thank you!

 

[Palegic]

I am more like JayZ or Garth Brooks. I get bored, disappear and then come back with hits every few years. I never tear down my tanks but they tend to go through phases of high - low maintenance.

 

[hotdrop]

I might be there now. My tank crashed 9 months ago with dinos and I can’t seem to recover it to reboot. It’s been in this perpetual zombie state since then with dinos having taken over. If it wasn’t for the fish I’d have torn down but the fish are fine so feel bad about doing the tear down as there is nowhere to put them.

 

[tnyr5]

As I have said many times before, the secret to reefkeeping is detachment.

 

[Fishurama]

This thread title made me remember this movie... Oh young Tom Hanks LOL.
The oh-needers aka The Wonders. LOL

 

[Mick51]

I’ve been keeping fish since I was 7 now 63 started salt around 2000 in 05 I got divorced had to move out of “my” house I had a 180 and a 75 that were beautiful.. moving the 180 out of the van I heard “crack” glass under a overflow cracked so sat nite at 8 I’m screwed scramble put everything into a 75 evicted geckos from their 40.. crash! But I was able to find a 90 reef ready scratched up a bit but solid and set it up with what I could and now I’m looking to switch into a better setup I think you have to have a love for this hobby because bad stuff can and will happen and new people need to understand that.. your trying to replicate the reef in the ocean.. not Simple, patience patience patience and educate yourself as much as possible! It’s not goldfish!

 

[fish farmer]

I set the bar low.

When I started in 2000 I wanted a softy/LPS reef, within a year I was unloading xenia to the LFS until he said stop.

I had many SPS freebies tossed at me during the club years when I was nursing a crashed tank.

The most recent build was in 2010, softy/LPS, wasn't planning it for SPS ever since I was running PC's for light.

Got preoccupied and all the LPS and some zoa's got covered with GHA and died, but the softies kept going.

Eight years later, LPS doing well and I have a few "easy" sps growing, softies keep going and going...

I currently don't have the desire to go full SPS which would entail a rebuild and a better attention to detail.

 

[ReefGeezer]

I had to vote "Other"... I've started a lot of tanks but always end up on the same track. If you made a record of my reefing experience it would go like this... Side 1: Startin' Out Right; Everything's Working; & I've got this whipped - Side 2: Frags For Sale; Wait, Something's Not Right; & Startin' Over.

I'm on Side 2, track 3 now... again!

 

[Kscope]

I think every reef keeper should start with a FOWLR tank for the first year. Many new reefers I believe try to rush things. A FOWLR will help with getting water chemistry and tank maintenance experience. Fish are much more tolerant to water chemistry fluctuations.

 

[Bleigh]

I’d also add, stick to your plan. I started having an issues when I deviated from my
Plan. I decided to try something different because someone else had success with it. Afterwards, I realized that we had very different tanks, with different setups and different levels of maturity. I’m getting back to my original plan lan and things are looking a lot better.