Photo of my tank at 8 months old.. algae free and thriving.
Then I stopped paying attention to water parameters and checking my equipments and my doser actually got clogged and alk drop caused a cascading effect and semi crashed the tank.
After many frustrating months of correcting alk, getting phosphate and nitrate in check, and taking care of trace elements, tank is thriving again.
I am going to go against many people and say that while maturity matters, once you are pass the 6-12 months mark, what matter most is stability. It's not any fancy lights or crazy wave makers, or any snake oil additives. It's about your water parameters and stability. It does not require 4 years for your tank to thrive. It may require 4 years of experience and trial and error on your part to keep things stable though....
Then I stopped paying attention to water parameters and checking my equipments and my doser actually got clogged and alk drop caused a cascading effect and semi crashed the tank.
After many frustrating months of correcting alk, getting phosphate and nitrate in check, and taking care of trace elements, tank is thriving again.
I am going to go against many people and say that while maturity matters, once you are pass the 6-12 months mark, what matter most is stability. It's not any fancy lights or crazy wave makers, or any snake oil additives. It's about your water parameters and stability. It does not require 4 years for your tank to thrive. It may require 4 years of experience and trial and error on your part to keep things stable though....